The most important features ARMA 2 needs to have

[Stryder 0]

Apart from realism of course... which I think is a given.

For me it's two things: AI quality and campaign quality. For me the best things in OFP were the awesome campaigns (Red Hammer and Resistance were also fantastic IMO) and co-op and I think many in the community feel the same. I still remember fondly the awesome black ops missions were I'd spend hours crawling around planning how I was going to tackle the situation. The regular infantry missions were also fantastic. I hope BIS can up the quality even and make it more atmospheric. The less generic the better.

The quality of the co-op will hinge mostly on the quality of the AI... The micro-AI sounds promising, but we'll see. Seriously I can only imagine how awesome it'd be to face off against genuinly intelligent enemies that use cover and suppressive fire. It'd be nice if the whole incredible-long-distant-shot-from-behind-a-bush thing was nixed too

[diveplane 0]

combat knife ..maybe even use of bare hand fighting

[SHWiiNG 0]

I think missions that pit you into a real soldiers role.

For example the mission on flashpoint where your squad were left to build a camp while you go and recce the surrounding area.

You may and may not have an enemy contact. that leaves suspense, realism and more importantly atmosphere and immersion.

Because you feel like a soldier doing what a soldier does.

In Arma it was all Take this town, Defend this and that. Soldiers have to do more common roles such as reconnaissance and patrols.

This is what i think really makes a military campaign feel genuine.

[Average Joe 0]

combat knife ..maybe even use of bare hand fighting

More then likely the most unimportant feature ArmA2 could possible have but each to their own

AI I say, its so paramount to the games future survival.

[NoRailgunner 0]

AI of course and good story with some believable characters and that the player is more responsible for his actions/decisions.

[smellyjelly 0]

Hmm, there are quite a few features that are important to me, here they are in order from most wanted to least, as well as links to topics with more detail:

AI: Looks to already be improved, though they need to show more personality by screaming threats or cries during battle. When surprised by an enemy sniper or sharpshooter they should run for cover, and choose different cover if someone near them dies.

Damage System: I've been complaining about this forever. Bullets should not blow up cars, and should only disable them when you shoot vital parts. Helicopters should not always blow up everytime we crash.

Animations and other improvements

Damage Model

Campaign: I've already expanded on this in the Missions thread, but basically I'd like a free roam type campaign, kind of like Evolution, but with more details to enemy patrols and bases, alwell as the addition of citizens. Not everyone's going to like this though, so I understand if it's not added.

Mission ideas

Vehicle/Aircraft handling: The cars in Arma can not "peel out" or brake realistically. That's something I'd like to see fixed, as well as a realistic improvement towards aircraft controls.

Lighting Improvements: All lights should create shadows and bump mapping, and the light need to look smoother when driving. One minor issue I noticed also is that if you look at a burning vehicle from a helicopter, you can see a square where the light suddenly disappears. I think the maps should also have a permanent bloom, (look at the ground in Arma for a few seconds and that's what I want), except when it's raining or night.

That's really all I can think of for now.

[canukausiuka 1]

AI: Psychological and morale modeling, and suppressive fire. I want to eventually be able to command a Close-Combat style battle in ArmA. The AI in ArmA is smart, but doesn't care about death, doesn't panic, doesn't be have... well... human. I want to see that, and I'd like for it to be able to affect the player as well (like SLX's heavy breathing).

Damage: I'd like a more robust damage modeling, even if its still simplified. But something to keep bullets from damaging tanks would be a step up. (I'd like to see incapacitated wounded as well as dead, too).

Controls: I really miss OFP's control system for driving vehicles and the like. You set the cursor where you want to go, and it turns towards it. I have a really hard time driving in ArmA b/c I have to keep moving the mouse, and I run out of space. Then to keep turning I have to lift the mouse (which causes me to stop turning) and bring it back, then move it some more. That's not efficient, not comfortable, and not intuitive.

[Master gamawa 0]

It needs to be TIGHTER!

I don't know how else to express that. It's the global feeling of the game rather than specific details.

I cannot "trust" Arma enough because at some point something will piss me off really bad.

But I'll get into details too if you feel like having a de ja vu.

1. Fluid motion. I know it has been discussed to death but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be taken care of. ALL FPS games have natural flow regarding the animations and movement (Remember QuakeII? It moved nice and smooth and it is a ten year old game). Arma still feels "wooden" and cumbersome.

And some other details like when you land with a parachute the screen goes off to unload the 'parachute' model. When this happens the 'soldier' model appears in the same position and that doesn't look good. The same happens when the character comes out of the water.

2. Being able to at least WALK while reloading. Make the reloading action take longer, I don't really mind but I was in the army and god damn I could reload a M1 Garand while walking. I had to walk slowly (because the M1 can injure your thumb if you are not careful) but it wasn't that hard.

3. Mantling. I agree jumping is useless when you are carrying all that crap and there are very few places in an Arma map where jumping is needed but putting your gun aside to climb on a crate or get over a low fence is something anyone can do.

