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Laws of War DLC Playable Content (Campaign / Showcases / Time Trials)

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Have you played the various bits of playable content in Laws of War DLC? Let's hear what you thought and how we might still improve it!

  • Please be considerate to your fellow players and mark any spoilers appropriately - thank you! :thumbsup:
  • Specific issues are most effectively reported directly to our Feedback Tracker.

campaign_remnants_of_war.jpg

 

What playable content is there and how do I access it?

  • Added: “Remnants of War” mini-campaign**
    • Main Menu: SINGLEPLAYER > CAMPAIGNS
  • Added: Showcase IDAP
  • Added: Showcase Laws of War
    • Main Menu: SINGLEPLAYER > SHOWCASES
  • Added: TT11: Downhill Rumble
  • Added: TT12: Jungle Fever ** ***
  • Added: TT13: Turbulence
  • Added: TT14: Life in Danger ** ***
  • Added: TT15: Off Road Excavation ** ***
    • Main Menu: SINGLEPLAYER > CHALLENGES > Time Trials > IDAP

** Content requires ownership of Arma 3 Laws of War DLC.
*** Content requires ownership of Arma 3 Apex.

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I really like this Idea, now you can see a completly different side of war, which you haven't seen in any other Game, at least I don't know a game that gives you the possiblity to play as Peacekeeper/War-Law Enforcer.....

I exited to see the new splendid campaign and Community made scenarios.

 

(I will update this post when I've tested it out more in detail)

 

Update: So, i just played the whole Campagin and I have to say, it's way  better than I expected it to be!

If you haven't played the campagin yet, go ahead an do it! And don't watch whats inside of the spoiler:

 

 


I think I could have posted this without an spoiler, but I thought you should have the complete experience yourself, so

Overall I can say it's more than just awesome! These Cutscenes, details and voice-actors are making the gameplay so good. Then the story, it's not just a flat story, you're jumping around and damn, it was fun!

There were no major bugs or something "gamebreaking". 

Good job Bohemia Interactive (Amsterdam), I'm lovin it!
 

 

 

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Yes, this is an interesting new addition to a mil-sim game. 

 

I think we all develop a bit of a misconception of war as we have fun killing 1s and 0s in a game we enjoy. This new addition will hopefully add more of a human element to the game, and players can see that war has consequences.   

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OK, tried out the showcase. The new content is really cool. One thing I noticed is that the showcase is not supposed to be premium content, which is nice, but don't give the player a premium piece of gear by default if that's so. Especially since the backpack is completely unnecessary here.

 

BTW, I appreciate the primer on humanitarian laws and all, but harping on about protecting women while there only woman in game is an invisible announcer from the showcase will open you up to all kinds of snark. :) Part of the message may kind of fall flat because of this. Especially since female characters in the middle of a warzone were actually done extremely well in ArmA2. I know it'd probably be a whole lot of work, but you could perhaps work with @zeealex in a similar way you worked with B01.

 

Overall, I like the humanitarian theme. The previous games had the civilian aspect developed better, glad to see finally it's coming back to the series. 

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I haven't played or tested it yet, but I really love the idea. I think this is fantastic. To play a non-combat role in a combat zone is very interesting. I just hope they really flesh out the new systems so that they can be taken advantage of by mods.

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Out of curiosity, in the IDAP showcase, there's a sign next to the EH302 that says that it's the civilian version of the military Merlin... Shouldn't it be the civilian version of the "Mohawk" :eh:

Merlin = real life
Mohawk = armaverse

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Are there any systems in place for mission-makers/mod makers to utilize the humanitarian aid protocols? I'm just wondering if dropping leaflets, not destroying humanitarian assets, killing or not killing civs, delivering supplies to civs (etc) would have any in-game impact (aside from us manually making game over screens or what have you)? Or is this for all intents and purposes for role-play only?

 

Just trying to wrap my head around all this.

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31 minutes ago, mistyronin said:

Out of curiosity, in the IDAP showcase, there's a sign next to the EH302 that says that it's the civilian version of the military Merlin... Shouldn't it be the civilian version of the "Mohawk" :eh:

Merlin = real life
Mohawk = armaverse

Actually, I think that Merlin does exist in Armaverse. EH302 is the civilian version of it, while the Mohawk is the AAF version, or even just a name like CH-149 Cormorant and VF-71 Kestrel IRL (Canadian and US names for the Merlin, respectively). I believe it's been mentioned somewhere that AAF uses UK hand-me-downs.

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How do I use the tool box to disarm the mines?

 

Also, in the VR training, in the 1st room, there are only civilians and can't progress unless i kill the armed civilian.

However, the guy IS a civilian...

 

So i think it prevents me from getting the achievement

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First thought cool, looking through the content - disappointing. A dlc which focuses on civilian stuff and arma3 is still lacking a native civilian placement system... (since it was removed in beta times), i think everyone who has ever created/played a arma2 mission will miss it (https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Ambient_Civilians)

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Quote

Actually, I think that Merlin does exist in Armaverse. 


