Pet Peeves of A3

[roshnak 41]

Well said nettrucker.

I bought Arma, wasn't that impressed but held out hope for patches, then along came Arma II (instead of repairing Arma), so I just went back to good old OFP.

For a game that's been around in different iterations now for 12 years, it's annoying to suffer through the same bugs and limitations. In some ways Arma III has gone backwards past OFP.

The ragdoll effect is nice when soldiers are killed outright, but I'd prefer a set range of animations for wounding than the awful twitching that goes on when you shoot ememies. It looks terrible.

Also the mid-range terrain textures are basically the same as OFP, but the overall effect is worse as soldiers sink/clip into the ground as BIS's way of pretending they're partly concealed.

And then there's the crappy vehicle damage model, the damn action menu, the poor optimisation...

But I'm still here :)

How is any of what you mentioned worse than it was in OFP? I fully agree that it's been disappointing to be playing the series for this long and to still see some of the same bugs and annoyances in the game, but there are improvements. I'm just not sure why you would say, "It's not improved enough, so I'm going to stick with the game that isn't improved at all."

Steam is a DRM service.

I won't disagree with this...

At best it makes people pay for all sorts of junk they will never play or would otherwise download for free.

But what does this mean? It seems like you are suggesting that Steam encourages people to pay for games they would otherwise pirate, which many people would argue is a good thing, and I will argue that it doesn't even stop people from pirating games in the first place.

"Doesn't mind control" - except that’s by definition what they do.

Steam has all sorts of achievements, statistics tracking and trading cards (what the hell!) designed to keep players using their service while bombarding them with sales, check this article out and you may share my cynicism:

http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2013/07/the-psychology-behind-steams-summer-sale/

As easily as people are addicting to achievements and other such rewards, I don't think anyone has ever bought a game on Steam for the trading cards or achievements. Those are incentives to keep you playing, which Valve doesn't really care about since they already have your money.

Also, I'm not sure how Steam sales do anything but help me. They only thing they do is guarantee that I will not buy a game unless it is at least 50% off, and I usually wait until it's more like 75% off. Yeajh, Steam sales are designed to get me to buy more stuff. All sales are designed to get you to buy more stuff. Do you hate buy-one-get-one-free sales, too?

Edit: Oh, man. It's probably not great that this huge derail of a post is starting a new page.

Edited March 2, 2014 by roshnak

[Sneakson 1]

How is any of what you mentioned worse than it was in OFP? I fully agree that it's been disappointing to be playing the series for this long and to still see some of the same bugs and annoyances in the game, but there are improvements. I'm just not sure why you would say, "It's not improved enough, so I'm going to stick with the game that isn't improved at all."

I won't disagree with this...

But what does this mean? It seems like you are suggesting that Steam encourages people to pay for games they would otherwise pirate, which many people would argue is a good thing, and I will argue that it doesn't even stop people from pirating games in the first place.

As easily as people are addicting to achievements and other such rewards, I don't think anyone has ever bought a game on Steam for the trading cards or achievements. Those are incentives to keep you playing, which Valve doesn't really care about since they already have your money.

Also, I'm not sure how Steam sales do anything but help me. They only thing they do is guarantee that I will not buy a game unless it is at least 50% off, and I usually wait until it's more like 75% off. Yeajh, Steam sales are designed to get me to buy more stuff. All sales are designed to get you to buy more stuff. Do you hate buy-one-get-one-free sales, too?

Edit: Oh, man. It's probably not great that this huge derail of a post is starting a new page.

Well, Steam is an ARMA pet-peeve so I think it's not completely unrelated.

I sure would enjoy being able to start ARMA up at any time my computer is on by double-clicking an icon on my desktop and having that be that, after installing it.

Also, users paying for games they would otherwise pirate being a good thing is corporate thinking and not consumer thinking. A consumer view would be that you are paying for something that probably isn't worth your money to begin with.

I WOULD like Steam to be some sort of good guys and they would be too if connecting your games to Steam was optional so they would give you the optional opportunity of having your game secured in the cloud... however it's not optional.

That means if you don’t like the way Steam works, tracks everything you do or have some sort of technical issue with it then you have absolutely no say about it.

That’s how a monopoly works.

So as much as I would like to have every one of my games available in a cloud that stores them for me and allows me to install them from the cloud, automatically updates them and maybe even lets me access them from any other Steam-connected computer available… I like it much, much better my way.

[roshnak 41]

Also, users paying for games they would otherwise pirate being a good thing is corporate thinking and not consumer thinking. A consumer view would be that you are paying for something that probably isn't worth your money to begin with.

I didn't say it was a good thing. I said it wasn't really a thing at all. You can take a look at any popular torrent site and see how many Steam only games are available (lots).

Also, it seems like your biggest problem with Steam is that it has to be running, which is fair, but pretty much every feature of Steam is designed around the idea that it's always running, anyway. The way it downloads updates when other games aren't being played basically allows for fairly gargantuan updates to be pushed without users really having to think about it. I don't really understand why you wouldn't have Steam running all the time if you have Steam games installed on your computer.

