Reality Check

[clydefrog 3]

beta version, alpha state is probably what he means.

Come on, it's not exactly looking like anything near a finished game at the moment is it.

[mbbird 11]

Unless the "release" has a patch of its own that I am currently unaware of that is significantly different from the current dev build, no, the game is practically launched already, and since we have 2 days (under feature lock) until "release", we can judge it as such.

Surely there will be hundreds of post-release patches, but please do not further such blind nonsense, David77.

Edited September 10, 2013 by mbbird

[Tacti-Cool 10]

Indeed. It's as if BIS added PhysX because original ArmA physics didn't allow for vehicles to auto-flip back onto their wheels pleasing casual players who can't let go of E key.

I mean when you see a heavy tank autoflip back on its tracks it's just laughable.

PhysX.

This. the physics for heavy vehicles is a joke.

[mistyronin 1181]

Come on, it's not exactly looking like anything near a finished game at the moment is it.

I thought we were talking about the devs lingo. Of course the game it's not finished yet, and it won't be until the full campaign is released.

[Azzur33 1]

beta version, alpha state is probably what he means.

Come on, it's not exactly looking like anything near a finished game at the moment is it.

It is playable, looks really good, AI is better than ever, there are lots of high quality units, vehicles (except the hatchback..), objects and two playgrounds - one big, another Huge, there is a fully working and versatile Mission editor. There are no major and game breaking bugs.

The campaign is on its way, with some additional content.

Yes, it looks nearly finished game at the moment.

[nerdwing 13]

Yes, it looks nearly finished game at the moment.

Guess I'll keep verifying my game cache then on Steam, because I've only got the islands and mission editor from what you described.

[fabio_chavez 103]

this is the last game i would complain about lack of content. there allready megatons of usermade content (including all of arma 2 + OA), i dont even get the point.

only disapointment (content wise) is the vehicle simulation, i hope this will improve in the future. (e.g. vehicle handling, damage models, EXPLOSIONS!)

Its a bit ironic though because arma3 really convinced me with its overhauled infantry movement wich is (a few remaining imperfections aside) kind of unparalleled while in arma 2 the infantry movement had the characteristics of a proper tank simulation :P anyway no major problem here imho!

The hardware utilization might be a big problem for many now, but as far as it will be improved to a point where people that should have acceptable framerates will get acceptable framerates, and this happens within an acceptible timeframe, as far as i am concerned the world will keep spinning.

The thing that really pisses me off is about multiplayer and it is threefold:

1. horrible fps on 99% percent of the servers for me, and definately on any server with more than 30-40 players, this one is the MAJOR GAMEBREAKER, especially since there is no way the community can fix that (without proper mod tools at least), unlike other issues with the vanilla game. Many people say its due to bad scripting or weak servers but apparently the truth seems to be the weak netcode! as someone recently put it: its a relic from the end of the cold war (before 1.60 the netcode must have been from the future because people where warping ). If someone would have asked me in the alpha if this is going to be an issue until release i would have said "NO WAY they surely gonna take care of that any day now!", because, who would a allow a game to ship that delivers 16fps in multiplayer on high end pcs?! seriously BI what is it with you and netcodes?

2. server browser. do i need to comment anything on that? its concept must be from an age where computergames where made to beat you, beacause it basicly seems to be designed to try to keep you from finding a suitable server. this was something i expected to change with steam, i was like "awesome its not going to have that crappy serverbrowser from arma2!" EEERRRG!

3. game lobby... see "2.". WHY CANT THERE BE TEAM SETUP AND LOADOUT IN SOME KIND OF STREAMLINED TEMPLATE THAT ACCESSIBLE DURING THE GAME?!?!? it doesnt make any sense to me... quakeworld teamfortress had a more sophisticated solution for this than arma 3!!! SMH

in my humble opinion these three points (with possible addition that arma generally is a bitch performance wise), are the fatal errors.

Arma3 really had the potential to one for all make all those people that are suspicious of armas unacceptabilitys (for understandable reasons), revise their opinion. I dont see that right now because multiplayer is, generally speaking, LAME! because of low fps, because of the server landscape with all its lame gamemodes (if you are into rpg and coop thats fine i cant really judge on that but when it comes to pvp... ).

I allready ranted about this a hundred times but id really liked to see the statistics of people that bought the game and people that are really playing it because all of my friends who bought a copy with me in the alpha stopped playing because of how frustrating it is to find a proper pvp server in under 2 hours.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Fabio_Chavez

[David77 10]

Unless the "release" has a patch of its own that I am currently unaware of that is significantly different from the current dev build, no, the game is practically launched already, and since we have 2 days (under feature lock) until "release", we can judge it as such.

Surely there will be hundreds of post-release patches, but please do not further such blind nonsense, David77.

Here's a reality check; There will be a huge patch on the 12th, but please do not further such blind nonsense mbbird.

Edited September 11, 2013 by David77

[OrLoK 20]

There will be a huge patch on the 12th, but please do not further such blind nonsense, mbbird.

Hello there

Thanks for that link. I have my reservations and opinions as we all do, but i'm still damn excited for the full release and the future of the game.

