Arma 3 DLC - CONTACT

[stburr91 1002]

13 minutes ago, Valken said:

It appears I would be in the minority but I've been hoping for near future Sci Fi in ARMA 3 since its Alpha for the original story!

 

Love the preview video already... so much like a smart version of X-Files with Contact movie. 

 

Going to scrutinize this even more for the actual content but know that BIS provides engine and basic improvements to the game system via each official DLC so even if all the old hard core war gamers won't buy this, at least you still get to play with and enjoy any engine enhancements.

 

I would consider the collectors edition but I already have ARMA 3. Wonder can I gift the base game with APEX to someone else while I keep the extra content and DLC?

 

 

I don't believe there are going to be any engine enhancements with this DLC.

 

It seems that some of the prop objects, and some old un-used textures for uniforms will be added to the game for everyone. 

[haleks 8212]

16 minutes ago, krzychuzokecia said:

If BI insists on going all X-COM, then some proper aliens would be nice touch. At least then we could have a true hard sci-fi mil-sim. Otherwise it seems like unfinished stuff hastily wrapped in an alien story (as @The Man Without Qualities said).

 

I hope you don't mean "green little men with rifles"...

The proper way to depict aliens in a realistic way is no infantry at all.

 

Some people keep ranting about 'not realistic' and such, but guys, do some reading first : what I've seen so far is as close as it would most likely be in reality.

[chrisb 196]

I have to say, I watched the trailer and this could actually get me playing... well this.. via A3. I don't play A3 as I don't tend to see it as a milsim in the same mode as A2, but that is just personal preference.

 

This however, looks like a great way to do sci-fi, very few games have the ability to throw intelligent game play at sci-fi. This could be that game.

It completely takes 'Arma' out of this, so leave the milsim part of Arma behind, or indeed leave 'Arma' behind and delve into sci-sim, possibly the closest we'll get to a really believable sci-fi encounter, from a first person perspective.

Lets hope the enemy ('them') live upto it. 😉

 

Certainly going to keep an eye on it.

[Valken 622]

I have to agree with Halek's here. I don't need  "humanoid" aliens with weird heads to be the opposition. They could be nano-bio-machine hybrids or some weird insane never thought of life form. I think back to the ORIGINAL Bureau X-Com Declassified aliens:

 

 

Or the similar aliens from Prey 2017 (not Prey 2)....

 

Can't wait to find at least one server close to me to Squad up against these lifeforms...

 

 

[Tankbuster 1746]

When the UGV approached the "super-localised" stuff, (God I hate that phrase, I blame the knobber Lewis Hamilton for it, it's "Very Localised") the tractor is seen to be lifting off the ground and nobody says anything. Then in the next scene, the UGV approaches an orange orb and the tractor is gone and nobody says anything. Seems a bit odd to me....

[krzychuzokecia 718]

2 hours ago, haleks said:

I hope you don't mean "green little men with rifles"...

The proper way to depict aliens in a realistic way is no infantry at all.

Socio-political and philosophical post commences.

 

The realistic way to depict aliens is... to not depict aliens at all. I would like remind you that we don't have any scientific proof of sentient extraterrestrial life, much less of a space travelling civilization. Aliens are fiction so there is no proper and/or realistic way to depict them.

 

However, since we touched on the subject of little green men vs Monolith/Star Child depictions of ETs (the latter of which is BI going for). It's important to note that both of these have their roots in Cold War state of society. Little green men of the 50s are nothing more than symbols of another alien civilization which was USSR. US society was afraid of those aliens invading their land (I hope McCarthyism rings a bell) and this fear was also present in art. Movies of the era usually depict a lone hero, defending a group of hopeless people against a ruthless group of invaders. Westerns are prime example, but the same fear was also present in popular sci-fi of the era. In fact one could say that this xenophobia (fear of strange) formed the basis of ET depictions, coupled with fascination by scientific research (nuclear energy, jet planes, first rockets). The whole UFO phenomenon comes from that.

