Contact Expansion Asset Feedback

[joostsidy 685]

I consider the .45 to be a special purpose pistol, with its higher caliber and attachment rails. The 9mm seems simpler and less bulky, more fitting for the low-tech LDF . I realize it is largely a matter of opinion and, like you said, BI were evidently of the opinion that a green .45 would be more suitable. That is UNTIL they saw my magnificent screenshot of course! 😉 

[a_killer_wombat 120]

2 hours ago, joostsidy said:

I consider the .45 to be a special purpose pistol, with its higher caliber and attachment rails. The 9mm seems simpler and less bulky, more fitting for the low-tech LDF . I realize it is largely a matter of opinion and, like you said, BI were evidently of the opinion that a green .45 would be more suitable. That is UNTIL they saw my magnificent screenshot of course! 😉 

 

Is the LDF NATO faction considered to be "low-tech" though? BI themselves described the LDF as wearing "high-end protective gear" and despite the fact that they are a relatively small force, their infantry still seem well equipped at least on par in comparison to the US NATO infantry. I personally see the LDF as a small in quantity but high in quality military force.

 

Speaking of the 4-five handgun, I've noticed that although it supposedly fires the same .45 ACP rounds as the ACP-C2 handgun and the Vermin SMG, the .45 ACP rounds that the 4-five fires somehow have a significantly higher muzzle velocity (380 m/s) in comparison to the .45 ACP rounds fired from the ACP-C2 and Vermin SMG (280 m/s). Not only does this higher muzzle velocity result in the 4-five handgun being easier to shoot in comparison (and perhaps explains why it does more damage), but it also means that the 4-five's rounds are supersonic (speed of sound = 343 m/s) and thus carry a sonic "crack" despite that fact that one of the important qualities of .45 ACP ammunition is that it is naturally subsonic. It would make sense for the 4-five to be naturally subsonic bearing in mind that it is typically the handgun of choice for NATO special forces and so with a suppressor attached in addition to no sonic crack, the 4-five handgun would be ideal for stealth operations.

 

However, as it stands the 4-five magically fires supersonic .45 ACP rounds which makes no sense to me. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that it's possible that the 4-five's muzzle velocity was actually orginally supposed to be 280 m/s just like the ACP C2 and Vermin SMG but at some point a dev accidentally changed the 2 to a 3 so now it has a muzzle velocity of 380 m/s. I don't imagine it will change now but it in my opinion it would be better for the 4-five to have it's muzzle velocity reduced to a realistic subsonic level which would make it ideal for stealth operations when suppressed which would fit it's role in use with special forces. EDIT: By the way, the 9x21mm Parabellum rounds in Arma have a default muzzle velocity of 370 m/s so the 4-five's .45 ACP rounds have a higher muzzle velocity than even the 9mm 🤔.

[joostsidy 685]

3 hours ago, a_killer_wombat said:

Is the LDF NATO faction considered to be "low-tech" though? BI themselves described the LDF as wearing "high-end protective gear" and despite the fact that they are a relatively small force, their infantry still seem well equipped at least on par in comparison to the US NATO infantry. I personally see the LDF as a small in quantity but high in quality military force.

I agree that my opinion is debatable. I'm seeing the LDF guys as having a little bit old fashioned looking uniforms, their lowest rank is 'forest ranger', they drive around in unarmored cars and vans and have one guy lugging around a big radio set that other factions don't seem to need anymore.. Some of the guys don't even have tacticool combat gloves, amateurs! The exellent Promet saves their international reputation, although some soldiers save up to replace the standard cheap handle/dot sight with a better quality one. BI sold you on a high quality military force, but that was a lie! 😉

 

On the other hand you could also say that LDF is a small but highly mobile force with innovative gear and weapons and state-of-the-art crbn technology. 🙂

 

I hope we can agree on one thing, LDF is a very cool faction!

[joostsidy 685]

Full disclosure: one other reason for my preference for a smaller, unsophisticated sidearm is my general feeling against sidearms for all soldiers in Arma. I feel it's a bit overkill and not very realistic, although it does add to the fun factor, so I understand the design decision.

