ArmA 2

[Forrestal 0]

Yep, im was working on gallery.

Now all on page with thumbnails

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/

[MATRA 0]

Thx Forrestal.

It still look a lot like ArmA.

Did BIS told anything about the RPG features?

[Forrestal 0]

Yes, Maruk talks about some RPG elements in conversations with AI.

[ArchangelSKT 0]

Yes, Maruk talks about some RPG elements in conversations with AI.

Thats good, it means we will have completely new features next to improved old ones

[Forrestal 0]

Movies from Arma 2:

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_01.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_02.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_03.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_04.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_05.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_06.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_07.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_08.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_09.avi

http://forrestal.info/galeria/gc/gc_arma_ii_movie_10.avi

Enjoy

[NeMeSiS 11]

Yes, Maruk talks about some RPG elements in conversations with AI.

Awesome!

(I feared those were left out)

Have you noticed any changes to the AI? Particularly in their way of moving around or heard anything about it?

(Sorry if im asking to many questions, its just that you are our only source of information

Also is it still supposed to be a fully dynamic campaign (Like the description here)?

EDIT: Awesome, videos!

[Yeb 0]

I may say i'm really excited by what you said, but could you bring more infos (wether you've some)about arma2, for instance, how are the sounds? Are there some awesome new features (some vbs2 features for instance) compared to arma?

[KorpeN 0]

Any changes to the flying and driving system?

[smellyjelly 0]

Wow, thanks Forrestal.   I haven't watched the videos yet, but I just wanted to be the first one to point these out:

http://forrestal.info/galeria...._05.jpg

That one looks like it could be a city. It's kind of hard to tell because there's nothing to scale roads to, but even if it's all open it looks pretty interesting.

http://forrestal.info/galeria...._07.jpg

Railroad tracks! Hopefully they'll be useable...

http://forrestal.info/galeria...._20.jpg

http://forrestal.info/galeria...._21.jpg

Aww, pictures of the rabbit.

Anyways, the news about BIS is sad. Hopefully if they leave on a good note, then someday they'll decide to give the public another shot.

Oh no, the videos aren't working for me. If I try to watch them, an error comes up, and it links me to this page. Is anyone else getting this? Would it be alright if someone stuck them on youtube?

[Yeb 0]

Try right-lick .

By the way, you said some of the arma.de news were wrong, what are they?

[klamacz 447]

wrong news is about size of the new island - Forrestal said to me that new island is the same size as Sahrani but its not island, its just terrain copied from Czech's maps and you can go out from map endlessly.

On movie nr 4 you can see action "Talk to ..." - in the moment where enemy soldier kills player. Its like you can talk to him at the time when he's shooting you

[KorpeN 0]

I have only sound when playing the videos.Any HELPPPPPPPPPP?

[NeMeSiS 11]

Get VLC media player.

[pdukers 0]

Do we get some real rivers/lakes/streams in arma2?

[Adamicz 3]

wrong news is about size of the new island - Forrestal said to me that new island is the same size as Sahrani but its not island, its just terrain copied from Czech's maps and you can go out from map endlessly.

Sumava (Böhmerwald) I suppose, heard some talkings about it in one of the vids. Anyway size of the island (or map, whatever) is not so important for me, Sahrani's size is just enough.

[MATRA 0]

Do we get some real rivers/lakes/streams in arma2?

Its too soon to know that.

My guess is that rivers/lakes/streams wont have much diference from the ones we saw in Arma.

[Colossus 2]

Well the pictures ain't working yet, but I got all of the movies.

@Forrestal - Premission to upload these movies in a combined .rar/.zip file?

[baddo 0]

How do people know how much bug-fixing has been done to ArmA since patch 1.08 was released? I don't know and I refuse to make guesses. People assume that BIS has stopped, or will soon stop, fixing bugs in ArmA. And then they come here and burst crying about it. Like they have a crystal ball or something to check everyday what BIS is doing and what BIS is going to do. Just stop it, it's so silly I am not going to believe you have such a crystal ball, or else, show your evidence.

