Campaign Episode 1: SURVIVE - Feedback thread ** SPOILER WARNING! **

[das attorney 858]

One thing I've noticed is randomly, the game will play 2 (or more) conversation audio samples at once, so you get a chorusing robotic voice for the line they're saying.

I thought it might be if you're standing next to a unit when he's speaking over the radio in side chat, but it doesn't always occur and also happens for group chat now and then.

[bad benson 1733]

nice musical chernarus apocalypse reference in the foggy forest part ;) was constantly looking over my shoulder expecting that random runner coming to scratch me. what worked for me so far (got stuck after meet up with brits) looked promising. i hope the enemy AI and engagements overall will be less stupid later on. but i get that you have to tell the prologue so i don't mind. looks promising overall. just a general statement. actual dying scenes would create more emotion than just having dead people lie there. just a tip. i need some epic last wish scenes to get that war movie feel.

good stuff BI keep crushing them bugs and we're gonna have a fun campaign.

[froggyluv 2136]

I'm not sure i wanna spoil my pleasure by playing the campaign a little too early, bugwise.

Same here. Sometimes a clean break for a while and then coming back with fresh eyes that's forgotten all the mindless AI testing is just what the doctor ordered. Speaking of which -anyone played thru with AI mods running? Any problems?

[Victim9l3 11]

Just in case this wasn't mentioned yet, There is no button to start the campaign. I could only start it by double clicking on the "survive". No start button.

[RSF TheCapulet 59]

When I click on the campaign from the campaign menu, the game crashes instantly.

[maddogx 13]

Massive issue with the last mission:

The mortar bombardment while you're fighting paratroopers is a nice touch, but I hate the fact that it can actually kill you even if you're running along with your squad mates. (As you are told to "keep moving" - no, it doesn't really help.)

I'm on my eighth or ninth 15th to 20th try now, and twice three FOUR FIVE times so far have I been killed by a mortar exploding in my face before I even got to the first ridge! Once I took enough damage to require bandaging, which also sucked.

Randomly dying without any way to stop it is not fun.

EDIT: yup, this is getting ridiculous. I keep restarting, running along with my squaddies, mortars exploding all around, and then BOOM! Dead. Rince, repeat. Still not fun.

EDIT 2: Finally managed to complete the last mission on something like the 25th try. ;)

Edited October 24, 2013 by MadDogX

[bad benson 1733]

another thing. the lack of any civilians in any of those news segments and in the missions is bad. take a look at tpW's civ cars and stuff. just a single van driving down a road away from the fight can add so much. 100% script it if you need to but don't leave it out. not everywhere. just carefully placed where they will be seen or in important scenes. it would do a lot to make the world feel more alive.

[bullet purveyor 85]

Just in case this wasn't mentioned yet, There is no button to start the campaign. I could only start it by double clicking on the "survive". No start button.

Click the little arrow to expand the campaign tree, highlight the part of the campaign you want to play and you should get the option.

[manfred89 4]

edited, may have contained spoilers

[neodammerung 8]

Sooooo 1st campaign done !

Really liked it so far !

Regarding bugs mainly points 1, 3, 4 & 5 reported by Jinzor and the fun-killer reported by MadogX

+ last mission : boats didn't gave a flying f*ck at the beach while we were being torn apart, some kind of fire support would be good

+ boats shooting during the outro ruined my ears :p

[best2nd 10]

Massive issue with the last mission:

The mortar bombardment while you're fighting paratroopers is a nice touch, but I hate the fact that it can actually kill you even if you're running along with your squad mates. (As you are told to "keep moving" - no, it doesn't really help.)

I'm on my eighth or ninth 15th to 20th try now, and twice three FOUR FIVE times so far have I been killed by a mortar exploding in my face before I even got to the first ridge! Once I took enough damage to require bandaging, which also sucked.

Randomly dying without any way to stop it is not fun.

EDIT: yup, this is getting ridiculous. I keep restarting, running along with my squaddies, mortars exploding all around, and then BOOM! Dead. Rince, repeat. Still not fun.

EDIT 2: Finally managed to complete the last mission on something like the 25th try. ;)

You are not alone. It ridiculous and impossible for mortars to track and engage moving targets. It is even more ridiculous by the fact that it's just 2 guys (at lest in my play-through).

Just remove that shelling. Thanks in advance.

[TheMightyMooseKing 10]

I noticed 3 things:

In the mission "Blackfoot down" the fireteam's medic often gets stuck next to the helicopter making it impossible to blow up the helo without getting him killed and thus failing the mission.

In the last mission the mortar bombardment is extremely annoying as it constantly gets you killed without anything you can do.

Often the AI soldiers have ridiculous accuracy, I've on several occassions seen them stop after having run for several hundred meters and then using pinpoint accuracy at long ranges to take down enemies while they were still standing, thats an AI issue though and I've already posted it in the AI discussion thread.

[VanZant 48]

Just finished.

Bugs found:

- Cannot start (does not appear in the menu) the UAV terminal in Girna's mission.

- Some script errors (related with paratroopers) just at the end, when leaving Stratis.

Good things:

- Voice acting.

