Arma feedback thread - based on 1.09

[Chaos 0]

Absolutely no! And when AI is flying a chopper (for example blackhawk), and you has wrote in their initline ´this disableAI "target";this disableAI "autotarget";this setCombatMode "blue";this setBehaviour "careless"´ the pilot doesn´t ignores enemy troops on the ground an it doesn´t follow their waypoints, the pilot is moving around the area with all enemies and stopping. I can´t say why, but its really. And i have tested it with "superAI" and with "normalAI" settings.

You can test it simple.

- create in the desert 3 groups on each side and lets they pushing forward

- lets fly a chopper with the named settings and you can see what i mean

And you can see so all the other things - spreading of troops and formation problems

[Mr_Tea 0]

If you order you`re men to engage at will, it`s normal for OFP and ArmA that they start to act alone, instead of as a group.

Simply don`t give them the engage at will order, there are enough other options to choose from.

[Chaos 0]

@ Mr.Tea

No, i have set "engage" or "hold fire". When i setted "hold fire", they are attacking enemy as with "engage" - no difference.

I am ofp mapper since 2001 - maybe you know my old "Operation Black Mamba" or "Tankrush at Montignac" missions for ofp.

The ai of ArmA is different to the one of ofp and is unfortunately not better.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Walking "over" the tow-boom on the M119 cannon causes me damage. I've lost the ability to walk upright, and also death. I've only seen this behaviour on the M119 though, not the D-30.

I have only tested with addons though, but I don't think these should interfere.

[Second 0]

@ Mr.Tea

No, i have set "engage" or "hold fire". When i setted "hold fire", they are attacking enemy as with "engage" - no difference.

I am ofp mapper since 2001 - maybe you know my old "Operation Black Mamba" or "Tankrush at Montignac" missions for ofp.

The ai of ArmA is different to the one of ofp and is unfortunately not better.

Did you try the new good order: 'soldier enableattack false'? Don't use 'soldier disableai "target"'... i don't remeber what was problem with it, but there was something.

Yet in 1.09 i'm pretty sure that my troops actually do engage even if they shouldn't (enableattack has been set to false). I'm not even close to be 100% sure, just had nasty feeling when playing missions which i made.

[Chaos 0]

Well, with this command is the issue the same as with "disableAI" - the soldiers don´t identify near enemies as target and don´t shoot.

I have now a new problem. My old system was with ATI, now i have XFX GeForce 8600GT @512MB RAM. So i have constantly CTDs, fractals (3D triangles) in the mid of the screen and after CTD most times no error message. But sometimes:

The game will CTD after 10-20 minutes and i have additional a sound problem. The sound will freez for under 0.5 seconds when units are firing or explodes. So i have very embrassing squelsh - like in radio when the radio operators will to yank the headphones from their head. I can´t define it better - sorry.

I tryied to play in a window with option <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">-window -x=1280 -y=1024 (Windows desktop has the same resolution), but i had a little window (1:3) of the screen and cannot change the size of it.

After some helps by others i can now scale the window with <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">-world=empty -window. But i have the windows infopanel with "start" and "clock" and a frame around. This solution is suboptimal. Only positive - no sound problems, and stable game.

[Second 0]

Well, with this command is the issue the same as with "disableAI" - the soldiers don´t identify near enemies as target and don´t shoot.

No it shouldn't be. It just makes leader and soldier unwilling to issue and perform engage-orders. Great command for passive behaviour. Same effect can be reached by using disableAI "target". This atleast with all pre 1.09 ArmA versions.

What you mean is disableaAI "autotarget".

[FriketMonkey 0]

I bought Arma about six weeks ago. I was a little unsure of buying because of some negative comments about bugs and such. But when I played the game ( patched up to 1.09 ) I loved it.

You have to get used to the controls, since I played a lot of OFP. But after a couple of hours all was going smooth.

Positive

-The game looks great!

-Viewdistance is much better compared to ofp, even at 1200 meters you have great visibility.

-AI works great, I did lower their accuracy by edtiting my profile, but all was great.

-Online missions, nice coop or deathmatch missions. Even RPG like sarahani live!

-Runs wel on my system, altough it isnt a new one. (normal and VD 1200 at the south 800 north)

-Sarahani is a great map.

Negative

-Planes outloads. It would be nice if you had an harrier with rockets and bombs, more variety in loadouts.

-Campaign lacked the immense ofp feel.

