Newcomer wants info about ArmaIII

[Frenk 1]

Hi guys, my name is Frenk, I'm from Italy. I used to play Battlefield games but with BF3 I think that DICE has done a very huge step backward.. I do hate games like COD with absolutely no teamwork and, unfortunately, BF3 and the Battlefield franchise are becoming like COD.

So I started to search another good FPS which could replace this lack of teamwork and I suddendly found Arma III. I watched all the trailers, I read a lot of the topics in this section (confirmed features in primis) but I wanted more infos:

1) I read that there will be a beta, but when?

2) Is bohemia a good society who cares about community interests?

3) Is Arma III too hard to be played by someone who has never played arma before?

Thanks guys and sorry for my english.

[instagoat 133]

First off, welcome to the best community in the world, of the best game in the world.

1: The date of the community alpha/beta will be confirmed at this years E3. Early June.

2: Bohemia cares more about its community than beer and its own children.

3: No. It will be a challenge to learn, but if Bohemia does it right, there will be no hurdles this time.

Again, welcome. Also expect the mods to lock this, they are very keen on keeping the place tidy. :> All info is in the stickies and random threads on the boards, technically.

Cheers

Insta

[ProfTournesol 956]

2: Bohemia cares more about its community than beer and its own children.

Not so sure about the first one :cheers:

[Frenk 1]

First off, welcome to the best community in the world, of the best game in the world.

1: The date of the community alpha/beta will be confirmed at this years E3. Early June.

2: Bohemia cares more about its community than beer and its own children.

3: No. It will be a challenge to learn, but if Bohemia does it right, there will be no hurdles this time.

Again, welcome. Also expect the mods to lock this, they are very keen on keeping the place tidy. :> All info is in the stickies and random threads on the boards, technically.

Cheers

Insta

Thanks for the answers :) To be honest, I didn't know where to put my topic, so I chose this section because it looked like the most suitable.

[Tonci87 163]

1. Alpha should start during summer

2. You won´t find a single Developer that cares more.

3. Getting into Arma isn´t easy, but it is very rewarding!

[Nicholas 5]

Frenk, I suggest you try out ArmA II: Free to familiarize yourself with the series.

[codarl 1]

For one, prepare yourself: Like Grand-theft-auto and Skyrim, a game of this scale is not perfect, and gameplay bugs and errors will arise.

Controlling your avatar is sort-of a bitch to learn: Walking indoors with a three-foot assault rifle takes practice. You dont have the ability to jump (it's "Step over" instead). The AI works very emotionless, and isn't picture-perfect.

Considering multiplayer: normal deathmatch and capture-the flag games have almost dissapeared: heavy-scripted missions like Warfare (capturing the entire battlefield) , cops and robbers, and zombie apocalypse missions are very popular, something I find a bit sad.

Bohemia cares more about aftersales then EA games for example: Patches go in the five-hundred megabytes and introduce new features to the game. Bohemia's communication with their fans was terrible (certainly during the "Game2" period), but is improving.

You could consider getting ArmA: X, and play trough the games, from 2001 to 2009

Edited May 20, 2012 by Codarl

[nettrucker 142]

Yeah do as Nicholas suggested . . . have a go at it. It'll take some time to get used to BIS game mechanics. For me it was the best game investment ever made in my life. Playing for over ten years now and I'm still hooked.

Welcome to the community.

[Frenk 1]

To be honest I already tried Arma Free, but I was very disappointed for the graphics. I will give it another try

[Nicholas 5]

If you're tight on money, you could always try out ArmA: Armed Assault. If not, then I suggest you buy ArmA II: Combined Operations as well as the British Armed Forces and Private Military Company DLC.

Or, if you want the complete collection from Operation Flashpoint to ArmA II, including all DLC, I suggest you get ArmA X: Anniversary Edition.

[codarl 1]

To be honest I already tried Arma Free, but I was very disappointed for the graphics. I will give it another try

Don't forget that COD worlds are pre-rendered: the computer doesn't need to take the time of day and the sun into account while rendering your screen. As for me: I started the final ArmA 2 campaign mission during daytime, and ended it in the dawn of the next day.

In ArmA: Cold war assault. there is even a mission that a captured and escaped you, needs to navigate by the stars, to find your way back home.

[Maio 293]

1. There will be a community Alpha after E3 2012. We have no details if this will be payed or free. We have no information regarding the Beta.

