What is "True" Arma ?

[bvrettski 10]

"_________ has affected people playing Arma vanilla (how it was originally intended)."

What is Vanilla Arma? True Arma? Original Arma? What is the Arma game type or mission that defines what Real Arma is? I know the faithful tend to dismiss the "Johnny come lately" missions and mods that drew so many people to the game in A2 like DayZ, Wasteland, Life. They also don't seem to ever give much credit to any of the missions BI has ever officially released with the game.

So what is Arma..the way it was "intented to be played?" I want to understand what the true Arma game is.

I look forward to reading other peoples thoughts.

Please stick to the subject and keep the discussion constructive if possible.

Thanks for playing...

[NeMeSiS 11]

I think that you are free to play it any way you want. However, the developers seem to have tried to make a combined arms war game, so i guess any mission that has the main focus on infantry and some vehicles fighting each other stays close to how it was 'intended'.

PVP, coop, SP or mixed doesn't matter, all of them are 'intended'

[UltimateBawb 1]

Oh, I don't know, maybe any mode / mission where the main subject is focused around some sort of combat? I'm not dismissing other game-modes; Life and DayZ could be fun (Wasteland is cancerous, sorry). However, I can't stand to see the combined arms 'simulator' (before I get jumped on by people with the strictest definitions of a 'simulator') that is Arma 3 be overtaken by childish modes that fail to utilize the most redeeming aspects of the game and engine.

[Game__On 10]

" What is true arma ..."

Unplayable slideshow mess :d

[progamer 14]

Arma is hardcore core and realistic. That is the true Arma, closer to a simulator than other games. From the sim like base game, it can be modded any direction you want.

Dayz is going to be ultra hardcore realistic but it's really sad that the Dayz team cares more about realism more than the Arma dev team.

[Maio 293]

Arma is hardcore core and realistic. That is the true Arma, closer to a simulator than other games. From the sim like base game, it can be modded any direction you want.

Dayz is going to be ultra hardcore realistic but it's really sad that the Dayz team cares more about realism more than the Arma dev team.

TBH I don't find Arma that hardcore. For me it;s just the right amount of open sandbox to allow a different experience when I play it (on MP and SP if the mission is designed with variation on mind).

Both teams care equally about their product. Dayz was designed from the ground up as a survival sim, while Arma is a sandbox military game.

So my answer is, Arma is an open game that allows diversity in gameplay, a fact that keeps me interested in the title for years and years. There is no right way to play it, just be sure that the way you are playing does not prohibit the others from having fun.

If I were to really narrow it down, fairly slow paced COOP and TvT.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Maio

[Beagle 684]

ArmA puplic MP came to life with warfare, until BIS gave us the warfare template public MP was a bit dull.

[nicolasroger 11]

back in the time of the original operation flashpoint, True arma was 6 player coops without respawns.

Then I think it kind of moved to domination/evolution and warfar missions.

[NeMeSiS 11]

back in the time of the original operation flashpoint, True arma was 6 player coops without respawns.

Then I think it kind of moved to domination/evolution and warfar missions.

Dont forget CTI. Back in the day everyone was proud of it, since only OFP could pull something like that off.

So many years later it got a bit stale though. :)

[bez 10]

True ArmA = ArmA2 + ACE

BS ArmA =ArmA3.

period.

[progamer 14]

Even when playing wasteland in Arma 2, I found that wasteland with ACE would have a lot more team players.

[instagoat 133]

It is by far the best parallel parking simulator on the market right now.

[Tyl3r99 41]

" What is true arma ..."

Unplayable slideshow mess :d

hehe

well i normally just fuck around with the AI because they actually make me laugh a little bit :man3::man3::man3::man3:

[bvrettski 10]

So there was never been an official supported mission or gametype that defined what Arma was supposed to be?

Real Arma came into being largely from community involvement?

[-Coulum- 35]

At one point arma was supposed to be a military simulator I believe. But with mods like Dayz, ACE, etc. I believe BIS has realized that developing the game as a military sim will not be as productive as developing it as a sandbox that can be turned into whatever one wants it to be. That's not to say they have thrown realism out the window - its just increased realism is no longer a number one priority. True Arma is a sandbox where you can create anything and play it with friends. Its whatever the user chooses it to be. Honestly the campaign and stock missions are not at all that Arma is. They are just a introduction to the possibilities.

This model has both its pros and cons. Overall I think it is a good choice. It sure beats going total arcade and making money or going total realism and going broke.

[progamer 14]

At one point arma was supposed to be a military simulator I believe. But with mods like Dayz, ACE, etc. I believe BIS has realized that developing the game as a military sim will not be as productive as developing it as a sandbox that can be turned into whatever one wants it to be. That's not to say they have thrown realism out the window - its just increased realism is no longer a number one priority. True Arma is a sandbox where you can create anything and play it with friends. Its whatever the user chooses it to be. Honestly the campaign and stock missions are not at all that Arma is. They are just a introduction to the possibilities.

