Arma 3 first impressions

[almanzo 144]

I will be making a first impression video this weekend, but here is what I have gathered so far.

I'd like to say I am impressed with ARMA III so far. Considering how BI releases have been prior to ARMA III alpha, I was sceptical about ARMA IIIs launch.

I'm really impressed by how well I was able to run it, even though I still feel I need to tweak a bit to get those few extra frames per second I need for a overall smooth experience. I experience some frame drop in vehicles, especially helicopters. I expect this is due to the picture in picture feature, and the physics simulation. But it performs really, really well and way above my expectations.

That being said, a few of my fellow ARMA players in Tier1operations where running hardware monitors, and it seems like it could benefit abit better from what's available. There is room for improvement here, as many of my friends reported using around 30-40 % of their GPU and CPU running the game. So it could be better optimized to be able to utilze all the potential power in peoples rigs.

Graphicly, I think ARMA III is very, very impressive. I feel like it's allmost on par with games like Battlefield 3, and considering how big the maps are in ARMA III, that is quite an achievement. The enviroment is beautiful, and for the first time in the entire ARMA series I am actually enjoying myself during night missions. There is no more pitch darkness where the ground is simply black. The transformation between the sky and the ground feels natural, and it's very beautiful to watch. It's not a pain for your eyes, and it feels much more like real life. It's still difficult to see things, but lightning feels more natural and you don't feel like the darkness is artificial. A very huge improvement from other titles.

The editor is a bit confusing so far, with very little explaination on what the new icons mean and represent. Knowing the editor from before it's possible to learn, but for new players I bet this is a bit confusing. However, it's quite obvious that the editor is far from finished, and I like the potential I see in it. Especially how it introduces a database ingame, and the ability to easily edit briefing and aar in the editor. I hope that you'll get some basic camera tools directly in the editor for the full release of ARMA III, as it would ease mission making alot.

The AI feels alot smarter. They are harder to predict than ARMA II, but that might also be due to my lack of experience with them so far. However, I feel the need to point out that they are somewhat overpowered as they are now. Even at normal, they are able to spot you from very far away, and they don't seem to care about vegitation. I made a quick mission in the editor and placed a squad about 5-600 meters away in a forest. My team where engaged in a matter of seconds, and from where the tracer fire came from, it was quite evident that the AI in no way could actually see us, as the tracers went through leaves more often than not. They are also far to accurate, and their reaction times is abit rediculous at some times.

However, both those issues are quite easily adressed.

The new driving doesn't trigger me as much though. I feel driving is a little bit under responsive and the weight has to much impact. It's very difficult to stay on the road going in 70 km/h, and with speeds above that, the cars are allmost uncontrolable. It takes way to much time to turn at high speeds, but I like finally being able to go faster than 120 km/h.

Lastly, I'd like to talk some about the squad AI. I feel AI allies are a bit more responsive. They lissen abit more, and they reply to you a bit more. I still would like the "break contact" command to have more effect, and I would like to be able to tell them to disengage and run the hell out... But once engaged, they still stick to fights they can't win. Being able to force them out of the fire and movement drill would be high on my wishlist. When I say follow me, I mean follow me. They need to be a bit better at following movement orders. Having them pop smoke when in a tight spot would also be cool, and should be doable.

The AI radio chatter took me by suprise though. Holy cow, you have finally done it! I am amazed by how fluent this has been pulled off. To be honest, I allways thought it worked quite well back in Operation flashpoint, but both ARMA and ARMA II was a step backwards from OFP. In ARMA III however, it really works as intended and I think this is actually very, very impressive. I feel really immersed, and compared to ARMA II, it's like heaven and earth. Totally unexpected and very well done!

Sounds are over all much better and improved over ARMA II. Weapons have more punch, and even though JSRS is still better, it's a huge improvement. I'm not that bothered with the sound quality in the vanilla game though, as mods will most definatly make this better anyhow. For me, it's much more important that features that are not "fixable" by mods works fluently.

Lastly, I'd like to say congratulations BIS, with the most stable, predictable and smooth launch in your history. I'm impressed.

[bart86pl 10]

I'm very impressed so far - the new animations and radio voices are really good, the diving is very fun, and the game runs nice on my PC. Graphically, the game is also great, the new lights and underwater environment are sweet. So big thank you BIS, keep it up!

[pathetic_berserker 4]

Let the goddamn vehicles flip if i overdo it!

That's important, and i mean, really important.

If you feel strongly about it, vote it up http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=799

[bluedrake42 10]

OBXchUjlm-o

[caldrin 1]

Well first impressions are pretty good.

