Can play MP with Alpha Lite?

[Yairweinberg 1]

I am still curious how a alpha-version with the tiny island can ever be a free A3 full version, only by adding MP-functions.

So... You want to be slapped now or later? What the hell do you think we have? The only difference between the lite version and the full version is the multiplayer and some editing tools. If we get more stuff like the other place and tanks & jets than I will support a multiplayer in the lite version.

Now I think we had enough of this BS, If any moderator can please lock this thread and throw it out of the window it will be fantastic.

[doveman 7]

I think everyone's being a bit harsh here. People who've pre-ordered A3 now have done just that, not bought the Alpha, they just happen to get access to the Alpha and Beta so that they can help debug it for BIS ;)

There's a ton of content missing from the Alpha, so giving Alpha-lite players MP access wouldn't be giving them the same as what you've paid for, because you've paid for the full game on release and no-one's suggesting that Alpha-lite players should be given a full copy of the game on release (or even necessarily Beta access).

For me, Arma is all about the MP (I gave up on SP as it's ridiculously complicated setting up the different mods for each and every mission) so I'd have liked to see if that works well before buying A3 and I'm not prepared to pay £20 only to find it's just as badly performing as A2 (currently it seems to handle AI and CPU/GPU load even worse, yeah, I know it's Alpha!) so I'll just have to keep an eye on the forums to see if BIS manage to get it running decently. I won't be paying full price for it, so if I have to wait a year or two for it to go on sale so be it and hopefully a lot more bugs will be ironed out and content available by then anyway.

Frankly, I'm still having problems with A2 that I haven't received any assistance with and that lack of support doesn't really make me want to buy A3 anyway.

[zoog 18]

First, start accepting that this is an alpha, so it's like an early treat, a bonus, something we can do and help with DURING development.

Secondly, if you want multiplayer so desperately for free, simply wait for the demo once the full game is released (assuming there will be a demo like arma 2, which had multiplayer as well).

So you can play now, for free (with a limited alpha), if you don't want to wait you can pre-order with a massive discount and get full alpha access, or if you can wait you will eventually get access for free with the demo including multiplayer. Every choice has different trade offs. You either have limited access, you have to pay money or you have to wait. The choice is up to you what you prefer. You can't have all the benefits at the same time, just like in real life.

A) freeriding (limited access, no MP)

B) paying / preorder (full access)

C) waiting (free demo MP access)

Edited March 19, 2013 by zoog

[byrgesen 1]

Well, then you wait for a more stabil release, insted of complaining you dont get it for free.

And please stop thinking the Lite has anything to do with the actual testing of the game, its a free demo dammit.

Its only ment as a glimse, just be happy its there all together....

Some people, seriously.

Support the developer and buy the game, you even get a discount if you buy it now, or go away for some months and come back when its closer to the full game.

[doveman 7]

:rolleyes:

[Masharra 10]

or you know sail away.... like some people have and punish/ ridicule the people who ask for a legit means of multiplayer

[chortles 263]

There is a legit means of multiplayer, it's called "buy the game".

[Mirudes 1]

[snip] And all these invited players will be play also in multiplayer. But only on the server, which hosts their inviter. Until the full game..

Well, that's a practicable idea, probably even for the upcoming beta or the demo (*).

- The players with the license is automatically Admin on his server.

- Same restrictions: No mods allowed, limited editor and so on.

(*) By the way, I believe that a demoversion of A3 should be the same like a restricted "A3play4Free" what we have seen in ArmA2. It is just to complicated to create a standalone demo, what will be outdated after 2 weeks. Let there be a Free4Play version with multiplayer and keep it up to date with the usual A3-Patches.

[snip] Though here might be tehnical problems. New server browser and really something, what don't allow all those kids get on other servers and to make other bad stuff, which are too terrible to describe. IMO.

I agree, but I have to say it one more time: It's actually only the licensed Player who have access to the multiplayer.

And starting the release of the A3-Alpha without BattlEye (or any Steam-protection) appears to be unbelievable to me.