- Environments and props.

- Fights well balanced.

Bad things:

- 1/3 of the campaign and still we are not the team leader.

- For now it is too filmic, linear. I really miss long missions, plenty of tasks. Even the ones with some "research" like was "Razor Two".

- One mission is a clone.

Overall i like it, but i'm worried about the lack of long and complex missions.

Edited October 24, 2013 by VanZant

[dale0404 5]

Please do not click the spoiler below if you do not want to know a very important piece of information regarding the campaign.

NATO Goats ROE!!! Fucking love it!!

[Scrub 0]

First impressions so far:

+ Great atmosphere (stuff happening around you, music, voice acting)

- Dunno if it's just me and my playstyle, but i find the gameplay a bit restrictive. Everything you do that the game doesnt want you to do results in the mission failing. I get the realism aspect behind this (disobeying orders etc.) but i would love if the game was a bit more open towards exploration or solving missions in unusual ways. I mean i'd love to just join the fight around Kamino just for the fun of it, or go around Stratis observing the fights all over the island.

Superlinear gameplay is what has always kept me away from BF3 or COD campaigns, i just can't stand "You are leaving the zone, return now or be shot" messages.

.

I have to echo what Kavoriken stated, much better voice acting (a few more takes after some time with the script while watching the intro play through would probably help inflection, and also not recording 'outdoor' lines in a small echo-office would ad aural authenticity to the cut). Overall a very enjoyable and challenging start to the campaign!

The linearity issue, however, is pretty dramatic.

I -annoyingly- got smacked with the FailHammer and had to restart after:

1- The roadblock, I use a joystick to drive and as such I accidentally backed up about a foot after halting..

2- I passed the wreckage of the officer by ~25m.

3- I went to get a better position on the attackers on the Blackfoot mission.. which was a bit away from my SL (to FLANK!!!11!!)

It's like there is a 'Tether' to your SL, and a boundary limit Rising like a Dragon... Nice.

In short, the openness of the game is being squandered in a frustrating manner for very small issues.

[sic-disaster 311]

Just finished.

Bad things:

- 1/3 of the campaign and still we are not the team leader.

- For now it is too filmic, linear. I really miss long missions, plenty of tasks. Even the ones with some "research" like was "Razor Two".

These are not bad things. I think this is fantastic. I always loved the missions in OFP where you are simply a soldier following orders. Being a teamleader is nice too, but ArmA 1 and ArmA 2 both threw you into that position way waaaay too fast (like seriously, mission 2? That's just insane). That is bad design imo, especially for new players. OFP eased players into it fantastically, and ArmA 3 should do the same.

Also, longer missions can be nice but are not always so. Shorter scenarios can be incredibly fun too, and bite-sized play-sessions are too far and few between as it stands in the ArmAverse.

[Private Evans 498]

first of all I have to say this is absolutely epic

However...At the beginning (on the way to Kamino) leaving the truck too early seems to break the mission...tasks given at Camp Maxwell are assigned before reporting in and briefing, directly when entering the camp (does not break anything but seems not right)

[jinzor 31]

These are not bad things. I think this is fantastic. I always loved the missions in OFP where you are simply a soldier following orders. Being a teamleader is nice too, but ArmA 1 and ArmA 2 both threw you into that position way waaaay too fast (like seriously, mission 2? That's just insane). That is bad design imo, especially for new players. OFP eased players into it fantastically, and ArmA 3 should do the same.

Also, longer missions can be nice but are not always so. Shorter scenarios can be incredibly fun too, and bite-sized play-sessions are too far and few between as it stands in the ArmAverse.

I agree that ArmA II put the player into a leader role too fast and that shorter scenarios with a long campaign is good, but I do wish that they had kept the sections which forced the player to think about potential consequences of their actions (e.g. should we attack head-on, or attack silently? Should we retreat, or should we hold our ground? Should we do this mission or that mission (can't do both at the same time and have to sacrifice one. This could be choosing the lesser of two evils, or picking the worst course of action etc)?

These had an affect on the story (endings/missions you're allowed to play) or on small things that could help you/make things harder for you in later missions. That's a charm I miss from ArmA II's campaigns. Right now, it doesn't have that at all, it's now just another linear campaign with less replayability. You can't fail, and if you do fail, then you have to try again and not fail. At least you could fail in the previous campaigns (except BAF/Czech). This campaign, so far, doesn't make you feel after a mission "crap, what could I have done to make the result of the mission better?" (unless you really care about those meaningless casualties; soldiers KIA'd in the campaign don't have an affect on you except for how harder it'll be to complete your current mission (less friendlies = fewer targets for the enemy (more chance of them targeting you) + more time for friendly AI to kill enemies)) because you can't make the end result better since it is linear (unlike some of the showcase missions, where you can actually fall back and fail, yet officially complete the mission).

Edited October 24, 2013 by Jinzor

[thr0tt 12]

Took me a while to work out why mouths moved but heard nothing but the audio seems to be an issue when given orders, only comes out of one speaker if you are looking in the correct way.

Accidentally clicked continue after failing 3/4 of the way through a mission, no saves remained, what a pain !