I am running the game maxed out and getting really good fps and for an ARMA game in alpha that is pretty bloody awesome haha :)

as for the game itself.

graphics are amazing I must admit.

Gameplay seems a lot more smooth as well, the movement is a lot better.

A few issues i have are that the running animation looks a bit dodgy and the character speed just seems too fast and I ahve not found a way to sneak around.. but saying that i have not really checked out the key mapping yet :)

Also the under water effects are not the best, exiting the water could put a water decal or somthing on your screen you have it on the binoculars when its raining so you can do somthing similar. Also under the water sems a bit basic whats there looks good but i think more could be done with light shafts and some other things.

Still for an alpha this game s very stable and im looknig forward to seeing what else is to come :)

Good work guys.

So overall for an alpha test this is pretty awesome.

---------- Post added at 08:33 ---------- Previous post was at 08:13 ----------

To be generous, let's assume BIS started working on arma 3 in 2010. That's 3 years of work. The game is set to release in a about half a year. That's roughly 20% development time left until launch.

The entire point of the alpha/beta is to fix bugs, not add new features. If something isn't already included then odds are it won't be in the final release, either. That said, Arma games have always been a rolling beta build, and BIS is constantly working on the game post-launch.

Thats not quite right..

Alpha should be used to test core game engine features, you start off with a few and keep adding more things in and fixing bugs along the way. Beta is basically the final game dont usually add more engine features at this point and is mainly there to test gameplay features.. missions etc etc..

[Maio 293]

Highly impressed so far.

The movement is fluid and the sounds are great.

I had 0 game problems yesterday, and I think I ran the game 8+ hours straight.

My only (rather minor) gripe so far is that they have not included a box for gear and one for accessories.

[waxman 5]

My very brief impressions so far, same few issues as noted by other people (loud gunfire in the distance, unable to shoot some lights etc.) however other than that infantry experience is pretty much exactly as I could have wished it to be if not better.

The only 4 issues I have.

Vehicles are now close to indestructible (hitting a wall at 70kmh a little yellow here and there and I drive off).

Bouncing.. the vehicles drive off road like moon buggies there is the gravity? (reminds me very much of the horrid vehicle experience in masseffect 2).

Swimming this feels to rigid and immediate there is no inertia and it feels like there is no effort to moving.

No way in the inventory to see what types and how many 40mm grenades are equipped.

[caldrin 1]

Vehicles are now close to indestructible (hitting a wall at 70kmh a little yellow here and there and I drive off).

Bouncing.. the vehicles drive off road like moon buggies there is the gravity? (reminds me very much of the horrid vehicle experience in masseffect 2).

Swimming this feels to rigid and immediate there is no inertia and it feels like there is no effort to moving.

YEah i forgot to mention both of those..

[Guest]

Hi Guys,

Not had a chance to play for a large amount of time, but I just want to add to the discussion about vehicle handling, and flipping.

To be honest, adding PhysX is just a small step in making vehicles even remotely realistic in Arma, (A very welcome step that I am happy about), but there is a lot of work to be done.

To the person who has flagged up vehicle flipping, it is not the anti-flip that is the real issue, it is the base physics.

For example, somebody said, to try and roll the car, drive at top speed, and then turn as sharp as possible to try and roll the vehicle. This concept in itself is flawed I am afraid, as in reality, car's do not generally flip when you turn to hard.

Especially in a vehicle like a large, heavy military SUV, all that will happen if you turn at high speed is you will get severe understeer. (Front wheels turn, unable to grip due to speed, car continues forwards despite wheels being turned). Vehicles with a very high centre of gravity will be more prone to flip, but even then, only in certain situations. A large truck with good grip at the wheels making a sharp turn could roll, or a smaller van doing something such as a scandinavian flick, (youtube it it), could cause a roll. However "rolling" in arma 2 is not based off of these laws, so at present, can't really be simulated properly.

The vehicle simulation in Arma is very basic and thus, even the most basic of vehicle handling is not simulated. You can not understeer or oversteer, you can not wheel spin, there is no weight transfer, very basic suspension simulation, no real engine or transmission simulation, etc.

For me, there are a few key ingredients that would transform Arma driving into a much more realistic experience.

Firstly, you need accurately simulated weight, which I am afraid is not really in Arma yet. This would allow the engine to properly simulate vehicle roll and weight transfer. Weight transfer and body roll has a profound effect on vehicle handling simulation. Next, you need realistic suspension physics, again, this would make a huge difference to handling.