 

[Beagle 684]

10 minutes ago, joostsidy said:

Full disclosure: one other reason for my preference for a smaller, unsophisticated sidearm is my general feeling against sidearms for all soldiers in Arma. I feel it's a bit overkill and not very realistic, although it does add to the fun factor, so I understand the design decision.

 

the sidearms for all decission was indeed abit wierd. I personaly rarely see any practical use for them, especially when carbines and bullpups are equiped. I see a use for them for MG-Gunners and designated Marksmen and Snipers.

[a_killer_wombat 120]

3 hours ago, Beagle said:

the sidearms for all decission was indeed abit wierd. I personaly rarely see any practical use for them, especially when carbines and bullpups are equiped. I see a use for them for MG-Gunners and designated Marksmen and Snipers.

 

I believe in real-life, handguns are issued to standard infantry as an emergency backup weapon for use in a time critical scenario where quickly switching from your primary weapon to a handgun is necessary for survival. For example, if you are in a close-quarters firefight and your primary weapon requires a reload or worse, it jams. Drawing a handgun from a holster is easier and quicker for a soldier in a high stress scenario where otherwise fumbling with a magazine or attempting to clear a jam will likely result in death.

 

Unfortunately, this doesn't translate well to Arma 3 though since: 

1. Arma 3 weapons never jam.

2. Reload speed is always consistently quick (high stress and it's effect on dexterity not simulated)

3. Last but not least, switching to your handgun is not as fast as it should be since your character insists on slinging his rifle over his shoulder before drawing his handgun rather than just letting go of the rifle and as it will dangle by itself at chest level (that's what the sling is for).

 

I'm not expecting BI to simulate the first 2 points but I would like to see Arma 3 or 4 have it's soldiers capable of switching from rifle to handgun in a faster animation which would do a lot in making handguns more useful in those scenarios where your rifle magazine is dry but there's still a bad guy that needs to be shot ASAP.

[Beagle 684]

In real life, handguns are not issued to infantry at all, since the use of them in military combat is minimal. It was and is standard for Squad Leaders, Machinegunners and Sharpshooters. The effective range and panetration is to short to have any real use. The term Sidearm comes from the short saber that was used in the times of Muskets, hence, secondary armament. I've never seen a regular grunt with a sidearm, those were always onyl issues for special purpose, like guard duty in low risk areas, indoors, chief of watch etc....oh and in manouvers, the officers and sergeants always carried pistols with life rounds in manouvers... in case of "unforsseable circumstances" that may happen in longer lasting exercises somewhere in remote areas with equipment worth millions.

[a_killer_wombat 120]

30 minutes ago, Beagle said:

In real life, handguns are not issued to infantry an at all, since the use of them in military combat is minimal. It was and is standard for Squad Leaders, Machinegunners and Sharpshooters. The effective range and panetration is to short to have any real use. The term Sidearm comes from the short saber that was used in the times of Muskets, hence, secondary armament. I've never seen a regular grunt with a sidearm, those were always onyl issues for special purpose, like guard duty in low risk areas, indoors, chief of watch etc....oh and in manouvers, the officers and sergeants always carried pistols with life rounds in manouvers.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I've heard that for the UK forces (perhaps US and other nations as well) in very recent conflicts, it's becoming standard that front-line infantry who are expected to make contact with the enemy have been issued with handguns as backup weapons. Standard infantry are now being trained on operating handguns. 

 

EDIT: this is getting kinda off-topic now isn't it.)

[joostsidy 685]

General infantry might receive some handgun training, but I'm sure they won't all carry one. What army is going to issue 30-some handguns to a platoon instead of more ammo for their rifles? A general grunt doesn't need a backup weapon, because his buddies are his backup when his weapon is empty or malfunctioning. As Beagle said, handguns are also ineffective in most war situations. There is already talk of the carbine being too light for the frequent long engagement ranges in desert and mountain environment. It's not CQB fighting for each soldier everyday. 

 

Handguns are for specific roles like officers, mg-crews, military police, vehicle crews, special forces etc. not for each and every soldier. In real life, LDF radio guy would better carry some extra batteries than a .45 🙂

 

https://www.quora.com/Do-US-Army-soldiers-carry-pistols

[krzychuzokecia 717]

Not that my opinion matters, but I agree with @joostsidy - huge .45 ACP pistol like 4-five (FN FNP-45) doesn't make too much sense as a standard issue item for what is essentially a small Baltic country, which is a NATO member.

