Anyone else concerned about ARMA 3 launch September?

[Bee8190 10]

Yes, that magical silver bullet that BIS hopes will make people forget about all the broken promises! It's an island, larger than Stratis, but with a similar setting, environment, etc.

So Altis? One word, big deal!

Meanwhile there'll be no campaign, AI is still useless, a single JET to fly over Altis, vehicle handling is poor, helo flight model is the same as ARMA2, vehicles have no proper armour system, vehicles have poor destruction models, pointless underwater combat, still useless AI commanding interface.

Seems not much has changed from ARMA2 other than graphics and animations.

Vehicle handling needs some tweaking aright but it's not poor. Hunter and Marshall are decent enough. I agree though that vehicle physx and terrain interaction is still gamey as hell.

[Anachoretes 10]

but it's not poor

We have phisics now. Something was done from zero, something changed, but already better than it was.

[call_911 10]

Givin BI excellent history of patching/fixing game issues am not worried at all. ArmA1 wasn't a flop at release but needed more love, ArmA2 the same can be said, an yes be thankful they'll continue supporting it versus other game devs who merely release an call it good an than drop all support. Like someone said not mention all the goodies that will come as mod an usermade patches etc.

[daskunk 1]

I thought this was going to happen after the second livestream event (Combined Arms) I saw the goal posts shift then so i am not surprised in the lack of content or features that were announced before beta launch.

The community has been crying out for features from the launch that just haven't been addressed at all by BIS, silence in fact !!

I have supported BIS and now feel that their lack of information on certain subjects is going to make me think twice in the future before i consider buying anything before release.

As for the game being ready for full launch, I cant say how disappointed I am at the current state of the game, I was really looking forward to the launch that would of cleared a lot of issues up. Now sadly I think this will now make me feel worse.

I understand commercial commitments and all, I just hope this doesn't do more harm than good. It is a great game and fortunately it has an even greater community behind it, I have no doubt that all will be good in the end, just a case of how long.

I really hope tonights livestream event will go well and also help reinforce my appreciation for the game and the dev team.

Skunk

[chortles 263]

As someone who's been following the extent of maritime simulation in Arma 3 since alpha, I can tell you that PhysX implementation is improved over Arma 2... just really, really in a "bits and pieces, over time" way.

[katipo66 94]

I'm sure BIS have done there best and if anything has been left out then there's obviously good reason so no point getting upset, its just the way it is, we should just be thankful there is a company at all making such an in-depth game such as Arma.

[chortles 263]

More like "done the best that could have been considering bad circumstances and prior decisions that doomed what could have been"... though of course some of said circumstances were totally out of their hands, and I emphasize "prior decisions" since Joris & Jay have taken care to emphasize that too -- when people finally get an answer to "what did you do for the past two years" and the official response is essentially "we threw out those past two years, they were for naught", that suggests that something really wrong happened really early on, setting a bad foundation that forced a de facto starting from scratch late last year /early this year... so if Arma 3 feels rushed, that's probably why.

[Bee8190 10]

I don't think customers ever cared about reasons but I let them talk for themselves and I disagree about the in-depth part as I feel the game is incomplete and will still be good while after release.

[SaOk 112]

Absolute not worried. Cant wait to get Altis and play with editor. I am waiting much also the official campaign but it cant wait, game will be awesome already without it. Altis will offer already possibilities without limits for mission creating. Stratis was great, but too small and narrow for the bigger ideas.

[ShotgunSheamuS 1]

You guys think theres any chance the devs may be reading this and consider addressing our thoughts tonight or any other time in the forseeable future? I want to believe they care enough to do so, I dont see why not... Nothing more annoying than devs who are aware of their consumers concerns and does or say nothing about it. I dont mind if they say, "what you see is what you get, nothing more!" at least then it is said and done, and we can learn to deal with it, than rather hoping and clinging to some unknown unconfirmed chance that we may very well see it one day... And also I think it can start preparing the modding community to know what mods to start working on without waiting to hear wether BI would be doing it or not. Though I think many already have started this because of the secrecy.

Anyways, good to know I am not the only one concerned about it. Ultimately I really was looking forward to the SP campaign (yes I am one of those who actually enjoy it, even though BI make it feel like watching a B grade movie if even that good) But I suppose we will then start seeing some real decent expanded missions on Altis =P

Btw on the topic of SP campaign, does anyone know if the whole campaign will be playable as Co-Op? or is it only certain showcase missions that will be co-op? It would be a huge win if the campaign can be played as co-op, especially if you have a clan/realism unit to play with.

