Won't be buying AA or OFP2 Until......

[Psylnz 0]

First off, I love OFP, and this is meant as constructive criticism.

But, I won't be buying either AA or OFP2 until I see it comes with a non-buggy map editor, and a good net code.

I think the original OFP was as an amazing game, with remarkable features deserving of serious praise. Desctructible Buildings, fairly realistic forests, Excellent gameplay, huge maps, It ran awesome on a low end system, usable vehicles, impressive AI, it was simply amazing, and way ahead of its time.

OFP should have been as, if not more successful than BF1942. Ahead by a year, if not two years, Bohemia should be enjoying the success in the FPS genre EA is enjoying today..........

However, the game had a netcode, that made it more or less online multi-UN-playable. Then after a year or two bohemia releases a buggy, user unfriendly, island editor (I gave up on using it, but if I remember correctly, you couldlnt create Islands from scratch anyway, you could only edit precreated ones), and don't even bother to translate it out of czech. (considering most of the people who bought the game speak english, I don't think this is alot to ask).

Editing in Flashpoint now consists of using several less than stable 3rd party programs, to convert your map to something OFP can use, that seldom work. Or at best, are extremely user unfriendly. Surely Bohemia gave the USMC, US National Guard, and ADF something better to work with in VBS1? Why can't we have something like that.

BF1942 and Half Life have both enjoyed years of success and sales due in huge part to their respective modding communities. Clue in BI! Give us the tools to help sell your game!

For that matter, if BI is looking to make money, I would pay for a stable working Island editor (one where you can actually make the islands from scratch) for OFP

A big plus would be a map editor that can import DEMs directly

So please, BI. Release useful editing tools either before or with Armed Assault, and please release it with good netcode.

[jakerod 254]

First thing I would like to say is that Visitor isn't buggy. You obviously just didn't take the time to learn it. I have been using it for over a year if not 2 years and I am still learning things about it.

It is possible to make islands from scratch ive made probably around 20 of them. Matter of fact its a hell of a lot easier to make one from scratch than to edit an exsisting one.

If you don't like visitor then use WRP Tool.

Let me know if you want any help with visitor, I can't guarentee you that I will be useful but I will try.

[berghoff 11]

Maybe he meant the mission editor

[Guest Ti0n3r]

There are no bugs in the mission editor.

And it is very user friendly.

[Victor_S. 0]

Yes I totally disagree. The mission editor is very user friendly, it allows for novice aswell as advanced users. I havent used visitor myself but I know you can make islands from scratch. You cant say that bohemia has not supported the community. They released 2 expansions, several patches, 02, Visitor, and a bundle of test models and configs. There are not many other games that offer that kind of support.

EDIT: I do agree about the net code however, but I guess bad net code can be overlooked considering the great mission editor and such.

[Heatseeker 0]

I think people expect or even "demand" alot from Bohemia and that pisses me off sometimes , i mean the netcode has been improved from unusable to quite decent, especialy considering that unlike kintergarden42 this game aimed more towards SP than MP.

Now the tools were released and are still being put to good use these days, they may be complex but they are available and alot of great material was and is still being made today.

Now analise everything else this game delivers and compare it to all the other games and its obvious Flashpoint is way above most, if not all of them, especialy gameplay wise.

Also looking at what they are trying to achieve with "game2", they are again breaking new ground in the history of gaming and people still think its not good enough.

Quote[/b] ]But, I won't be buying either AA or OFP2 until I see it comes with a non-buggy map editor, and a good net code.

I wont be buying any more Doom games untill they come up with decent MP and huge maps!

I wont be buying BF series untill they come up with decent a.i., SP and get rid of the arcadish elements of gameplay!

I wont be buying any more HL games unless they make them run well with nvidia powered gpus... or will i?

Think about how much did that last 65€ purchace delivered compared to this old game and how many hours of good fun .

[G-Capo 0]

Ok dont get the game,We will have fun playing against each other.

BTW Bf2 I will also be buying

[RN Malboeuf 12]

I wont buy it untill they offer Coffee with the shipment, I need a nice good strong cup about now

[sanctuary 19]

Quote[/b] ]However, the game had a netcode, that made it more or less online multi-UN-playable.