 

In case of real-life Baltic states, none of them issues a .45 pistol, instead they replaced their 9x18 Makarovs with 9x19 pistols like Glock or USP. In Poland (which is also an inspiration for Livonia to some extent) only special forces procured a few double-stack .45 pistols (USP-45 and Mk 23), along with full-size USP-9s... only to replace them all with small 9mm USP Compacts. Additionally - pistols in general are still specialized equipment in Armed Forces of Poland, only soldiers deployed in abroad conflicts can apply for one irrespectively of the TOE. I'm pretty sure it's the same in Baltic states armed forces.

 

To be completely honest, I'm convinced that LDF using .45 pistol comes from the fact that they are essentially a Mini-Me retextured version of AAF - who also use .45 pistol (but this time regular 1911 variant - similiar to real-life HAF). What proves my theory is the fact that LDF ammoboxes still contain 9 round 1911 magazines, instead of 11 round mags for 4-five.

[the_one_and_only_Venator 163]

On 8/5/2019 at 1:58 PM, joostsidy said:

less bulky

 

Wouldn't complement the Promet well then... 🤣

[soceris 56]

When in first person and looking at the looter shirts, there's a white cloth there that is otherwise invincible in 3rd person.

[joostsidy 685]

I was disappointed to see the EDI robot is practically invulnerable to mines at this time (tested on Bouncing APERS, APERS and SLAM mines). The shotgun is useless, you can just drive over mines and make them explode.

[Alwarren 2767]

On 8/5/2019 at 11:28 PM, Beagle said:

In real life, handguns are not issued to infantry an at all

 

Agreed. During my German Army time (which admittedly was almost at the same time that Operation Flashpoint takes place) no normal soldier ever carried a pistol. We trained with them, but that was the only time I ever had one in my hands. Normal grunts had their G3 rifle and that's it, and only guard personal, tankers and overseers on the shooting range had pistols.

 

From what I have read, the same applies to the US Army, at least in the 2000. 

[nkenny 1057]

The campaign suggests that the  LDF contingent represents an elite force. I do not think that the presence of sidearms detract from the realism any more than do universal issue of personal radios, optics, or any other technological amenity-- in the context of a 2035 setting. Extrapolating from contemporary institutions suggest even more strongly that an increasingly professionalized force are equipment-wise far removed from the large conscript armies of the cold war era.

 

-k 

[Beagle 684]

7 hours ago, nkenny said:

The campaign suggests that the  LDF contingent represents an elite force. I do not think that the presence of sidearms detract from the realism any more than do universal issue of personal radios, optics, or any other technological amenity-- in the context of a 2035 setting. Extrapolating from contemporary institutions suggest even more strongly that an increasingly professionalized force are equipment-wise far removed from the large conscript armies of the cold war era.

 

-k 

it is a cost and weigt factor. Since i Refuse to play on servers with Fatigue disabled, the pistol and 4 magazines make a difference...if you leave them behind there are more usefull things you can carry. That's the point also RL... why carry around 2.5 pounds you will rarely need.

[mickeymen 324]

About "Contact DLC" shotguns

 

I tested shotguns - Kozlice-12G from "DLC Contact" and this is a pretty powerful weapon that can withstand automatic weapons in ArmA3 even at distances within 60-80 meters!

I really liked the implementation of the every shot at which about 20 small bullets take off and after that I want to say:

 

2019 -  how in Arma3 there is not enough choice of shotguns!

 

I want to see in Arma3 other shotguns - automatic shotguns, classic Binelli shotgun, under-barrel shotguns for MX, Katiba, Mk-20 and other vanilla weapons.

I want to see various ammo for shotguns - buckshot, bullets, combined cartridges, explosive, armor-piercing and so on.

It’s unfortunate that in Arma 3 there are only 2 shotguns (Kozlice + Under Barel shotgun on the Promet Rifle)  that exist ONLY in DLC Contact!