This model has both its pros and cons. Overall I think it is a good choice. It sure beats going total arcade and making money or going total realism and going broke.

The whole realistic and no balance is one of the things that made Dayz mod popular. And I doubt Arma would go bankrupt being more realistic. The thing is it really can't be a true sandbox. Alienating past fans with the whole mods will fix it philosophy is not a good solution. I don't think all the BI devs want what Coulum thinks they do, it's more from people who have more power from changes in project lead and other things.

I don't think realism is no longer the number one priority, even with stupid things like hiring someone to balance content. But it seems as though a lot of the realistic mil sim devs jumped ship to dayz. By shying away from the niche Arma just become another one of those boring balanced games that try to appeal to everyone and make no one happy. Arma just seems like it's lost it's way right now but hopefully will get back on track.

Edited December 15, 2013 by ProGamer

[giallustio 770]

There's no "true" ArmA, or better, there are more than one.

ArmA has to be played as you want. If you're having fun, then you're playing ArmA.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Giallustio

[chrisb 196]

Real Arma came into being largely from community involvement?

No that would be wrong to say I think.

Its a vision they had right back in the late 90's of a game about war, that gave you the opportunity to play it whichever way you wanted. Open world maps/terrains/islands whatever you want to call them, so roam freely, design missions however you wanted, obviously depending on your pc power. I think that's a vision that came true, all since is just adding to that, mod/addons are just that, something to make it deifferent in some way.

The series has thrown up some surprises, concerning mod/addons, but by no means do they sway the original vision. If players think they make it better, then that's fine (I myself think that), but without the original vision, we wouldn't have any of it.

Just how I see it..;)

[smokedog3para 365]

Having over 10 years of gaming with one company, no other company has had that out of me.

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

So there was never been an official supported mission or gametype that defined what Arma was supposed to be?

Real Arma came into being largely from community involvement?

I wasn't really around back in the OFP days, I only really got into the series when ArmA 1 came out (I had gotten OFP, but it was in one of the dozen or two dozen boxes our moving company "lost" when my dad rejoined the army after 9/11. Never really got to play it.) and everything I saw then, and everything I heard about the OFP days from the people I met who played/were involved back then, is that Real ArmA only came into being from community involvement. OFP was brilliant, but it might've been a one hit wonder if it wasn't for the community, the addons and the terrains and the missions. Not only did BIS have a good community with good content/mods that drew in more people every day, it had an instant, fair sized, and well stocked talent pool. They've been fishing out of that pool for over a decade now, and if it wasn't for that I highly doubt ArmA would be what we know it as today.

[nicolasroger 11]

Dont forget CTI. Back in the day everyone was proud of it, since only OFP could pull something like that off.

So many years later it got a bit stale though. :)

You are right ! I totaly forgot about it and I in fact played (and enjoyed) it a lot.

[MissionCreep 12]

"True Arma" is whatever I feel like playing at that moment.

[pd3 25]

For the most part, however you wish.

With a few provisions...

You don't spin around like a cyborg on crack whilst prone, weapons have weight, and it doesn't feel like you're floating whilst running.

*cough cough*

That aside, I am a pretty huge fan of ThompsonB's Flashpoint, dynamic battle scripts.

If A3 had something like that it would really improve the game... among other things.

---------- Post added at 02:29 ---------- Previous post was at 02:27 ----------

True ArmA = ArmA2 + ACE

BS ArmA =ArmA3.

period.

Until it's fixed, if ever.

---------- Post added at 02:32 ---------- Previous post was at 02:29 ----------

The whole realistic and no balance is one of the things that made Dayz mod popular. And I doubt Arma would go bankrupt being more realistic. The thing is it really can't be a true sandbox. Alienating past fans with the whole mods will fix it philosophy is not a good solution. I don't think all the BI devs want what Coulum thinks they do, it's more from people who have more power from changes in project lead and other things.

I don't think realism is no longer the number one priority, even with stupid things like hiring someone to balance content. But it seems as though a lot of the realistic mil sim devs jumped ship to dayz. By shying away from the niche Arma just become another one of those boring balanced games that try to appeal to everyone and make no one happy. Arma just seems like it's lost it's way right now but hopefully will get back on track.

My version of A2 is customized straight to the balls, and I like it like that.

A3 has some pretty critical failings that cannot be fixed via mods or scripts, and until it is, it's future hangs in the balance.

Either it will become some lukewarm sandbox for BF/CoD players, or the devs will get their shit together.

[pharoah 65]

" What is true arma ..."

Unplayable slideshow mess :d

No. "What is true arma": combined arms against enemy infantry (AI or human controlled) using coordinated infantry, vehicles, artillery, aircraft, etc all operating in the one environment.

'What is actual arma': Unplayable slideshow mess. :)

[Tonci87 163]

True ArmA = ArmA2 + ACE

BS ArmA =ArmA3.

period.

Yeah that´s pretty much my what I think.

There is nothing else that comes close to Arma 2+ACE and ACRE