New to Arma Series, lost and need advice!

[Vance 1]

I'm late to the Arma II scene. I just saw a video of it and decided I would love to play a modern shooter with realistic bullet physics, squad tactics and the like. However, Arma II is a confusing labyrinth to me, both on the web and in the game. It isn't one of those super-polished self-contained mainstream titles so I'm having trouble getting into it. It's this amorphous mass of game. It feels like I have to wade into it and somehow piece together the whats and hows. :p

I want to get into multiplayer, I don't plan on doing anything in the single-player realm except target practice.

So here are some questions:

1. Should I get the free version of Arma II, the O.A. expansion, or Combined Operations? Where's the action at?

2. Is the multiplayer scene lively?

3. What's the best way of getting into Arma II and learning the ropes?

4. How are online matches organized, how easy are they to join? (Are they PvP or is AI involved?)

5. Do online matches usually require Teamspeak, and are the good ones held privately?

6. I want to train to be an excellent insurgent sniper, I could start out as a spotter. Is this a reasonable goal/occupation?

7. What's the Arma hub? The best place to meet/interact with other players?

8. Is the Arma II scene going strong or has it died down?

9. Why do you play Arma, and what do you love about it?

Feel free to answer any or all of the above. Any pointers or clarifications from the vets would be very helpful, I want to see where the meat of this game is, and if it's for me or not. If it is, I'm looking forward to checking out some sniping books from the local library, and learning the craft. :)

[marker 1]

Combined ops is what you need mate, basically arma ii and arrowhead..

It is available for £10 just now, don't delay, buy it...

Multiplayer scene is very lively, plenty of servers running vanilla to multiple mods.

Join a recognised squad server, or join a squad and they will tech you the rope... I also recommend doing at least one of the campaigns and tutorials.

Some server missions are pvp, some are tvt and some a coop against AI.

Ts3 is a must I would say probably along with acre radio mod.

If you want to be a sniper, check out the tutorial videos on YouTube as this isn't battlefield or cod, we have bullet drop, wind resistance, curvature etc involved in the ballistics.

Someone else can answer the rest..

Check out armaholic for the mods and news, also get either six launcher or p,ay with six for the most popular mods, will help you keep up to date.

I also use arma ii launcher to launch my game with the mods parameters selected.

[dmarkwick 261]

Check out ArmA2 Free & see if you get on with it. It takes about a week in worst cases. And, its free :) (but also the CO package is cheap anyway...)

[jw custom 56]

Notice that ArmA II free lacks high definition graphics, pay version looks 1000 times better. But try the free version and see if you like the style of gameplay and if you do then get ArmA II: Combined Operations like already suggested :cool:

Warning: do NOT enter the mission editor, you will never leave again :p

[Gunter Severloh 3949]

Hi Vance Welcome to Bis forums, and Armaverse!

So here are some questions:

1. Should I get the free version of Arma II, the O.A. expansion, or Combined Operations? Where's the action at?

Suggest you get Arma2Combined Ops as it has Arma2 , and then its expansion which is OA. As mentioned you could always just get Arma2 free, and test the game out--> http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=14588&highlight=ARMA2FREE

2. Is the multiplayer scene lively?

Mp is very strong, all depends to what your looking for. For Mp I'd recommend reading this guide: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?93078-New-to-Multiplayer-%28Read-this-guide%29

3. What's the best way of getting into Arma II and learning the ropes?

Demo, When I first started playing, the game back then in 2001 was OFP (Operation Flashpoint) which was the original game that started it all,

but I kept playing the demo of the game, and go into the editor, plopped down a soldier and some enemies and just tried stuff, try fail, learn, get smarter, repeat, like life ;)

4. How are online matches organized, how easy are they to join? (Are they PvP or is AI involved?)

Read the guide linked above, but matches are not matches but missions, in this game you play on whats called maps, also known as islands too, but we all play missions,

there just many mission types, most missions online you will see are coops, which are basically you me, and a friend or 2 playing againsted the AI in a certain mission.

PVP is small, and theres other types of missions out there too, again read the guide.

5. Do online matches usually require Teamspeak, and are the good ones held privately?

Again no matches, teamspeak is used by anyone, mostly units, clans, and groups, all depends, but the game has a microphone built in.

6. I want to train to be an excellent insurgent sniper, I could start out as a spotter. Is this a reasonable goal/occupation?

Sure it is, but you need to find or build a mission that has a position that you can play, alot of the roles you play inthe game are dictated by what mission you are playing,

as theres missions that come with the game, and then theres missions and 1000's of them I might add made by the community here, the popular missions are Domination,

Evolution, Insurgency, and many others.