4. Interrupting animations. Yes. People change their minds sometimes. People should be able to stop whatever it is they are doing and do something else! Let's say I am reloading my bazooka and someone pops up in the distance. F#%# reloading! I would throw that rpg on the ground and pull my weapon out in an instant.

5. Reduced clipping. In Arma clipping in 3d objects is part of life. You can clip anywhere. On the road, while climbing stairs, while driving over a bridge. In the Arma universe, matter is not very stable. MAKE IT STABLE PLEASE! I cannot count the times when going prone inside a building resulted in me ripping the fabric of space-time and becoming pure energy. Ok you know what I am talking about.

The rest of the game is perfect. Good size maps, diversity, interesting locations, nice vehicles etc. I have no problems at all. In fact I wouldn't really care about Arma 2 if somehow, someone fixed those issues for Arma as it is today.

That's all.

[sanctuary 19]

Personnally, the most important features i wish to see are stability and performance optimisations, when i read "optimal" system requirement was 4 cores i began to worry a bit.

[sbsmac 0]

I won't pick a particular feature but I will suggest that the most important thing BIS can do is to work on a number of attributes that collectively contribute to the feeling of 'immersion'.

To give an idea of what I mean, I recall first playing OFP where the various aspects of the game (graphics, models, unique weapon-handling, scenarios, and yes, even AI) were so well-balanced with each other that I could allow myself to really believe I was inside the game. Then I got to a particular mission (I think it was the first sniper one) when I suddenly saw soldiers disembark from a truck by appearing in mid-air and dropping the the ground. My first reaction was 'wtf?!?!' and the spell was broken. :-(

ArmA, I think, has a less balanced set of features since graphics (landscape) are much advanced but things such as AI and animations (eg, soldiers rotating in place, vehicles transitioning instantly to burnt-out hulks, aircraft failing to explode when hitting the ground etc) have either failed to advance or not advanced in step with the graphics.

So there's a whole bunch of stuff that might be changed. Some of it may be relatively minor (poor voice-acting, my pet-peeve is that whoever translated the text to english clearly isn't a native speaker), whereas some of it might require extensive engine modifications (just how the hell would you create life-like 'disembark' animations given the huge variety of vehicles in the game ?) but I would like see 'immersion' as a goal.

My half-serious suggestion to BIS would be to video play-testers and take note of what is happening on screen every time they seen a frown or look of puzzlement on the players face. When the player can get through a couple of hours of the game without losing their idiot-grin you can guarantee it will be a hit ! :-)

[SaBrE_UK 0]

Quote[/b] ]The most important features ARMA 2 needs to have

Needs: Not too much, hopefully lots of optimisation and improved AI.

Wants: So, so much. I think massive modding potential would give the game years of life.

[dmarkwick 261]

Use of RL tactics. No more tanks, troops & helos blundering out into open fire please.

[jakerod 254]

Smarter AI: The AI should use better tactics and react to things like suppressive fire and generally be just more smart I guess. When in a city they won't go wandering off somewhere and will hold formation more realistically. Guys will cover directions in formation depending on where they are especially in urban combat. Better use of cover is another thing.

Fluid Loading: Things changing LODs is kind of annoying sometimes.

Better steering: Enough said

Higher Level Command: I want to atleast be able to command a platoon. From the looks of the one video it will work fine I just though I would put it in here.

Other than that I like everything.

Quote[/b] ]Campaign: I've already expanded on this in the Missions thread, but basically I'd like a free roam type campaign, kind of like Evolution, but with more details to enemy patrols and bases, alwell as the addition of citizens. Not everyone's going to like this though, so I understand if it's not added.

I like this idea too. I would also like a more story driven one though as well. Mabye combind both.

[stakex 0]

I won't point to any one feature that ArmA2 needs as most have been beat to death by now.... but ArmA2 needs to be a marked improvements over ArmA. ArmA2 (originally Game2 and NEXT GEN PC game), is suppose to be a brand new game after all and minor changes and improvements over ArmA are not going to cut it if the game is going to be popular and successful.

For example, ArmA's main draw back aside from the fact it was released six months early, was the fact it improved very little over OFP. Its graphics were better, and some funamental engine problems were fixed... but at the end of the day ArmA was really not much more then a modded version of a 6 year old game. And if BIS releases a modded version of ArmA2 without some decent content additions (not includeing new units), and some major engine fixes/changes.... then ArmA2 will not sell. Its that simple.

[Heatseeker 0]

Design.

-A good plot.

-An interesting conflict.

-An imersive environment.

-A better presentation .

Arma doesnt have the long lasting appeal of OPF in these areas, technically it is vastly superior but feels like parts thrown together, OPF was more atmospheric and imersive, result of better design ideas and inspiration?

Most discussions about Arma II involve new features and related stuff but this is also important .

[Guest Ti0n3r]

I agree

* A good campaign (story & design)

* A good & functional island

* 'Better' and more exact/responsive AI

* Realistic sound effects in general

Along with making the game more 'current generation' & authentic in general.