I even tried to find A3 mods that contain shotguns, but everything I found had a poor implementation compared to Contact shotguns

[dragon01 902]

8 hours ago, nkenny said:

The campaign suggests that the  LDF contingent represents an elite force. I do not think that the presence of sidearms detract from the realism any more than do universal issue of personal radios, optics, or any other technological amenity-- in the context of a 2035 setting. Extrapolating from contemporary institutions suggest even more strongly that an increasingly professionalized force are equipment-wise far removed from the large conscript armies of the cold war era.

 

-k 

It's more that the pistols have no use for a regular rifleman, especially these days, what with everyone carrying carbines. If someone's too close for carbine, then you're just going to bash the guy and knock him back a little, since that's hand to hand grapple distance. Pistols are weaker, noisier (yes!) and less accurate than carbines, generally speaking. Pistols are for snipers, machinegunners and MGL grenadiers. Spec ops or not, they will not take with them anything that they will not actually need.

[joostsidy 685]

I'm having a great time with all the content so far, so much cool stuff in there, it's worth every eurocent.

 

Like I mentioned before, IMO the weakest part are the old Arma 2 buildings. I understand the inclusions, It was probably either that or no Livonia. Having a closer look these days, perhaps the 'cardboard' look of these buildings have a lot to do

with none of them have any normal maps (bump mapping, shadow effects on wood and plaster etc.). And of course some low-res textures here and there. I can accept this, but I'm curious, I thought these assets were taken from Day-Z and they were improved and updated assets from Arma 2. Before release I kind of expected blocky buildings with less geometry details, but at least with up-to-date textures and normal maps.

 

Does anyone know if these were actually 'upgraded' buildings by the Day-Z team or just the old-same-old?

[joostsidy 685]

I really like the offroad vehicle in general, so the cover and new textures from the DLC are an exellent addition.

 

I did notice that there are now 2 main offroad versions, one with cover options and one without. Some offroads don't have a cover options, and the offoad with cover option does not have all offoad textures available. Will in the future perhaps these versions be merged, or is there some technicality preventing this?

 

I'm asking because I love driving the IDAP offroad, but the grain sacks and refugees keep falling off because I don't tie them down properly. For instance a white cover for this vehicle would do really well!

[stburr91 1002]

5 hours ago, joostsidy said:

I really like the offroad vehicle in general, so the cover and new textures from the DLC are an exellent addition.

 

I did notice that there are now 2 main offroad versions, one with cover options and one without. Some offroads don't have a cover options, and the offoad with cover option does not have all offoad textures available. Will in the future perhaps these versions be merged, or is there some technicality preventing this?

 

I'm asking because I love driving the IDAP offroad, but the grain sacks and refugees keep falling off because I don't tie them down properly. For instance a white cover for this vehicle would do really well!

 

Yes, I hate it when my refugees keep falling out. 😉

 

I would like to see more option in the garage as well, namely, being able to have the 50. cal in the back of the Police offroad, with the light bar.

 

While we're talking about options for the offroads, why did we never get the Gendarmerie textured offroad that had "Police" on it instead of Gendarmerie? A "Police" textured offroad would be so much more versatile than a Gendarmerie offroad. 

[the m 17]

How can we use the respirator with hose? 

Even with changing the config i am unable to make the nofilter version visible in the arsenal. 

[darkChozo 133]

1 hour ago, the m said:

How can we use the respirator with hose? 

Even with changing the config i am unable to make the nofilter version visible in the arsenal. 

 

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3_CBRN

[joostsidy 685]

On the new rifle sounds:

- The Promet sounds awesome, although in 3rd person a lot of this is lost. Is the environmental attenuation a bit too strong?

- MX sounds equally badass, although I have doubts about the clearly audible mechanical click. I have a feeling this is not very realistic because the loud bangs will drown out these sounds and/or probably your hearing would adjust to the loud bangs and lower sensitivity to more quiet sounds (this is my feeling, I have very limited experience with real firearms). Perhaps the volume of the mechanical click can be a bit lowered.

[Tankbuster 1744]

3 hours ago, joostsidy said:

I have a feeling this is not very realistic because the loud bangs will drown out these sounds and/or probably your hearing would adjust to the loud bangs and lower sensitivity to more quiet sounds (this is my feeling

That's exactly what happens. If the quiet click is first, it will be heard, but anything else is drowned out by the louder noise of the gun firing.