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buttockhat

OFP old-timer - getting into Arma 3

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Hello all,

 

I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to post this. Assuming it is:

 

After thoroughly playing OFP many years ago and dabbling in Arma and Arma 2, I would like to get into Arma 3 (for personal reasons gaming wasn't feasible for me during the past few years).

 

I'm pleased to see that years after release, the community looks like it's thriving. I want to purchase a gaming laptop, but I also want to be sure that my choice will let me enjoy the game to the full (good FPS rate and high graphics settings, etc). Is anyone more technical-minded, or perhaps with a similar set-up, able to tell me if the following is suitable for both SP and MP play? (I realize that this meets the recommended requirements, but I also know that performance is unpredictable):

 

Intel Core i5-10300H CPU with 16 GB of RAM.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Mobile).

 

Related questions: I see various sets of downloadable content for sale along with the game. Is it advisable to buy them all? I'm interested in all kinds of gameplay. What's popular these days?

 

Is there anything else a newcomer should generally know?

 

Again, sorry if these questions should be posted elsewhere.

 

Thanks very much for any advice.

 

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Can't answer questions about technical specs, but the dlc are all on sale right now and only a few bucks each.

I got all the DLC in a bundle...

But if you don't, I would skip carts and helicopters. Tanks yes, jets yes.

Then the "expansions" - apex yes, tanoa is a great map, and lots of small arms plus cool vehicles.

Contact is good for the single player experience, I like the map in general, but it no tanoa...

If you are not part of a community, then king of the hill is popular for PvP, and apex or the "escape" scenarios are popular for coop vs ai.

 

Note that all the dlc came with free platform updates, so free mods can have the same functionality as the premium assets.

You get the files for the premium assets, you just can't use them yourself (but can play scenarios with ai or other players using them).

So, look at the premium assets for each dlc/expansion, and decide if you want to use them.

For the heli DLC, the heavy lift helis are nice for use in missions, but I am fine with ai piloting them.

Not the expansion with their own maps do not give you the maps for free

 

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You should take this to the Will-my-pc-run-Arma3? sticky for advice on hardware. Regarding GPU, you may want to wait a bit and get something with 30X0 series if you want NVidia. Depends on your budget of course but long(er) term, it may be worth it. Regardless, make sure you have a decent stand/dock that allows your laptop to cool properly.

 

Otherwise, Steam Workshop is likely still a clusterf*uck if you're not looking for anything specific. Armaholic.com is still a thing. Mods & addons work pretty much the same with the addition of a official launcher to manage them. CUP and CWR (OPF being remade in Arma 3) are a must after you finish all vanilla content, which is plentiful at this point. There is a huge open world type official scenario called Old Man, although there are some issues with it, some fixes are on the way for next update. Main Arma 3 campaign The East Wind is also excellent, one of their best work yet and on par with CWC and Resistance, imo.

Besides CUP and CWR, I'd take a look at R3vo's mini mods, Enhanced InventoryRide Where You Look, JSRS & Enhanced Soundscape and of course 3den Enhanced for editing (yes, Arma 3 has a 3D editor now!) to name a few basic ones. Also, check @Gunter Severloh's signature, whatever you want, chances are he has some sort of huge list of sources about it. 🙂

 

If you don't have Arma 3 yet, I would recommend to just get the Ultimate Edition when it's on sale, which it is at the time of this post, -70% off, so ~37€. Actually, even if you only have vanilla A3, it's still probably worth it to get the Ultimate Edition. Otherwise, if you already have any DLC, then refer to Ex3B's post above and compare prices. Have fun!

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https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3:_DLC_Restrictions

 

You may want to look at that to see what you can and cannot use if you don't have a particular DLC.

Its also why I wouldn't recommend buying the helicopter DLC... the content of it overall was great, but the premium assets are heavy lift helicopters that I just don't care to fly in as anything other than a passenger (which is allowed).

I suppose if you are a helo pilot for a unit, and find ferrying equipment and troops fun, then get it.

I use those assets all the time in my missions though.

Laws of war: good for the single player campaign, but doesn't really have premium assets that you will miss much, but it was a cool campaign, proceeds go to a charity that deals with landmines, and it has helped spawn all kinds of war crimes jokes on reddit....

 

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@buttockhat Welcome back 😎

 

A laptop based upon ... Intel Core i5-10300H CPU with 16 GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Mobile), is OK.

You just need to add an SSD of sufficient size for Windows 10 64, Arma3 and the essential addons and mods that will be added.

In this hypothesis I would say that a TLC SSD of 500 GB is the minimum, one of 1TB is good (or 500 GB x 2) everything depends on the nature of the available slots

 

In order to get a good gaming experience, you need Arma 3 APEX plus essential DLCs, which means ...

