First ARMA impressions

[meyamoti 0]

I think the Havoc costs lotsa money,especially since it has two pilots.

[GaX 0]

Ok, i'm being overly negative because i'm EXTREMELY dissapointed. I never said the game is utterly hopeless because its not. Also stating the positive doesn't solve any of the problems with the game e.g. a patch

The graphics are great

Character models are great

Explosions are good

The new "Gear" mode is a great idea

In my opinion the new radio sounds are much better and easier to order troops

Swimming is good (if a little slow)

There is abrely any slowdown when large numbers of troops are on the screen.

The only sucking thing is the chopper flying controls...

It seems to control a plane...and IT DOESN'T TURN !

I say to all...Try to finish the AH1 single player mission only with manual fire and FFAR missiles (don't use guided missiles or

copilot fire).

In ofp u got a nice control of the chopper so u could do great damage with FFAR but now it's almost impossible to aim directly on target..

Let me know how many tries u need to finish that mission

[GabKa73 0]

I also bet that the guys at CSLA are working overtime right now for an ArmA hind.

[RHK 0]

Where are AAV-7A1 AAV-7A1

and LAV-25 with 25mm gun  LAV-25

Other question is anyboty shot Javelin missile

Is realy available Javelin in Arma

Salu2

[kavoven 4]

Just a info:

The four big German magazines have all rated ArmA now:

PC-Games: 78% (Stupid AI and terrible controlls)

PC-Action:75%

Gamestar: 75%

PC Powerplay: 76%

All four are complaining about many, many bugs, which even make some missions unfinishable.

But they also say that this is a game with great potential.

@BIS

Why didn't you held the game back a few month? Now you've nearly ruined the selling of ArmA, because players don't look at all at games with 7X rating...

I believe that you can improve this with patches and so on, but I fear nearly no one of the mainstreamplayers will buy ArmA because of these bad ratings...

[Placebo 29]

Daniel @ Nov. 25 2006,15:30)]Placebo has said a patch will be out with the demo

No I didn't, if you think I did then you misunderstood my words

[AWDrift 0]

I think I'll just buy the game when it ends up in the bargin bin. Sure it has potential, but I'm not buying a game that isn't finished for full price. I think that is where most of the complaints are coming from too, it would be fine if the game was 20$ or 30$ but asking full price for it is a bit much.

[lwlooz 0]

Well, they can improve the engine easily.

90% of the problems I see mentioned here are because of a lack of optimization. ArmA really seems to be in a 0.8 state right now.

Too bad for BIS that the PR damage of the unfinished Cz version and most likely equally unfinished german version can't be undone now. ArmA proablly will suffer the same fate as OFP. Many many gamers will be turned off by its buggyness. And after that happened with 2 releases by BIS now, and BIS this time can't hide behind a "Well,we still have a innovative game" because ArmA is anything from being innovative they really need to work hard to convince anyone besides us loyal nuts to buy Game2.

So,I rather hope that BIS manages to optimize and tweak the engine as fast as possible now.

[3dom 0]

Quote[/b] ]The only sucking thing is the chopper flying controls...

It seems to control a plane...and IT DOESN'T TURN !

I say to all...Try to finish the AH1 single player mission only with manual fire and FFAR missiles (don't use guided missiles or

copilot fire).

In ofp u got a nice control of the chopper so u could do great damage with FFAR but now it's almost impossible to aim directly on target.

i have to agree with this, that's exactly how it is ...although i love the game this is the only thing that annoys me, how they could change what was already perfect.

i'm hoping it's cos they didn't have time to tweak it before it got released in czech,they'll be a patch.hopefully.

[Daniel 0]

Daniel @ Nov. 25 2006,15:30)]Placebo has said a patch will be out with the demo

No I didn't, if you think I did then you misunderstood my words

Ah apologies, I did indeed.

Quote[/b] ]Arma FAQ, Placebo: "Demo will be released as soon as it's ready (same as a patch), both are being worked on."

My mind jumping to conclusions without reading it twice...

[bangtail 0]

The AI pathfinding is terrible. I was playing on the "Commander Mission" and my squad just decided to stop taking orders. No matter what I did, they wouldnt move.