Also one other thing which I want to say. I have come to a conclusion that if I were a game developer, I would seriously consider dropping the whole PC scene and develop games only for consoles. There is no way any game development company in the World could promise that their product works on every single combination of hardware components you can assemble into a computer. In my opinion, which is based on spending quite a lot of time reading this forum, the biggest problems with ArmA has been caused by incompatibility problems with some hardware combinations and buggy drivers, and wrong operating system used. People who try to use ArmA on an unsupported operating system come here to complain that ArmA is not working well or even doesn't work at all. Well that's too bad for them, but shouldn't they have first understood what operating systems ArmA is meant for? I mean if you have a problem of ArmA not working on Windows Vista then that's a problem you created by yourself as you are trying to do something the developers did not promise will work.

Yeah sure there are problems caused also because ArmA itself has bugs. Those are what we can reasonably expect from BIS to do something about. But the infinite problems with hardware, I can not see how BIS could solve all your hardware, hardware driver and operating system problems.

The many problems with hardware, hardware drivers and operating system bugs & incompatibilities could be avoided if the games were made for a console. True, a console might have problems too, like any piece of hardware a man can design and manufacture, but at least the technical specifications of the console are the same for every user. That is a practical impossibility in the PC scene.

I'm not saying BIS should develop only console games, I'm saying the PC scene has a huge amount of problems and is in my opinion badly suited for entertainment products. The fact that the games BIS makes are expected to have mission editing/modding possibilities does not make the consoles shine, as they are not meant for such work in the first place. Maybe a hybrid could be developed, where the actual playing is done on a console (so the majority of the people won't have to bother with the PC and its infinite amount of problems) and if you would like to modify / create new content for the games, then you could fire up your PC and enjoy all the problems it brings as much as you want.

ArmA 2. If it will really be released for a console, I will consider buying a console and the console version of ArmA 2 instead of a PC version. Problem is there should be a possibility to do all the same mission editing / addon creation work for the console version too, as is possible in the PC version.

If you think about it, a computer game is an entertainment product as first priority. No matter if there is a word 'simulation', it is still an entertainment product and its supposed to just be thrown into a machine, press "play" and it should Just Work. There are the people who so much like to resolve PC hardware&software problems, and brag about being able to do it, but seriously, think about it, did you then give the technology a role which it doesn't deserve? I think that's what happened, when we bought an entertainment product and ended up being system administrators.

I hope BIS does some serious research on the subject of making a game for consoles but allowing users create content for it on personal computers with an easy workflow, not requiring old C-programmers who live in a small island somewhere far away, to hack the system and file formats.

[dm 9]

I'm saying the PC scene has a huge amount of problems and is in my opinion badly suited for entertainment products.

The irony is, the position the PC industry is in now is largely fueled by the entertainment sector.

Still, I agree with your sentiment. I've lost count of the number of times I've explained why developing for the PC is inherently more difficult because of the combinations of hardware, software and drivers.

[madrussian 347]

True, a console might have problems too...

Yeah, like not having a mouse and keyboard?!?

I think it's important to think in terms of target audience here.  Any pc game developer that turns their focus to the watered-down console loses all interest from me and a slew of others I'm afraid, in this niche market of ours.

The problem for me at least is consoles, by their very nature, are completely incapable of playing the type of games I would even think about.

(Now I'm not saying I don't know very well that consoles are where the money is, which is very sad, imo.)

In the mean time, may pc gaming live forever!

edit:

btw- Very insightful and well thought out post Baddo.

Just needed to get my two cents in on what I think about console gameplay, and the direction the industry is headed.

[Forrestal 0]

I forgot to post info from press-pack.

So, here it is:

Quote[/b] ]Title: ArmA 2 (working title)

Format: PC DVD-ROM / Next -Gen Consoles

Publisher: TBA

Developer: Bohemia Interactive

Genre: Tactical Combat Simulation

Release date: Q2 2008

Bohemia Interactive takes a new step into the heart of military realism and set yet another mark for true combat experience which has already earned them worldwide awards’ in the past.

ArmA 2 is set in the near future, in the year 2009, in a fictional state of Churners, a post Soviet country where civil war has been raging on for over 2 painful years. As a leader of US Marine Corps’ Force Recon you are dismounted with your squad to prevent further civilian casualties and ensure ongoing stability in Churners.

