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First ARMA impressions

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My first impressions: The game has still its edges and BIS would've needed some more months to polish the game. The game is not optimised, there are a few bugs here and there, the flight model is utter crap imho and a few other things.

But as an OFP fan I'm still in love with the game. I only need a better PC, my PC (XP2000+, Radeon 9600XT, 768RAM) has serious problems on the lowest settings. :/

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5. I run this game at 35fps consistently on medium settings on probably the lowest end computer around. Athlon 3500+, 1024DDR, GF6800GT. The game looks great on my PC as well.

You consider that spec to be low? ffs I wonder what high spec is then. Dual core 4800+ huh.gif for a game??? jesus.

My rig is Athlon 64 3400+, 1024mb ram, Audigy 2 ZS, ATI radeon 850 Pro... and here's me thinking that was high-end too confused_o.gif]

confused_o.gif

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Quote[/b] ]Its mostly because ArmA isnt all that new (especially compared to OFP, hell, OFP had vehicles so that was 15 bonus points :P ), and most magazines use the 70-80 score as the 'for the fan' score, which is probably given because it doesnt look like crysis, it doesnt have any new groundbreaking features (which are easily shown to the average reader) and its 'just' an 'updated' version of OFP in the eyes of the average reviewer

I don´t go ok with that. While testing Arma I was talking to the reviewer of Arma for german Gamestar magazine, who´s an old OFP fan and certainly was delighted about the "new" OFP she had to test. She took her time doing so and we ended up in a darkened room with the test-computer running debating Arma in detail. She knew what she was talking about and certainly had a huge pile of knowledge about OFP, Arma, pro´s and con´s and wasn´t just talking about something she had no idea about. Infact I was very surprised how much she knew about OFP and Arma and how split she was on the product Armed Assault.

I learned my lesson, I also had thought that reviewers are some guys and girls jumping from one game to another hastily. It was not the case. The opposite was the case. She took her time, plenty of it and after me testing Arma we both talked about the same bugs in Arma that really disappointed us.

In her words: I love it, I hate it.

Sums it up best. Don´t be so fast with prejudice gentlemen. You might be proven wrong, as I was.

There are things in Arma that can be debated, but there are things that simply don´t work and things that have to be fixed.

I´m tired of debating bugs over and over again. I will sit back and wait until the german guys will show up here after the release. It´s not about personal likes, it´s about solid bugs that have to be adressed and I´m sure they will be adressed. Still it´s a miracle to me who all that bugs didn´t surface during beta. confused_o.gif

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I agree with RedStorm in every aspect. The bugs that are currently present are minor and don't really affect (at least my) gaming experience.

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1. It is still easy enough to fly helicopters. True, it became harder. Not any noob can jump in and be a master "pwnage" pilot now. It takes practise.

Hmm, from the sounds of it, the physics are pretty wrong no matter how "hard" it is.

2. If you go fast enough, yes a tank will plow through a forest. If you go too slowly, you'll have to slowly push every individual tree over.

Hopefully true, but it sure as hell looks wrong on that video the way the abrams steamrolls a forest at full pelt. It should have a concequence no matter what the speed.

7. Err, yes, well might that be because he was TURNING THE TURRET? In ArmA the vehicles with gradual speed turret traverse will have to rev their engines to turn the turret. This is done automatically and plays as a background noise when you turn the turret. The faster you turn the turret, the higher the engine will rev. It's a realistic game feature, not a bug.

He said tracks turning, not engine rev.

7. I have not noticed any mouse lag. Probably client side.

That has been reported numerous times on this forum.

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You can be a "free tester" in return for getting a bugged game 5 months early?

Yes, err, great logic there mate.

Tell you what. I've got a game here I've been writing, it's bugged to hell at the moment and the graphics are crap, but I'll give it to you for testing but in the next 5 months it'll be a v1.0 product and it will rock. It will be Å30 GBP now. Deal?

No, I thought not.

Have you even tried the game confused_o.gif ? Stop dramatising, its not that bugged. Watch that 700+ mb video review to see the work BIS have made, graphics, colision detection, bullet penetration and ricochet, water, animation, destruction, list goes on... its fantastic. Dont like? Dont want? Then nobody will force you to buy it smile_o.gif .