And if Valve has a monopoly on digital distribution services, it's not because other companies haven't tried to unseat them. EA has Origin, Stardock had Impulse, they just weren't as good as Steam is. Steam used to be really bad, but it's not anymore. As far as large video game companies go, Valve is one of the better ones.

The only complaint I can understand about Steam is that if Valve ever goes out of business, people could lose access to their Steam libraries, which I'm not really that worried about since, like I said, there are cracks available for the vast majority of Steam games.

[HorbeySpector 164]

when you merge missions, playable units from the mission your merging become non-playable units. :mad:

honestly, why do they do that?

[Varanon 892]

Please not again a thread about Steam. We had enough of those, honestly

[OrLoK 20]

when you merge missions, playable units from the mission your merging become non-playable units. :mad:

honestly, why do they do that?

Hello there

This has become a recent bugbear of mine. Not a big issue but makes me grrrr on occasion.

Rgds

LoK

[chops 111]

@roshnak

I think soldiers react more realistically (if repetatively) to being shot in OFP. In A3 they just twitch. I mainly stayed with OFP due to the plethora of mods and familiarity.

And in case you missed it:

Also the mid-range terrain textures are basically the same as OFP, but the overall effect is worse as soldiers sink/clip into the ground as BIS's way of pretending they're partly concealed.

[roshnak 41]

when you merge missions, playable units from the mission your merging become non-playable units. :mad:

This is pretty frustrating.

I think soldiers react more realistically (if repetatively) to being shot in OFP.

It's been a few years since I played OFP, but I don't remember them reacting to being shot at all in OFP. I can't tell if you're talking about death animations or the new armor system in Arma 3, which I think most people will agree still needs a ton of work.

Also the mid-range terrain textures are basically the same as OFP, but the overall effect is worse as soldiers sink/clip into the ground as BIS's way of pretending they're partly concealed.

So, is your argument that mid-range textures are just as ugly as they were in OFP, but it's okay in OFP because everything is ugly? To be honest, if you are going to complain about graphics issues with Arma 3, OFP is not the game you should be going back to.

Edit: To be clear, I agree that most of these things are problems, I just don't understand how they are less of a problem in OFP, which has all of these problems and then some.

Edited March 3, 2014 by roshnak

[Sneakson 1]

I didn't say it was a good thing. I said it wasn't really a thing at all. You can take a look at any popular torrent site and see how many Steam only games are available (lots).

Also, it seems like your biggest problem with Steam is that it has to be running, which is fair, but pretty much every feature of Steam is designed around the idea that it's always running, anyway. The way it downloads updates when other games aren't being played basically allows for fairly gargantuan updates to be pushed without users really having to think about it. I don't really understand why you wouldn't have Steam running all the time if you have Steam games installed on your computer.

And if Valve has a monopoly on digital distribution services, it's not because other companies haven't tried to unseat them. EA has Origin, Stardock had Impulse, they just weren't as good as Steam is. Steam used to be really bad, but it's not anymore. As far as large video game companies go, Valve is one of the better ones.

The only complaint I can understand about Steam is that if Valve ever goes out of business, people could lose access to their Steam libraries, which I'm not really that worried about since, like I said, there are cracks available for the vast majority of Steam games.

No, my biggest problem with Steam is everything you have to do with it. Start up, update, log-in et cetera.

It's a lot of work and in the end it doesn't do anything for me, so I would choose not to use it, except that's not an option!

It's like Apple, Google and Microsoft trying to shove useless apps, Google+ and Windows 8 (Apps, Metro/Modern, SkyDrive/OneDrive, Libraries, 8.1 My Computer un-removable Library shortcuts) down everyone’s throats.

They do a lot of make our lives more difficult only so they can earn more money or whatever they are trying to do, screwing the users over.

[roshnak 41]

No, my biggest problem with Steam is everything you have to do with it. Start up, update, log-in et cetera.

So the thing you don't like about Steam is the user input it requires? Those are literally the only three things that Steam requires of you. It also starts up and logs in automatically for me, so I'm not sure how this is adding workload. I mean, it is designed to be running all the time, if you are launching it yourself, then you are using the program wrong. The only times I ever even think about Steam are when I right click the icon to launch a game and when it asks me to restart for an update.

Sorry, I don't mean to keep harping on this, it's just that I've seen people be mad about Steam for a lot of reasons, some of them valid, and the amount of user interactivity it requires has never been one of them.

Anyway, that's the last I'll post about Steam in this thread. If it's a pet peeve, then it's a pet peeve. I just feel like you have rather unusual reasons for disliking the service.

It would be cool to see some fixes for some of the minor stuff like keep playable units playable while merging missions, though. This thread does have a tendency to remind me of things that I think are really annoying that I've gotten used to over the years.