It's not what I envisioned, but it's gonna be a blast.

Rdgs

LoK

[mistyronin 1181]

Here's a reality check; There will be a huge patch on the 12th, but please do not further such blind nonsense mbbird.

Well I would be cautious, the huge patch it's related to people who have the stable Beta, not the dev branch.

Mainly its all the content that we already have in the dev branch, adding the SP/Coop missions and few fixes.

In fact, according to former BI statements in the dev branch there are even stuff that it's not gonna be in the release version ( because it's still been tested ).

So, I think we should all be cautious, and avoid false hope ( to avoid later more disappointment, and a flood of "lack of content" posts ).

Anyway, what is confirmed is than in a month we will have the first episode of the campaign and maybe some vehicle ( probably the main faction jets, one for each ).

[mbbird 11]

Here's a reality check; There will be a huge patch on the 12th, but please do not further such blind nonsense mbbird.

It's not nonsense. We have no idea of as to what will be in those first few dev branch updates, and until today we were being led to believe the dev-branch was the release version (I apologize for not noticing the SITREP as soon as I hopped onto the computer). Personally I'd love a surprise but who knows.

That aside, my images have nothing to do with it the engine's/platform's problems. They're directed mostly at content decisions, and maybe BI has some super PR event planned where they include a bunch of new unreleased content in the launch on the 12th, but we have literally no reason to believe or count on such a thing.

---------- Post added at 08:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:00 PM ----------

It is playable, looks really good, AI is better than ever, there are lots of high quality units, vehicles (except the hatchback..), objects and two playgrounds - one big, another Huge, there is a fully working and versatile Mission editor. There are no major and game breaking bugs.

The campaign is on its way, with some additional content.

Yes, it looks nearly finished game at the moment.

This entire post is hilariously optimistic. I applaud you, but you're going out of your way to defend A3.

We criticize because we care :)

[Binkowski 26]

It is playable, looks really good, AI is better than ever, there are lots of high quality units, vehicles (except the hatchback..), objects and two playgrounds - one big, another Huge, there is a fully working and versatile Mission editor. There are no major and game breaking bugs.

The campaign is on its way, with some additional content.

Yes, it looks nearly finished game at the moment.

Playable? Why do I crash on Altis when trying to test a multiplayer mission and have Steam ticket issues?

You mean, high quality recycled and cloned vehicles. Units are another story, they aren't terrible. Although vests are a bit cloned.

Two playgrounds are good, I give you that. Although Altis has a feel of a SATMAP from real life with some buildings popped on it.

Fully working and versatile mission editor... lol we've had that since OFP in 2001.

Campaign is on its way? What campaign! You mean the "Free DLC Episodes" that are going to be released? That's not a damn campaign.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Binkowski

[gammadust 12]

to each his own but: "Two playgrounds are good, I give you that. Although Altis has a feel of a SATMAP from real life with some buildings popped on it."

i simply don't follow, they're neither some, neither just buildings, neither they feel popped, imo. Too dismissive for such an amazing scenario.

[froggyluv 2136]

One thing I really like about Altis is the feeling of height. Not meaning Everest like peaks but rather you can have real vertical fighting ie shooting straight down a rock formation at enemies below. Driving cars and vehicles you now also have to really worry about fatal accidents where as before you always felt somewhat glued to the ground.

Only complaint is the vanilla mid range textures -yikes! They really shouldn't rely on a mod to fix that atrocity. Overall -very pleased with their latest Island.

[gammadust 12]

^^ yes... the midrange textures are lacking absolutely.

I also miss deeper forests as we had in Chernarus, but just been in the northeast Dome surroundings and the topography and diversity in vegetation will simply offset that longing memory.

[Kemeros 1]

I said it before and i will repeat it here:

I believe it is a mistake to release the game in it's current state. The lack of single player content itself is enough of a reason but there are so many more. From the lack of sufficient optimization(MP mostly) to blurry mid textures to the re-use of assets like shown in this thread. I will refrain from noting all the missing features that were hinted at. There are more pressing stuff at this point.

I just don't see the need to rush the launch. What's the point if all you're gonna get is mixed reviews. Most website will jump on the lack of campaigns and turn it into a bad thing.

The game is not bad, it has some huge improvements over it's predecessors. It just ain't ready yet though. But then i guess releasing before BF4 makes sense.

Anyway. It's too late to say all this i believe. I just hope releasing now won't destroy the game's ratings. Not that they are the most important thing, but that is still a concern if you hope to sell many copies over time.

All that is left to say at this point is good luck!

[Azzur33 1]

This entire post is hilariously optimistic. I applaud you, but you're going out of your way to defend A3.

We criticize because we care :)

I guess you missed the point.

It is playable.

It looks really good.

AI is better than ever.

There are lots of high quality units.

There are Stratis and Altis. They are complete.

There is Mission editor.

There are no major and game breaking bugs.

The campaign is on its way, with some additional content.

Yes, it looks nearly finished game at the moment.

Now, where is the hilarity? Where's the over-optimism? Defending ...what?

Am I reading you right, you think that:

It's not playable.