[Joker911 1]

I bought the game, and gave out my invites. The majority of people, who get Lite invites are people who do not already know about BI, or the ArmA series. And odds are, if they dont already know, they aren't the right caliber people that i want playing in my server.

The day Arma 3 Lite has full MP access to any yahoo who can click download, is the day I find a new game to dedicate my time and money to.

[kremator 1065]

Nothing to see here - move along.

Cough up the money if you like what you see with Lite

Trust me, MP is where it is at ! Will be money well spent!

[Mirudes 1]

(I gave up on SP as it's ridiculously complicated setting up the different mods for each and every mission)

Well, the limits to manage and start your mods is basically the same anyway, either for MP or SP.

This is going to be offtopic because the Alpha-Light comes without mod-capabilities for a reason.

- ArmA3 lacks of a modstarter, that recognizes already installed mods.

- There needs to be a updater for all installed mods, let there be it community-mods or official DLCs.

- The mods needs to follow common conventions and must have digital signatures.

- Auto-mod-start for singleplayer (It's just a restart)

- Acting like a online-filter for missions you want to play (with already installed mods) or

-- Missing mods you need to update/download first before you can play the multiplayer-mission.

- The capability to assign keystrokes and recognize conflicting shortcuts in mods.

- ...you can add more.

[snip] I'm not prepared to pay £20 only to find it's just as badly performing as A2 (currently it seems to handle AI and CPU/GPU load even worse, yeah, I know it's Alpha!) so I'll just have to keep an eye on the forums to see if BIS manage to get it running decently. I won't be paying full price for it, so if I have to wait a year or two for it to go on sale so be it and hopefully a lot more bugs will be ironed out and content available by then anyway.

Frankly, I'm still having problems with A2 that I haven't received any assistance with and that lack of support doesn't really make me want to buy A3 anyway.

I am sorry to hear that. This is actually the first time that I hear from a A3-alpha-light-tester that the game doesn't run.

Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.6Ghz, 16GB DDR3, MSI 990FXA-GD80, 2GB 6950 (unlocked to 6970, 900/1350Mhz), Win7 x64 Ultimate

Your hardware-specs looks so nice! Have you ever run the A2-benchmark missions?

[skelebob9 2]

- ArmA3 lacks of a modstarter, that recognizes already installed mods.

- There needs to be a updater for all installed mods, let there be it community-mods or official DLCs.

ArmA 3 has a mod starter. Go in-game with your mods installed (make sure to name your mod folders properly!) and press options, then expansions. All your installed mods are there!

And there is an updater, it's called the human brain. You're not too stupid to log on to forums.bistudio.com or ArmAholic and check if your mod needs updating. Automatic updaters are just for the lazy. Same with DLCs; log on to BIStudio.com or ArmAholic and check. Or if you bought with Steam, you'll automatically update anyway.

[Mirudes 1]

There is a legit means of multiplayer, it's called "buy the game".

You need an update!

The new multiplayer is: FREE2PLAY AND PAY2WIN.

What games are predestinated for this? Right!

Games on Steam.

Modable games.

Games like ArmA.

I bought the game, and gave out my invites. The majority of people, who get Lite invites are people who do not already know about BI, or the ArmA series. And odds are, if they dont already know, they aren't the right caliber people that i want playing in my server.

The day Arma 3 Lite has full MP access to any yahoo who can click download, is the day I find a new game to dedicate my time and money to.

Time has changed, BI made a step to Steam. They will loose a handful of players but will sell millions of new licences there. I don't want to come over like a troll but you better start to deal with it. You can reach the new alpha/beta/demo-testers or the Free4Play-players now or you loose them later to the standalone DayZ on Steam.

Requirement: MP function!

DealWithIt.jpg

[byrgesen 1]

You need an update!

The new multiplayer is: FREE2PLAY AND PAY2WIN.

What games are predestinated for this? Right!

Games on Steam.

Modable games.

Games like ArmA.