Definitely feels like a beta.

E

[Bunkers 0]

ArmA really seems to be in a 0.8 state right now.

Patches and addons etc. will make this game the greatest ever. At least for ppl like us I'm not worried, ArmA will eventually deliver all we could hope for and probably more. The first released version being buggy aint nothing new or unique.

[Heatseeker 0]

I think I'll just buy the game when it ends up in the bargin bin. Sure it has potential, but I'm not buying a game that isn't finished for full price. I think that is where most of the complaints are coming from too, it would be fine if the game was 20$ or 30$ but asking full price for it is a bit much.

You pay full price for every unoptimised console port out there. If Arma isnt worth full price what other game is?

Arma is actually worth more than "full" price... because (unlike other games) the technology and capabilities are unique! For "full" price you get a content rich game like there is no other. MP capable and included level editor. Expected and reputable support with patches and terrain/ model creation tools.

With your ordinary game you get a port and with some luck maybe a couple patches... to me Arma sounds worth 5x the value of all ordinary games we can find in store shelves put together.. its rude to say that this game isnt worth more than $20 if you compare it to all the other games people pay full price to go thru once and throw away .

[icebreakr 3157]

As I've said before: our SBP squad played around 4 hours on Thursday (we all have Czech version patched to English) and we didn't see any major bugs(!, we had *no* lag, even during bigger missions!

Of course there are some glitches, shooting grenades with a boat is also strange and we drove a small boat for ~100 meters on the ground (uphill!, but that are funny bugs and we can live with them til the patch everything else feels great and AI can sometimes be very effective... and they even counter-attack.

[AWDrift 0]

I think I'll just buy the game when it ends up in the bargin bin. Sure it has potential, but I'm not buying a game that isn't finished for full price. I think that is where most of the complaints are coming from too, it would be fine if the game was 20$ or 30$ but asking full price for it is a bit much.

You pay full price for every unoptimised console port out there. If Arma isnt worth full price what other game is?

Arma is actually worth more than "full" price... because (unlike other games) the technology and capabilities are unique! For "full" price you get a content rich game like there is no other. MP capable and included level editor. Expected and reputable support with patches and terrain/ model creation tools.

With your ordinary game you get a port and with some luck maybe a couple patches... to me Arma sounds worth 5x the value of all ordinary games we can find in store shelves put together.. its rude to say that this game isnt worth more than $20 if you compare it to all the other games people pay full price to go thru once and throw away .

HL2, it runs great on older machines and you get 2 other games with it and it is constantly being updated.

CoH, great game in general.

WH40k just another great game in general.

M2:total war, just a ton of fun to conquer europe and then fight the Aztecs.

GTR2, came with GT legends for me and still only cost me 40$

Even that new Gears of War game, even without mods it's still tons of fun.

[Stealth3 0]

Quote[/b] ]Game2.

The sales of ARMA will dictate if there will even be a game 2. And if ARMA is so bugged down, I don't even want to think hot game 2 will be.

[Fresh- 6]

From the sound of it, the flight model will need some serious review and tweaking. If Llan Papini who created 'Micro Flight' can get the flight model right, so can BIS. Micro Flight

Let us hope future patches will address the flight model. Many of us look forward to flying in Arma more than anything!

[Londoner 0]

Quote[/b] ]I´m all for supporting BIS and I am a loyal fan, but to me it looks like Arma was rushed out, no matter if it was known to be bugged. Maybe it was in publishers interest to get christmas sales, maybe the 505 release was put backward because 505 did not want to release Arma as it is today, who knows.

What I know is that Arma as it is now does and will not meet expectations of the majority of OFP fans.

I respect your opinion, and it saddens me that after all this wait, the impression seems to be that this was a rushed release with obvious bugs in it.

505 must be quaking in their boots at the thought that the community will have tested this game to death before they are in a position to release it. And if the community gives it a thumbs down, they could be left with a lot of product that wont be shifted.

I hope its successful, I've waited so long for this game, as all the members of the OFP community have, and to see so many negative comments come out has really made me question if I should pre - order this or not.