-This is not exactly an fault of the game, but there are lots of cheaters.

-Laser like tracers

Well all in all the game was wel worth the 40 € I spend on it.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Had a sniper which I did removeAllWeapons this, then added M107 ammo and gun. Changed this player unit to an M1A1 Abrams tank, player as commander.

While driving around, getting out of the hatch, in again a few times, I changed to gunners position.

And voila, the fearsome tank main gun had now been replaced with the M107. It didn't happen to the commanders .50 Cal though.

Now, where did I put those M107 sabot rounds?

Hilarious bug, but still a bug.

[Tic-Tac 0]

i love that bug!!!

It means you can add 200 GBU-12s to an AH-6 or 300 ffar missiles to a solider

The correct way to give a tank commander a m107 is to make an empty m1a1 and name it (e.g. m1a1). Then add the player and in the script bit you put:

Removeallweapons this; this moveincommander m1a1; this addmagazine "10rnd_127x99_m107";this addweapon "m107"; etc etc

[dslyecxi 23]

Had a sniper which I did removeAllWeapons this, then added M107 ammo and gun. Changed this player unit to an M1A1 Abrams tank, player as commander.

While driving around, getting out of the hatch, in again a few times, I changed to gunners position.

And voila, the fearsome tank main gun had now been replaced with the M107. It didn't happen to the commanders .50 Cal though.

Now, where did I put those M107 sabot rounds?

Hilarious bug, but still a bug.

That's not a bug - that's how the process you described should work. You took the weapons away from an Abrams and gave it an M107 instead. Tic-Tac explained how to do it correctly and get the desired results.

[Second 0]

Yup. Constructed ATGMs during OFP days from M2 HMGs (didn't have any mods with infantry ATGMs yet)... definedly not a bug, but a feature.

[Shadow NX 1]

One more little thing - although i think that will not change in any patch - i want to report.

The issue with the distance fog, i was testing a mission that simulates tank combat.

The weather is set to clear but still i have fog in some distance that also wont got away if i set viewdistance up.

Problem is that way my crew tells em about targets i cant see while they shoot at me.

I only can aim till i get a red enemy marking, lock it and tell my gunner to fire, then i wait if it turns white because i cant see it to check if its destroyed.

One of the reasosn seem the weather and light system in ArmA is acting strange compared to OFP.

In OFP i set the time to lets say 6am in the summer and it was sunset an all was in orange colours like it should be.

In ArmA you do the same and its dark, you try some more minutes and its still pitch blackm then you try 5 minutes more and its bright day but it seems all is white like its foggy, no effect of a rising sun is seen, no fitting colours, it just looks like a cold day, then set 5 minutes more and all is clear and normal day with blue sky.

This effect can also be seen in the Queens gambit mission where you must meet the Weapons dealer at a farm, you start at late evening but it seems like foggy and the sky is still bright blue, when you reach the dealer its nearly pitch black, all in 10-15 minutes, the change of light is pretty sudden liek plop heres a new sky and now its dark.

So like i said i dunno if thats ever fixed but it really costs atmosphere, early night or early morning in OFP were so damn beautiful.

That along with a big improvement of the current HDR system will be one of the factors that i will surely check before i buy ArmA2.

From the first screens it seems like at least the late evenings get this reddish look again.

[Heatseeker 0]

In ArmA you do the same and its dark, you try some more minutes and its still pitch blackm then you try 5 minutes more and its bright day but it seems all is white like its foggy, no effect of a rising sun is seen, no fitting colours, it just looks like a cold day, then set 5 minutes more and all is clear and normal day with blue sky.

This effect can also be seen in the Queens gambit mission where you must meet the Weapons dealer at a farm, you start at late evening but it seems like foggy and the sky is still bright blue, when you reach the dealer its nearly pitch black, all in 10-15 minutes, the change of light is pretty sudden liek plop heres a new sky and now its dark.

So like i said i dunno if thats ever fixed but it really costs atmosphere, early night or early morning in OFP were so damn beautiful.

Yep, sunrise and sunset in OPF look much better, the strange day light transitions were reported at the bts >> wont fix, someone from BIS made a very elaborate response as to why this happens.

[.kju 3245]

@Shadow NX

Visuals aside, you are talking about technical topic here as well.

The is the viewdistance setting, however human viewable

distance is always 2/3 of the viewdistance value (with actual

fog / rain less of course).