Time has changed, BI made a step to Steam. They will loose a handful of players but will sell millions of new licences there. I don't want to come over like a troll but you better start to deal with it. You can reach the new alpha/beta/demo-testers or the Free4Play-players now or you loose them later to the standalone DayZ on Steam.

Requirement: MP function!

DealWithIt.jpg

OMG the attitude.

Who are you to tell BI what to do like that lol. Have some respect for a company that DOES NOT buckle over from the pressure of "kids" like yourself...

This is one game that will NOT be pay2win or free2play. I have dont know what hole you crawled out of, but thoose two factors doesnt usually equal great quality tbh...

And FYI i will bet my life the SA will get released under the same model as Arma, Rocket have said so many times now.... jeeez!!! Are you saying you will be back complaining when the SA comes out and you have to pay for that too?? oO

EDIT:

Ok came back once i cooled abit off and edited the post so it wasnt so offensive, but this guy is to much lol.

Edited March 19, 2013 by Byrgesen

[upredictable 10]

My God!! OP , u want to play Multiplayer, just pay it .Start to deal with it.

[ProfTournesol 956]

There is a legit means of multiplayer, it's called "buy the game".

Exactly.

So much trolling here...

[Joker911 1]

OP, I believe the game you are referring to is Called "Planetside 2" not Arma 3.

Its Free to play, Pay to win, and is on steam. I believe that meets the qualifications you listed for a "good game" Please, go play to your hearts content, but leave our beloved MILITARY SIMULATOR, not a game, alone.

[fatalitywolf 1]

You need an update!

The new multiplayer is: FREE2PLAY AND PAY2WIN.

What games are predestinated for this? Right!

Games on Steam.

Modable games.

Games like ArmA.

Time has changed, BI made a step to Steam. They will loose a handful of players but will sell millions of new licences there. I don't want to come over like a troll but you better start to deal with it. You can reach the new alpha/beta/demo-testers or the Free4Play-players now or you loose them later to the standalone DayZ on Steam.

Requirement: MP function!

DealWithIt.jpg

wow you dont know what your talking about and do you relises your gonna have to buy DayZ and its not going to be free

[doveman 7]

Well, the limits to manage and start your mods is basically the same anyway, either for MP or SP.

This is going to be offtopic because the Alpha-Light comes without mod-capabilities for a reason.

- ArmA3 lacks of a modstarter, that recognizes already installed mods.

- There needs to be a updater for all installed mods, let there be it community-mods or official DLCs.

- The mods needs to follow common conventions and must have digital signatures.

- Auto-mod-start for singleplayer (It's just a restart)

- Acting like a online-filter for missions you want to play (with already installed mods) or

-- Missing mods you need to update/download first before you can play the multiplayer-mission.

- The capability to assign keystrokes and recognize conflicting shortcuts in mods.

- ...you can add more.[/Quote]

Totally agree. I suggested automatic mod management for A2 SP and MP ages ago and there's a thread discussing it here with a lot of good ideas, so you might want to continue sharing your ideas there as it is OT for this thread.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?120878-Automatic-Mod-Downloading&p=2244097&viewfull=1#post2244097

I am sorry to hear that. This is actually the first time that I hear from a A3-alpha-light-tester that the game doesn't run.[/Quote]

That's not what I said. I said I have problems with A2

Your hardware-specs looks so nice! Have you ever run the A2-benchmark missions?

They're not actually much good for A2 as apparently it requires a very fast CPU rather than a decent CPU with multiple cores, mainly for the AI, so apparently an Intel CPU at 4-5Ghz is needed for smooth play. I have run the E08 benchmark several times and this is an example of my results:

29 FPS. VD 3000, Texture V. High, Video Memory - Default, AF - V.High, AA - Low, Terrain - V.Low, Objects - V.High, Shadows - High, HDR - Normal, PP - Normal, Vsync Disabled, ATOC & PPAA - Disabled.

but playing both SP campaigns and MP I've seen my fps drop right down to 17fps. With the MP this may have been due to the server as I understand that the client fps is affected by the server fps, although I don't recall everyone complaining about it, only a few players.