 

However soon another vision of aliens was born - a sort of enlightened sci-fi. Here ETs are usually depicted as space elders, species far more advanced than humans, with better understanding of universe, and ones that we are hardly capable of understanding. This enlightened sci-fi also came to light in 1950s, but entered mainstream after Kubrick's and Clarke's 2001. It's roots are also tightly connected to McCarthyism, as many of sci-fi writers were left-leaning (or rather more left-leaning than US mainstream), and Red Scare was threatening them personally. Thus they felt the need to explain that not all which is alien is an enemy, and more often it's our own (supposedly) violent nature which leads to conflict (notice how in 2001, the sort-of bad guys are people who commenced the mission and ordered HAL to lie?). In 1960s, with an all-out existential crisis of western society, this genre found a new life. Carl Sagan created a true religion around this idea of God-like-ETs (with movie Contact being essentialy his Chick tract), and it was further evolved (and distorted) by conspiracy theory nuts like late Art Bell, leading to all sorts of ancient astronaut stories.

 

The truth is that both visions of ETs are probably nowhere near what a spacefaring may look like, and how it may behave towards humans. The very idea of ETs having means to conduct interstellar travel puts them way above our technology limits. Due to this fact contacting us is of no value, just like we don't contact animals when observing and learning their lifes. And if they would be hostile (for example to take some Earth resource which is useful for them), then they could either make us all disappear overnight, or just don't worry at all about our puny militaries, collect stuff and sail away. Afterall space travel requires energy and technology so powerful, that our biggest weaponry (nuclear) pales in comparison.

 

And now I'm going back to Arma. You can have both kinds of genres in a video game, but some games work better with one genre, and worse with another. Arma is a mil-sim, so it is naturally more fitting to the fighting little green men idea. And (contrary to @Valken) I don't think that Prey 2017 or X-COM/The Bureau ETs are really that far from little green men. They are still simple foreign invaders who need to be taken out by a few good men with even better guns. The fact that ETs are ethereal and guns fire mind-melding rays changes nothing.

 

BIS is clearly going for the enlightened God ET and (based on previous experience with both Arma gameplay and BI writing) I fail to see how they can succeed. And I've seen some pretty impressive mods done on older, primitive and much harder to work with iteration of RV engine. It takes years of dedication of one individual who wants to really subvert the game nature. When BI claims that we will have a good 'ole gunfight with Russians in Contact, then I can already say something's not right. This DLC seems to be schizophrenic, a mess of some old content lying idle on hard drives, and put together in one last package we will get from BI (cDLCs are not BI).

[Alwarren 2767]

2 hours ago, krzychuzokecia said:

Well, BI (in their marketing genius) decided to add to this DLC a true mil-sim content which was expected by community from the day one (namely: Russians and recon UGV). This is enough for many to catch their attention, but they are put off by the sci-fi story.

 

What the "community" expects is irrelevant, and you are generalizing the same way as any other here. You equate yourself with "the community". I for one was happy to see something else than the Russians as the bad guys. 

 

2 hours ago, krzychuzokecia said:

Which seems to be rather bland rip-off of Arrival, which in trun is a rip-off of 2001. I'm sorry to say, but I doubt that BI writers can pull it off. In fact, BI seems that they cannot, so we are promised a shootout with Russians. Yay! Then why going for the ayy lmao aspect at all? Just to show we're different, we're original? You're really not.

 

Aww, and I thought it looked more than a bland rip off of "Roadside Picknick", but then I am one of those weirdos that reads books.

But you are complaining about something that hasn't even materialized. You have no clue what the story is, or if you shoot the Russians. You don't like it, so much is clear, but none of your so-called arguments holds because there is nothing there yet to verify them against.

