ArmA 2 Press Coverage

[Sennacherib 0]

i'm not agaisnt US troops. this is the communist side, which is ridiculous.

US troops + others in afghanistan would have been excellent.

sorry my previous post was a little bit confused

[Doolittle 0]

katzenscheisse @ Feb. 27 2008,17:19)]

there is a picture of something that looks like CTI.

http://games.tiscali.cz/reviews/arma2brddojmy/img12.jpg

Yes! What is that picture of ArmA island with flags all over it and something that says "CONSTRUCTED" at the bottom??? They are including the ArmA island in ArmA2 or is this something for the next ArmA patch?

[The_Captain 0]

There's a box on page 2 of the PC Games article that talks about patch 1.12. "Mehrspielermodus" caught my eye, so... My hasty attempt at google translation led to:

"Already in March, the next software patches. He has a lot to offer, in addition to performance improvements of up to 100 percent shines patch 1.12 with bonus material as a new Multiplayer mode. These players are like in a real-time strategy game their own bases, and try to buy strengthening the camp of the enemy marketplace. This mode was inspired by a mod way from the community."

Looks like 1.12 will have some sort of CTI included! Since this says it was inspired by the community, and makes no mention of the original BIS CTI map.. I wonder if this CTI is closer to the old-school MFCTI?

In this screenshot, the map title on the briefing appears to say CTI beta v#.##: http://games.tiscali.cz/reviews/arma2brddojmy/img12.jpg

[russin 0]

well hopfully it isn't anything like BIS tried to do with there CTI cause it was pure crap

mabe they will pull up there socks and help out the CTI people that badly want to play a good CTI type map

[Thunderbird 0]

i'm not agaisnt US troops. this is the communist side, which is ridiculous.  

US troops + others in afghanistan would have been excellent.

sorry my previous post was a little bit confused  

Not entertaining enough, as making such a scenario would imply a massive use of all kind of aircrafts and the engine doesn't fit to this purpose.

Moreover the creation of nations involved in the current afghani crisis would require a lot of work, Along with the nature of fightings in afghanistan which in my judgement, would not be suitable for a PC-Game.

Unless you would carry out a complete fictional conflict based on the afghani theatre.

Regards,

TB

[Heatseeker 0]

Chernarus is looking great, i like how they mixed the autumn setting with war torn buildings, looks quite dramatic but still beautyfull and... inspired.

I think ArmaII could still use stronger/more lively colours though, especially those sunsets .

At this time (still being put together) i'd say its looking very promissing .

[The_Captain 0]

I like the focus on infantry combat and 'micro-ai'.

Since this campaign seems to parallel the Russian insurgency in Chechnya, the true test for the improvement in infantry AI will be how well they can fight armored vehicles in built up areas.

IRL, infantry can enter buildings and find places to hide to ambush armored vehicles, turning a column into a death trap. In Arma, armored vehicles tend to beat infantry in urban areas, as they can kill infantry in tight areas before the infantry can bring AT weapons to bear. meanwhile, infantry tend to have the advantage against armored vehicles in open terrain, where they can ambush armored vehicles with long range, accurate anti tank fire before the vehicles can react. If the AI & ability to enter buildings or take cover improves in Arma II, I think we will see this balance reversed.

[smellyjelly 0]

The buildings look fine to me. As long as there aren't too many duplicates, and the majority of the buildings are placed realisticly beside the sidewalk instead of just randomly, then I'm happy.

In real life not all buildings look special or artistic, so I think it would be unrealistic if the buildings in Arma were. This screenshot shows how the buildings were made to look normal, but the artist made them interesting by showing erosion. Honestly, I think that may add a lot to the war atmosphere.

The only issue I can see from the screenshots is that:

-Helicopters don't flatten the grass

-Distance terrain textures look too blurry

-Some of the effects, like the fire, hasn't been updated to keep up

Other than that everything looks good, and I'm excited to see the videos.

There are some issues in Arma that I hope are fixed though. I'm not really seen much evidence so far that these were:

-Updated vehicle damage system, in here is a post I made about that issue

- Better lighting, including dynamic shadows, maybe bump mapping for vehicles and a constant bloom during the day.

- Skys with dynamic clouds and are not just mirrored four-ways, along with better rain and lightning.

One last thing, I hope there are some bigger cities in Arma II. Yeah, Arma did have a few large cities, but they weren't flat, which limited it's use. I hope to see some flat cities and even neighborhoods with houses and stuff.

[jakerod 254]

Picture

Does the bottom caption in that picture say something along the lines of soldiers can change their gear? And if so is it refering to weapons etc. or weapons and their appearance (hat, jacket etc.)?

[Sosna 0]

As far as the graphics go, at this point I'm sold. I only hope that it will be much better optimized than Arma 1.

The terrain is incredibly realistic, very beautiful. It has lost Arma 1's metallic sheen, and is now wonderfully grainy. Reminds me of Kolgujev

Overall, the lighting looks much more realistic now too.

