Targeting - A Comparison of AA and OFP

[rickidoo 0]

I love AA, and am a long time player of OFP. I have the German version patched to English.

In so many ways AA has refined the experience of OFP. But in two ways I wish AA was more like OFP. I base this on going back to OFP to do a comparison, and also pulling out my trustee (real) rifle and putting it through some test aimings. I am former military and have shot M16 (3 expert ribbons) , too.

1. In OFP, when you go to aim, there is almost no delay in bringing the stock up to your eye. This is a touch too fast, but it makes for rapid game play.

But in AA, there's a lag that just a touch too slow. My scoped rifle (the real one) seems to come up to the eye and get settled on a target quicker than AA, but slower than OFP.

This is more a minor annoyance than a problem.

My system is a P4 2.4 Gig Nividia 7600

2. The real issue and one that I consider an outright drag on the game "fun level" is the aiming. When I pull my (real rifle) up, it takes what feels like a few milliseconds to get a bead.

But in AA, it feels like the mass of the rifle is some 20-30 pounds. And so when you aim it roams around the target more than I think it should.

A related issue is shooting at close quarters. If my rifle is spraying bullets I should not have an issue hitting a target only 20 feet away. In comparison trials with OFP, I have confirmed to my own satisfaction that the gameplay is definately off kilter in this regard.

Here's crossing my fingers that BI will work on these issues, both of which have been discussed elsewhere on the board.  But I thought my experiments with a real rifle (empty, 'tho), might add something.

Rick

[johnnyboy 3746]

I could not agree more. I love OFP and ARMA. I mail ordered the Czech release, but couldn't wait, so bought the German release online too!

But the ironsights aiming is VERY FRUSTRATING. More often than not--as I am painfully waiting for my bead to float over my target-- the AI acquires me first and kills me. This happens when I start aiming BEFORE the AI starts aiming.

I believe this will hurt ARMA's broader appeal and sales, as only die hard OFP fans (like me) will stick with the game as is.

I really hope they patch this before the broader 505 release.

[mr reality 0]

I've also noticed this. At first i thought i was a bit rusty at not having played Flashpoint in over 3 months,so when i downloaded the demo and got playing, the aiming definitley feels less responsive, kinda sluggish. I've always considered myself to be a fairly good shot (served 6 years in British army) but i've always thought it was harder to aim and handle a rifle in a simulation than it was in real life anyway. But ArmA is just that bit more difficult still.

[NeMeSiS 11]

Everyone in this topic has vsync forced off in his driver settings?

EDIT: And render frames ahead to 0 (for nVidia with coolbits, google it), or flip queue size to 0 (for Ati users)

[Rune 0]

I remember from earlier with OFP that the aiming would feel wrong on slower machines...could this be ArmA dragging the framerates down compared to OFP? - any of you got a PC that runs ArmA totally smooth? I know I don't...

[aus_twisted 0]

Yes it's been mentioned in a few other threads, using the crosshairs seems to be the way to go with ArmA online (especially with MG's as you can just use the tracers to target things and the view doesn't move around like with the ironsights view from recoil) where in OFP you had to use the ironsights to be accurate unless the target was at close range.

[HellToupee 0]

at the least ur head needs to be disconnected from the gun in ironsight mode so u can shoot and move without the screen shaking all over the place because that is just dam annoying an unnatural.

Going to ironsight mode needs to be sped up abit. Bringing up the sights then zooming in takes along time, and blocks most of your screen, so alot of the time the target is simply gone before u can shoot him. Wasnt so bad in ofp since u could flick back and foward quickly.

[twisted 127]

i like the ArmA sense of actually bringing a weapon up and sighting it. much prefer it when playing online (CTF, Co-op).

That said i have never really noticed the whole screen jumping when iron sights up - although that shouldn't happen rather only the rifle should jump/ recoil IMO.

[Col. Faulkner 0]

Quote[/b] ]

That said i have never really noticed the whole screen jumping when iron sights up - although that shouldn't happen rather only the rifle should jump/ recoil IMO.

I think they mean the way the scene jumps around if you

look down your sights and walk forward is excessive. This

is especially annoying since the characters do walk "from

the knees" in the correct manner so as to keep their upper

body and weapon steady when moving!  

[Rune 0]

Although I think releasing the head to move freely in ironsight mode could have some benefits I think it is probably not the easiest way to fix the jumping view problem which originate at the way the 'gun-sway' is animated when moving. It does not seems to move in a continuous fashion, it simply warps around without ever tracing out the lines in between, if it moved more naturally people would probably not get nausious from walking in ironsight view I think.

By the way I just changed to 0 prerendered frames and it helped a lot

[johnnyboy 3746]

Quote[/b] ]Everyone in this topic has vsync forced off in his driver settings?

EDIT: And render frames ahead to 0 (for nVidia with coolbits, google it), or flip queue size to 0 (for Ati users)

I turned off Vsynch, and the problem went away. Wow. Thanks a million ofpforum.

I urge you all to try to this.

I'm glad the problem is gone, but find it strange that this is the first game that ever required setting tweaks at the video card driver level to get the game to function correctly.

[mr reality 0]

Quote[/b] ]Everyone in this topic has vsync forced off in his driver settings?

I turned off Vsynch, and the problem went away.  Wow.  Thanks a million ofpforum.  

I thought he was telling us to turn vsync ON.

[Maddmatt 1]

Quote[/b] ]Everyone in this topic has vsync forced off in his driver settings?

I turned off Vsynch, and the problem went away. Wow. Thanks a million ofpforum.

I thought he was telling us to turn vsync ON.

No, he means off - at least he should.

[NeMeSiS 11]

Quote[/b] ]Everyone in this topic has vsync forced off in his driver settings?

I turned off Vsynch, and the problem went away.  Wow.  Thanks a million ofpforum.  

I thought he was telling us to turn vsync ON.

No, he means off - at least he should.

I do, but i (and several other people) have been saying this since the release, so i was kinda assuming everyone had it off by now..

[mr reality 0]

Well thats cleared that up then.... .

Thankyou.

[Pierrot 0]

I understand that the wide angle of ironsight which is introduced in ArmA is for CQB or close combats. This mode is seldom used in middle or long range battle. So if you engage in middle range combat, the wide angle of ironsight is quite annoying. Switching to zoomed ironsight just by pressing one key("v") is desirable just like OFP.

So how about introducing toggle key for swiching zoom and wide angle in ironsight? If you are engaging in large battle field, you set your ironsight zoomed. You can grab a detailed view of enemies rapidly with single click "v". And once you enter a town or a village in which CQB or close combat is expected to happen, you set your ironsight wide angle. Now you can sight the enemy with considering circumstances around you.

[Col. Faulkner 0]

What? Dunno really what you mean here. I have mine set up

such that a left mouse click causes "me" to look down "my"

rifle sights (in a default zoomed view) and holding down the

right mouse button zooms it in further during which a

ridiculously annoying  "heavy-breather" sound is played

(although I almost never use that feature). If I understand

you right this is what you are asking for. You just need to

adjust your key configuration.

[max power 21]

For me in the demo, that heavy breathing thing comes after a short period of not breathing at all, I think. It would be nice if the virtual soldier there controlled his breathing properly instead of starving himself of oxygen!

[450R 1]

Pierrot has a good point. Either a toggle for wide-angle / zoomed scope views or simply using separate keys (V or RMB) for different zoom levels.

[Rune 0]

Wouldn't it be easier to simply make the game remember the zoom level you left it at the last time - after using numpad +/- the zoom stays at whatever you select without having to hold any buttons, but only until you exit ironsight view, the next time you use ironsight view it has been reset to minimum zoom.