[WalkerDown 1]

Arma3 retail launches in September? ... do you mean they will rename the current alpha, calling it "final", this makes sense (well, it doesn't really make sense, but it's the only practical solution for a September release).

[Varanon 892]

Btw on the topic of SP campaign, does anyone know if the whole campaign will be playable as Co-Op? or is it only certain showcase missions that will be co-op? It would be a huge win if the campaign can be played as co-op, especially if you have a clan/realism unit to play with.

I think it was stated somewhere explicitly that the campaign would be single player only. Harvest Red's main problems appeared in Multiplayer, not SP, so I guess they don't want to repeat that mistake again.

Anyways, good to know I am not the only one concerned about it.

The forums have been buzzing with "concern" recently, really. You're definitely not the only one.

Arma 3 is definitely less buggy and crash prone than Arma 2 when it came out. Just that Arma 2 came out with a campaign and *a lot* more content than Arma 3 has. And I mean a lot more. I personally think that right now, even vanilla, there's still more game in Arma 2. As such, I would have postponed the launch, but I guess realities of life always have more weight than the desire to publish a finished and "perfected" game.

As a mission maker, I'm pretty much disappointed by the lack of content in Arma 3. I used to make missions for Vanilla Arma 2/CO, but thinking back to some of the missions I made in the past for Arma 2, some of them can't be reproduced for Arma 3 without addons, which is really a shame.

[dale0404 5]

You guys think theres any chance the devs may be reading this and consider addressing our thoughts tonight or any other time in the forseeable future? I want to believe they care enough to do so, I dont see why not... Nothing more annoying than devs who are aware of their consumers concerns and does or say nothing about it. I dont mind if they say, "what you see is what you get, nothing more!" at least then it is said and done, and we can learn to deal with it, than rather hoping and clinging to some unknown unconfirmed chance that we may very well see it one day... And also I think it can start preparing the modding community to know what mods to start working on without waiting to hear wether BI would be doing it or not. Though I think many already have started this because of the secrecy.

Anyways, good to know I am not the only one concerned about it. Ultimately I really was looking forward to the SP campaign (yes I am one of those who actually enjoy it, even though BI make it feel like watching a B grade movie if even that good) But I suppose we will then start seeing some real decent expanded missions on Altis =P

Btw on the topic of SP campaign, does anyone know if the whole campaign will be playable as Co-Op? or is it only certain showcase missions that will be co-op? It would be a huge win if the campaign can be played as co-op, especially if you have a clan/realism unit to play with.

Going to break that down for ya:

You guys think theres any chance the devs may be reading this and consider addressing our thoughts tonight

Why do you think there is a whole thread dedicated to the live stream tonight, oh and they are also asking for questions from the community?

Nothing more annoying than devs who are aware of their consumers concerns and does or say nothing about it.

That is one thing that people cannot say about the Devs, they are definitely forthcoming.

Anyways, good to know I am not the only one concerned about it. Ultimately I really was looking forward to the SP campaign (yes I am one of those who actually enjoy it, even though BI make it feel like watching a B grade movie if even that good)

Before I say what I am about to say please remember that I am as pissed off as the next guy about the campaign not being in the release. However, BIS have already stated the reasons why, it simply was not ready for release, they were not happy with the quality of it and they want to add more "polish" etc. So, I doubt it will be a "B" movie!

[ShotgunSheamuS 1]

Why do you think there is a whole thread dedicated to the live stream tonight, oh and they are also asking for questions from the community?

Well THAT I did not know, havent seen it in the thread listings but will look for it =) thanks!

Before I say what I am about to say please remember that I am as pissed off as the next guy about the campaign not being in the release. However, BIS have already stated the reasons why, it simply was not ready for release, they were not happy with the quality of it and they want to add more "polish" etc. So, I doubt it will be a "B" movie!

I fully understand why, and to be honest, I actually happy about that! Sure I want the SP campaign, I'm one for very little of MP, though I do enjoy co-op, which is a great mix of SP and MP. And I know why they delaying the SP campaign, and I think honestly, I much rather prefer that, than a shoddy attempt at a crappy experience. (Which I would still play and try enjoy). Even the fact that the decided on episodic releases makes me comfortable that they wont rush the SP exprience. So I really am hoping for the best here.

