Newcomer to Arma, need some tips :-)

[Venger__ 2]

Hi everyone, new member here and just wanted to introduce myself.

 

I just purchased Arma 3 after years of Cod and Battielfield and other shooters. I kept looking for the next best thing, the more realistic experience and here is where I ended up, at the door step of Arma 3. I've had the game for around a week now and so far it's pretty amazing but as I'm sure everyone knows, there's quite a steep learning curve. I'd appreciate any tips for new comers and where to get started. I've spent the last week just getting accustomed to the controls, and doing offline training to get myself familiarized with everything. So far I've tried a bit of the SP campaign and had to stop due to boredom and the fact that it's not really helping me improve much. So instead I downloaded a whole bunch of scenarios including helicopter/plan missions and SP objectives.

 

The roles I enjoy most are helicopter gunship and jet fighter operation, and also enjoy being part of a team and playing on foot, but would prefer to get in to helicopter missions more than anything. I have seen that there is a game mode called KOTH which requires a chopper pilot to transport players to and from designated locations, but beyond that I was wondering what everyone recommends for those interested in helicopter gunship or jet fighter gameplay online. What game mods would be best to start with, which servers if any are more "noob" oriented for beginners like me, and so on (I'm in California, USA).

 

Cheers all. Glad to be part of my first Arma forum

[peegee 118]

Heya!

I'd say you could try EUTW Warfare or simpler KOTH if you want public play and fly helicopters, unfortunately for you EUTW servers are, well in Europe. You still might be able to play with 200ms ping. That's the best pub game mode I know.
That is of course if you are fine sticking with vanilla game and playing on public servers.

[Gunter Severloh 4063]

Hello Venger, Welcome to Bis forums and the Arma community!

A suggestion for you to get into the editor and make your own missions:

1. go to the editor

2. pick a map

3. once on the map double click to insert a unit (player), press preview at bottom right/ Play

Thats very basic that will get you in the editor, but if you want more thorough instructions view this page:

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Eden_Editor

Editor is a good place to mess with your controls and see what does what, while going back and forth to the controls.

 

As for missions for Helicopters and Jets see my list here:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=254618749

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=254703389

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=255043235

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=252406442

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=284844047

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=278117526

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=254650324

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=264357391&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=210083460&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=201087083&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=239889665&searchtext=War+Thunder

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=301411191&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=284687325&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=284157186&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=272240034&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=267476818&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=267442332&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=266803366&searchtext=Nimitz

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=169777434

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=176755778

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=267801307

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=169777874

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=201087083

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=198486090

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=225338652

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=179314581

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=185373754

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=193481924

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=210083460

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=251589760

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=179461806

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=176226886

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259505848

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=171077946

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=230239528

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=185561120

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259290384

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=251659052

Jet Pilot series http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=251652014

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=177379267

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=249412243

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=230748650

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=193625383

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=239889665

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=184084832

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=180522508

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=289472825

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=179402194

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=294347889

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=175693120

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?176453-Close-Air-Support-ECAS&highlight=strongharm

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?163416-Close-Air-Support-Day-2&highlight=strongharm

[suds420 179]

I second @Gunter Severloh's suggestion about the editor. It's a great place to learn the in's and out's of Arma. Hell, even after all this time it's where I spend most of my time in Arma. 

[Von Quest 1163]

Stop by armaholic.com and say hey to Foxhound. He's one of the pillars of the community. Once you get into mods, you'll never look back. Welcome to your newest addiction.

[Grumpy Old Man 3546]

'G' is for opening the gear window.

 

Cheers

[joostsidy 685]

If you're in a helicopter, 'eject' means removing the disc from the helicopters cd player.

 

For helo gameplay I also recommend just throwing down a helo in the editor and fly it around. You will learn:

- how to fly properly

- the layout of the maps

- landing at difficult places (at the hospital roof pad in Kavala, or ... on top of the round radar domes) :-)

- shooting (practice on buildings, or empty vehicles etc.)

 

For advanced: create a mission which takes three hours and try to play it with one life. You will not be bored :-)

[Richie 330]

4 hours ago, joostsidy said:

If you're in a helicopter, 'eject' means removing the disc from the helicopters cd player.

 

[SpacePilotMax 47]

If you do sometime get out of helicopters, find a a group to play with (casual or relaxed realism recommended). And just generally ddo a lot of flying in the editor. Try it in first person.

[Venger__ 2]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys and especially the mission links by Gunter. Very helpful. Regarding the editor, that's where I've been spending 90% of my time, when I'm not trying out missions/scenarios. It's such a great addition to the game.

 

Being a Battlefield 4 player for the last few years, I unexpectedly stumbled upon a mod last night which adds a BF conquest style game mode to Arma 3, with capture points and all. But hardly anybody plays it online so unfortunately it's not something that can realistically be played except for offline mode with AI.

 

 

[Venger__ 2]

On 5/2/2017 at 4:51 AM, joostsidy said:

If you're in a helicopter, 'eject' means removing the disc from the helicopters cd player.

haha I'll remember that

[Tuskegee_99th 43]

BF style conquest mode does not even require a mod. The vanilla game has everything needed to build that game mode in the editor. I through together 'sector control' missions for my group in 5 to 10 minutes on any terrain.

 

[Venger__ 2]

2 hours ago, Tuskegee_99th said:

BF style conquest mode does not even require a mod. The vanilla game has everything needed to build that game mode in the editor. I through together 'sector control' missions for my group in 5 to 10 minutes on any terrain.

 

 

Do you know any north American servers that play conquest? I couldn't find any. Unless you're talking about playing offline with AI.

[domokun 515]

Try Arma's in-game tutorial aka "Boot Camp"

Once you are familiarised, try this well-written guide: Dslyecxi's Arma 3 Tactics Guide

[Midnighters 152]

Tip, stay the fuck away from KOTH and Altis life, i am so done with people that obsess themselves with it.