ArmA 2 is based on the latest technology generation, offering a large –scale game world, authentic and extremely detailed modern units, weapons, vehicles, and environments; challenging single player and vast array of multiplayer options.

Key Features

- Lifelike combat simulation (bullet ballistic & deflection, material penetration, etc.)

- Story driven single player full of twists and surprises

- Resource management, RPG elements

- Advanced dynamic conversation system

- Unique AI combat system

- Over 50+ weapons and drivable vehicles

- Multiplayer with large scale maps for 50+ live players

- Built in mission editor

Go ANYWHERE, drive ANYTHING, shoot ANYONE!!!

From that what Maruk told me its almost guaranteed that ArmA 2 will be released to Xbox 360. Not for PS3 because of difference betwene these two platforms.

Someone aske the differences betwen the arma.de news and what i know.

Terrain will be around 400 sq. km large - not bigger than sahrani. And maybe one of the most interesting elemnt for map makers ect will be the 3D Editor When i ask Maruk about the 3d Editor like in VBS he told only "It will be implemented" so i guess we can expecc some nice changes from arma to arma 2.

About the physiscs system - "will be improved" - not so optimistic :/

Ask me what you want to know maybe i can remeber some more from this conversation...

@Colossus - yes, pleas host it i what format you want - but only leave my email in some text file etc.

[madrussian 347]

@Forrestal

Thanks for the info.  Lots of true Game2 stuff after all!

I do notice no bullet point for destructable buildings/deformable terrain.  Did you happen to ask about that?

edit:

Was anything mentioned about improved animation system, etc?

3D editor sounds like

Can't wait!

[dslyecxi 23]

Terrain will be around 400 sq. km large - not bigger than sahrani. And maybe one of the most interesting elemnt for map makers ect will be the 3D Editor When i ask Maruk about the 3d Editor like in VBS he told only "It will be implemented" so i guess we can expecc some nice changes from arma to arma 2.

400km2 is significant. What he probably meant is that all 400km2 are used for the terrain itself. This is NOT the case for Sahrani - it's only about 250km2 of landmass, the rest is water.

[lwlooz 0]

First off, thank you for the information on ArmA2 provided.

I would like to point out that I like the background story and I like the terrain style seen so far. I hope while the game is sold by playing the "USMC SF!!!!!" card , you actually play the whole USMC MEU ingame.

Now then , many people think graphics or visual gimmicks make something "Next-Gen" but ArmA2 will probably be the same old game BIS released in 2001 if they don't evolve the combat.

Now everyone has his ideas how that is done , I too have at least hundreds of different ideas. I would like share with you the important and game-changing ones tho.

1. Placeable structures that carve into the ground (either fire-positions completely underground or a tank-position dug in half-half).

-> Defensive positions are possible anywhere. Even a flat field can provide the defender with some cover, resulting in a completely new level of combat scenarios

2. The ability to be protected from Blast-Damage.

-> Enable Suggestion 1. to be so more useful, makes indirect-fire an actual interesting gameplay element (now it is just a 100% kill machine) and also enhances protection against direct fire.

(I think this basically falls into the "Better damage model" category)

3. Saveable MP games in which the mission maker(via scripting) can open/close slots to control access to all the units on the map.

-> Unlimited games,Dynamic MP campaigns

I am very sorry for bothering you the forum reader with these suggestions,since you probably have 10 better ideas how to improve gameplay , but I just have the urge sometime to fight the "GRAPHICS!! WHARE ARE THEM GRAPHICS!!!" crowd...

As for actual Arma2 , I expect nothing , but this time I will just have an optimistic outlook.

[Cannon Fodder 0]

Very, very interesting developments re: the videos and new information. The fact that the conversation system has been retained is amazingly good news - it indicates a level of interaction in the soldier sim genre previously unseen. Have you noticed the action listed it as 'Talk to Daniel Lee'? Perhaps we'll get to know our soldiers by name and forge personalities a little more instead of them merely being number 1-12+ in the command menu?