7. What's the Arma hub? The best place to meet/interact with other players?

In a coop mission online, or better yet join a Milsim unit, or even a squad, all depends, find a server or two you line, join in and be regular,

if you see regular guys on there then ask a questions or 2.

Also alot of folks here on the forums lookign for others to play with.

8. Is the Arma II scene going strong or has it died down?

Are you serious, its only getting stronger, with Arma3 releasing in the new year, it will only get bigger and stronger, trust me you not need to worry about

this community, quite alot of us have been here since the series started, and the community has grown exponentially. We are a massive modding community and without the mods I think this game would have dwindled down to so many, and not to say the game sucks, or is bad, just saying with all the addons, mods, sound mods, scripts, and missions the community releases on a daily basis, yes daily, I dont see how it could dwindle.

In the past year a mod released called Dayz which only added a huge new player base to the community. Dont worry its not going anywhere!

9. Why do you play Arma, and what do you love about it?

Freedom, the ability to create my own missions, and do whatever I want, as well as the mods, I also love the community, its like a massive family I never had, lol

But being a milsim sandbox game you can shoot any gun, drive any vehicle, fly any plane,chopper, ship, whatever, go anywhere build anything, script, and create,

and do stuff other games only wish they could do!

[Zak1122 1]

I would have to say, I have always enjoyed the Operation Flashpoint genre, and I am very sure this game will not disappoint. I have yet to fully install the game as I have recently got it.

I am an avid gamer of realistic games, especially the FPS types.

I tried the Arma 2 Free when I was able to, (some reason its acting weird... not connecting to the webpage for the free key )...

And if I read it correctly, the free version said it is not HD graphics, what they consider HD must be AMAZING... Seriously it is stunning.

You could compare this to Battlefield 2-3, however it would be like comparing an apple to a tire. Both are round, but one is much more tastier than the other. Don't get me wrong, those games are entertaining, but with this game it would feel teamplay and communication is essential. One-manning a chopper and jumping out in midair in the other games may be considered a daily achievement, but in Arma I would think that would be highly frowned upon.

I know these are not direct answers to your questions, but I would say that so far everyone has answered them as I would... Every aspect of the game would be a positive answer to your question(s).. But I'll take a stab at it.

""1. Should I get the free version of Arma II, the O.A. expansion, or Combined Operations? Where's the action at?

Highly Sugguest the Combined Ops to enjoy the game in FULL... Maps are HUGE when not limited to areas.. can sometimes be overwhelming, in a good sense.

2. Is the multiplayer scene lively?

When I was able to use Arma 2 Free, was packed and I am quite sure it is now.

3. What's the best way of getting into Arma II and learning the ropes?

There will always be manuals and suggestions , however I suggest the in-game tutorials, an learning as you go. Best way to learn is to learn by your own mistakes.

4. How are online matches organized, how easy are they to join? (Are they PvP or is AI involved?)

As other who really know this game better than I, have already answered this question...

5. Do online matches usually require Teamspeak, and are the good ones held privately?

As other who really know this game better than I, have already answered this question...

6. I want to train to be an excellent insurgent sniper, I could start out as a spotter. Is this a reasonable goal/occupation?

I love, love sniping... As anyone who loves FPS type games does, however this goal/occupation in Arma II is going to be a hard one I feel.

Unless have some background in knowledge of sniping as this is very realistic, I think you can even set the specific level of your scope...correct me if I'm wrong.

Training is best!

7. What's the Arma hub? The best place to meet/interact with other players?

I don't know, as of yet... hoping to find that out soon.

8. Is the Arma II scene going strong or has it died down?

I, for one, Do not think it will ever die down.

As long as there are avid gamers like me, who love this type.. it'll stay alive forever.

9. Why do you play Arma, and what do you love about it? ""

(Hope you ment Arma 2. :p)

My goodness, where to start... Graphics, realism, team-play, huge re-playability, Editor (not just map, but, essentially, every bit you can think of you can toy around with to your liking), The map, my lord the map world is HUGE, in-fact, the biggest one I have ever seen in a game, ... and the list goes on.

More for me, I play this for the realism and comradery between other players.... And I have patience and don't feel the need to jump head-on into a firefight, like in many other shooters I have fallen into...

If you would like to team up together, as newbies to the specific game, I am fully willing and waiting for partner(s) to join up with..

Hope this has helped some, from one of those who is not quite a vet to this game type, but has played many similar ones to this, though not exact.

Wishing you good fun on the battlefield and hope to see you around.

~Zak1122

[Vance 1]

Great answers so far!

I was on the fence but now I think this is the game for me.