ArmA 3 has a mod starter. Go in-game with your mods installed (make sure to name your mod folders properly!) and press options, then expansions. All your installed mods are there!

And there is an updater, it's called the human brain. You're not too stupid to log on to forums.bistudio.com or ArmAholic and check if your mod needs updating. Automatic updaters are just for the lazy.

No, automatic mod activation/downloading is for those who want to get on and play the game, rather than faffing around trying to find out which mods a mission requires and manually activating them and then having to go through the same process every time they want to play a different mission. Frankly you just sound ridiculous saying that a list of mods which the user has to manually activate is a "mod starter" and that there is an updater in ArmA and it's "called the human brain".

Doesn't seem like there's many reasonable people in this thread willing to discuss the issues sensibly, rather than just rant and throw abuse at people.

[Devil_Inside 10]

OP is a troll that wants to play a game without paying for it

[doveman 7]

OP is a troll that wants to play a game without paying for it

No, he requested being able to test the multiplayer with Alpha Lite, not to be given a copy of the full game for free when it's released. I think it's perfectly reasonable to want to play a demo of a game before buying it and as ArmA is so MP orientated, only a MP-demo is useful. You haven't paid for Alpha access, you've been allowed to pre-order the full game at a reduced price in return for helping to test and debug the game for BIS. It's a reasonable trade but if Alpha-lite users were allowed to also help test and debug, they'd effectively be doing it for no reward as they won't be getting a reduced-price copy of A3 in return, so in effect they'd be working for free and thus being more generous to BIS, as opposed to Alpha users who are getting something in return for their work.

You must think that BIS are troll lovers for releasing A2-Free I guess :rolleyes:

[ProfTournesol 956]

No, he requested being able to test the multiplayer with Alpha Lite, not to be given a copy of the full game for free when it's released. I think it's perfectly reasonable to want to play a demo of a game before buying it and as ArmA is so MP orientated, only a MP-demo is useful. You haven't paid for Alpha access, you've been allowed to pre-order the full game at a reduced price in return for helping to test and debug the game for BIS. It's a reasonable trade but if Alpha-lite users were allowed to also help test and debug, they'd effectively be doing it for no reward as they won't be getting a reduced-price copy of A3 in return, so in effect they'd be working for free and thus being more generous to BIS, as opposed to Alpha users who are getting something in return for their work.

You must think that BIS are troll lovers for releasing A2-Free I guess :rolleyes:

But as the game is far from being released, the alpha is far from being a demo.

[doveman 7]

But as the game is far from being released, the alpha is far from being a demo.

Indeed but certainly Alpha-lite seems to be presented as a demo, to allow users to see how it runs on their systems, so it would seem reasonable to allow users to see how the MP side of things runs on their systems. As Alpha-lite users are currently not able to contribute much in terms of testing, it's hard to see what purpose Alpha-lite currently serves other than as a demo.

[byrgesen 1]

Indeed but certainly Alpha-lite seems to be presented as a demo, to allow users to see how it runs on their systems, so it would seem reasonable to allow users to see how the MP side of things runs on their systems. As Alpha-lite users are currently not able to contribute much in terms of testing, it's hard to see what purpose Alpha-lite currently serves other than as a demo.

The main purpose is for the people who bought the game to give it to friends so they can see if it runs fine and if it could spark an interest.

It is not for testing at all, its just for 1 hour of gameplay to try some basic new elements in Arma and to see if you computer can run it and you might be interested.

You are obviously here because you like it, or else you would be so persistant in getting more for free...

Get over yourself, thinking a Lite version, or even a demo is for testing. If you want to test support the developer and buy the game.

Its very very simple and just because EA or what ever other "mainstream" developer does something, doesnt mean everybody has to do the same.

[TSAndrey 1]

Its Free to play, Pay to win, and is on steam.

It's not Pay to Win. It's just a lot of farming