ArmA 2 Press Coverage

[snkman 351]

Well to me two of the most wore thing in ArmA 1 was:

1. The Animations:

They never was that good. Something feels wrong when moving a Soldier or if you look like enemy units move.

Look's like ArmA 2 will have the same stupid Animations like ArmA 1...

2. The feeling:

ArmA 1 lose a lot of it's feeling by the way everything look's like.

ArmA 1 feels like a real PC game. Everything looks and feels very plastically.

In OFP i loved the way the Islands and all other stuff looked like.

I could stand on one place for hours looking around the area and i never was sick about it.

In ArmA 1 i never had this feeling...

I really can't wait to see what ArmA 2 will give us but so far i'm not sure about what i should think.

[txalin 2]

Look's like ArmA 2 will have the same stupid Animations like ArmA 1...

Just three words:

Work In Progress

[guerilla -MCY- 0]

damn, i was about to write the same about ANIMATIONS

They're still the same, i can see that even through my laging bussines pc (0.3fps on youtube), i hoped they cut this anoying feature and let the vbs guys play with the 200 pounds overrealistic feeling. as mentioned, they wanna stay overrealistic but without me 8p

[-Snafu- 78]

Have anyone seen this

It's not Christmas yet but anyway:

ArmA 2 Interview (Level 165) English captions

Thank you for the translation.

[NeMeSiS 11]

dynamic campaign was never well defined.

It was, when i stumble over some old (2005) article i had ill translate it and post it here.

(It also had a very small screenshot of the talking stuff)

EDIT: Ofcourse, back then it was still Game2 and it had that different look, but i really hope they didnt scrap the dynamic campaign, that and the improved AI are the only features of ArmA2 that really interest me.

[lockjaw-65- 0]

Awesome with a small aircraft / chopper carrier type of vehicle

Im not too sure after watching the interview if this is from armed assault 2 or if the clip with the ship is a clip from flashpoint 2

Your not serious are you?

It's pretty obvious that that's arma2. Look closely at the guys standing on deck and you'll know if you played the game.

I know what you mean but it is only a brief glimpse and it came straight after the conversation about flashpoint 2. I Bought the game as soon as the german release came out and have played it ever since but i still find it hard to see on that clip,,, maybe i need a new monitor lol

[lockjaw-65- 0]

One thing that would improve the animations would be if you could give them a burst of energy when you in a tight spot. I mean if you reloading gun for instance you would do it quicker under certain circumstances. you could use the run button for example, would be a bit like an adrenalin shot that did not last long..

[The_Captain 0]

Thanks for the translation! It's great to know how the devs actually feel about the game in a good video interview like that.

@ofpforum, were these the scans from pc gamer in 2005? http://tj-www.kicks-ass.org/ -> "OFP2 news"

They talk about Arma2 and have a graphic showing a dynamic campaign.

[NeMeSiS 11]

Thanks for the translation! It's great to know how the devs actually feel about the game in a good video interview like that.

@ofpforum, were these the scans from pc gamer in 2005? http://tj-www.kicks-ass.org/ -> "OFP2 news"

They talk about AA2 when it was still OFP2 and have a graphic showing a dynamic campaign.

It was a Dutch article, but it contained more or less the same information.

[Sdstorage 0]

I really wish if they did implement the "everyone can heal everyone" feature that they change the damage model to be more like the one in America's Army with the bullet doing initial damage and then additional bleeding damage over time and all the medics can do is stop the bleeding damage.

[stakex 0]

Hmm stakex, just for information, but what are all those scraped features planned for Game2? Can you maybe write a brief overview on them?

I think he's talking about the dynamic destruction system which was cut back so that the AI could use the buildings and that it would be possible to use in multi-player.

To my knowledge, the rpg system and dynamic campaign was never well defined.  I think it will almost certainly not be a fully dynamic campaign. In order to have a cohesive story, you can't have the computer decide what happens next all the time because the events in the story have to line up with voice assets and such.