Now we need to add tryes, the most important part of any wheel based vehicle. These would need some form of tyre model, and would determine things like grip, slip angles, and various thresholds. A tyre model and weight transfer/body roll would allow cars to drift properly, understeer, oversteer, flip, lose traction, slip sideways down very steep hills, etc.

And also we must not forget correct transmission. (An engine physics model to deal with power, powerbands, torque etc would be very useful for this).

Transmission would mean that the simulated engine would actualy provide power only to specific wheels, which in turn would only grip to their best ability due to the tyre model. Example?

If transmission and tyre model was present, you could try and drive a rear wheel drive, high powered sports car up a steep, dusty hill. The power would go to the rear tyres, the rear tyres would attempt to grip using the tyre model, and ultimately the rear wheels would spin up and lose traction as you try and power up a steep hill.

Now switch to a 4wd military SUV, and the power is sent to all 4 wheels, the tyres grip as they are fit for purpose and the power is distributed better, and the car plows on up the hill.

Now, I know, this is not a vehicle simulation, but I just want to point out that the "anti-flip" is much, much deeper than just a silly line of code. The physics for land vehicles in Arma isn't very complex yet.

I know many of you will say vehicle physics are not very important in Arma, and I totally agree, but for the sake of pointing it out, I just want to say what would be required to make vehicles handle better. And although it sounds very complex, actually it can be achieved. GTA IV has a very impressive physics model and it is no driving simulator. The vehicle config files are quite basic but the result is great.

If Arma 3 can support a realistic flight model, I think maybe in the future, (Arma 4?) we could have a realistic driving model too.

I am sorry for this long, probably non sensicle post, I hope at least somebody understands me lol!

Regards,

Richie.

[StroggCmd 10]

Runs smoothly. People on the forum were hurring it up because of how crap the average framerates in ArmA 2 were, but this game runs very well. Mind you I haven't yet played any insane multiplayer games with tanks, choppers and artillery pounding the surrounding area, but I'm very optimistic.

EDIT: I should probably say that the video settings were on 'high'. I'll try upping them later if I can.

[PaperPlane 1]

Im playin it pretty much maxxed out. Auto detected everything at max. i5-3570k and gtx 670, 8 gigs ddr3 ram. Havin a great time.

Be more specific please, I got the same specs.

[Tvrdi 10]

The sim is awesome. I nevery aspect. For now I only had time to try SP but some mates said MP is somhow verey slow at times. We all have powerfull rigs. SP is smooth for me at 1920x1200 res. My rig is GTX660Ti (2GB) and i7920 OC 3,5Ghz, 6GB RAM...I dont use postprocessing FXAA (only basic AA) and blur. AF lowered a bit. Every other setting at Very high, nothing on ultra. Game looks amazing.

[sunrrrise 14]

First impression? Great!

On my ancient rig (e8400 OC@3,7Ghz, 4GB RAM and GTX460 768MB) I can run it very well (30+ fps) with VD 2200 and everything is set according to HIGH preset. Amazing work guys!

Controls are perfect, grenedes are USABLE right now, everything (except the future setting...) is better here.

Thank you!

[topas 1]

While I still had not enough time to test everything in the Alpha, the 2hrs spent on it yesterday were a very positive experience. The visual upgrades are very welcome and are not too stressing for my rig (autodetect wanted to set everything on low.. but by tweaking each aspect separately I managed to pretty much max out everything without influencing the smooth performance).

One or two small things I noticed in by brief testing session:

- it takes some time (too long) for the player to get hurt by fire - I literally stood on top of a burning car wreck and only after some 5 seconds the first aid icon popped up

- shooting someone in the face from a pistol at point blank range does not kill him... he twitches / bends, some blood stains/injuries appear but he's ok. Took me three shots to kill. (not aiming for the helmet, neck, straight between the eyes)

- AI drivers won't cross bridges

- sometimes it's possible to get stuck (infantry, vehicle) in a middle of a wall (wrong geometry) - concrete canal/ditch in the middle of the main village

That should be all for now. The overal experience is, like I said, very positive. Like the little touches like yawning, forehead scratching and other animations implemented (the new character models are impressive), driving experience has changed in a positive way (only that tyre squeeking gets annoying after some time, especially when you're on tarmac or completely off-road ;)

Keep it up Bohemia, thank you.

[RUKH 0]

I love the new movement setup and weaponhandling, as previously mentioned the sounds need some tweaking for distance.

I will need a new GPU as my 8800GT is getting older than Keith Richards.

[Guest]

Ahh, I remember way back when a friend had an 8800GT, I was so jealous of him as the card was way out of my reach. (I had an Nvidia 7300le at the time, lol)

It sounds so strange to me that the 8800 is old, time flies huh!