[T J 0]

My first impression;

Sahrani is a beautiful island, well laid out and full of possibilities. Size was, only the same as what had been accomplished already, but able to handle the models better, and the fact that you can tab in and out at will without crashing the PC is reassuring. Obviously the water is a big improvement.

But my overall feeling so far is that something isn't "right". this looks like something that has been quickly mashed together, not a game that has supposedly been in development for a few years. Its like somebody got a mixing bowl, threw in elements of the console version (elite), a little bit of VBS1, and a few bits of a new engine. But it all seems bodged together and uncomplete. The content, model and equipment wise, is woeful, and inaccurate, and the models themselves have exhibited lots of flaws at certain LODs. It feels a lot like playing early OFP. The sounds are horrible and amateurish, and the interface and overall impression in the editor and menu boxes seems poor, lacks that 'quality' feeling.

This release (czech) version is what you would normally expect a demo to be like.

What this 'new' engine and island need desperately, is somebody, some team who can give it the attention to detail that it needs. To create a decent set of models, a decent scenario, and to give it the kind of care that is so obviously lacking so far.

My biggest disappointment so far though is the choppers, and the way they fly. Having spent (literally) 1000's of hours flying and testing the old Littlebirds from BAS, and the bigger choppers, the new 'way' of flying feels just wrong.

Here's hoping that the game now gets some attention from somebody with the ability to really improve upon it.

TJ

[dm 9]

Quote[/b] ]Game2.

The sales of ARMA will dictate if there will even be a game 2. And if ARMA is so bugged down, I don't even want to think hot game 2 will be.

No, they wont. BI has a lot of other things going on, and ArmA isnt the make or break of the company.

Considering that ArmA appears to be a version of Game2, using the "old" OFP physics and AI, then I wouldn't worry too much.

Also consider that ArmA is technically only ~12 months old. The original screenshots shown were of what appears to be OFP:E ported back to the PC from the xbox. Game2 still has YEARS of development time left, all the time BI can be learning from ArmA and anything else they may do, so again I wouldn't go crying about it just yet...

[bangtail 0]

Well, having played it for over 40 hours now, I offer my impressions and to a certain extent disappointment with Armed Assault.

First, the good. Graphically the game is exceptional. Some excellent little touches like vision taking time to adjust when you put on or take off the NV goggles. Birds soaring above the cliffs and proper animated water that changes depending on the weather conditions.

The Island is extremely large and very well thought out. It has great potential for modmakers/mission designers. As has been observed in other posts, the game is not geared towards fast gameplay and the control system, while not completely alien, has been changed. I am still adjusting to it and although I REALLY don't like the double tapping I am slowly coming to terms with the new control scheme.

I have completed all the single player missions and some of the campaign. I didn't buy OFP or ArmA for the single player game but from what I have seen the game is EXTREMELY stable. I have not had one crash in over 40 hours of play time and that is a very reassuring statistic in my mind.

I have tried the MP briefly and again, it seems to be very stable. I will be designing a few small MP missions in the next few days and I will report back with my findings when I have tested them out with some friends.

Now, on to the bad. I will try to be objective here but I feel there are some inexcusable problems with Arma.

First off, the sound, like OFP's original sound is TERRIBLE. There is no other way to describe this. BIS needs to hire someone who understands how to implement sound properly. In a game that relies greatly on immersion, bad sound is a real immersion killer. Some examples of this are sounds not playing, playing late and my old favorite from OFP the distance relative to sound being WAY off. I hear tanks like they are next to me but they are over 200 metres away. I might as well have been in the chopper in the single player night sabotage mission but it was 200 metres away as well. Of course this will be fixed by modders or BIS but its not really acceptable in a retail product.

Next, the vehicle control has been changed and I have to say, especially in the case of the Helos, it wasn't a good idea. The Helos seem to fly on rails and any attempt to deviate from said rails results in your helo becoming an expensive lawn dart. It just doesn't feel right at all. The flightmodel appears to defy gravity and all known laws of physics.

