Share your first Arma3 Beta Impressions (all first impression type posts here pls)

[jonneymendoza 10]

In a word: "SOLID"! For an Alpha, the simulator is awesome. On a scale of 1 to 10, this Alpha gets a 9.8. I participated in the BF3 Alpha back in July of 2011 and that was a true Alpha....bugs everywhere....game crashing all the time.... hackers on many servers. But the ArmA 3 Alpha is running like a final release. BTW, it took 2 months for Dice to iron out most of the Bugs after its release date. So far, BIS is ahead of the Curve. They have the chance to release something very special this Summer / Fall if they get it right. We are supporting you BIS.

That is how I feel . This plays more like a released game . I have seen and played buggier games at launch. This is very solid indeed.

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[jonneymendoza 10]

Can't say I'm very impressed.I do like very much some of the changes like the customization,the ragdolls and the pretty graphics,but on the AI front I still see some problems since OFP era.My patience really runs out when I still see AI convoys still a mess or AI drivers running over their friendlies.You had the excuse in OFP and A1 that no one made this kind of game and programming good AI was a challenge.

Ok with that,but A2 came and had the same problems with different excuse,BI said that AI was a mess because some of their devs who made the AI left the company.

Now here comes 2013 with the same crap.Nope,no excuse stands anymore.I don't want AI drivers to take tactical driving courses or some very complicated maneuvers,I just want them to drive from A to B without stopping/waiting/moving/repeat and if possible not to run over some poor friendly AI.Since 2001 you had plenty of time,although I can see that you improved infantry behaviour,your AI drivers when grouped are still in the stone age taking lessons from Barney Rubble.

I realize it's called Alpha not Final Arma 3,but we had the same discussion in Ofp/A1/A2 and people said "don't worry they'll patch it" so I'm willing to bet this will be the same in final version.

I didn't even moved yet to AI flying.I have a feeling that those armed birds are still firing a few shots then flying exactly over the entrenched enemy instead of keeping distance and engaging from there(you know like every normal armed chopper does).

Name us a game that has better none scripted ai?

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[marcai 1]

Name us a game that has better none scripted ai?

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I've signed up to the forums just to respond to this question, and the answer is, the majority. I love the Arma series, but it's always been plagued by sub-par AI with mind-bending accuracy over long distance. Why, just yesterday I was trying to get three of my AI into a vehicle they were stood next to. They ran around it twice before one got in the front seat, another declared it was a no-can-do now that the first one had taken his spot, whilst the third ran to a nearby rock and refused to move for the rest of the game. Later in the same game, my AI medic also decided that they were never going to move ever again and hugged a tree.

Later in the same game, I approached an enemy patrol. They spotted us from 600m and one-shot my only allied player with an assault rifle, whilst he was driving a car. We bailed out, my AI laid down where they were and when told to move to nearby cover did so at walk pace, on their bellies. When I finally got close to the enemy AI team, they walked straight past me and faced the other way, not reacting until I'd popped two in the backs of their heads.

My point is the AI flips between incredibly skilled to not having a clue. From running between buildings to standing with their backs to windows. If there was one thing to blemish my playing of Arma 3 -or Arma 2 for that matter- it's the poor AI. The game so far is bloody fantastic, if a bit unoptimised in large battles. The AI needs to match that, or else it condemns it to being a purely PvP game.

[jonneymendoza 10]

I've signed up to the forums just to respond to this question, and the answer is, the majority. I love the Arma series, but it's always been plagued by sub-par AI with mind-bending accuracy over long distance. Why, just yesterday I was trying to get three of my AI into a vehicle they were stood next to. They ran around it twice before one got in the front seat, another declared it was a no-can-do now that the first one had taken his spot, whilst the third ran to a nearby rock and refused to move for the rest of the game. Later in the same game, my AI medic also decided that they were never going to move ever again and hugged a tree.

Later in the same game, I approached an enemy patrol. They spotted us from 600m and one-shot my only allied player with an assault rifle, whilst he was driving a car. We bailed out, my AI laid down where they were and when told to move to nearby cover did so at walk pace, on their bellies. When I finally got close to the enemy AI team, they walked straight past me and faced the other way, not reacting until I'd popped two in the backs of their heads.