I'm particularly impressed with this screenshot. Looks almost photorealistic. I love the cloudy sky - so far I've only seen that type, and clear sky with sparse clouds. I hope there's much more variation. It would be great to see a matte overcast, such as on rainy/foggy days. I also miss the redness of OFP's dawn/dusk hours, would be nice to see it again.

Nice to see the Hind back. Personally, I'd like to see the armour/fuel/heading gui elements gone - I've always found them arcadish. Would be awesome to have the data displayed realistically in the cockpit guages/hud. As for flight model, I've played chopper sims for a decade now, and I find Arma's chopper FM to be... unflyable. I suggest checking out the game Hind (abandonware, here or here), apparently it has one of the most realistic FMs ever made.

I'm disappointed that the inventory system is still based on specific slots. I think it would be a mistake to keep this, particularly if the game will feature more guerilla/resistance type missions. It should be made possible to carry multiple NV goggles, or multiple rifles if needed. It needs to be more flexible for sure.

From what I can see, Arma 2 is really shaping up to be OFP's true successor. Keep up the good work BIS.

[Undeceived 392]

Picture

Does the bottom caption in that picture say something along the lines of soldiers can change their gear? And if so is it refering to weapons etc. or weapons and their appearance (hat, jacket etc.)?

No, the pictures shown at the bottom of the scanned page are just an illustration of different steps in a mission (that maybe the autor of the article could see).

The upper left picture says:

"PINNED DOWN! As the rebels engage with full strengh, it gets ticklish. They got tanks! The recon team alone has no chance."

Somewhen later in this mission the upper right screenshot was taken, where the text says:

"HAPPY END! As the night comes, there comes the longed-for reinforcement. With NV goggles the group goes to the chopper."

And later (picture below):

"IMPROVEMENT: The americans send heavy gear and infantry troops for assistance. The tide has turned."

I also miss the redness of OFP's dawn/dusk hours, would be nice to see it again.

ROGER that!!!!

It was this kind of things of OFP that made me love the real nature more! After having played this game, I began to have a whole new mindset about details like the sunsets, the fields and forests, the mountains, etc... Call me an idiot, but I think, I am not the only idiot then.

[jakerod 254]

Picture

Does the bottom caption in that picture say something along the lines of soldiers can change their gear? And if so is it refering to weapons etc. or weapons and their appearance (hat, jacket etc.)?

No, the pictures shown at the bottom of the scanned page are just an illustration of different steps in a mission (that maybe the autor of the article could see).

The upper left picture says:

"PINNED DOWN! As the rebels engage with full strengh, it gets ticklish. They got tanks! The recon team alone has no chance."

Somewhen later in this mission the upper right screenshot was taken, where the text says:

"HAPPY END! As the night comes, there comes the longed-for reinforcement. With NV goggles the group goes to the chopper."

And later (picture below):

"IMPROVEMENT: The americans send heavy gear and infantry troops for assistance. The tide has turned."

Thanks for the translation. I guess it doesn't really matter if you can change jackets and such since you could always just use teamswitch. Just wondering though. Thanks again.

[sniper pilot 36]

ah, too bad. I was hoping they would have more customization options to the avatar so moders could focus on gear, and equipment rather than making a whole new character for each load out... i mean the possibilities that would open up makes me wish i was working for BI and had enough knowledge to work it in...

[sluggCDN 0]

Quote[/b] ]With bright eyes he tells us about the real examples of the over 50 weapons you can use, including over a dozen variants of the AK-47. Fights won't be just simulated, but calculated accuratly. Ballistics consists out of factors like deflection or the stuff the material is made of. "If a bullet hits your leg, it has been really fired and it's flying path correctly calculated.

I hope sniper rifles don't have tracers... Tracers shouldn't be a default setting but a second selection.

It's nice to see devs visiting the forum and reading our non-stop whining

In that case I'll add my 2-cents worth.

I hope BIS have earned from ArmA experience that the large sweeping vistas of virtual landscape don't really sell the game. Remember before ArmA came out how much everyone was drooling over the "beautiful scenic Sahrana". The fascination was over in the first week of playing. Players would forget about the surrondings and start noticing that the lag is impossible, that the beautiful tall grass we all were sold on is just a present for AI that can see us through it and we can't see sh..t thru the grass. The sniper rifles were firing tracers and like in OFP fallen trees were transparent, see-thru for AI. And the biggest surprise of all was that you can actualy destroy a tank with a few hundred rounds from a machine gun! I'm not even mentioning the character animation/control system where we have to go thru this amazingly long animations and see them thru so that we can do something else after that.

Basically in a nutsell - ArmA is still a First-Person-Shooter game. And if it's made very difficult to control one's character from the first person perspective then the game becomes frustrating. If a player can't really interact properly with the game thru his character then the game has a major issue. BIS, please keep it in mind. Better troubleshoot the hell out of the character control animation than give us the hords of wonderfully animated & modeled wild animals in forrest and fields of ArmA2 landscapes. Don't give us the Abrams that can be potentially shot out with a Makarov hand gun.

[sniper pilot 36]

Better troubleshoot the hell out of the character control animation than give us the hords of wonderfully animated & modeled wild animals in forrest and fields of ArmA2 landscapes. Don't give us the Abrams that can be potentially shot out with a Makarov hand gun.