Recalling way back to pre arma days, I think they might have said something about the war being fully automated and continuous to the point where there weren't discrete missions but an unbroken, continuing experience (like an rpg).  I'm a bit foggy on that, though.

Your correct on the last part. The campaign was said to continuous with no breaks, where at least some of the missions were generated on the fly by an NPC commander. Which of course you can still have scripted missions take place in such an environment... you just have other, random missions that you get to do.

As for whats was originally said to be in the "True sequal to OFP" or "Game2"... search back and read any of the old interviews or articles, and read the quotes from the BIS developers about "game2". Then tell me if ArmA2 and "Game2" sound anything alike... In all reality, they are two totally diffrent games at this point. To this point its not been whats new in ArmA2... but whats been removed since it was "game2"

Edit: In fact, read the article that The_Captain linked to...

[KorpeN 0]

Did he said that ArmA2 is their last game for PC and they will concetrate only to console games in the future?

[EricM 0]

He said that concentrating ONLY on the PC market wasn't an option anymore. He didn't say they would drop it, just that you need to attack the console market too to make a profit.

[sandzibar 0]

i think i have to disagree with the general thought that Arma's animations are its weakest point.

The actual movement animations themselves are quite well done. Have a look at the front crawl, and front crawl whilst strafing left as an example. They are quite realistic. The problem seems to lie more with the systems slowness to blend different animations together.

Obviously the most offending item here is the godawful slowness when changing from rifles to binos and launchers, that traps you in a stationary position whilst the anims cycle. If they can make it all more responsive and fluid id be content.

edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0sBLpGrruk

only vid I could quickly find.. but it shows that in the real world people are able to transistion between weapons and positions faster than grandfather arma and his arthritic movements but the actual moving and rolling is very similar to arma's existing animations.

[Deadfast 43]

I agree.

ArmA's animations are as realistic as they can possibly be because they are made using motion caption.

It's the transition between them most of the people have problems with.

[Sennacherib 0]

this is really interesting, thx for the translation.

oh! no; always these robotic voices.

[4 IN 1 0]

some ppl dont want anime at all, what they want is their arms fixed with their no leg body which flow around the battlefield with a gun in their hands and can switching between crouching and standing and prone or do a 180 turn without any body mass in no time

not that i am saying ARMA anime is perfect(in fact, far from perfect), but sometimes it just sucks to see someone taking things into to the other side of extreme

[mr reality 0]

Nothing in that video stood out, apart from the mention of no dynamic characters. Being able to switch between the four squad members, tells me the campaign will be about as immersive as a 2mm deep bath.

I liked the rotating fan in the hind though....

[Undeceived 392]

I agree.

ArmA's animations are as realistic as they can possibly be because they are made using motion caption.

It's the transition between them most of the people have problems with.

Agreed with you!

[smellyjelly 0]

Nothing in that video stood out, apart from the mention of no dynamic characters. Being able to switch between the four squad members, tells me the campaign will be about as immersive as a 2mm deep bath.

I liked the rotating fan in the hind though....

I disagree.

Probably the most intense moments I've had in Arma was the ambush after spending 10-15 minutes placing my soldiers. Hopefully with this it should be easier.

[sas troop 0]

Well, the campaign type is not for me, I like to play only one (sometimes two) characters in one mission and reviving themselves is really close to damn Desert Storm, which is DEFINaTELY unreallistic game!

Second thing: Consoles. I am big enemy of consoles yet. Of course it can change if consoles will be created to 100% performance and fantastic gameplay using mouse and keyboard . Anyway, you really want to make this far. Cause this is far?

And the last question: Consoles havet got as much features as PC, so how you want to distribute missions from community, and finally you got some idea how to install additional addons on console versions? I am definately not a specialist with next gens, but can you explain me how you wanna do that?

[mr reality 0]

Nothing in that video stood out, apart from the mention of no dynamic characters. Being able to switch between the four squad members, tells me the campaign will be about as immersive as a 2mm deep bath.

I liked the rotating fan in the hind though....