My point is the AI flips between incredibly skilled to not having a clue. From running between buildings to standing with their backs to windows. If there was one thing to blemish my playing of Arma 3 -or Arma 2 for that matter- it's the poor AI. The game so far is bloody fantastic, if a bit unoptimised in large battles. The AI needs to match that, or else it condemns it to being a purely PvP game.

I get what you are saying but you got to understand the complexity of the ai. It is dynamic unlike other games. This is why I am waiting on someone to tell me a game that's similar in complexity that offers better ai?

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[andressergio 1]

That is how I feel . This plays more like a released game . I have seen and played buggier games at launch. This is very solid indeed.

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not even close to that man, game has lots of FPS probelms and optimizations lacks of lots of things

[krycek 349]

I get what you are saying but you got to understand the complexity of the ai. It is dynamic unlike other games. This is why I am waiting on someone to tell me a game that's similar in complexity that offers better ai?

This "no one else does it like them" excuse it's really getting old.Maybe it was ok in the past games but when all your games suffers (check the CCGM forums too) from the same identical problem and you fail to find at least a decent solution it's not excusable anymore.They don't do this since yesterday and this isn't something specific that showed up only in A3 Alpha.

I'm not blind and I can surely appreciate what BI offers with their line of games in this age of derpefied games.

Like I said I never expected them to do some very complicated stuff,I just wanted them to drive from A to B without running over friendlies or stay in convoy.The same with the flying part and keeping safe engaging distance for gunships.

Unless suddenly Arma is all about medieval times with the focus on marching soldiers,having workable driving and flying AI is a must for this kind of game.

Yes at it's core is an infantry sim with the other branches in a support role,this doesn't mean they should barely work.

Do you realize how silly it looks to disembark my other 3 AI drivers just to get in each of the vehicles to help them cross the bridge or getting their vehicle unstuck from a stone(yes a bloody stone,from the whole enviroment he decided to hop that stone)??

Or me being the lead vehicle and just waiting because the second vehicle decided to stop and confusing the whole convoy and the same thing happening after 100m again.Don't get me started if you're trying to cross a town with 4 vehicles.Or when a vehicle is grouped with a squad and one of them gets run over and bit later another 2 bite the dust because we have Mad Max on the wheel and so on.

If these were isolated cases I would just say ok no biggie I could easily overlook this.

Like Marcai said this isn't a mp only game,if you're doing complex missions you need to delegate tasks to your AI buddies.

Unless you like to do the whole one army man thing this is affecting your missions.It also doesn't warm me one bit that "it has unscripted AI" while one of them is stuck in a ditch,another is trying to cross a stone for 5 mins already and another one is busy doing enemy job and running over his teammates.Don't you think while their games grew up in complexity the AI should at least keep the pace too?

[Kaibz 1]

Just got an invite for the alpha lite and i was so sure i was going to play a few minutes and then go buy it on steam....however i have been soo disapointed that i just won't buy it. The one thing i really needed, after playing Arma2, was no negative mouse acceleration, and now i'm so pissed of that it's still there in Arma3 even after tweaking every possible settings in the game, so i realised it's actually a feature. So no buy for me but i wish BIS all the best anyway.

[jimmythesquid12 1]

I was blow away by the smooth responsive controls, and i loved the green styling. Very smart. Seems like a new approach has been taken with this.

One thing if you wanna sell arma 3 big time, try developing wasteland yourself mabye make it not lag like a ****

[LaLiLuLeLo 1]

Arma 3 is the first one for me in the Arma series, and bein an old OFP fan (played it from release till '06-07) my first impression of the Alpha was nostalgic to say atleast. I cant really complain about anything, since its an Alpha, and I just love it all the way so far. I have already played for 65 hours, and I cant even start to imagine how many more I will put down into this game in the future.

[Illusion_cz 10]

The Alpha just blows me away. Far beyond my expectations. And I'm truly amazed of graphics. The game is very smooth and CQB is is much better then it was in Arma 2. Physics (cars) needs some changing but I believe its gonna change in beta or in full game.