[AveryTheKitty 2626]

P07 uses Glock icon.

[slverfox94739 11]

never mind

[FredTche 10]

Authenticity issues…

CSAT use an Israeli machinegun [this one is my biggest pet peeve], all sides have the exact same UAV and UGV, Blufor and Opfor artillery have identical turrets.

Bonus pet peeve: The fake 3D scopes. We can see around the scope, but the peripheral view is also magnified.

[jgbtl292 0]

only a key for go slow forward or backward. no key for go slow sidewards ! is horrible ion a window - the shorted press on a key and the weapon go in all directions ....

the israel with wonder space in his back - with this space you havê only 6 rounds in this tank ^^

the dreamer optics in tanks - no marks for targeting reproach( why no real marks ????? )

ap ammo kill houses with one or two shots ....

the same weapons stations for all sides

after 13 years and i can not fire my anti tank weapon when I lie in the grass

3 seconds stop breathing for targting .... is a little short sry ^^

behind a window with glass i can shot 3 magazines - and the glass is not complete destroyed - the bullets fly in all directions !?

inventory can not use when i in a vehicle or copter - the complete infantry group must go out for exchange equipment with other team members ^^ for driver or pilot and copilot ok - not for the soldiers in the cargo room

when i command my group and will that all do the same thing - my avatar say all nummbers from the team individually - the command need many time ^^ in ofp arma 1 and 2 we has the mcig - " all " do this or this " now we have number 1 do xyz number 2 do xyz number three do xyz .............................. crazy

no commands for fire opening with individual range for opening

no commands for fire sectors

no 3d editor - set a fieldcamp needs hours with 3d editor maby minutes ^^

wheels complete down after singelshots - sure i kill a abc wheel with 5 -6 shots with a rifle ... a joke. give the amored wheeled vehicles her combats wheels ! and the problem with the ai killig the wheels on little stonewalls and do nothing are solvet !!!

Edited March 6, 2014 by JgBtl292

[roshnak 41]

CSAT use an Israeli machinegun [this one is my biggest pet peeve]

This is pretty hilarious

Bonus pet peeve: The fake 3D scopes. We can see around the scope, but the peripheral view is also magnified.

I'm pretty sure this is for performance reasons. Arma's render-to-texture isn't that great. Now I'm wondering if it would be possible to render the magnified optic at full res and the unmagnified area outside the optic at reduced resolution with a slight blur filter over it.

behind a window with glass i can shot 3 magazines - and the glass is not complete destroyed - the bullets fly in all directions !?

This is also pretty bad. I could deal with it if glass didn't do such terrible things to bullets. It would be cool if we had the option to manually open windows or break glass panes in order to make firing from windows less worthless.

no commands for firesectors

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by this, but if you are saying what I think you are, then you can set up fire sectors by selecting units and giving "watch direction" orders. You can even hold alt with units selected and it defaults to telling units to watch a specific location.

Edited March 6, 2014 by roshnak

[John Kozak 14]

My personal ones are the fake 3D scopes and the lack of seamless vehicle entering/exiting animations. The game feels much more immersive than previous one in the series, the latter problem is breaking that.

[EricM 0]

Weird no one mentioned that :

Still no "LAND" order to command your AI pilot to drop you after twelve years...

[neodammerung 8]

Wrecks you can spot kilometers away...

[jgbtl292 0]

by JgBtl292

no commands for firesectors

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by this, but if you are saying what I think you are, then you can set up fire sectors by selecting units and giving "watch direction" orders. You can even hold alt with units selected and it defaults to telling units to watch a specific location.

i mean a command for give the different ai sectors for fire opening - example " ai xyz your fire sector is from 12 o clock to 3 o clock " and die ai fires and watching, only in this sector :)

Edited March 6, 2014 by JgBtl292

[DancZer 65]

Action menu(for simply high priority actions like open door or get in)

instant LOD switching(there is no transition like in other engines).

[five_seven5-7 56]

If a player uses sunglasses why cant we get a look through sunglasses and get better efficiency using different types of lenses (yellow at night, black during the day, etc ...)

[goldenfiver 11]

Helmet mounted lights.

Picking chemlights off the ground

[the_demongod 31]

Having a separate throttle, wheel brakes, and air brakes instead of the current press-to-go-fast-press-to-go-slow setup. Not having wheelbrakes renders the majority of Altis airstrips unusable, because you cannot stop fast enough, or stay in place while you run up your engines for takeoff (losing valuable meters of runway).

[HorbeySpector 164]

-Not being able to use map draw distance (not to confuse with object draw distance) on a mp server.

-Hands are not holding the gun properly on back of armed truck.

[xendance 3]

-Not being able to use map draw distance (not to confuse with object draw distance) on a mp server.

-Hands are not holding the gun properly on back of armed truck.

Yea I hate when missions use some goddamn view distance scripts that lock my land draw distance or somehow else alter it.