2. BIS releases major patches for their products every few months as well as experimental beta patches on a weekly basis. Community modders and mission makers release free mods and SP/MP missions for the game often. If you ever get bored of the vanila game you can always modify it. I suggest you play the game in it's vanilla form for a while before you consider modifications.

3. I must disagree with the ones who say the ArmA series is difficult to learn. Sure it has a bigger scope because it's a sandbox and your hand is not held all the time like in most generic FPS, but if you have patience you will understand the game in no time. ArmA 3 will feature a built in hint/tutorial system in the main SP campaign as well as a set of separate tutorials ( I think it was around 15 of them). If you want to enjoy MP find yourself a group to play with. I suggest you a more relaxed group at first and then if you fell the need to ramp up the realism and take advantage of what ArmA can do maybe find yourself a realism group ( the kind that plays with tactics taken from real life armed forces and make use of proper communication protocols).

Remember that the ArmA series is not a fixed thing. It's a sandbox, you can play it however you want, both in SP as well as in MP. In MP you can end up playing hyper realistic assault/patrol/search and destroy/defend missions or just have a race in a civilian car.

Hope it helps :)

[rye1 21]

*Insert newcomer thread link*... Ah, for all those topics when you need it... wait.

[LeeManatee 4]

To be honest I already tried Arma Free, but I was very disappointed for the graphics. I will give it another try

graphics is gimped in free version.

pay for combined operations, get used to it and then go and download ace2 mod to play hardcore mode.

[instagoat 133]

To be honest I already tried Arma Free, but I was very disappointed for the graphics. I will give it another try

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?73572-ArmA-II-amp-OA-Photography-I-No-images-over-100kb-Pictures-only-NO-comments&p=2151992&viewfull=1#post2151992

This is how Arma 2 looks on my rig. It is of 2007-2008 vintage, and cost about 800 € when I purchased it. It runs the game consistently at around 30 fps, with viewdistance of 2500 and everything on normal (only textures set to high).

Arma Free is basically the same engine, except the textures are very, very low detail.

[Frenk 1]

@Insta: wow, that's not bad. From the videos taken from the internet I thought armaII wasn't so much detailed. I guess I could buy it.. it depends on how much does it cost :P

[purepassion 22]

Preferably, you can buy it from sprocket.com or you can currently make use of an Amazon sale which makes Arma 2: Combined Operations nothing more than 15 bucks! :)

[Frenk 1]

I was more about the digital download offered by steam: click

[purepassion 22]

That works as well but make sure to buy Combined Operations! It includes the normal Arma 2 and the expansion Operation Arrowhead which, next to the awesome new content and engine improvements, is required for many mods and online modes.

[Frenk 1]

Ok thanks ;) Is modding popular in arma II? Because I would like to find server populated, but modding often precludes the access to every of them.. (ok, I know I don't speak english very well :P)

[purepassion 22]

Oh yes indeed! :) Modding is the heart and soul of Arma. You can find almost every gaming experience you are looking for.

Check community sites like Armaholic to see what is waiting for you.

At the moment, you'll find a lot of people playing the newly published mod Day-Z, which is extremely liked througout the gaming community.

Tough I advise you to stay away from public multiplayer. The best teamwork you asked for is found in organized groups. If you look for it, you'll find the guys who enjoy the game the same way you do and have a lot of fun with!

[nettrucker 142]

To be honest I already tried Arma Free, but I was very disappointed for the graphics. I will give it another try

Well that's normal I guess . . . ArmA II free has low textures. In any case I favour gameplay over fancy graphics. Furthermore playing ArmA II free at least gives you an idea about the gameplay, so you won't find yourself in difficulties when aquiring ArmA III and playing it for the first time.

[Firby 1]

To be honest I already tried Arma Free, but I was very disappointed for the graphics. I will give it another try

My first try with ARMA was also the free version, and i had the same thing in my mind. Don't worry, even if ARMA2 won't ever be another BF3 graphic thing, but still the free version has everything stripped down (especially the textures). The full version has Good to Ok graphics, but the sounds are bad (i use JSRS soundmod, armaholic is a good place for mods).

[Frenk 1]

Thanks for all the replies :) I'm now wondering when the alpha will come out, in order to decide if I should buy arma2 or to directly try yo get into the alpha/beta.

[jagheterjan 10]

A3 Alpha won't be out for at least another two weeks, the finished game not before October this year.