However as Varanon stated, The SP campaign being strictly solo play, that does dissapoint me however. But if it is said, then it is done, I will just suck it up... If we are lucky, I am sure someone out there could mod the SP with co-op play. Or make new campaign. Currently im playing with the editor, trying out mission making, which hopefully in the near future I can do a show and tell =)

[nettrucker 142]

I'm sure BIS have done there best and if anything has been left out then there's obviously good reason so no point getting upset, its just the way it is, we should just be thankful there is a company at all making such an in-depth game such as Arma.

I couldn't disagree more with you. If they would have done their best . . . the game will be ready at release, par on content with ArmA 2 and including a fully working campaign from beginning. That's what I call doing your best. But that ain't gonna happen.

But well . . . happy you guys.

Please don't take it personal Katipo I'm just amazed that so many people are accepting this kind of business model which is becoming more and more common nowadays. Less content in full games and DLC's a go go . . .

Last DLC was ACR which is still broken BTW.

cheers

Edited August 10, 2013 by nettrucker

[Azzur33 1]

I couldn't disagree more with you. If they would have done their best . . . the game will be ready at release, par on content with ArmA 2 and including a fully working campaign from beginning. That's what I call doing your best. But that ain't gonna happen.

But well . . . happy you guys.

There is a thing called Life. Sometimes it messes up all the good plans and throws sticks into your bike spokes.

It's a long way from point A to point Z.

"Less content in full games and DLC's" -business model accusation on BIS seems a bit unfair.

How much is enough content for a full game and less than 50 euros price tag? Arma 2? Or Arma 2 with OA and DLC's together? That would have been a real bargain for that massive amount of stuff.

Arma 3 with Stratis, Altis, 5 factions, vehicles, weapons, showcases, challenges, a 3-part campaign and The Mission Editor and lots of new features (plus some other content to come after the release), is a lot of stuff.

Is it enough? I don't know. What Would be enough?

[Varanon 892]

"Less content in full games and DLC's" -business model accusation on BIS seems a bit unfair.

How much is enough content for a full game and less than 50 euros price tag?

First of all, I decided to go with supporter edition, so I paid 75 €, not 25 like most of the rest.

Secondly, what is enough ? That's easy to answer: Just as much as has been advertised when I spent money on the game. It said 40 weapons. Where are those ? It said 20 vehicles. They also showed screnshots labeled "in-game" of an F-35 and an Osprey which are apparently not so "in-game" anymore.

The usual thing to do is then to delay the game release and not declare it finished even though it isn't and release it. I understand that BIS wants to remove the "Beta" label since it also means subsequent sales bring more money. In fact, when the Alpha came out, i was wondering why they sold it at half price, but hey, wasn't my decision and I went with the supported edition anyway (before ANYONE accuses me of it: No, I did NOT buy it for the credits).

You can defend all of this as much as you want to, it doesn't change the fact that a lot of what was announced isn't in anymore, or will be delivered at a later point. We know that the campaign will come later, but what about those 40 weapons ? Will there be more ? No idea.

And as I said before, I'm OK with all this. I'm OK with BIS going that route, because I do understand that business is a harsh reality. What really annoys me big time is some people defending this all as "good". No, it is not "good". It is understandable, but NOT GOOD. Nothing good will come out of it The little content it will have at launch is not good. They might add more later, but a lot is still missing . One Jet ? And from the videos, we know that the AAF has a jet. Does that mean EVERYONE uses just this one jet ? Or are you seriously telling me that the "Independant underdog" has jets while neither NATO nor CSAT have an air force ?

Bottom line: Again, it's understandable, but don't sell me damage control as good news.

[Tonci87 163]

First of all, I decided to go with supporter edition, so I paid 75 €, not 25 like most of the rest.

Secondly, what is enough ? That's easy to answer: Just as much as has been advertised when I spent money on the game. It said 40 weapons. Where are those ? It said 20 vehicles. They also showed screnshots labeled "in-game" of an F-35 and an Osprey which are apparently not so "in-game" anymore.

The usual thing to do is then to delay the game release and not declare it finished even though it isn't and release it. I understand that BIS wants to remove the "Beta" label since it also means subsequent sales bring more money. In fact, when the Alpha came out, i was wondering why they sold it at half price, but hey, wasn't my decision and I went with the supported edition anyway (before ANYONE accuses me of it: No, I did NOT buy it for the credits).

You can defend all of this as much as you want to, it doesn't change the fact that a lot of what was announced isn't in anymore, or will be delivered at a later point. We know that the campaign will come later, but what about those 40 weapons ? Will there be more ? No idea.