Exactly, screw the damn animals if i can't even survive a gangster drive by in a tank...

[Crystal 0]

I hate the OFP like grounddetails (in the City) the textures are so bad. But in the opposite, the clouds and heaven looks very very realistic. I love the new screens, only the grounddetails are very bad.

[wipman 1]

Hi, i miss green tinted glasses on top of that UH1-Y Venom and

the MV-22B Osprey as much as i miss 'em in the ArmA UH-60's,

the fire and smoke effects look like crap, the MadMatt's ArmA Effects

0.6 look much more realistic and better, the light recreation looks

very distant from the reality and i don't see too much enterable

buildings in those screenshots; plus the chaotic buildings and roads

distribution that makes those small villages look more like gypsy

settlements than as a small village with some kind of organized

distribution.

That Hind... that Hind looks more like a damn MI-24 Hind A from

Rambo I that a MI-24 Hind D, the Scars/RHS hind looks 4 times

better. And i don't see any woman there anywhere when we

all know that the U.S. armed forces have some in the 2Nd line

as support troops, guarding units, artillery units and that, 2Nd

line units. This is a shame in the 2008, from the battlefield

recreation, from the women rights, and from the commercial

purpouse of any company that wants to earn money. They keep

away a huge percentage of potential customers keeping this

irrational policy in relation to the customers.

And as last note... the John's USMC v1.5RC units look much better

than those BIS Marines. Let's C ya

[dmitri 0]

Finally, new AI abilities!

I'm sold.

I hate the OFP like grounddetails (in the City) the textures are so bad. But in the opposite, the clouds and heaven looks very very realistic. I love the new screens, only the grounddetails are very bad.

WIP. My guess is missing medium distance detail maps.

[mattxr 9]

I hate the OFP like grounddetails (in the City) the textures are so bad. But in the opposite, the clouds and heaven looks very very realistic. I love the new screens, only the grounddetails are very bad.

I think thats just when your flying because it would be major lagg to so much detail from the air, if you look at screens with infantry you can see its much better.

Look at the ground detail when close to it not from the air...

http://www.armedassault.info/ftp/pics/news/pics1/arma2update6.jpg

http://www.armedassault.info/ftp/pics/news/pics1/arma2update6.jpg

[bravo 6 0]

I hate the OFP like grounddetails (in the City) the textures are so bad. But in the opposite, the clouds and heaven looks very very realistic. I love the new screens, only the grounddetails are very bad.

I think thats just when your flying because it would be major lagg to so much detail from the air, if you look at screens with infantry you can see its much better.

Look at the ground detail when close to it not from the air...

http://www.armedassault.info/ftp/pics/news/pics1/arma2update6.jpg

I have to agree with Crystal on this matter...

... and in other hand Matt Rochelle is right.

Maybe there are (yet) limitations in the engine that make this improvement impossible, and so reducing the level of realism from high up.

Hope im wrong and hope it can be improved in future.

Also think it is too soon to create a concrete idea about this subject, many months or work are ahead.

[HamishUK 0]

I am sold and will be buying it.

I do however feel ArmA was one giant Beta Test financing and leading up to ArmA II.

So does that mean all the mod work done on ArmA will need to be re-done for ArmA II (if people decide to add to it?)

[bravo 6 0]

I think it was already said before that "ArmA1 things" will be able to port to "ArmA2".

IMO thats why ARMA1 was created..

Correct me if im wrong.

[stakex 0]

I think it was already said before that "ArmA1 things" will be able to port to "ArmA2".

IMO thats why ARMA1 was created..

Correct me if im wrong.

I think your correct about the porting.... but I doubt thats why ArmA was created. More likely it was made to get some cash flowing for BIS, and get gamers intrested in BIS games again.

[LtCmdrBoon 0]

Note this scan on the bottom http://img245.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pcg6wv3.jpg

It does indeed talk about "War made by ones self" (ie the editor)

and it looks 3d to me. Someone mentioned about this earlier and someone else said it was just an object viewer, but to me, that looks like a 3d mission editor

Nice work on the rest BI, and if you need any beta testers, I'm sure the guys in this thread will jump at the chance! I know I will

[kuIoodporny 45]

I have a question and suggestion.

The Game is going to have some RPG elements [talking about talking]... well - will it be possible to give units something like sideRating [maybe with "rating multipliers" that will be declared per mission]? So if civilian attacks enemy/neutral soldier he'll be recognized as enemy for given side if he's known for killing enemy, while in eyes of his comrades he'll instantly become a hero, and "unaffected" neutral side won't be interested in it? Some "cooldown" time for this kind of ratings would be awesome!

Also - it's a minor tweak - could T-shirts and pants painting be changed with a script, instead of making many UNNEEDED models? Damage textures may use alpha channel. It could also happen other objects... unit and army patches, soldier's name / nickname on his uniform, vehicle number and internal scratches on the glass/metal, aslo some random rubbish like half-eaten apples etc.

More random things! And, naturally womens.