Fixing ArmA

[Ezekiel 0]

I vote ArmA 2 all the way....

As a few ppl have pointed out, its not just a case of fixing a few little bits n bobs in the engine. There are certain things that need a complete overhaul, and to expect them to put the time and money into doing this stuff only to release it as a free ArmA patch is asking too much (even if some ppl believe we deserve it, it still aint gonna happen).

My first experience of ArmA (after reading a few good reviews) was rather disappointing. After knocking all the GFX settings down to low/v low, I finally got it running smooth - there's a bit of confusing speech in your hummer (I let it go, nothing new), the hummer starts motoring down a road, and literally within a minute of starting the first mission it completely randomly swerves off the road and crashes headlong into a wall.

Wow! I think. We must be coming under fire, or this is some sort of scripted accident (what a way to start a game off eh? Your mission - stand at the side of the road and wait for a repair truck to tow your HMMWV away!.

But no, the idiot driver reverses the vehicle (shattered windscreen and all) back on the road, and carries on like nothing happened.

When that happened I instantly knew ArmA wasn't going to be the 'big OFP sequel' I was looking forward to. I'm not desperately disappointed, its still given me many hours of fun (except for the MP game I played last night where some hacker bombed our base and sniped ppl with a minigun for an hour, that needs fixing ASAP).

Bring on Game 2 I say! Also they should scrap the crappy ArmA name and just call it Game 2. I think the fans would see the funny side of that.

[NoRailgunner 0]

ArmA should be better before getting ArmA2 again "beta-like" to the market/first customers.

There are many things that could be fixed in ArmA by BIS before releasing more challenging and greater ArmA2!

Maybe BIS gets more involved with the needs/wishes of Mission&Addonmaking from community now?

more suggestions for ArmA2:

+ better story (not black-and-white painted) and implementation of it.

+ more and different characters

+ Addon-conversion-tools (ArmA -> ArmA2) included in release.

+ better Editor or 3D-Editor (eg place AI units/static in houses..)

+ bigger harbors and airports (eg to transport main battle tanks)

+ improved AI pathfinding

+ weather effects, dust, smoke .... should have an influence to AI

+ stronger rating eg. over 70% loss of team mission is lost, less than 50% destroyed enemys structure mission is lost

[Shashman 0]

I spent money on ArmA. I haven't spent any money on a game coming out in 2-3 years.

I expect the issues a lot of people and myself are having with it, to be fixed. End.

One thing at a time BIS

[NeMeSiS 11]

DEFINATELY fix ArmA then make ArmA 2.

Plus fixing ArmA 1 will assist in creating ArmA 2. They need to fix the bugs + optimise the original as they will be using the same engine just upgraded for ArmA 2.

I personally WANT to wait for ArmA 2, ive spent enough money on hardware for a couple of years...

Fixing ArmA will only slow down the ArmA2 progress, after all, the people who fix the ArmA bugs are most likely the same people who can give ArmA2 awesome new features, and they can only spend their time once.

[SeppSchrot 0]

Fixing ArmA will only slow down the ArmA2 progress, after all, the people who fix the ArmA bugs are most likely the same people who can give ArmA2 awesome new features, and they can only spend their time once.

I'd rather have working basics (like AI walking over bridges) than 1000 "awesome new features" like VOIP or rusting tires.

Don't forget the "new" ArmA2 engine will most probably base on the old one a great deal with all their flaws.

[NoRailgunner 0]

@ofpforum

This won't slow down the process at all - if they fix ArmA now they will have time enough to put new content/new features in ArmA2. Otherwise ArmA2 will be released as "not-finished-yet-but-money-needed" again. Think - how many customers would buy such game once again/twice?

[NeMeSiS 11]

@ofpforum

This won't slow down the process at all -  if they fix ArmA now they will have time enough to put new content/new features in ArmA2. Otherwise ArmA2 will be released as "not-finished-yet-but-money-needed" again. Think - how many customers would buy such game once again/twice?

That doesnt make sence to me, how will splitting the team up between ArmA and ArmA2 make ArmA2 bugfree? If everyone would work on ArmA2 then the game would be done much faster. (And hopefully before BI runs out of money again )

[NoRailgunner 0]

So you don't know how to handle with problems

Sometimes two steps are better than one sometimes this will break your neck!