Yes, it's mentioned in the Field Manual entry, I believe :f:

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I am curious about one thing: In the campaign, the CSAT part, the units are wearing Apex NVGs and not the "normal" ones. Are these part of the DLC now (too)? They still show the Apex icon, so in theory if you own the DLC but not Apex, then at this point the player will see Apex adverts popping up?

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Apex NVGs are equipped only if you own Apex, otherwise default NVGs are used. They have the same functionality, so it's purely cosmetic change.

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13 hours ago, DnA said:

Let us know your thoughts on the various bits of playable content in Laws of War DLC: the mini-campaign, 2 Showcases and 5 Time Trials :)

  • Please be considerate to your fellow players and mark any spoilers appropriately - thank you!
  • We also recommend those wishing the fully polished experience to wait for the final release, but we do appreciate any pre-release testing!

 

(This OP will surely be enhanced soon!)

 

 this looks nothing like I'd hoped from Arma3.

 

Pity so much time and effort was wasted on it. Well the cluster bombs and mines look nice but really it seems so far away from combined arms military operations. Instead of enhancing the military aspect you have moved away.

 

Pretty disappointing when I think of all the ways you could have enhanced the different militayr/tactical areas in the game.

 

Really not much in here for me to look forward to or even ever use as an arma player who bought into the franchises military aspect.  And to think I've already paid for this by supporting BIS by buying all your DLC sight unseen.

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59 minutes ago, twisted said:

Pity so much time and effort was wasted on it. Well the cluster bombs and mines look nice but really it seems so far away from combined arms military operations. Instead of enhancing the military aspect you have moved away.

 

I'm a bit confused with your statements. 

 

How come mines and cluster bombs are not part of military tactics and combined arms operations? 

 

Mines are one of the most widespread weapons in wars, and they are used in most basic defensive tactics -from building a simple observation post to a full fledged military base defense-. I'd encourage you to read any field manual on how to build a defensive perimeter. They are also used in some basic offensive tactics like ambushes.

 

You can find mines in virtually any military conflict you can think of. And yes, they are an important part in both conventional combined arms tactics as well as unconventional guerrilla / spec ops warfare. 

 

Cluster bombs are not that widespread, but they are definately used in modern conflicts like Syria or Ukraine. And they are also used as part of combined arms tactics. For instance when an armored column finds a heavy resistance spot and needs to clear it fast and calls a CAS strike. Likewise in CSAR ops, to slow down the enemy.

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7 minutes ago, mistyronin said:

 

I'm a bit confused with your statements. 

 

How come mines and cluster bombs are not part of military tactics and combined arms operations? 

 

Mines are one of the most widespread weapons in wars, and they are used in most basic defensive tactics -from building a simple observation post to a full fledged military base defense-. I'd encourage you to read any field manual on how to build a defensive perimeter. They are also used in some basic offensive tactics like ambushes.

 

You can find mines in virtually any military conflict you can think of. And yes, they are an important part in both conventional combined arms tactics as well as unconventional guerrilla / spec ops warfare. 

 

Cluster bombs are not that widespread, but they are definately used in modern conflicts like Syria or Ukraine. And they are also used as part of combined arms tactics. 

yes sorry, that was not clear as i mixed the sentences there. The 'it' was referring to the upcoming DLC in general and not the mines/cluster bombs.

 

To clarify. The mines and cluster bombs are the only part i think will be relevant to me as an arma 3 player interested in the franchise's military aspect..

 

 

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First off, I sat down yesterday and played through both the LOW Showcase, and the "Remnants of war" campaign, and my overall experience was very good and enjoyable. It even left me with a bad feeling, not because of the DLC, but the overall message of the DLC. I actually found this more powerful than I was expecting. This campaign also had me more paranoid than any previous arma experience, thinking about when I would hear a "click" followed by certain death. Kudos to you for pulling that off!

 

Now, onto the bugs:

 

Spoiler
  • The mission where you drop in as CSAT and clear the castle/call in airstrike on oreokastro. Once you get picked up in the end, there's the CSAT light attack vehicle from APEX, it actually has the chinese CSAT soldiers sitting in it, which I find very odd. I don't think it was intentional, so you should swap the crew with Arabic CSAT.
  • The final mission where you and the major make a final stand in the church. I experienced on the first try that the major got stuck in the church door, and just stood in the middle of the doorway. It kept the rest of the mission from playing, and suddenly the BLUFOR forces came and killed him. I had to restart the scenario, worked flawlessly on second attempt.
  • The survivor mission, where you start as injured and have to fight off the attackers in Oreokastro, I noticed exceedingly poor performance in this mission compared to the rest of the campaign. It was actually so bad that I think I had like 14-15 attempts before succeeding. The low performance and top-notch enemy AI had no problem killing me between my poor FPS!

 

 

Other than that there were a lot of very cool technical additions in this DLC. I really enjoyed the "rewind"-style story telling. The narrating was really good, reminded me of the "Firewatch" game, with similarities where the main character communicates his thoughts through "Splendid skype" ;) with a journalist. It was interesting to listen to. 