I'm the type of player that loves the following:

1. Coordinated Teamwork

2. Dedicated & Specialized Roles

3. Realism (RL Tactics)

4. Something that rewards long hours of practice and study...

I fell in love with sims when Rise of Flight came out (WWI Aviation sim). I loved how I could read a book on the principles of flight and use what I learned in the game itself. The realism squads in MP (flying in formation, using air tactics) were awesome. Loved going on a patrol, flying for an hour, and landing without having found any targets. More immersive than 40 arcadey Hawx dogfights.

I have an idea of what I want to focus on, critique it please:

The plan is to familiarize with Arma II and the inf. controls, then start learning the basics of sniping. I couldn't find a good comprehensive sniping book at the local library so I'll have to rely on YouTube tutorials and online resources. Yes, I am well aware that sniping is complex but this is what I've been dying for in a game, BF3 has bullet drop instead of hitscans at least, but you always fire tracer rounds, which makes no sense, plus NO WIND. I want a game that rewards playing a sniper the way snipers operate in RL, i.e. not 360 quickscoping while running through the streets, instead spending a LONG time waiting for a good shot, relocating, rangefinding, blending in, etc.

I sort of have crazy love for the Dragunov, how does it perform in Arma II? I'd like to study and use that whenever possible. I like sticking to one role, one weapon, one faction and mastering that.

I don't mind underpowered as long as it's viable, I can practice long enough to overcome inherent weaknesses.

One last thing: ...are the online PvP missions the rarer type? I prefere to match wits against other humans.

I'll try Arma II Free now, I do think I'm getting C.O. before the week is out. :)

[JetlinerX 1]

I highly doubt you are going to care about my answers since you have had so many already, but as a player of Operation Flashpoint, way back when, I feel I need to help people who are coming in to such a great set of games. So here are my two cents.

1. Should I get the free version of Arma II, the O.A. expansion, or Combined Operations? Where's the action at?

If you are still on the edge on if you really want ArmA or not, or don't know if your computer can handle it (Very high demanding game). PLEASE get the FREE version. It will save you the headache, and get you used to the game to see if you are interested. After that, you can make an educated decision. If you decide to buy it, the only thing you should be getting is ArmA II - Combined Operations. It's what anyone, and everyone uses, esp. if you are going to want to be playing MP.

2. Is the multiplayer scene lively?

Yes, and no. I know this is quite a different answer than the ones above (I think, didn't read them all). The MP scene is lively if you want to get involved with a group. If you are looking for 2 hours of shoot em up, and then you leave to come back again, it's not as likely you will be very happy with the MP. I personally logged most of my hours playing a ton of single player since the start of the genre (OFP) and once I was able to fight real hard AI, I moved into trying to find a good group of guys that would accept me, and we all ran missions together. I have finally settled down with one, but still log most of my hours on Singleplayer with all the user created missions, it's hard to not spend more time there...

3. What's the best way of getting into Arma II and learning the ropes?

Buy it, and spam the Singleplayer. You cant learn any other way. People who say "Jump onto multiplayer" are giving you a one way ticket to manual hair removal via the fist. You will seriously throw your keyboard out a window if you try to learn with a PvP environment. Players are skilled in MP, and this game has a big learning curve depending on what type of games you have played in the past.

4. How are online matches organized, how easy are they to join? (Are they PvP or is AI involved?)

Both, depends on the server. Some do Co-Op vs AI, some do PvP... really depends. There are a good mix of both tho.

5. Do online matches usually require Teamspeak, and are the good ones held privately?

Teamspeak is required for a good clan/squad. There is a mod called ACRE, that simulates radio communication, and speaking to eachother in game. However, you can only hear eachother within a certain distance, which makes it really realistic. That stuff, requires Teamspeak. If you're looking for the get in, play, get out, and find another game another day... you wont need that, you will mostly use in game chat then.

6. I want to train to be an excellent insurgent sniper, I could start out as a spotter. Is this a reasonable goal/occupation?

Why not? Always good to set goals! :)

7. What's the Arma hub? The best place to meet/interact with other players?

This forum for chatting and getting help, and Armaholic for getting the mods for your game. Then go back to this forum if you need help with them. ;)

8. Is the Arma II scene going strong or has it died down?

I would say it's decently strong... probably not incredible if you are used to games like COD, but for a simulation community, it's probably one of the largest. :)

9. Why do you play Arma, and what do you love about it?

Not enough forum space to tell you why I love ArmA... sorry. ;)

[SBKDisco 1]

I read this post because I hoped there would be some information that would help me progress with the game.