This would make more sense to you:

"...it's a piece of entertainment software - look how some big companies do it with their customers... just copy it." Who cares?

[SeppSchrot 0]

That doesnt make sence to me, how will splitting the team up between ArmA and ArmA2 make ArmA2 bugfree?

Because experience shows that BIS is more successful at making small steps like OFP->InterimUpdate->Resistance->Bugfixes than making big leaps.

[Dallas 9]

As this is pretty much a moot poll, I'll vote neither.

I doubt BIS are going to abandom ArmA, while working on ArmA 2. But I also believe ArmA is pretty close to as good as it gets. I've always enjoyed plasying Arma, after leaving OFP behind a few years ago, ArmA feels like comming home.

With 1.08, the tools and QG, I only expect minor fixes. Granted the AIs still have limitations, but mission makes have shown great talent in making them into a challenging and respected adversary. The part of BIS still working on ArmA, must focus on the feedback on the tools, correcting whatever problems QG might cause and continue to develop and finetune AI waypoints and graphiccard issues. However BIS must also try to keep a level head and not give into the ultimatums and threats posted in the general forums.

[NeMeSiS 11]

@NoRailgunner, SeppSchrot

While i understand that, i think that if ArmA2 is slowed down too much we will get another 'everything-or-nothing-out-of-money-release', and while 1 buggy release is (partly) acceptable for people when its patched afterwards, another release like that would really kill their name and then they would have to spend alot of their resources to fix ArmA2 again so they cant fix ArmA3 properly which creates an endless circle of buggy games..

The poll is purely hypothetical anyway, just wanted to know what people though about this.

[Shashman 0]

@ofpforum:

You don't sound like you care that thousands of people have bought a product that they're not totally satisfied with.

That's terrible marketing practice, and would not do BIS any favours at all if they did what you want them to do.

How would you feel if you bought a car which didn't live up to your expectations, didn't do what you read about in the adverts, what the manufacturer promoted it as, in fact, had defects (badly sewn furnishings, poorly conceived dashboard layout, etc), only to be told, a few months later, before anything had been done to fix the problems, that the manufacturer had abandoned this project and was now moving onto the conception phase of "This Car v2.0"?

I'll tell you how I'd feel :

Robbed and cheated.

[Hitman 10]

@ofpforum:

You don't sound like you care that thousands of people have bought a product that they're not totally satisfied with.

That's terrible marketing practice, and would not do BIS any favours at all if they did what you want them to do.

How would you feel if you bought a car which didn't live up to your expectations, didn't do what you read about in the adverts, what the manufacturer promoted it as, in fact, had defects (badly sewn furnishings, poorly conceived dashboard layout, etc), only to be told, a few months later, before anything had been done to fix the problems, that the manufacturer had abandoned this project and was now moving onto the conception phase of "This Car v2.0"?

I'll tell you how I'd feel :

Robbed and cheated.

Hear hear!

I voted fix ArmA first.

[baddo 0]

As this is pretty much a moot poll, I'll vote neither.

That's what I was thinking too. I don't vote on this one.

[Dallas 9]

I had to go with null vote, because voting would mean I either assumed ArmA was broken or that BIS were completely done with supporting the game.

[NeMeSiS 11]

@ofpforum:

You don't sound like you care that thousands of people have bought a product that they're not totally satisfied with.

That's terrible marketing practice, and would not do BIS any favours at all if they did what you want them to do.

How would you feel if you bought a car which didn't live up to your expectations, didn't do what you read about in the adverts, what the manufacturer promoted it as, in fact, had defects (badly sewn furnishings, poorly conceived dashboard layout, etc), only to be told, a few months later, before anything had been done to fix the problems, that the manufacturer had abandoned this project and was now moving onto the conception phase of "This Car v2.0"?

I'll tell you how I'd feel :

Robbed and cheated.

Well honestly, i dont care, and while alot of people are complaining about 'issues', alot of these things are hardly bugs, more personal views on how the game should be.

But hey, lucky for you im not BI.

[hailstorm 4]

@ofpforum:

You don't sound like you care that thousands of people have bought a product that they're not totally satisfied with.

That's terrible marketing practice, and would not do BIS any favours at all if they did what you want them to do.