 

2 hours ago, krzychuzokecia said:

I'd gladly pay for just the Russians, or just the recon UGV, or just another fake country (but not AAF retexture), or CBRN items and procedures DLC. Combined it would make a no-brainer expansion for me. But this one cliche element makes me question the whole package. And I'm not against sci-fi in mil-sim (or other way around), but even BI aliens are just... well, they're not even there. Ayy lmao!

 

Same scheme. You are talking about unlaid eggs. We don't even KNOW if there are any aliens in it, so far we have only seen this mothership thing, but you already KNOW that it is all bad. Really, preconception never ceases to amaze me.

[petek 62]

Well I've pre-ordered but please BIS don't take this as a vote for the small content/direction/assets etc.... I buy this purely to support BIS future development and continued bug fixes. There's much feedback on what the community wishes from future development/Arma 4 etc and this isn't the topic to reiterate that. I bought GM for the same reasons and that mostly served to remind me that AI still can't reverse a bloody tank 😉

[Private Evans 498]

Would really like to know how many of these so called ultra hardcore tactical milsim players have played the Namalsk campaign back in the day ...and enjoyed it ...

[krzychuzokecia 718]

1 minute ago, Alwarren said:

What the "community" expects is irrelevant, and you are generalizing the same way as any other here. You equate yourself with "the community".

Well, my opinion comes from interactions with and observations of Arma players outside this Forum. Which is very small in fact. And I'm not really that critical of BI latest DLC as those people outside of BIF. Comments on Steam (where game is sold) are... not good, to use an euphemism.

6 minutes ago, Alwarren said:

You have no clue what the story is, or if you shoot the Russians.

Direct quotes from Steam store page:

• As a soldier deployed to Livonia’s militarized Nadbór region, you will be among the first to study our alien visitors and determine their intentions. However, amid the tension and chaos, armed conflict inevitably unfolds.
• However, with our very existence in the balance, different interpretations fueled by a region-wide blackout quickly prove to be a surefire way to conflict.

I've read so many books, that I can put two and two together. This quotes combined with the fact that aliens (again, as described on the product page) are essentially created from scripted props (no mention of aliens as a playable faction) are telling me quite clearly that fighting will be between humans. Not that we won't have some scripted event where troops are being charged by either orange ball of light, or blue flying crystal, maybe even stealth mission where you have to dodge multiple of this objects. But the hints are leaning heavily towards humans fighting against eachother because cliche writing and engine limitations. Well, OK, maybe we won't fight Russians, but that mafioso-looking guy in leather coat, prominently displayed on one of the screenshots.

21 minutes ago, Alwarren said:

only seen this mothership thing

Oh, you KNOW ALREADY that's a mothership? What if it's just an alien candy for good little ETs?

 

See how this works? The old saying don't knock it if you haven't tried it is not always right. Sometimes we have enough of information, and previous experience, that we can predict what will happen. This is especially true for video games, where we have trailers, screenshots, pre-release streams etc. Store description for Contact is very specific, and up to this date we had no surprises when it comes to BI releases.

26 minutes ago, Alwarren said:

but you already KNOW that it is all bad

No, I haven't said that it is all bad. I said that parts of it are dubious, which makes me wary. In fact, I'd like, and probably will, buy this DLC, but after year or two, during sale. Because of these doubts about content I'm not particularly fond of.

4 minutes ago, Alwarren said:

I am one of those weirdos that reads books.

REALLY?! Me too, welcome to the club. I guess you're very proud of this thinly veiled personal insult. Because if you're weirdo who read books, then other people don't read books, and those people are uneducated, ignorant, etc. I've learned that in books. I've also learned to not bother with people who make such comments. Cya, buddy! Over and out.

[Defunkt 431]

3 minutes ago, krzychuzokecia said:

Well, my opinion comes from interactions with and observations of Arma players outside this Forum.

 

What did the RPG/Life players tell you on the subject?

