Arma 3 full analysis - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[Varanon 892]

Should heal but not to 100% but rather to 50-75% and of course it should stop bleeding. I also believe (and I think I'm pretty much alone in this regard) that it should have a limited amount of use, 20 times at maximum yet rechargeable at specific objects (for example a medical tent or medical supply box) or vehicles (ambulances for example). This would create a new spectrum of the logistical chain, where medical supplies matter as much as ammo and fuel.

Maybe make this user configurable via description.ext, i.e. have an option to say how much you can heal to (0.5 - 1.0)

[Mattar_Tharkari 10]

The ugly? I would say functionality - at release it will be mostly a game you can't do much with unless you are already an experienced Arma player. It all seems premature, I did disagree with those that insisted on campaigns etc thinking that there would be other things available. I'm a very worried fan now.

[Polygon 11]

Just updated with a new bullet point on AI behavior (The Good).

I think people tend to ridicule A3 AI and its behavioral flexibility too much. So far, it's the most advanced default game AI (no mods) I've ever witnessed in video games (simulates ballistics on his own, very flexible in combat, friendly AI isn't useless in good command etc.).

Nothing else I could think of comes close, except STALKER series in terms of human / mutant character AI (no vehicles in STALKER).

A3 AI isn't perfect, has issues, but it's the closest to "perfect" you can find - currently and definitely in the upcoming 3-5 years. Peace.

[Azzur33 1]

Begging your pardon, but you're not against constant whining, you are constantly defending a system that even the developers say is broken.

Begging your pardon, but what are you talking about? What system am I defending?

And thank you very much for calling concern "overacted whining". Contrary to you overreacted defense, I usually try to argument my case, something a lot of others (on any side) do not do.

I call overreacting whining "overreacting whining". And you seem to be overrecting about my concern about overreacting whiners.

I didn't mention your name, and I was replying to metalcraze, not you.

I do that. I bring arguments every time I post something against the current (IMHO) problem areas. I'm still labeled as "whiner", "dumb", "idiot" and "overreacting" all the time. So it seems no matter what you actually do, you are always going to get flak, even if it's arguing (with IMHO valid arguments) against things like "It's a game".

I'm sorry if you feel falsely accused by me. My message was aimed to those: "BIS you are a total failure!, nothing has chanced in ten years!, the game is completely broken!, I have spent my money for a piece of %¤#%!, even I could do better than that!" -and-so-on people.

BIS needs valid arguments and constructive criticism when things are not working, not "BIS you suck" -whining.

Do you agree with that?

It's funny that I am still labeled as a "fanboy", "overreacting defender" or "it's a game!" -dude, while I do argument my case too.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Azzur33

[Tonci87 163]

I made a Thread, continue there

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?161443-Medic-wounding-System&p=2468079#post2468079

[aoshi 1]

well the worst off all in this game is the apc,and tracked venchile the engine power only works downhill... it is a pain go uphill , tks physix. I still do not see any advantage to this "phisyx" besides ease for developers

[Tyl3r99 41]

I agree everything and I mean everything struggles uphill

well the worst off all in this game is the apc,and tracked venchile the engine power only works downhill... it is a pain go uphill , tks physix. I still do not see any advantage to this "phisyx" besides ease for developers

[chrisb 196]

The bad that really grate on my nerves: AI and most all of their actions or lack of, medic system (ridiculous), vehicle handling (what happened, after all the hype of how good things would be), no rain, some animations, and finally, the rather large shift toward mainstream MP play, which in turn means, little need for good alternatives for the things mentioned prior.

The good, make me smile: the look of the game graphics wise, lighting, fog, sea (not under it).

There are lots of things that annoy, irritate, please, delight etc, but really its pointless putting them up. The game is as it is, and on the whole that’s how its going to stay, other than usual on-going patches/tweaks, which will still carry forward the initial (or maybe not initial) concept of the game (that's whatever you believe it to be, we all have a view on that).

Oh;

A few of the not needed, for me anyway: underwater, pip, future theme and that shift toward MP mainstream play..:(

[NordKindchen 12]

Today they changed the effect of the APDFS impact.

...well....I cant say this is what I expected...

[Flash Thunder 10]

BIS have made improvements overall but i still feel like Arma 3 is too rough around the edges.

I would have to agree with OP.

I'm still not impressed with night lighting, light still goes through objects is a major gripe for most of us and still has not been resolved.

Wound system is way too basic

Driving is still clunky

physx is poor

Edited August 15, 2013 by Flash Thunder

[stormin norman 10]

No functional bi-pods for machine guns (automatic rifles). :mad:

[CaptainObvious 95]

I agree everything and I mean everything struggles uphill

It might be an eye-opening experience to go and try some offroading in real life ;)

Cars, even the heavily modified offroads built for it, struggle uphill, it's small gears, high revs and slow speed baby!