Keep up the good work. The game is amazing!

[Enrico 1]

Is interesting to see how a game can to be seen by players so differently.

Perhaps the desire to have ArmA 3 clouds the view without thinking about what you have just installed?

Or maybe just not having paid, but downloaded on various sites pirates or the Lite version, could forget that it was not given any financial assistance for the development of this game, and therefore, the feedback with many thanks are not relevant and out of place?

Say what you like about ArmA 3 alpha is quite easy, there are 16 pages of it.

But the problem is to understand and know what to expect from tons of bugs, and things still missing, including the alpha version and what will then --- Official ArmA 3.

I honestly cant see the product still playable and enjoyable, and anything that may or may not like now, it can be completely different from the official version.

Then make a judgment it' not yet possible,now, and say thank you .... having done our duty to help them financially with something yet undefined ..... less than ever!

I just hope that our trust is rewarded in the moment of truth, that is, to its output.

The final verdict will be right just after install ArmA 3 Official Edition ....without apology!

Regard

Edited March 16, 2013 by Enrico

[akai 2]

It seems that runs smoother than arma 2, mid range and assaults are more fluid than arma 2.

Drawback: Too much futuristic (personal opinion)

[Exakt785 1]

Good for an Alpha, can't wait to see more as the game progresses.

[chortles 263]

Just got an invite for the alpha lite and i was so sure i was going to play a few minutes and then go buy it on steam....however i have been soo disapointed that i just won't buy it. The one thing i really needed, after playing Arma2, was no negative mouse acceleration, and now i'm so pissed of that it's still there in Arma3 even after tweaking every possible settings in the game, so i realised it's actually a feature. So no buy for me but i wish BIS all the best anyway.

I have no idea what you found, because it seems like almost everyone else has found the mouse acceleration to be normal/disabled, no negative mouse acceleration.

[rami 2]

I like it so far in singleplayer (showcases & editor)

Smooth as hell!

Runs alot better than arma 2 !

Love the option to change clothes and items with such an ease.

A bit futuristic but not to much. Fucking hate the ugly helmets RED team have..who would wear that? Feels like, if it was real life, no one would wear it due to uhm.. clumpsy? clumpsiness? I have no idea how to spell that word.

Stupid AI thought.. but its alpha. I wish they would go into cover (playing on "elite") and make use of all the buildings!

I really hate how they lay down on the middle of the road :mad:

Multiplayer hm.

Still a mess, due to annoying people. Havn't really had a chance to enjoy it so far on a good server.

I fucking hate people.. gaaaaaaaaaahhhh !! teleporting, scripting and all that shit they do just for a laugh.

bleh whatever, useless post.

[FriZY_SK 9]

Overall impression from alpha is very good.

+ very good optimalized, game can runs on same HW as you played ArmA2

+ much better sound effects than in A2

+ models and textures are on high level

- very small island. Land has maybe 6km2 and just 2 towns!!! if you compare Chernarus from A2 which has 30km2 of land and many towns then it is big difference.

- I dont like futuristic content of game (mi24,abrams,A-10 and many others ... are missing :( ) So, I hope that these toys will be in full game or some next expansion pack

Edited March 18, 2013 by [FF]FriZY

[bn880 5]

n

The Bad:

-Ai glitches in the ground from a distance

I believe that is intentional, it is the grass/foliage layer providing concealment at longer ranges. Because rendering that much grass at a distance would bring everyone's systems to their knees.

[ade74 10]

First impressions of the alpha are really good - visually it's great. and I can run pretty much all settings maxed at 1920x1080 on a 2-year old PC. There's obviously a lot of optimisation going on because it runs a lot smoother than Arma II. The post-processing on the graphics looks less exaggerated to me than in Arma II as well. Lighting and shadows are better as well.

Weapons feel good, there's a sense of impact when firing a rifle and the sounds are top notch. AI speech is a big improvement and sounds a lot less robotic. I like that you can pretty much jump straight into the game if you've played Arma before.

The new vehicle physics seem good, I like the way the vehicles bounce and roll in response to your driving without it feeling exaggerated - it feels like there's more of a connection between the player and the vehicle.