Back on topic, anyone notice the great smoke effects after throwing a grenade? I tossed one into the middle of some AI soldiers and hid behind a car. I waited for the explosion and then came out of my cover to investigate, and what I saw was the soldiers laying there, with a crater in the middle of them, with awesome looking smoke rising from the crater and blowing into the wind.

Subtle, but looked awesome!

[Pyronick 21]

The game ironically runs way better than ArmA 2! It does seem to lack the ArmA 2 ambiance, but the improvements certainly make me forget about that!

The vehicle dynamics are GREAT compared to ArmA 2! If almost feels like a simulator in some aspects, it certainly does a better job than most arcade race games. It's a shame that you do hear wheel spin but it's not really there to see. Also, I'm not sure whether or not there is under- and oversteer. Those are the most important driving characteristics of vehicle simulation. I'd really love to see that in the game.

My only gripe is the lack of weapon resting and the vehicle sounds. With the latter I mean you cannot hear the engine pitch change when it's shifting gears and the tyre squeaking on sandy roads.

Edited March 6, 2013 by SgtH3nry3

[icebreakr 3101]

BIS, congratulations from my SBP Team. Standing ovations on alpha, the basics are set - we're excited about the upcoming updates, so far so good! ;)

[Winfernal 2]

Pros:

- Movement is greatly improved. Turning around feels "natural" now. Not like you're stuck in tar.

- Love the UI. Simplified and structured!

- Customization is AWESOME. Gives space for lots of variety. (And mods.)

- Changing attachments on the fly is great. (Bit unrealistic, but still a much wanted feature for me personally.)

- RAGDOLLS! Enough said.

- Animations.

- The visuals! Dynamic lightning, the clouds, underwater, graphics... just great! (Even if i can't run it on highest.)

- WE CAN DIVE! Underwater content, BIG plus! A whole new universe.

- STANCE ADJUSTMENT. Finally! More stances.

- Modding! Hail the modding community!

- Vehicle physichs. Even if there's still work to be done there, it's improved compared to ArmA 2.

- PhysX.

- Gunshots sounds more powerful now.

Cons

- Instant grenade throwing. Let us cook the grenade.

- Again, Vehicle Physichs. It's both pros and cons here. There is work to be done, to say the least.

- Performance. It's better than A2, and it's in Alpha. So i understand.

- Sounds, some atleast. It's something wrong with the range of when you can hear gunshots etc. Vehicle sounds could need an improvement.

All i could think of.

Overall:

GREAT first impression! This took the ArmA series a notch up in my book. The groundstones are set, now let's build the rest to create the most amazing ArmA in the series!

[Lightninguk 0]

First impression? Great! Very nice alpha was expecting a half,baked game that had lots of bugs ,but very happy alpha will post bugs as I find them

[mid 1]

Can´t wait for the finished product!!

[steele6 0]

the game is incredible and everything I wanted! recoil is greater than Arma 2, but it is probably more realistic, and I dont mind. it just makes me crouch more.

the stances are fantastic, and I'll get used to changing them on the fly.

also, I'm still used to pressing G for gear, so I end up blowing up my squad. its funny. I'll get used to that as well.

I'm interested to see what they are going to do with the new wound system

the flying is also pretty cool. is the TOH flight model in the alpha? or not?

[tortuosit 485]

I'm still used to pressing G for gear, so I end up blowing up my squad. its funny. I'll get used to that as well.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to blowing up my squad. :D

Another improvement for me is, scrolling through commands is now at normal speed. In ArmA 2 it was lightning fast and I didn't find a way to fix that.

Edited March 6, 2013 by tortuosit

[topas 1]

One thing that yet came to my mind. Whiel testing yesterday I checked out the civilian pickup model (btw. nice blend of an Audi Q7 with a fictional load bed) and noticed that each time I reload the mission I get a differently textured car. It was ecru, dark grey with some floral design on the back, then vivid orange.

Any word on this being a new feature; random loading of different versions - or will we get to choose the colours and such for ourselves via editor, like it was with previous BI games?

Not that it's bugging me really, just it's something new

[ProfTournesol 956]

One thing that yet came to my mind. Whiel testing yesterday I checked out the civilian pickup model (btw. nice blend of an Audi Q7 with a fictional load bed) and noticed that each time I reload the mission I get a differently textured car. It was ecru, dark grey with some floral design on the back, then vivid orange.

Any word on this being a new feature; random loading of different versions - or will we get to choose the colours and such for ourselves via editor, like it was with previous BI games?

Not that it's bugging me really, just it's something new

Or a digital car painting of 2035 which changes according to the driver's mood :)