Some of the guys who I play online with were talking about ARMA II so I downloaded the free version to try it out. First impressions of the game were good, basic training to learn what keys did what etc is a great idea. What I find difficult is the vast number of different commands, many are the same in most PC games, however in many of the training scenario's an instruction is given without any further information as to how to carry it out. eg: First Aid Training, I went over to the wounded soldier and looked at him and the word drag appeared above him. Eventually I worked out that I needed to press enter. I took hold of him but couldn't move, despite trying my WSAD keys. I ended up leaving basic training none the wiser and went back in a little while later, only to find my WSAD keys allowed me to drag the injured man. That is just one of the instances that frustrated the hell out of me, I play to have fun not get angry because I can't work something out. I thought I'd cracked the HALO Parachute training until the waypoint indicator vanished on my 3rd jump so I missed the LZ, it took me 2 more attempts before I found the LZ without the waypoint marker. It might have helped if I'd known it wouldn't be there after my 2nd jump and what I needed to look for, bearing in mind I'd spent the first jump having no clue what I was doing and the second following the waypoint marker. On the Tank driving, I found myself making corrections constantly because I couldn't instruct the driver to go where the waypoint marker was indicating, made all the more annoying listening to the shouty voice Forward, Faster, Faster, Left, Faster, Left, Left, Faster, Right, Left; shut the hell up!!! After that I was given challenges, reach a speed of 65mph, great, the tank was going uphill at the time and by the time I found some easier terrain I failed the challenge. Likewise "Go in the water for 25 yards, I had no idea which way the water was, a minimap might have helped, failed again. Failed, Failed, Failed..!! None of us likes to fail, even less so when we are trying to have fun. I've never found a game more unhelpful, no tooltips despite being so complicated in terms of the huge number of commands and instructions one needs to learn in order to play.

Before I quit, which is not what I want to do, and consider myself really fortunate that I tried the free version first, are there any Tooltips or other way of getting in game help, at least in the Training sections? If so how do I turn them on, or is there a quick key combination to get me to the Key Commands and Actions screen that will make learning the game easier and less of a pain in the butt?

Thanks for any info, sorry to ask on this thread, however it seemed appropriate to me in light of the op's questions.

Edited December 21, 2012 by SBKDisco

[TenBensons 10]

Its true the controls and interface are the biggest stumbling block when you first get in-game and the tutorials dont really help. What I would suggest is skipping the tutorials altogether and getting in the editor to create a specific scenario whereby you can explore aspects and controls at leisure. As for tooltips there are none really but I can give you some pointers to help out.

1) Yes there are lots of commands/keys which seem confusing, but you will only need to use a few of them depending on the situation.

2) Turn down/off smoothing in the options it helps reduce mouse-lag.

3) Practice with simple scenario's first, the tutorials are very bare and short and are more of a "new features" thing.

4) When you saw "Drag body" it was a context sensitive action that appears for certain actions in the game world - if you press your primary mouse button it will perform the action displayed, no need to press enter.

5) Dont give up. Once you get more familiar with the controls the real fun/joy begins.

6) If you cant make or dont want to make a scenario, then jump in a well populated server and just ask questions, I did and still do (occasionaly);).

[Gunter Severloh 3949]

Hi SBKDisco, Welcome to BIS forums!

I read but a part of what you typed, I suggest when asking for help that you list somethings you want to do, or accomplish and use proper English

etiquette like you learned in school, because one huge paragraph is well I dont want to read it, its an eyestrain.

[iceman77 18]

1.Get CO

2. It can be, depending on what playstyle you have

3. Play the campaign and/or the various single player missions. Maybe tinker in the editor.

4. It depends. The community can create any scenario imagineable, so it depends on if they put AI into the maps they make. (ie for coop)

5. Online games usually have ingame coms. Some use ts,mumble, vent etc. Private games are fun too. Especially some of the PvP campaigns, where you may see 130+ on a server.

6. You should "train" to be good in any role that you may find yourself in. You may not always find yourself in the role you like the most.

7. idk...what is the arma hub? i usually use the BI forums to socialize with the community.

8. The A2 scene, overall has stayed the same for the past years. People come and go. Some come back, others dont. Some never leave. Aside from a certain zombie hiccup, the games doing fine. ( you can ignore that last comment, it's only my opinion)

9. I play Arma, because the gameplay from all of these "new" games that come out, (COD,BF etc) were already old & boring ~15-20 years ago during the quake, marathon and Duke Nukem frenzies :p Basically, I would rather play the original ofp, from over a decade ago, than play another cookie cutter game. I will say, BF3 can be pretty fun, for a short time. Then it gets boring after 2 or 3 maps. It is a good game to play right before you have to step out the door.Plus you never know what to expect when playing A2. The freedom to go into the editor and make any imagineable scenario happen. The amount of addons & mods is ridiculous. Plus the community here is alot better than any "mainstream" game out there.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iceman77