How would you feel if you bought a car which didn't live up to your expectations, didn't do what you read about in the adverts, what the manufacturer promoted it as, in fact, had defects (badly sewn furnishings, poorly conceived dashboard layout, etc), only to be told, a few months later, before anything had been done to fix the problems, that the manufacturer had abandoned this project and was now moving onto the conception phase of "This Car v2.0"?

I'll tell you how I'd feel :

Robbed and cheated.

Agree 100 complete percent.

i was kinda annoyed when i heard about ArmA2, my first reaction being something like:

"huh? you have so many problems with the first one, and you've considered making a sequel?!"

yeah, that dosen't fly with me.

if it were the case that BI drop this game and move on (gladly they arn't) then i definately know where my money WONT be going on release day. fool me once...

but seriously, how can people say "i'd rather they move on to ArmA2" when it's known that ArmA2 is going to have an "updated version of the engine" from ArmA.

i mean, that does sound pretty damn familiar to "ArmA's going to use an updated engine from OFP", and, well, look where that got us.

if there is any hope that ArmA2 is going to be the holy grail of gaming that it damn well should be, then BI need to commit 100 percent to fixing ArmA1 into the polished game that everyone expected from the start.

[guerilla -MCY- 0]

Resistance wasn't for free and work never should be, i see arma2 as an fix/patch/sequel and arma1 as a wip cookie

[Shashman 0]

Well honestly, i dont care...

...alot of these things are hardly bugs, more personal views on how the game should be....

But hey, lucky for you im not BI.

This is a community board, is it not?

This thread is an opinion poll, is it not?

Quote[/b] ]Well honestly, i dont care...

What are you doing here then?

Quote[/b] ]alot of these things are hardly bugs, more personal views on how the game should be...

Sorry, but come again?? You're damn bloody right having a game which runs on the developer's recommended system specs is a personal view on how the game should be!

[enven 0]

Its hilarious to see the support for something that is not even released; funny thing, I actually upgraded my rig to (for very high settings) play arma and the upcoming next gen games, waiting another two-three years for a sequel to a game with half-hearted support sounds completely foolish, by that time the next gen stuff, and whatever it is you're seeing will become obsolete anyway; technology moves way to quick, these days, especially with the transition to Vista from XP.

Most games are in it for cash and cash only; I believe at some point, games actually cared about face value. It would be a pipe-dream to hope for another version of the game, completely revamped, when I just purchased the first version!

Yes, they pretty much ported most of the OFP stuff, yes, some of the models are jacked, and yes, the code seems to be piled amongst older code; we fell for it in a sense, we had a demo, and we waited patiently, the least we could ask for is some polishing.

It seems people are still heavily enthralled and ready to continue playing, they just want some fixes. (I do too.)

-Enven

[NeMeSiS 11]

Quote[/b] ]Well honestly, i dont care...

What are you doing here then?

What i ment was, 'i wouldnt care so much about the complaints anymore if i was BI', ofcourse its nasty that the game doesnt work well on your system.

Quote[/b] ]Sorry, but come again?? You're damn bloody right having a game which runs on the developer's recommended system specs is a personal view on how the game should be!  

And it does, there are more occasions compared to other games where ArmA just doesnt run properly, but seeing as it runs well on most systems you can hardly ask BI to investigate every problem individually and see if its a game problem or 'homegrown'. (At least IMHO)

[Shashman 0]

"runs well on most systems"...

What planet are you living on? Seriously

[NeMeSiS 11]

"runs well on most systems"...

What planet are you living on? Seriously

Just because some with serious performance problems scream alot doesnt mean that the 'silent majority' also has those problems, hell they are probably silent for a reason.

Except for the bushes most people dont really complain about the performance and just accept that this is a heavy game for any PC.

But we are going offtopic, continue trough PM if you want to.

[Maddmatt 1]

"runs well on most systems"...

What planet are you living on? Seriously

What planet are you living on?

But seriously, it does run well on most systems. Runs well for me, and for others I know. Sure some people are having problems but there is no proof that they are the majority.

Most of the people who are happy with the game don't bother with these forums.

[SaBrE_UK 0]

Most of the people who are happy with the game don't bother with these forums.

Indeed.

I think BIS should continue fixing small things in ArmA1 as they have been doing but put their main focus on ArmA2. I say this because I think to drastically change ArmA1 as we all want, a totally new campaign would be needed as the AI, among other things, wouldn't be compatible.

Make ArmA2 amazing and I'll forgive ArmA1.