[Grumpy Old Man 3545]

46 minutes ago, Defunkt said:

 

What did the RPG/Life players tell you on the subject?

probably

Spoiler

ayy lmao

whatever that means

 

Cheers

[major_barnes1987 33]

Thanks all of you guys for the feedback on the new island.Really appreciate it!

[JosephArcher2 2]

I thought at first Contact DLC was an April fools joke.   I then realized it wasn't April and that Bohemia have gone mad smoking pot in Amsterdam.

 

 

[Grahame 94]

6 hours ago, Alwarren said:

Granted, I can understand if someone doesn't like the Alien concept, and would have wanted a different DLC, but this is what's on offer. Either take it up, or not.

 

We were actually promised Old Man on the Road Map though... and BI have gone as quiet on that as they have on the OA EOL patch 😪

[lexx 1363]

Old Man happens later.

Can't wait for all the complaining about it in the future.

[Grahame 94]

Will OA EOL happen first or Old Man, that is the question? 😉

[zukov 490]

please BI with the new expansion add the Global Mobilization's animations for the launchers (carl gustav and rpg7), add a real HUD to the CSAT helmets  with integrated night vision and visual communication,  add a Kord to the 4x4 and tripod

[Alwarren 2767]

4 hours ago, krzychuzokecia said:

REALLY?! Me too, welcome to the club. I guess you're very proud of this thinly veiled personal insult. Because if you're weirdo who read books, then other people don't read books, and those people are uneducated, ignorant, etc. I've learned that in books. I've also learned to not bother with people who make such comments.

 

What I actually wanted to make clear is that I have never seen "Arrival" and hence compared it to a book I have read, "Roadside Picknick". If you want to construct a personal insult from that, feel free to do so.

But fine, don't bother with people like me.

[maxl30 81]

Do you think the LDF airforce will have jets ?

Because this here:

[stburr91 1002]

2 hours ago, lexx said:

Old Man happens later.

Can't wait for all the complaining about it in the future.

 

You can count on me Lexx. 😉

[Grahame 94]

5 hours ago, Alwarren said:

I for one was happy to see something else than the Russians as the bad guys. 

 

Given real history would be good to see some modern stuff against the Chinese tbh... I've done the Alien thing with Aliens, Predators, HALO, Star Wars and FAP's aliens in mods already... Very little good mod modern PLA stuff

 

(Yeah, don't use vanilla 2035 stuff pretty much ever, so CSAT does not count... and they are not Chinese, unless they speak Iranian in 2035)

[cb65 86]

5 hours ago, petek said:

Well I've pre-ordered but please BIS don't take this as a vote for the small content/direction/assets etc.... I buy this purely to support BIS future development and continued bug fixes. There's much feedback on what the community wishes from future development/Arma 4 etc and this isn't the topic to reiterate that. I bought GM for the same reasons and that mostly served to remind me that AI still can't reverse a bloody tank 😉

 

Same here, I buy this purely to support BIS future development and continued bug fixes and in the hope of an arma 4. But with the focus shifted to zombies and now aliens it concerns me which direction they will go with arma 4, if there ever is an arma 4.

 

Not into aliens and zombies, I like the military themes, still Contact might be fun making mission scenarios, depending on what the aliens look like, if they look like the predator with similar weaponry that might be alright but for me if they look like some sort of alien the movie type creature then I will probably not use them in a mission scenario.

Has anyone seen what the aliens look like ? or has that not been released yet ? 

 

For me I would prefer the time and money had been spent on fixing things in arma 3 especially the AI driving ability.

 

Cheers.

 

[Grahame 94]

5 minutes ago, cb65 said:

  

For me I would prefer the time and money had been spent on fixing things in arma 3 especially the AI driving ability.



Can openers solve some problems with AI driving... Not kidding btw

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qxkn7zffxkckmtt/CanOpeners.mp4?dl=0

[cb65 86]

2 minutes ago, Grahame said:

Can openers solve some problems with AI driving... Not kidding btw