Locking is possible within the full viewdistance though.

Or in other words the radar system does.

There are a few aspects to influence the radar system via the

config. Vegetation and terrain does so as well.

So again this is desired behavior.

You can change certain AI values to influence the radar system though.

Another tweak is to give AI units local to the server just 2/3

of the viewdistance value the players and their AI have.

[Sergei_Q 0]

In ArmA you do the same and its dark, you try some more minutes and its still pitch blackm then you try 5 minutes more and its bright day but it seems all is white like its foggy, no effect of a rising sun is seen, no fitting colours, it just looks like a cold day, then set 5 minutes more and all is clear and normal day with blue sky.

Islands have a latitude defined in them. The standard OFP islands had some Central European latitude, while Sahrani seems to have latitude of 39 degrees from equator - about the same as Greece, Azores or Washington DC. This probably explains the difference (whether that makes it any more realistic I wouldn't know). I'm doing for ArmA an island with a North European location right now, and in late June it never gets fully black (it's still south of the Arctic Circle so the sun does go beneath horizon). But if I change the date from June to December, there is real night (and a lot of it - 12 hours of pitch black). So here's a tip for mission designers: if you want to have a bit longer dusk/dawn, make it winter. Or use a different island.

But I agree about the colours. Sunset was more esthetically pleasing in OFP. Nothing beats the real thing, though!

[Shadow NX 1]

I love how many things are modelled into ArmA like island locations that affect the light and such only prob that most of these things are only half way working like this example.

A bit less that works well is more welcome to me.

Quality before quantity.

[Tic-Tac 0]

I think the light at night in game depends on the cycle of the moon. If you change the day of the month you get different light levels, obviously changing the month also has an effect.

But having proper dusk/dawn effects would be pretty awesome, having the leaves on the trees change colour/disappear depending on the season would look much better but is a bit too demanding on BIS IMO

[Chaos 0]

So, i have some bugs to report.

- when i remove all ammo from aircrafts (harrier etc.) in editor, there are still bombs and rockets. This is the same issue as in OFP

- after shooting of machinegun empty, we can see still the ammo (!

- if you are in tank as crew or cargo member, you don´t hear and realize the hits. The damage you can read only from the tank icon in the left upper corner of the screen

- sometimes helicopters doesn´t explodes after their failing down

- in "aware" mode, the infantry moves very slow, with ironsights/optics ;weapon in the ready. This problematic, AI cannot sprint. The same when you command your soldiers to "advance" with radio pressing the key-combination 0-(F1-12)-1-2

And...

- the biggest problem here. We are talking about the bugs, but there is extremly rearely comment by BIS stuff members. So we cannot ensure, that anybody from then will check and fix these bugs or that BIS will release anyway new patches for arma1

[KorpeN 0]

I dont know what happens but i have lower fps with the same settings in 1.09 thna in 1.08.I have a 8800GTS 320 MB.

[-OF-katzenscheisse 0]

i don't know if i do something wrong, but if i let AI lay satchels for an ambush they blow them up after a while spontaneously - even if i told them to hold fire.

[Sergei_Q 0]

katzenscheisse @ Feb. 27 2008,18:47)]i don't know if i do something wrong, but if i let AI lay satchels for an ambush they blow them up after a while spontaneously - even if i told them to hold fire.

Maybe they set a timer?

[Chaos 0]

No, this is really a bug. When the AI is moving more than 50-80 meters away, their blown the satchels without command from you as leader.

Another problem - you cannot command soldiers to stay under the rotor of chopper near the cabin. The areal under the rotors is definded as vehicle (chopper). So you can only command the soldier to getin when you click in this area.

[rundll.exe 12]

katzenscheisse @ Feb. 27 2008,17:47)]i don't know if i do something wrong, but if i let AI lay satchels for an ambush they blow them up after a while spontaneously - even if i told them to hold fire.

This is related to the auto-engage bug I think.

should really be fixed! it makes even the QC rahmadi missions unplayable... How can they forget such a simple bug? (hold fire really means DONT FIRE doesnt it.... )

[paragraphic l 2]

No, this is really a bug. When the AI is moving more than 50-80 meters away, their blown the satchels without command from you as leader.

Another problem - you cannot command soldiers to stay under the rotor of chopper near the cabin. The areal under the rotors is definded as vehicle (chopper). So you can only command the soldier to getin when you click in this area.

I'm not sure but maybe they went out of range?