I can't imagine a 60 ton Namer doing any better be it tracked or not, sure the traction isn't an issue for it, but power is, it's Power-to-Weight ratio is 20hp per ton, your average family saloon has somewhat a hundred HP per ton, go figure :o

[froggyluv 2130]

Heres some good: Driving my squad thru mountain road in an Offroad when MG ambushed close to upcoming town. I only drive in 1st person for immersion sake and really flooring in reverse using only the PiP mirror at night dodging trees and clutter while under massive heavy tracer fire was 100% pure adrenaline.

[Polygon 11]

Today they changed the effect of the APDFS impact.

...well....I cant say this is what I expected...

It's possible that when making particle effects potential average player PC performance on Altis and considering many other factors must be taken into account. This is why effects look quite lacking in detail and realism.

This is just an assumption of mine, though. Seems logical when it comes to adapting to consumer's specs.

But there's still a LOT to do regarding RV optimization. There's so much areas where performance seems to be wasted. Here hoping to see improvements on this in the future.

[nodunit 397]

Video options my man, video options.

The good news is that Arma 3 already has several particle option settings though...I'm not sure what the difference is between them other than the fact that on the higherest setting you get smooth particles (for example dirt and dust not clipping through the ground)

[dmarkwick 261]

Probably has a particle count increase per effect for higher settings.

[pharoah 65]

No functional bi-pods for machine guns (automatic rifles). :mad:

This.

[Alwarren 2765]

No functional bi-pods for machine guns (automatic rifles). :mad:

Speaking of machine guns and automatic rifles, there doesn't seem to be a distinction anymore. Autorifleman on the NATO side has an automatic rifle (SAW version of MX) while OPFOR has a machine gun (Zaphir).

(I'll probably get a "it's teh future" now)

[Thanath 1]

Don't SAWs in practice fill the role of LMGs? Granted, Zafir uses larger caliber ammo, but still... In the end, doesn't all this go down to the ambiguous weapons classifying system?

[Alwarren 2765]

Don't SAWs in practice fill the role of LMGs? Granted, Zafir uses larger caliber ammo, but still... In the end, doesn't all this go down to the ambiguous weapons classifying system?

Well so far, Automatic Rifleman -> SAW, Machine Gunner -> LMG. The SAW usually has more suppression because it usually has more ammo, while machineguns have more firepower.

[DarkDruid 96]

The good news is that Arma 3 already has several particle option settings though...I'm not sure what the difference is between them other than the fact that on the higherest setting you get smooth particles (for example dirt and dust not clipping through the ground)

Every effect is created for high quality settings at first and then there are created simplier versions based on that original effect. Simplier version of effect has decreased particle count and some parts of effect could be missing entirely. For example explosion of tank has around 1700 particles (around 28 emitters) on high settings, around 1200 particles (around 23 emitters) on medium settings and around 900 particles (around 19 emitters) on low settings. There are some other changes as well. Distant particles are simplified by engine and parameters for this are changed. Max. particle count for scene is changed too.

Some effects have only one version for all settings, because its particle count is already low enough or because they are WIP.

Edited August 18, 2013 by DarkDruid

[mr_centipede 31]

Well so far, Automatic Rifleman -> SAW, Machine Gunner -> LMG. The SAW usually has more suppression because it usually has more ammo, while machineguns have more firepower.

I've always thought the auto riflemen are LMG gunners aka SAW gunner and the MGers are GPMG gunners...

[Alwarren 2765]

I've always thought the auto riflemen are LMG gunners aka SAW gunner and the MGers are GPMG gunners...

Yeah, meant to say Machine Gunner -> HMG/GPMG, i.e. machine gun (7.62 or similar caliber)

[chortles 263]

Hmmm... have you found a noticeable ballistic difference between the 6.5 mm rounds (i.e. MX SW and Mk 200) versus the 7.62 mm rounds (Zafir)?

[Alwarren 2765]

Hmmm... have you found a noticeable ballistic difference between the 6.5 mm rounds (i.e. MX SW and Mk 200) versus the 7.62 mm rounds (Zafir)?

Hit values are different. 10 for the 6.5, 12 for the 7.62. IIRC the 5.56 has 8 or 9, so there is a definitive difference. Also, usually the smaller caliber has bigger magazine capacity, which isn't the case here since the MX isn't belt-fed.

It's not so much the difference between the sides, I am fine with unbalanced weapons (and OPFOR has a distrinct advantage with the Zaphir), it's just that there is no more difference between automatic rifleman and machine gunner. I suppose you can put it on the future scenario; after all, the bigger round (primarily the 6.8 SPC) was introduced because of stopping power, and that somewhat blurs the difference between the lower and higher calibers. I'm just a bit, well, "concerned" that there is a specialized role less.

It's not a big deal, nor a deal breaker. There's certainly other things that are more important. It ties in with my general disappointment about the default arsenal of the game; Personally, I am not the biggest fan of the MX, and it feels overused to me, more so since there isn't really much of an alternative on the blufor side, except for the TRG which somehow isn't used by any default loadout (I suspect the Guerrillas will use it). There is little variety to chose from, and Nato doesn't even have a General Purpose machine gun.

Like I said, not a dealbreaker, but it makes addons even more important to me, and I am somewhat scared that we'll see a lot of missions requiring a lot of addons.