Well now that you come to mention it heatseeker, if you had asked me 5 hours ago I would say I hadn't played the game but I know people who have, but now I can say I've played the game and I know what I'm talking about....

Who says I don't want the game? I think you misunderstand me. It is because I love the original OFP so that I hate seeing the same mistakes appear again.

Targetting issues, draw distance, LOD issues (shoot an M136 at a bridge and see what I mean) ... sound familiar???

Imagine if I said to my boss, hey boss, here's my app, don't worry its shit right now, I didn't bother testing it, but you can still pay me my months wages eh? It'll be OK in 5 months...

He'd have my ass out the door so fast there'd be motion blur....

YOU may have 5 years to wait for a 1.96 quality system old chap, I do not. I demand reasonable quality for my cash and I want it by May.

Then I recommend you and everyone else with the game to report bugs like crazy. However, bug reporting != complaining.  I am not flaming you. Don't get me wrong. I just want to ward off people from dabbling in the arts of needless anger. If you truly want to see this game progress and actually meet your desires by May, you will have to contribute to the effort.

- dRb

I'm not taking anything as flaming Dr. Not at all...

Let me clarify, if the bug was so esoteric that normal testing would not pick it up, I would let that pass. I know how difficult it is to write solid code. Nothing and I mean nothing is ever bug-free.

But when you see bugs scream at ya like "shoot the bridge with an M136 and the rails don't explode" or the "AI knows where you are even when behind a tree" or even the "my team will stay in the jeep while I defend this position myself" then you have to wonder.

Ahh. Correct of course. It is quite disappointing to see that such an obvious bug was overlooked. I completely agree. But I simply just don't want to see this thread or ANY thread to turn into a complete whine fest. I am not saying you were/are. I am commenting here as this is the "First ARMA Impressions" thread. Thoughts like those, especially negative ones have tended to breed rapidly here. So please, everyone, calm down and send in bug reports.

I am a programmer as well and have worked on many projects throughout the past few years. I know for a fact that it is MUCH easier on my fingers, mind, and heart when people try to leave their emotions out of their "reports."

But you know all of this and I know how frustrating it can all get. I have a lot of faith in BIS, perhaps too much, that they'll fix all of the glitches and bugs in due time.

- dRB

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5. I run this game at 35fps consistently on medium settings on probably the lowest end computer around. Athlon 3500+, 1024DDR, GF6800GT. The game looks great on my PC as well.

You consider that spec to be low? ffs I wonder what high spec is then. Dual core 4800+ huh.gif for a game??? jesus.

My rig is Athlon 64 3400+, 1024mb ram, Audigy 2 ZS, ATI radeon 850 Pro... and here's me thinking that was high-end too confused_o.gif]

confused_o.gif

The system itself is almost 2,5 years old now. In no way is it "new" and both our systems are using first edition shader 3 and new tech cards which have been improved upon in leaps and bounds with later versions. Yes, our systems are rather outdated for gaming platforms. tounge2.gif

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Quote[/b] ]Its mostly because ArmA isnt all that new (especially compared to OFP, hell, OFP had vehicles so that was 15 bonus points :P ), and most magazines use the 70-80 score as the 'for the fan' score, which is probably given because it doesnt look like crysis, it doesnt have any new groundbreaking features (which are easily shown to the average reader) and its 'just' an 'updated' version of OFP in the eyes of the average reviewer

I don´t go ok with that. While testing Arma I was talking to the reviewer of Arma for german Gamestar magazine, who´s an old OFP fan and certainly was delighted about the "new" OFP she had to test. She took her time doing so and we ended up in a darkened room with the test-computer running debating Arma in detail. She knew what she was talking about and certainly had a huge pile of knowledge about OFP, Arma, pro´s and con´s and wasn´t just talking about something she had no idea about. Infact I was very surprised how much she knew about OFP and Arma and how split she was on the product Armed Assault.

I learned my lesson, I also had thought that reviewers are some guys and girls jumping from one game to another hastily. It was not the case. The opposite was the case. She took her time, plenty of it and after me testing Arma we both talked about the same bugs in Arma that really disappointed us.

In her words: I love it, I hate it.