It looks bad.

AI is worse than ever.

There are low quality units, and not much of them anyway.

There are two unfinished islands.

There is useless mission editor.

There are major and game breaking bugs.

There won't be a campaign, BIS is just joking, those hilarious optimists.

And the game won't be "nearly finished" until you say so.

...?

Wow, that's sad. Let's be angry!

PS. The game doesn't need "defending".

But hilariously pessimistic lines like "it's not exactly looking like anything near a finished game" just need some "reality check".

BIS sure could sell this game as Final (including the Campaign), with no actual support and development after the release, and most of the "non-community members" and "new to armaverse" -people would be ok with it.

Am I ok with it at the moment?

Hell no. Needs some work still. And some females. And of course some more important features.

But I am an optimistic realist.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Azzur33

[mbbird 11]

My calling you optimistic does not immediately mean I disagree in a such a completely binary manner with every single one of your so righteous beliefs. Since you've stood it all up so nicely, allow me to knock it all down:

- Playability is highly arguable. The game comes with no real meaty, replayable MP missions. In addition, currently the netcode produces rather extreme performance issues, and having just 20 AI in-game at the same time can slow all clients' FPS down to unplayable levels.

- It looks okay. It's still highly unoptimized. I'm not really seeing an improvement over A2/OA outside of texture resolution.

- Calling the AI "better than ever" is a massive overstatement. The AI is still awkward, wonky, incapable of using buildings properly, doing anything logically, etc, and is currently riddled with other issues that are well documented on a daily basis in the AI dev thread of this very subforum.

- High quality units? You're joking. To which dungeon of indoctrination did BI send you away to over the summer?

- Stratis is complete, and Altis currently gives massive performance issues while moving at any speed or through any major town.

- Lets not even discuss the editor. It's the same one as OFP as of 2001, which someone you conveniently ignored already mentioned. It's an outdated joke that needs serious working on.

- I'd call MP performing so badly on even the best rigs and Altis' performance on 32-bit systems two humongous, game breaking bugs.

- Campaign isn't coming with release. I don't care, because I'd probably not play much of it anyway, but a lack of a campaign originally promised at release is going to destroy most A3 reviews, making A3 an "unfinished" game by definition, and in a rather large way.

And as Kemeros has done above me, I will refrain from mentioning the countless implied or promised features that were awkwardly shuffled aside as the intended release date zoomed closer (COUGH Java scripting, ToH features/flight models, proper sounds, improved wounding/armor system, fast roping, ETC).

So yes, maybe I missed whatever magical point you were aiming for, but optimistic realists don't exist. If you really want a label, blind fanboy might be more fitting.

Edited September 11, 2013 by mbbird

[dale0404 5]

Although Altis has a feel of a SATMAP from real life with some buildings popped on it.

You have got to be kidding me. Altis is the best Island to date and you know it is. Your just saying that for effect.

[thr0tt 12]

I think all these folk who have 'major' issue should leave the game for a couple of months then come back and see, it will save a lot of stress they seem to be getting. The rest of us however will play and enjoy and report any bugs or issues to help make your gaming experience better in the future.

[Varanon 892]

Playable? Why do I crash on Altis when trying to test a multiplayer mission and have Steam ticket issues?

Oh, so I'm not the only one. Second test usually crashes my machine. Time for some ticket..

---------- Post added at 09:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:57 AM ----------

I think all these folk who have 'major' issue should leave the game for a couple of months then come back and see, it will save a lot of stress they seem to be getting. The rest of us however will play and enjoy and report any bugs or issues to help make your gaming experience better in the future.

Uhm, no ?

The beta was for feedback. So in this time, people gave feedback. It might not have been the feedback some people wished for, but that's the point.

Ignoring it and coming back after some months just to see that it's still the same old mess seems to be a suboptimal way of approaching things, especially if it's about a game that specifically asked for feedback.

Mayb some people should stay away from the forum for some time or not read the criticism, it will save them a lot of stress they seem to be getting.

[suprememodder 11]

You have got to be kidding me. Altis is the best Island to date and you know it is. Your just saying that for effect.

it's also the worst performing map. and he's right about the satmap effect. some spots remind me of google map. doesn't mean it's not the best map to date, it just means it's still a massive wip and shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence with the word "finished".

[enex 11]

I would love to see someone like Exile (one of the developers) to post us all of their WIP projects.

Take into consideration that they are not promises to complete, just a list of all projects that

are being worked on so far.As it stands now developers posted lots of them but they are

fragmented throughout the forum.If they would be in one place that would be very appreciated.

[dmarkwick 261]

I would love to see someone like Exile (one of the developers) to post us all of their WIP projects.

Take into consideration that they are not promises to complete, just a list of all projects that

are being worked on so far.As it stands now developers posted lots of them but they are

fragmented throughout the forum.If they would be in one place that would be very appreciated.

It would be nice, but IMO it wouldn't be worth their effort. WIP comments become promises & eventually "cut content" in many people's eyes.

[katipo66 94]

it's also the worst performing map...

Runs better than Chernarus for me, and looks bloody awesome, i must one of the few lucky ones.