Coming back to BIS games after a long hiatus, help me get up to speed.

[Chris-PA 0]

Well, hello again everybody. I was never a big poster around here so no one knows me but I have been a big BIS fan since Operation Flashpoint back in 2001 when the game was released. I have fond memories as a teenager in High School playing Operation Flashpoint, Resistance and many of the user created campaigns/content afterwards. Over the years I remember playing the main campaign of the OFP, playing through Resistance's campaign, downloading/playing user created missions/content, going online to play CO-OP with players around the world (I was doing this at first with a 56K modem then on a broadband internet connection 2003 and onwards, I believe I used "Gamespy" to connect online) then after awhile getting caught up in other things which got me away OFP. However after a year or two I would get back into OFP and start my obsession again. The last time I went through this cycle was back in 2009-2010, by that time the game was getting very dated and the links to a lot of the user made content took me to dead ends (Websites no longer existing, etc). Now again I am having the urge to play this game, I absolutely loved the campaign of the original game. The setting, adversaries, era of the events and the layout of the environment really drew me in. I even loved the concept of Resistance where you had to start your forces from almost nothing, steal/kill for the equipment/weapons needed to equip your forces and slowly fight the Soviets back. I especially loved how realistic the game is, as a hobby I own/collect/shoot a multitude of firearms and I own several semi-automatic rifles/pistols based on some of the most widely used in militaries/government agencies around the world. Most games I played beyond OFP don't get the real world behavior of these firearms right while OFP duplicates the ballistics very closely. I actually remember using the SVD rifle in OFP years before I purchased my first firearm and being able to use what I learned from the game on a rifle I shot with a PSO-1 optic mounted (The SVD uses this optic too) years later, BIS copied these real world concepts very well.

Now that OPF is over 13 years old I decided to get a more recent installment of the game, as I post this my computer is downloading "ARMA: Complete Edition" from Steam for $40. For awhile I wanted to download this game but I stood away because even though this game got very good reviews overall some complained about the complexities and glitches this game had. I overcame my fears when I saw the "Complete Edition" with all the add-on content for a mere $40, I said to myself why not? I figured if I could pick up OFP at 14-15 years old I can pick up ARMA II at age 27. Even if the main campaign disappointed the user created content would make up for it, anyway as I remember OFP had glitches/crashed my PC a few times but the issues only happened now and then but never enough to ruin the experience however I will admit that I have some concerns about the quality of the AI.

So I just wanted to touch base with the community and hear from you guys what I should be checking out as far as downloadable content is concerned. So much information is available out there so I was hoping you guys would narrow it down for me, I would also love if you guys can turn me onto other communities that specialize in user created content for ARMA. Thanks for your time, I will check back in a few hours after I immerse myself into ARMA II. If I love ARMA II enough I am going to purchase ARMA III in a few months. Thanks again.

Edited February 14, 2014 by Chris-PA

[SavageCDN 231]

If you're looking for mods, etc to try out I would recommend ACE (for realism), ASR_AI and TPWCAS for AI modifications, RH weapon packs.. really the list is endless. Highly recommend Six-Updater or Play With Six programs to help you download and manage the mods.

[razer313 10]

Your in luck then! The only reason why im still playing Arma 2, is because of the extensive set of mods on it, and although the game does have some problems, once they are overcome its usually a enjoyable experience. Some mods are of extremely high quality, and one recently that has impressed me is a Apache where you can actually flip switches in the cockpit to turn it on and start the thing! If your getting back into it, get yourself sorted out with ACE, then ACRE if you wish to join a clan or just play online. Considering you have only come back to the series, you might not know of the existence of the site, 'Armaholic'. This has almost every mod for Arma on it, and it organizes it well so you can find anything easily. I would spend some time browsing on there if you think of something you might like. Say if you didn't like the way one of the default Arma units looked like, then all you need to do is look on there for the units section and you will get quite a few pages to look at. On that site it tells you how to install the mods too. So it isn't too difficult.

Good luck and enjoy like many of us have been doing for years!