Sums it up best. Don´t be so fast with prejudice gentlemen. You might be proven wrong, as I was.

There are things in Arma that can be debated, but there are things that simply don´t work and things that have to be fixed.

I´m tired of debating bugs over and over again. I will sit back and wait until the german guys will show up here after the release. It´s not about personal likes, it´s about solid bugs that have to be adressed and I´m sure they will be adressed. Still it´s a miracle to me who all that bugs didn´t surface during beta. confused_o.gif

I already have the german version, bought it today at a store in Vienna. biggrin_o.gif

And I agree with the german magazines.

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Quote[/b] ]I already have the german version, bought it today at a store in Vienna.

Go play ! biggrin_o.gif

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But when you see bugs scream at ya like "shoot the bridge with an M136 and the rails don't explode" or the "AI knows where you are even when behind a tree" or even the "my team will stay in the jeep while I defend this position myself" then you have to wonder.

I'm sorry, but are THAT the "many bugs" that plague ArmA for you?

You're for a big disapointment then, I'm afraid.

Your first example simply can't be handled by the engine. It's not a bug, it's a non-feature : you won't see that. You'll perhaps see this the day BIS figures out how to implement detailed building destruction, it's in the same vein

Your second example... well, I'll wait few more days to have the game and being able to really comment. But this "bug", soooo lauded on old OFP/Resistance already, in 90% of the cases by that time, was explained rather easily : "when the AI sees you pass behind a tree from the right, and not going out on the left, guess what? It knows you're behind the tree. It's not rocket science". But discard my unneeded sarcasm, I better see myself before commenting.

And your 3rd one... 2 cases : you're squad leader, in which case I suggest you order them to get out. You're not SL, in which case mission designer would better have the case handled. If you want it automated, please define "I defend this position". I don't see any real condition defining it, unfortunately.

I'm sorry, but this is far from the bugs I expect to see when I install ArmA and that should be looked upon first, imho.

Like

- chopper behavior.

- Performances tweaks (if all the rumors are not based on people trying way too high settings for their system.... EXACTLY what happened when Resistance was just out, but community seems to have lost memory of the cries seen at that time).

- Mouse lag issues (I think it's related to the previous issue).

- Control ergonomy.

- Recoils (awww the disapointement sad_o.gif ) and weapon precision.

- Voices, FFS, seriously, they are BAD.

This are most of the issues we see reported and captured on videos.

On top of that, yes, game and its engine ain't perfect, but I don't think it's the current priorities for BIS

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Quote[/b] ]Very heavy on system specs and doesn't look as good as other games of the magnitude

Lol, this says it all, what game has the same magnitude as ArmA or even the 5 year old OFP?

Quote[/b] ]

Still it´s a miracle to me who all that bugs didn´t surface during beta.

Maybe because ArmA is a huge & ultracomplex videogame and BIS is a small company?

Btw, Snake great vid, many thx for all the usefull narration during your video.

That uncompressed fraps video must be huge :

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Quote[/b] ]I already have the german version, bought it today at a store in Vienna.

Go play ! biggrin_o.gif

Enough of playing for today, I've got a test to write tomorrow. Damn that university. sad_o.gif

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God... I'm far too drunk too read through the most recent posts..

I think I'll go to bed, pull the covers up over my head, emerge in mid February, pick up ArmA, play it for 2 days then log back on and see what the latest 'buzz' is.

Merry Xmas xmas_o.gif

goodnight.gif

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Some crazy stuff here...

The review from the player that cannot count to 8 claims its not worth the space on the harddrive? Ridiculous

Saying it doesn't look as good as other games of its magnitude? Which games are the comparison?

I think I will wait for a more mature review

People think that Bis didn't beta test or aware of most of what they released ?

If ARMA were a online only game,Bis could insert patches automatically and without intervention like ALOT of companies do

WWII Online, people bought the game and even paid to play online

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I thin ArmA and FSX are of similar magnitudes. FSX is a bigger project, but similar in a lot of ways.

And to be honest they both have a lot of similarities in number of bugs, reused content, computer resource requirements, ect.

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You seem to be forgetting that Armed Assault is supposed to be a mix of things,not one certain thing.