Made it to town on Death Valley to immediately get shelled on my spot taking me and entire squad out while a warning was just getting started.

Same mission, Bravo squad taken out in the a building after under 1 minute of shells hitting.

[justposted 10]

I'm on Death Valley (about mission 5). Really enjoying it so far. For a new Arma player like me, I found it much easier to get into than the Showcases. Enemies are introduced gradually, ramping up in number, so I have got better at working out who is shooting at me. Excellent introduction to Arma. New players are going to have to do a lot of fiddling with controls to work out what to do, but that's far preferable to a long hand-holding tutorial thingummy in my opinion.

The odd crash in seemingly random places (e.g. after an autosave near Blackfoot, or after I crashed my UAV), but nothing serious or reproducable. Struggled a bit with the briefings at Maxwell as well - not always clear where to go in order to check in for a briefing and get the next mission started. Once I had to reset, because nothing seemed to be happening.

Great stuff BIS.

[AlexVestin 24]

Improvement from earlier SP campaigns. The missions were a lot more intense and interesting.

Only dialog to text error I've noticed so far was the text when your squads were told to enter the boats.

One misplaced "fuck" if I recall correctly :)

[almanzo 144]

I'd like to point out that this is my thoughts after playing the 3 first missions.

I also would like to state that I will only make general comments, and that I haven't particularly liked any ARMA campaign since Operation Flashpoint. With that being said, here are my first impressions.

I am amazed by how Bohemia Interactive with this release finally have payed attention too single player. I have learned to not expect to much from ARMA campaigns and single player scenarios after to many let downs in the past. While Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis is one of my favorite campaign in video game history, (I also enjoyed Red Hammer quite a lot), none of the sucessors have been even close.

This time around, you feel unsignificant. All of the athmospheric things from OFP is here. Comfusion, being the underdog, actually hearing that you and your friends are afraid, pissed off and feel uncomfortable with their situation, all that I loved from OFP is here. The voice acting is superb, only thing I find a bit dissappointing is that some of the characters are a bit to though, but I guess that's just the feel of modern combat. It's also pretty obvious too me that BI now knows what parts of their game shines, and how to show it. How the first two missions features the new light engine and the fog, along with the new sun rays and scope glear is simply masterful. I never actually liked Stratis that much, and I have felt that it was a bit small. It's quite cool to see how well they know their own terrain, in order to choose the best locations. At one occation, I got the feeling of how huge the island actually is, even though Altis is much bigger. I also find that for once, the balance of enemy forces present is right, where before you'd be mowing down endless hordes. The AI could be tweaked a bit, as they are pretty darn accurate, but that is a minor issue.

Otherwize the music was fantastic, and the directing was superb. Thank you so much for these missions. I simply fucking loved them!

And one thought have been poundering me since I first tried them. It's a fucking shame this campaign didn't make it to the launch. It's sad to think that so many reviewers didn't get to try this campaign out, and I am 100% sure that if it had shipped with even only the first part of the campaign as of now, it would have gotten better ratings and it would have gotten more sales. I am simply baffled as too why they didn't delay it one month or two... Or even why they didn't follow the release plan they are currently following, simply renaming it so the current official release would have been Beta 0.9 and now at the release of the campaign called it official release 1.0. That way, reviewers would have reviewed a much more complete product.

I would have hoped to see more civillians, as of now Stratis feels like a huge military base. But yeah,

[NeMeSiS 11]

I'm on Death Valley (about mission 5)

Which is appropriately named, since i died about 10 times already in that fucking mission.

My squad dies as soon as they see the enemy, leaving me to fight a million guys while i am on a hill i cant properly see from since there are trees everywhere, leading to me being flanked from every side so far.

Decent work on the AI though, i really am suppressed and flanked in that situation, and there isnt much i can do about it.

EDIT: Anyway, so far i havent encountered a single bug. Voice acting hasnt been this good since OFP, and i like that you are not a squad leader yet.

EDIT2: Oh, this is that buggy ass POS mission from the alpha, i never enjoyed that one.

Edited October 24, 2013 by NeMeSiS

[RSF TheCapulet 59]

When I click on the campaign from the campaign menu, the game crashes instantly.

Mods: A3

Distribution: 0

Version 1.05.111518

Fault time: 2013/10/24 16:32:31

Fault address: 00401856 01:00000856 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3\arma3.exe

file: intro1

world: Stratis

campaign: A3\Missions_F_EPA\Campaign

battle: Missions

mission: A_in

Prev. code bytes: 20 D9 58 20 C2 04 00 CC CC CC 8B C1 8B 4C 24 04

Fault code bytes: 8B 09 85 C9 74 0D 56 8B D1 BE 01 00 00 00 F0 0F

Registers:

EAX:01E0F7A0 EBX:00000002

ECX:00000004 EDX:00000000

ESI:36CC7200 EDI:00000000

CS:EIP:0023:00401856

SS:ESP:002B:01E0F784 EBP:36CE7400

DS:002B ES:002B FS:0053 GS:002B

Flags:00010206

[goldenfiver 11]

The only complaint so far: hints and tips should automatically be displayed. "hit 0-8" can confuse new players.