CWC netcode was not really good, that's right, but with Resistance it has improved a very lot.

You should try to play online in a CTI game, notice how despite a hundred of AI , lots of AI scripting, at the OFP AI quality level, all are running around and the game is not that laggy.

Now start any of the so-called "good netcode" videogames, and try to put as much AI , on a map as large of Everon , and see the huge lag (if the server does not explode before) that will occur.

And remember that all those games has inferior AI routines.

So saying OFP has a bad netcode is just wrong.

All was needed for not cooperative gamemode was a "join in progress" feature, and that will happen with Armed Assault.

In cooperative gametype, there is no need of "join in progress" , as it would just break the gametype interest.

Quote[/b] ]

Then after a year or two bohemia releases a buggy, user unfriendly, island editor (I gave up on using it, but if I remember correctly, you couldlnt create Islands from scratch anyway, you could only edit precreated ones), and don't even bother to translate it out of czech. (considering most of the people who bought the game speak english, I don't think this is alot to ask).

Editing in Flashpoint now consists of using several less than stable 3rd party programs, to convert your map to something OFP can use, that seldom work. Or at best, are extremely user unfriendly. Surely Bohemia gave the USMC, US National Guard, and ADF something better to work with in VBS1? Why can't we have something like that.

Notice that all the tools released to the community are gifts , BIS never had to release any of them, they were not forced to do it as they never told in the EULA/Advertisements that any OFP user would have access to BIS tools when they realesed OFP.

So you are not happy of recieving gift instead of trying to learn and adapt to them ?

They are not as much un-user friendly as you are writing, they just take (lot) of time practicing with them, like any tools freeware of professional.

You don't create good 3D models with any professional or freeware model programs , you need to learn them.

And by looking at the addons available from the community, those tools are not really impossible to work with.

It just need the user to learn and practice with them.

Yes they can have some limitations, they could always be better, but they are valuable gifts from BIS (and from people from the community for their 3rd party tools).

[wheres my rabbit ? 10]

Psylns i'm not trying to start an arguement or a personal attacks here but you haven't actually got a clue have you ??

everything you have just wrote is utter rubbish

all modding tools from any game ive messed about with have had there problems or just take a bit of time to get your footing.

have you ever tried making a halflife map ? cos worldcraft (now hammer) is a complete pain in the arse

sure the game got its problems but you dont seem to have picked up on any of the real ones

[ramboofp 0]

Quote[/b] ]

You don't create good 3D models with any professional or freeware model programs , you need to learn them.

Wing3D is a very easy to use fast free opensource.It s the best Low polygone model programs in the world for me

topic link

http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....5;st=15

[sanctuary 19]

Quote[/b] ]

You don't create good 3D models with any professional or freeware model programs , you need to learn them.

oops, i forgot some words in my previous sentence.

Quote[/b] ]

You don't create good 3D models with any professional or freeware model programs quickly, you need to learn using them.

[Blink Dog 0]

I think it would be a good idea when AA and OFP2 are released that they include a toolset either with the game or as part of an expansion pack.

I have never been able to get visitor to work properly on my puter and have had problems with Oxy and Binarize. It would be nice if the toolset had an auto installer and would unpack the pbo's. The toolset I got with Contract Jack (lithtech engine) does just that.

Failing that it would be nice if third party tool developers could converse with the development team and make programs without having to do alot of trial and error.

[Bordoy 0]

Hopefully the add-ons work again as a "drop and play" process. Not like other games where you have to use installer crap etc, also some games can't take add-ons.

This is what i love about OFP (well one thing i love about it). you could just downloads megs and megs of add-ons.

[BraTTy 0]

First of all ...I didn't originally buy OFP to play online so any netcode problems are no problem here.BUT If your comparing games.I have heard of ridiculous amounts of people on a OFP server and the most I have seen are 64 on a BF1942 server.Which netcode problems are you implying?

I believe OFP was originally intended to play Lan style,like on a military base or such anyways.