I disagree.

Probably the most intense moments I've had in Arma was the ambush after spending 10-15 minutes placing my soldiers. Hopefully with this it should be easier.

Well this is where we agree to disagree then.

I don't like having to 'baby sit' my squad, and i would much prefer the AI to be able to find a good location on its' own. "squad, stealth, find cover, watch direction".

Also if we are able to just flit between all the squad members in any mission then that will not make for a very challenging and immersive campaign.

I like to play missions like how SaS TrooP explained. I much prefer the story element of a conflict through the eyes of one soldier. Ok, in flashpoint we used four different personalities, but this was so we could see the conflict from all four branches of the armed forces, Infantry, armoured, plane and helo.

[Colossus 2]

I really hope they'll find a publisher who can release the game worldwide AND get BI some PR this time.

The PR for ArmA was unenthusiastic. Hardly any videos or english interviews, with ONE exception by PC Format (UK). Sure the William Porter blog was a interresting idea, but it failed because of lack of structure, planning and coordination, just like the rest of the PR for ArmA.

I have no idea what is going on behind the curtains, but if IDEA Games are in charge of finding a publisher they should pick up the pace before it's too late to get ArmA 2 some good PR-work. No PR means no extra sales, and that again could mean the end of BI (unless VBS(2) are keeping them alive).

Until they get a publisher I think they should do some PRing of their own. There are loads of cheap and effective ways of doing that, publish screenshots,

ASK for interviews (Yes, I said ask! ) and/or send out presskits to several well-known gaming websites like Gamespot, Gamershell, Gamespy, etc.

If they don't stand up and do something they won't be recognized by either gamers or potential publishers.

This is the only thing that worries me at the moment. ArmA 2 is in my to-do-list either way.

[smellyjelly 0]

I have no idea what is going on behind the curtains, but if IDEA Games are in charge of finding a publisher they should pick up the pace before it's too late to get ArmA 2 some good PR-work. No PR means no extra sales, and that again could mean the end of BI (unless VBS(2) are keeping them alive).

Until they get a publisher I think they should do some PRing of their own. There are loads of cheap and effective ways of doing that, publish screenshots,

ASK for interviews (Yes, I said ask! ) and/or send out presskits to several well-known gaming websites like Gamespot, Gamershell, Gamespy, etc.

If they don't stand up and do something they won't be recognized by either gamers or potential publishers.

Since you mentioned it, Gamespot doesn't even have a page for Arma 2. I understand that Arma 2 is still a work in progress, so I can excuse the lack of combat screenshots and videos, as well as any trailers, but having a page should be one of the basics.

Then again, that may be Gamespot's responsibility, and not BIS.

[stakex 0]

I have no idea what is going on behind the curtains, but if IDEA Games are in charge of finding a publisher they should pick up the pace before it's too late to get ArmA 2 some good PR-work. No PR means no extra sales, and that again could mean the end of BI (unless VBS(2) are keeping them alive).

Until they get a publisher I think they should do some PRing of their own. There are loads of cheap and effective ways of doing that, publish screenshots,

ASK for interviews (Yes, I said ask! ) and/or send out presskits to several well-known gaming websites like Gamespot, Gamershell, Gamespy, etc.

If they don't stand up and do something they won't be recognized by either gamers or potential publishers.

Since you mentioned it, Gamespot doesn't even have a page for Arma 2. I understand that Arma 2 is still a work in progress, so I can excuse the lack of combat screenshots and videos, as well as any trailers, but having a page should be one of the basics.

Then again, that may be Gamespot's responsibility, and not BIS.

It really is Gamespots problem, as they are the ones who are suppose to check for new games and post them on their site. I do believe other major sites like IGN and such do in fact have an ArmA2 section.

With that said, it wouldn't kill BIS to surf the major game sites and see if ArmA2 is listed, and if its not they could e-mail them requesting them put a page up for it.

The really funny part of it is, the old ArmA2 shots are actually listed under OFP2 on Gamespot.