On to the pathfinding. I really dont believe this has been tested at all or if it was, not very well. I was playing the Single player mission called "Commander". Towards the end of the mission you enter a large town and the AI decided that they weren't moving. No matter what I did, the AI just stood there. I tried to get them to follow me accross a bridge, 2 did, the others ran around on the banks of the river. I tried to get them to follow me to where the vehicles are (which involves navigating through quite a few buildings) they just stood there again. Then the AT guys decided they were going to go off on their own. I kept telling them to return to formation and to move beside me, they didnt care, they continued to move around autonomously.

All in all this game feels very much like it was not ready for release. I am enjoying it but I feel I could be enjoying it much more. I have no doubt that most of my complaints will be fixed but for now these issues are seriously impairing my enjoyment of ArmA.

This is the System I am playing on :

C2D 6300 @ 3.1 Ghz

4 Gig Crosair 6400

EVGA 680i MB

Leadtek 8800 GTX

SB X-Fi

1 TB HDD

Lite On DVD R/W

Everything on Very High except

Shadows - High

Post - High

Ill post more about MP when I have used it a little more extensively.

E

[Yoma 0]

I've been testing it too for about a day now.

Infantry controls take getting used to but they are quite good i think.

Infantry ai is way better then ofp's.

(eg I shot a soldier down street, his buddy ran back to corner and actually waited me coming down street aiming for corner)

I find myself getting shot up a lot!

Some fun and very fixable animation bugs can be seen (i had my soldier swimming on the beach etc... rofl)

The grass is a complete utter useless bitch. (laying down becomes completly useless and when u get shot in leg u get a mental attack of only seeing shitty grass leaves)

Could be great if only it where a bit shorter!

In real life when u lie down in grass you see a lot more then in arma. An option to disable grass completely would be great.

I find myself laying down on streets so i don't have the f****ng grass in my fov.

The sonic snaps as you get shot at are very very cool.

I totally agree on the chopper part: choppers are worthless crashhazards in arma at the moment.

Planes are much better in Arma then in OFP.

(lets hope the problem doesn't reverse, good planes, bad choppers rofl)

Arma is shaping up, but it'll be like ofp i guess, the best will come after a gazillion patches.

In the end we got what we wanted: we were yelling GIVE IT TOO US, GIVE IT TOO US. So thats what they did :-)

It's a pity they'll get reviewed on the current state.

Anyway BIS, we still love you don't give up on this great game.

[sickboy 13]

My old favorite from OFP the distance relative to sound being WAY off. I hear tanks like they are next to me but they are over 200 metres away.

I have this problem on my X-Fi when I have hardware acceleration enabled, if I turn it off but leave EAX on it seems perfectly normal to me. To me it appears to be a bug and hopefully squashed soon.

In OFP there were proper soundpacks that did not have that problem, some addon makers used insanely loud sounds for nearly everything (Get in/out, Gear, Engine, Tracks etc) this was mainly the problem maker in sounds being too loud 'as if the tank was near'

[aus_twisted 0]

This is the System I am playing on :

C2D 6300 @ 3.1 Ghz

4 Gig Crosair 6400

EVGA 680i MB

Leadtek 8800 GTX

SB X-Fi

1 TB HDD

Lite On DVD R/W

Everything on Very High except

Shadows - High

Post       - High

Ill post more about MP when I have used it a little more extensively.

E

What FPS were you getting on average do you know, I'd also like to know what FPS you get with those settings in the middle of a large forest etc. The new detailed trees and bushes all over Sahrani seem to really kill FPS when you are very close to them.

[bangtail 0]

This is the System I am playing on :

C2D 6300 @ 3.1 Ghz

4 Gig Crosair 6400

EVGA 680i MB

Leadtek 8800 GTX

SB X-Fi

1 TB HDD

Lite On DVD R/W

Everything on Very High except

Shadows - High

Post       - High

Ill post more about MP when I have used it a little more extensively.

E

What FPS were you getting on average do you know, I'd also like to know what FPS you get with those settings in the middle of a large forest etc. The new detailed trees and bushes all over Sahrani seem to really kill FPS when you are very close to them.

Ill check later and post the results for you. I have to say that it is insanely smooth and stable and I am getting no lag or jerkyness whatsoever. Even in the deepest forests, it remains fluid and smooth.

E