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But when you see bugs scream at ya like "shoot the bridge with an M136 and the rails don't explode" or the "AI knows where you are even when behind a tree" or even the "my team will stay in the jeep while I defend this position myself" then you have to wonder.

I'm sorry, but are THAT the "many bugs" that plague ArmA for you?

You're for a big disapointment then, I'm afraid.

Your first example simply can't be handled by the engine. It's not a bug, it's a non-feature : you won't see that. You'll perhaps see this the day BIS figures out how to implement detailed building destruction, it's in the same vein

Your second example... well, I'll wait few more days to have the game and being able to really comment. But this "bug", soooo lauded on old OFP/Resistance already, in 90% of the cases by that time, was explained rather easily : "when the AI sees you pass behind a tree from the right, and not going out on the left, guess what? It knows you're behind the tree. It's not rocket science". But discard my unneeded sarcasm, I better see myself before commenting.

And your 3rd one... 2 cases : you're squad leader, in which case I suggest you order them to get out. You're not SL, in which case mission designer would better have the case handled. If you want it automated, please define "I defend this position". I don't see any real condition defining it, unfortunately.

I'm sorry, but this is far from the bugs I expect to see when I install ArmA and that should be looked upon first, imho.

Like

- chopper behavior.

- Performances tweaks (if all the rumors are not based on people trying way too high settings for their system.... EXACTLY what happened when Resistance was just out, but community seems to have lost memory of the cries seen at that time).

- Mouse lag issues (I think it's related to the previous issue).

- Control ergonomy.

- Recoils (awww the disapointement sad_o.gif ) and weapon precision.

- Voices, FFS, seriously, they are BAD.

This are most of the issues we see reported and captured on videos.

On top of that, yes, game and its engine ain't perfect, but I don't think it's the current priorities for BIS

Sorry whisper, I didn't realise you were a software engineer or AI developer mate, like I am. Maybe I'll listen to your sarcy remarks and ignore everyone else who's been criticising the product eh?

Yeah right... you think I don't know that the engine knows the player's location? Would be some AI if it didn't. It's how it realistically models human behaviour that counts, something which atm it's doing not too well.

There's plenty of other issues that I could mention such as the graphics being not too hot, or the fact the sound IMHO is worse than the dynamic range addon for classic OFP, but I don't. What pisses me off is being shot after moving from/into a position where a human could never have seen me.

Also, In the blow the bridge mission, try not blowing the bridge and instead hit the T72s with your M136. The minute the crew evac the T72 they'll shoot you to bits immediately, so much for concussion etc.

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Sorry whisper, I didn't realise you were a software engineer or AI developer mate, like I am.

So? It give you the right for crapy comms? Armed Assaut is not the "sexy hot" game you expected. Go make a zombie mod for Bf2178.

Not flaming, no, no no. ^^ (faut pas dire du mal de Whisper ^^)

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Has anyone flown the Mi17 much at all? I'm still wondering how the game was released with how that chopper handles lol.

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I can get past most of the bugs etc but the choppers are awful. The handling, the targetting, everything. The guided missiles still overshoot their targets (like they did in OFP). The handling is inexplicably bad. The Mi-17 is probably the worst due to its size. I have no doubt this will get fixed, but for now choppers are pretty useless.

In the mission called "Alligator", it is almost impossible to lock targets and when I finally did, the Vikhrs missed. The aiming window that comes up in the when you fly the Ka-50 is absolutely useless as you can't move it without moving the whole helicopter.

AI pilots are no better! Get in an AI piloted chopper and sit in the co-pilot seat. As soon as you are in the air the chopper will start to rock back and forth. After flying with the AI  for 5 minutes I had to eject because the irregular motion made me feel like I was going to have an epileptic fit!

Hopefully it will get fixed soon.

E

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Just a quick question, is body armor simulated?

Sadly no. Same with helmet. Guy in T-shirt and cap survive same amount of hits like soldier in Interceptor and kevlar helmet mad_o.gif

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shhh it was a super T shirt xmas_o.gif

*Waiting for redstorm to come and lecuture us on the "kevlar" behind the T shirt.*

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I think he means that the t-shirt and ballcap as well as the soldier are both unarmored.

Not that both are armored.

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