I like the fact that I originally paid for OFP in its original form then with the patches the game superceded my thoughts of what i had purchased.I don't mind buying OFP2 or AA as it hits shelves.I know if it doesn't meet my standards ,it will in time (almost public configured patches as they patch what WE want)

The OFP mission editor is simplier than editors I have seen with other games (buggy? no)

I can prolly speak for most avid OFP users on these forums...we want the game,the engine,the new stuff.Doesn't matter if it comes with any addons or extras.With this community we will have any and more addons than we will ever need.We just want the new features! The engine itself !

edit: I could keep going on

I also like the fact that I learned some czech while I played OFP.

OFP has beat BF1942 by a longshot.(btw I still play BF1942 in a clan).BF1942 was not sold to the US Govt,BF1942 is just about dead.BF1942 has NO support compared to OFP,BF1942 had pay for addons( some free addons came with patches yes and are nice).Some free user made addons that are complicated to make.BF942 is a FPS and OFP is more of a tactical simulator.

[Longjocks 0]

I do and don't agree with the original poster. Even over a LAN a mate and I had some major issues. But improvement did eventually come. I think you'll find a diverse range of experiences when it comes to MP over the years.

Mission editing was bad for novice users though. A lack of documentation meant that creating anything but very basic missions were impossible, let alone completing and compiling it with a briefing and such. But the mission editor was certainly bug free. Its only fault was being targeted at intermediate to advanced users.

[Friedchiken 0]

I would just like to point out that making a real challenging mission is easier in OFP than in any other game. The interface could use improvement, but making a mission with real triggers, reactionary AI, and realistic objectives is easier to do in OFP, than say, Ghost Recon or Half-Life 1/2. Besides flight simulators and Star Craft, I can't point out any games in my mind that are so easy to setup. And Soldier of Fortune 2's quick mission maker was a bit of a joke in my opinion, though I don't have as much experience with that game.

Yes, there is always room for improvement, but what is the competition? As for AA, I think it may actually be a good idea to see how it turns out. Maybe we will get lucky and that game developed by the Hidden and Dangerous 2 people will turn out awsome.

(Then again in OFP novice users really should have been given a better guide. I found out that "guard" was a much better waypoint than "seek and destroy," and other tips I wished that the manual would have covered. The small tutorial on the CD only taught you how to use triggers and didn't really cover anything else.)

As for netcode, we can always hope for better code can we? I just want join-in-progress since I didn't have major trouble with lag. The lack of servers also hurts the lag problem...

[Dark Soldier 0]

BF1942 Addons

There are some MODs, but you can count them on one and a half hands :-)

Compared to OFP where you have Gigabytes of Addons, MODs etc.

Good: OFP is really good to use for addon-makers, though it could be a bit better concerning file formats for tool makers etc. But the great thing is : you have ALL possibilities in OFP (any1 ever seen a script in BF1942 ?).

And here we come to the problem I see:

In OFP there are thousands of files, no one has a real idea of how to get them all, some of those files are shit-buggy, there no real tool to organize your addons, neither can OFP use a real database (just put 'too many' files into one addon folder, they wont work), a lot of files exist 2/3/4 times on the harddisk because every fucker just renames them.

There's no standard in naming addons, neither shows the editor all the possible addons (just units, not weapons or equipment) => the editor has to look up everything somewhere. (if there's any info on that)

So what I want / suggest :

Each original file / Addon needs info on:

- Authors Name

- Unique, precise Name

- Version Info

- Compatibilities (OFP version, for example)

- download source / unique donwload ID

And OFP should then be able to detect installed files, needed files etc and install them (=> like f.e. OFPWatch, but better).

Hope someone hears my pleas.

[DBR_ONIX 0]

Hmm, a database built of all installed addons (In one folder), and using groups of these addons for mods, instead of folders is a nice idea.. I have (Well, had, cleared a lot of them up) lots of dulplicate files, including JAM about 3 times, BAS pilots twice, Lockes anims 3 times etc. If they were in one folder, and OFP launched selected ones, it would be neater

As for downloading needed files, I don't really like this idea, unless you have some control over it. At a minumum, being able to set a max download size for the addons.

The biggest improvement I'd like to see with OFP/addons is better error reporting, maybe having a PBO name it should be in, or a line number of the config error. or the ability to skip the addon being loaded if there is a large error (Config error, missing model etc)

- Ben