Arma 3, Arma 3 Apex, Arma 3 Helicopters, Arma 3 Marksmen, Arma 3 Jets,  Arma 3 Tanks, Arma 3 Laws of War, Arma 3 Tac-Ops Mission Pack.

At the moment you can probably still get them on a bargain during Steam Winter sales 😉

From my point of view the Community Upgrade Project (CUP) whole collection of terrains, weapons, units as well as The Unsung Vietnam War Mod are needed assets for an old timer ...

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14 hours ago, Janez said:

Also, check @Gunter Severloh's signature, whatever you want, chances are he has some sort of huge list of sources about it.

Ya the one Janez is reffering too is this list

if you need anything else in terms of guides, tutorials, tools, ect,.

I have a masterlist with all the compilations i and others have created for the community,

so some nice huge references for you

Hope that helps!

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Thank you all for the thorough and helpful replies.

 

I'll take the system specs bit to the thread Janez linked for some more opinions. The rest is getting bookmarked / noted!

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On 12/31/2020 at 10:31 AM, buttockhat said:

After thoroughly playing OFP many years ago and dabbling in Arma and Arma 2, I would like to get into Arma 3

...

Is there anything else a newcomer should generally know?

I also played OFP many years ago when I was still in school. I only dabbled in Arma 2 many years later (after arma 3 was already out), buying it at a cheap price during a sale. Then I very very very briedly dabbled in Arma1 after buying in on a sale for 2 bucks.

 

A lot has changed since OFP, but I think the change from Arma 2 to current Arma 3 is greater than OFP to Arma 2, given all the updates that Arma 3 has had, the vase game is very different fro mwhat it was on release (not that I played Arma 3 on release).

 

Changes with each game, off the top of my head (aside from just graphic improvements):

 

Arma changes: procedural grass, multiple turret support for vehicles, VTOL aircraft support, new helo physics?

 

Arma 2 changes: Drones, Thermal imaging, new inventory system with droppable backpacks, new driving physics? lean left/right (or was that arma 1?), swimming on the surface, artillery with an artillery computer for aiming (or was that Arma1?)

 

Arma 3 changes: targeting pods on aircraft, improved drone system, improved inventory, stamina and fatigue system, a lot of new stances, weapon resting/bipod usage, weapon attachments, submunitions and penetrator submunitions from HEAT weapons and true shotguns, slingloading from helicopters, swimming under the surface and submersibles, improved driving physics, body armor and customizable clothing, new sensor system with data links, new fire control systems and aiming aids, vehicle in vehicle transport, catapult and arrestor wire functionality for aircraft, anti personel mines, top down attack modes for missiles, improved vehicle armor simulation + reactive armor and slat cages, 3d editor, various new scripting commands, etc. I'm probably forgetting some things

 

Arma 3 is better than ever for combined arms warfare, with, of course, the largest map yet. In Arma 3 you can have an offshore carrier, operating air superiority jets and attack drones using catapults and arrestor wires (or VTOL fighters with mods), take submersibles to land troops on shore, and have VTOL transports drop APCs or the equivalent of a striker MGS on shore, while helicopters bring in armed MRAPs, lighter vehicles, supplies, etc to ground troops. It even supports a delocalized SAM netword with seperate radar and launcher units.

 

Get it, and then get CUP terrains... the CUP vehicles mod is a bit bloated though IMO. Too much content packed into one mod, with variable quality.

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On 12/31/2020 at 10:31 AM, buttockhat said:

I want to purchase a gaming laptop

 

So it seems there was quite a focus on gaming laptops at CET 2021. Here is a brief news video about it, there are links to source articles in description that you may wonna sift through.

 

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For ARMA 3, the CPU's IPC, frequency, and RAM's latency and frequency matters the most. 

 

The new AMD APU (CPU + GPU) chips are really good. Wait for the new 5000 series APU and check the IPC against whatever you are looking at now.

 

The IPC of the AMD 5000 series CPU are amazing. 

The GPU inside the APU needs VERY fast RAM to run well.

 

The 4000 series APU can OC the RAM up to 4800 MHZ (!!!!!!!) and it really improves the system performance.

 

It will only get better with the AMD 5000 series APU.

 

I have no idea on Intel but do not expect them to have comparable IPC on a laptop format until next year.

 

Their power consumption is very high and matters for a portable device.

 

If on a desktop, it won't matter. Whatever gets the most performance is more important.

 

Any GPU above an Nvidia 1060 GTX would be good enough for 1080p Ultra performance.

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