Map, Territory & Island

[bravo 6 0]

A good Map/Island is one of the most important "structure" for building good missions, good feelings and most important good Inspirations.

We know ArmA 2 will be based on a near future war..

Q: In what part of the Planet do you think this may happen with higher probability?

Don't know what BIS plans are about this subject..

.. but what i want to say is that "only" another Sara and/or Ramahdi "style" are not a good choice for this sequel.

ArmA2 has huge potential and i strongly believe it will have huge success if also an "Iraq" style map (not island, a map that transmit a realistic feeling in all perspectives) is introduced to this fresh Game as "vanilla".

I know mods can do it after the release, or even port from ArmA to ArmA2.

But the quality and perfection would never be the same.

Watch some videos on youtube about this "Iraq style war" and you surely know theres still much to do on the realistic feeling and aspect of war.

Think how many fans would be excited about this attitude..

I also would like to ask: Who is in favor to drop some extra ideas if your not in favor please explain why?

edit: Typo

[opteryx 1562]

It's a bit of a shame that ArmA2 isn't going to be middle eastern based because if you look at the most popular war theater/scenario thread, Iraq/middle eastern warfare wins big time. Also performance wise I think it would be a better choice to go with a middle eastern theme, less vegetation->better frame rates.

[bravo 6 0]

yes.

Though i'm not suggesting to change it completely or remove what they intend to do, i strongly believe it would be very positive to all if BIS introduce this "Extra option" to ArmA 2, ie, give the possibility to play "Vanilla" ArmA2 with Desert atmosphere or scenario with a map (not an island as Ramahdi).

With this middle eastern scenario or Iraq map (not island) would bring a better and realistic feeling for close combats as already exists in the present wars.

If you remember we never had an Official/"Vanilla" desert/middle eastern scenario, addons before made by BIS.

The mods quickly looked and tried to create this feeling as one of the 1st objectives.

I tell you this extra work would be worthy.

[Commando84 0]

ohh you mean like a desert island that came with ofp?

It was good for quick loading and give new addons a quick go for seeing if they had bugs and how they worked out.

I think it would be a cool thing but if you make a iraq style map with vanilla arma 2 it has to have villages and maybe large towns like this . Or like this .

another pic here

but a medium sized island with just a mix of this and this

they already have a pretty big european styled island done but a extra island with a bunch of empty desert free for mission makers to do whatever they want to would be cool and have as a fast loading intro map.

[mrj-fin 0]

If there wll be only one island then I think the projected chernarus is ecxellant choice of being filled by pine trees forest not deserts.

Game settings arent made to Iraq war and personally I am tired to fighting against any Iraqian insurgent who try to defent their country.

[bravo 6 0]

so a fiction place is a better choice for a Game that intend to be as realistic as possible?

I agree with you tough, if they only release 1 map i prefer the one they have in plans.

But if they intend to release more then 1 map please release something that can aboard players/editors in a realistic way.

edit: picture ((716.17 KB) also has rail road)

[mr.g-c 6]

Personally im quite "fed-up" with that middle-east locations. They are (unless they are near the sea) pretty ugly. I'm a fan of woods and green landscapes so ARMA2 fits perfectly for me in that matter.

But i'm sure mod-makers will make islands which could look like located in the middle-east. They are already in the make for Arma1 and when you can use the Arma1 stuff also in Arma2 it will be pretty sure to have such a environment there.

Regards, Christian

[Sergei_Q 0]

By far as a European I prefer a European type of climate and geography, as in OFP. Maybe it's something to do with having done own military service under those conditions. I think it's mainly the US players who prefer replaying OIF or counter-insurgency operations or similar - prolly for the same reason, or because those scenes have become so familiar from the media. I just find them a bit dull subject in the long run. Sure they are fun in moderation (I had a lot of fun with OFP FDF mod's desert map and units), but I think that going with Belarus-inspired environment and OPFOR for Arma 2 is a better choice overall. Eg. my friend was a bit put off by the first screenshots of Armed Assault, when he thought it'd be set in Middle East (the pics of South Sahrani deserts and palm trees gave that impression).

But I just hope that transferring maps from Arma1 to Arma2 will be effortless. Preferably we could use eg. the Sahrani map in Arma2 just by putting Sara.pbo into Arma2\addons\.

And yeah, I wouldn't mind extra maps coming with the game. Heck, I doubt that if BIS contacted some island makers and asked if they'd let their works for ArmA to be included on Arma2 disc as extras (maybe for some small compensation, like free Arma 2 or a Banana King t-shirt), many would refuse. Right, Opteryx? But that would depend on the previous paragraph.

[icebreakr 3105]

Lush green islands, white sand beaches and blue sea.

My favourite spot for war - small isles with wooden huts, thick jungle that you can only clear with napalm or several GBUs

FOB could be aboard the ship with chopper T/O capabilities (Lynx, Huey, Cobra, Hind, Hokum, Havoc).... not to mention fast transport boats for quick insertion under the watchful eyes of assault choppers. Other side would play as guerrila - rebels stationed in small camps and using villages with civilians for hideouts.

Example pics of the theatre from 1995 (KA50 Hokum game)

[dslyecxi 23]

I'll take a Chernarus-styled European environment over a desert/Iraq/Afghanistan environment anytime. If ArmA2 was slated to be a desert/Iraq/Afghan type environment, I would not be nearly so excited about it. I've played enough of the VBS2 terrain sets like that to know that the gameplay and potential you get from a terrain like Sahrani or Chernarus is going to be a lot more interesting in general.

[sandzibar 0]

Got to agree with Dslyecxi on this. Had enough of the middle east scenarios for now. really looking forward to some nice european temperate scenery. From what ive seen so far it looks a lot like whats outside my window. Scarily so.

Id imagine that desert maps are also easier to create, so no doubt they'll be plenty created/modded for Arma2

[bravo 6 0]

thats why i think it would be good idea to have 2 different style maps in ArmA2. Instead of having 2 "small islands" apperantly the same.

[Sergei_Q 0]

thats why i think it would be good idea to have 2 different style maps in ArmA2. Instead of having 2 "small islands" apperantly the same.

But I suspect that all the BIS map making efforts are concentrated on making the main island as detailed and polished as possible, instead of diverting attention to secondary maps that wouldn't be utilized in the game campaign anyway. Different climate settings would also require different building and plant sets, and preferably unit skins as well.

I'm not saying that it wouldn't be a good idea. It just might not be that from BIS point of view

[shinRaiden 0]

To prototype a map takes hours with the matured development process.

To polish it to an acceptable level for the entertainment market takes months at a minimum for development.