The map seems good, though Arma games always have great maps - nice to see the standard being kept up, and I can't wait to see what the larger maps are like.

The future setting is an interesting direction - Arma II covers present day conflict pretty well, and it means the game will feel like something genuinely new as opposed to just a re-tread of its predecessors - interesting to see concepts of near-future equipment.

So far there doesn't really seem to be anything to dislike, and plenty to feel excited about. I think selling the alpha in this way is a really nice idea, knowing that not only do we get our hands on a working build early, but that we'll see all the updates and changes, the beta and finally the full release. Thanks BIS! And amazing to see the modding community has already got started - thanks modders!

[coffeeshock 20]

The entire landscape is stunningly beautiful and the BLUFOR units look amazing, especially their helmets aren't too futuristic, just perfect, unlike the OPFORs.

Wind affecting dust and smoke etc, especially bullet impacts, is something I've always wanted to see in a video game, it looks fantastic!

Weapons look good too, I really love the MX design, but the change to caseless 6.5 ammo is very disappointing and a huge turn off for me personally, it's too futuristic and not seeing shells ejected when units around you are shooting (or in 3rd Person view) appears like some laser gun sci-fi game or a very cheap old game where they simply "forgot" to add ejecting shell casings...It's the only thing I really dislike about Arma 3 so far...

I'd recommend a simple graphics option to turn off all visible shell casings for those who want to "imagine" caseless future ammo, or at least add the MX series with the standard case 6.5 ammo which it had in the E3 demo.

Can't say much about the performance since I am still using a pretty old AMD quad-core. But it runs decent enough to test things out until the final release version...

[charliemilk 10]

On a multiplayer server playing the domination map at night with night vision I felt like I was playing ARMA II with a couple of vehicle and gun mods. Except it was more laggy.

[Crazy Gentleman 1]

I think it's the best Military Simulation right now, although there are not much I can think of.

Cons:

- The Graphics are amazing. Can be compared with BF3.

- Physics are a great add-on for the game. It gives it much more realism.

Pros:

- It's of course still in Alpha, and could take long before it's finally finished.

- AI isn't that great YET.

[dnk 13]

After an hour or two of messing around in SP...

The Good

1. The skies are a LOT nicer - huge improvement in that part of the environment.
   
2. The AI seems a lot better at handling MOUT situations, though with big gaps still.
   
3. I like the added weather controls and clarity.
   
4. The lighting is gorgeous. Seems like a big improvement, and without all the 'overly dynamic PP' that A2 had.
   
5. The new stances are cool.
   
6. The new inventory system is more modular, which I like.
   

The Bad

1. The terrain is still fairly lacking, and the rocks look out of place - poor blending in with the surrounding terrain.
   
2. There appear to be no rivers still - extremely lame for a hyper-realistic milsim to have no inland water.
   
3. The AI is up to its usual stupid all the same.
   
4. The new inventory system is also a bit of a headache and harder to use than the old one (scrolling?).
   
5. Some bugginess with controls, but that's to be expected.
   
6. The island is pretty sparse and lacking in settlement.
   
7. The weaponry - I'm sure they'd still have early 21st century weaponry around, much like we still have decades-old weapons around, and certainly older models still in production. Do I really want to play with fake future weapons? No. -1 again on 'hyper-realism' when you're in scifi land.
   

[Blaf 1]

So, i have tried (the lite version) and:

+Much more fluent and responsive experience than in previous titles

+stances

+sounds (finally feeling like actually firing a gun)

+diving (automatic rifle fishing!)

+previous terrible physics are finally gone

+clouds

-obsolete hitpoint damage model still there (including the fact that vehicles looks intact until actual destroying , and then suddenly turns into black wreck with fireball in the middle)

-vehicle physics are very... approximate

-helicopter physics are even less than that (hope the ToH FM will make it to final release)

-particle effects are still quite cheap (same as in Arma 2)

-that TrueSky issue with clouds being deformed close to the edge of a screen.

[chortles 263]

TOH flight model is planned for later, it didn't make it to alpha because the alpha is infantry centric, beta is for vehicles.

[guusert 1]

Incredibly bad performance in the multiplayer.