And as I said before, I'm OK with all this. I'm OK with BIS going that route, because I do understand that business is a harsh reality. What really annoys me big time is some people defending this all as "good". No, it is not "good". It is understandable, but NOT GOOD. Nothing good will come out of it The little content it will have at launch is not good. They might add more later, but a lot is still missing . One Jet ? And from the videos, we know that the AAF has a jet. Does that mean EVERYONE uses just this one jet ? Or are you seriously telling me that the "Independant underdog" has jets while neither NATO nor CSAT have an air force ?

Bottom line: Again, it's understandable, but don't sell me damage control as good news.

Well said.

When I bought A3 I expected it to have at least as much new content and Features as A2 which is simply not the case.

For me this isn't understandable because A3 seems be the best funded game ever.

Where is all that money?

A3 seems to be rushed to get it out before the big christmas sale. That is understandable from a buisness PoV but behaviour like that usually does backfire in the long term

[Varanon 892]

When I bought A3 I expected it to have at least as much new content and Features as A2 which is simply not the case.

I didn't even expect that. I expected what they originally announced for the game. Did anybody notice how conveniently the store page has been changed and the features of the final game dropped ? It used to list the campaign, the number of vehicles and weapons etc.. .now there's nothing.

[marcai 1]

They also showed screnshots labeled "in-game" of an F-35 and an Osprey which are apparently not so "in-game" anymore.

It might seem strange to some, but this is the one that confuses me more than most. The Osprey has been a wreck at the end of the runway in Stratis since Alpha, but we suddenly find ourselves that Ospreys are not in the game at all. It doesn't annoy me or anything, it just seems that if you're going to put one as a wreck in the game, you should then at least see that vehicle somewhere, right? Was thisthe first, last and only one in the conflict?

I agree with Varanon's post, though. I understand that BI need to release the game as soon as possible, and I honestly can't wait for Altis. In fact, I'm itching to dick around on it, and that alone will add so much to the current game. Looking down the features list, however, I can't help but think it looks a bit short. Most of the vehicles and weapons in the full release are already in the (arguably) limited Beta, and so it looks like there will be very little in the way of gameplay changes from here on out. Gameplay as it stands isn't bad- in fact I'm having a blast- I just hoped that there'd be a bit more to play with.

[SaOk 112]

I would guess the game is released in hurry now, because later in fall many ultra marketed games arrive, and the new consoles. The worst thing is to get burried under that hype. If the campaign will be very special, having it released piece by piece will give valueable extra time in press spotlight too. Little annoying for gamers, but no-one will remember the waiting time after the whole thing is out.

[neokika 62]

You guys think theres any chance the devs may be reading this and consider addressing our thoughts tonight or any other time in the forseeable future? I want to believe they care enough to do so, I dont see why not... Nothing more annoying than devs who are aware of their consumers concerns and does or say nothing about it.

Sure, we are reading.

"what you see is what you get, nothing more!"

Unsure what you mean, but surely Arma 3 is/will still be an evolving project.

Btw on the topic of SP campaign, does anyone know if the whole campaign will be playable as Co-Op? or is it only certain showcase missions that will be co-op? It would be a huge win if the campaign can be played as co-op, especially if you have a clan/realism unit to play with.

This time around the campaign will be Single-Player only.

[[evo] dan 79]

I am kinda concerned with the launch, because for me (running on a good spec), my game keeps crashing every session due to a pyhsx.dll issue that still hasn't been fixed, and only causes crashes in COOP, which is most of the games I play besides singleplayer. Launching without the campaign on top of this could make me just put the game away for a long time and go back and play something that is more 'complete' than A3 will be, especially with less than expected content, which will make making good missions harder without mods.

[W!ngnut 10]

My only concern is that I don't have enough free time to play this game as much as I'd like.

I can echo that. The thing that has made this sim great is all the community input. BIS has shown great insight and excellent support along these lines by allowing mods and tweeks. Great business model if you ask me!

[Varanon 892]

I would guess the game is released in hurry now, because later in fall many ultra marketed games arrive, and the new consoles. The worst thing is to get burried under that hype. If the campaign will be very special, having it released piece by piece will give valueable extra time in press spotlight too. Little annoying for gamers, but no-one will remember the waiting time after the whole thing is out.

Yeah, I guess the release of BF4, CoD:Ghosts and all the next-gen consoles is definitely a factor in the hurried release.

Still not giving up hope for decent after-relase support, in the lines of OFP (and not ACR :|)