 

To be quite frank about it, the campaign was very interesting, it kept me interested through the entire experience and I really enjoyed it. It made me happy that my nation has banned all use of cluster-munitions and passive mines, and I think that was the purpose of this DLC.

 

Some final critique in the spoiler:

Spoiler

I must say that you did a good job at addressing all of the "Laws of War" problems, by introducing them to the player. However, I felt the campaign was heavily focused on the unexploded ordnance and mine aspects. I personally feel it could have tapped deeper into the cultural, civilian combatant and human/religious/cultural shield areas. 

 

One of the things that created some distance from these points is the fact of lacking diversity in civilians. Only grown men. No children or women, or other "victims" of armed conflicts make for a more detached experience. In the very end, you make a statement as to "who is to blame" for all of the misery and suffering in oreokastro. I think the message you try to convey onto us would be even more powerful if you actually stepped out of your comfort zone and included dead men, women and children.


Before you go thinking I am an awful person, I know there are several creative ways you can use that to send an even more powerful message without actually showing bodies of dead children and women. You can imply that they were killed (I did notice a kindergarten/school in oreokastro with children's drawings etc, but it was empty and as such led to believe that they were evacuated before they could get hurt). You can use bodybags, and simply have IDAP personell, friends or family crying or angry in frustration over them being dead. I can think of many ways of sending the message without being grotesque. Even placing UXO's in playgrounds, or next to childrens toys would send a more potent message.

 

All in all, I felt that the quality of the DLC was very good, but it could have sent a more powerful message to the players/viewers by tapping into the suffering of the truly innocent people of the conflict.

 

Edited by Strike_NOR
Fixed a few typos and minor clarifications
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21 minutes ago, Strike_NOR said:

 

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  • The survivor mission, where you start as injured and have to fight off the attackers in Oreokastro, I noticed exceedingly poor performance in this mission compared to the rest of the campaign. It was actually so bad that I think I had like 14-15 attempts before succeeding. The low performance and top-notch enemy AI had no problem killing me between my poor FPS!

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

Try this mission widouth picking up weapon

 

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6 minutes ago, DJankovic said:
Spoiler

Try this mission widouth picking up weapon

 

 

Spoiler

Man. Are you seriously telling me that if your house was clusterbombed you would walk out and be like "Nah man, it's cool I have insurance". At that point I'd start kicking AAF troops in the nuts, how's that for Laws of War?!

 

 

;) I assume if you don't pick up the gun, you are non-combatant and at the mercy of the AAF soldiers? Well..., like Sinatra once said: I did it my way! ;) :shoot:

 

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10 minutes ago, Strike_NOR said:

 

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Man. Are you seriously telling me that if your house was clusterbombed you would walk out and be like "Nah man, it's cool I have insurance". At that point I'd start kicking AAF troops in the nuts, how's that for Laws of War?!

 

 

;) I assume if you don't pick up the gun, you are non-combatant and at the mercy of the AAF soldiers? Well..., like Sinatra once said: I did it my way! ;) :shoot:

 


True..True :) 

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The message is a bit "ehh" indeed. If you pick up the gun, you're likely to get killed. If you dont pick up the gun, you're at the mercy of the people coming to kill everyone around you. Guess the tl;dr is, either way, you're fucked.

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Can someone help me with the CSAT airstrike? It fails the mission everywhere I aim. It's quite frustrating.

 

Edit: Managed it after another go. spoilers ahead for where to aim, and what to do.

 

Spoiler

First, press T on all the targets. There's the barricade, the HQ, and the technicals. Then ID the IDAF camp behind the church. You must then aim roughly for the doctor's building, which is more or less in between all the objectives. He is visible through a window helping a patient, and is killed in the attack.

 

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14 hours ago, mistyronin said:

Out of curiosity, in the IDAP showcase, there's a sign next to the EH302 that says that it's the civilian version of the military Merlin... Shouldn't it be the civilian version of the "Mohawk" :eh:

We've actually had this same discussion while doing the info stands, and landed on sticking to the Field Manual text for the Mohawk (which also references the Merlin as its foundation - shared ancestor). But I agree it's a bit off somehow ;)

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12 hours ago, wiki said:

Also, in the VR training, in the 1st room, there are only civilians and can't progress unless i kill the armed civilian.

However, the guy IS a civilian...

 

So i think it prevents me from getting the achievement

To describe it in simple terms: just having a weapon doesn't make him lose his protection as civilian, but once he actively starts fighting, he will temporarily lose his protective status. During that time only you may engage him (and it should not affect the achievement during such circumstances).

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8 minutes ago, DnA said:

 

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To describe it in simple terms: just having a weapon doesn't make him lose his protection as civilian, but once he actively starts fighting, he will temporarily lose his protective status. During that time only you may engage him (and it should not affect the achievement during such circumstances).

 

If you confiscate the weapon on the ground (can't be a combatant if you don't have a weapon lol), and put it in the ambulance, your teammates still fire on the unarmed civilian.

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