[evandavies 0]

The most common theme here is impoved AI and I'll add my vote to that.

I'll also add my vote to walking while reloading and general smoothing of animation transitions.

PLEASE try to allow reloading animations to be interupted.  This is THE MOST ANNOYING cause of death and a major break to feeling immersion and reality.

As for better campaign.., thats not really gameplay related but just mission editing and there are alot of people out there who can create very good missions.  I'd rather see BIS spend their precious time working on the game itself...

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I'd like ragdoll type deaths.  NOT the type where people go flying when hit but just crumpling.  People caught in big explosions should disappear [with optional gorefx?](this would solve the stupid flying Ragdolls and will reduce dead body cpu/gpu loads)

Minor explosions eg. grenades should throw a person back but only a few feet.

Anyway, keep up the good work BIS...    

[lwlooz 0]

My personal list:

AI: Focused on Surviving , Being able to disengage(Withdraw instead of just running the opposite way) and to think of different avenues of approach(if on a Move/Attack WP) ,

Levels of Suppression/Morale/Fatigue along with skill having an effect on the behaviour of the AI , More use of subgroups for

maneuver within a squad instead of sending out single man/vehicle into their death. Working together with friendly units in proximity

Hopefully Micro-AI stands for Battle-Drill schemes the AI can employ.

AI standing up or leaning left/right for shooting if they happen to be behind an obstacle when they are in contact(Essential for setting up a defense)

Tanks/AFVs and Helicopters using their advantage in range and trying to use terrain as cover(probably too difficult to implement tho)

AI Command: Being able to command subgroups(fireteams) with subgroup leaders able to assign their own targets and moving in their own formation ,

Being able to give the AI an area target both for suppression and for bringing fire on far-away targets ,

Flexible formations in that you can tell both individual units and subgroups what spot in the formation to take(as opposed to based on their number in the group) ,

Even tho it is probably hard to do any improvement for the "Move into Cover"(Hide) command would be very much appreciated.

Saving in Multiplayer: Multiple saves of one mission possible , will give people the flexibility to pause/continue longplay missions whenever they want.

Improved Damage Model:: Being able to knock out individual parts without killing the whole vehicle , Armour reacting different to explosions and to bullets

What I wouldn't like for ArmA2 to happen is that I load the game up and can really only see the same combat as in OFP/ArmA only with more fancy effects and bloomier graphics(lets hope not). The real noticeable improvement should be AI and AI commanding . I would like to see company vs company engagements with humans leading one squad each and not leave the AI behind because its too clumsy to control and more hassle than it is worth. Who hasn't been in a situation where he couldn't bring fire on one single human because the AI simply refused to fire or in a situation where one wished one could do proper bounding overwatch with fireteams.

Considering that this is a combined arms game I would hope to see the tank/apc/ifv combat improved , since it just feels wrong and their usually are just death traps for everyone inside. Unfortunately I am not enough of an armour/tank combat expert to pinpoint at the specific problems and I haven't researched the capabilities of the ArmA engine in that respect yet , but it has been discussed on this board hundreds of times since 2001.

It would be great if BIS could take some inspiration from "Combat Mission" and "Steel Beasts"(Both games aren't perfect either , but one can learn from some aspects) , but I doubt that is going to happen.

In short: ArmA2 in my opinion needs to be a Tactical Warsim where people can enjoy leading a squad of AI.

[Enixj7 0]

A total re-write is needed. BIS need to sit down and play Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Unreal-based Ai. They need to look at these titles and I think of a way to re-create there impressive Ai. Call Of Duty 4 Ai, though heavily scripted react to gun fire and take cover against objects intelligently, they jump over objects in there way. That is an example of execellent scripted Ai. Then theres Crysis Ai which is totally dynamic, reacts realistically to threats and responds in a human way. Finally with Unreal Engine Ai is an example of Bots done right, they adapt quickly to any situation and can be just as good as Humans in some cases.

Something Arma lacks is adaptive Ai and even some of the most fundementals like taking cover, CQB, commincating with one another in the obvious sense (hand signals, shouting, radioing)

The biggest issue with Armed Assault and something that needs to be corrected is Super Sniper Ai. Ai being able to kill you with one shot from hundreds of metres away. In a firefight 1000's of rounds are expended before a kill is made, so morale, skill level and weapon should all be factors.

One suggestion is to have Ai that 'improves' with each mission it surives, making squad memembers real assets.

The island as detailed as may be needs to be more life like in the sense they should be ditches, dykes, potholes, small hills - something which plauges arma is the terrain is very smooth.

Presentation as well needs to be improved, one of the best games recently for presentation was Conflict Denied Ops, slick menu's (shame about the game) ArmA's menu's felt like something rushed through on there lunch brake.

Finally and this something I may well be warned about but its something I feel quite strongly about. Features that are present in VBS II should be put into Armed Assault 2. I'm talking about the Morale system, suppression system, destrucble building and probaly my fav, deformable terrain.

[Lou Montana 101]

BIS need to sit down and play Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Unreal-based Ai. (...) Call Of Duty 4 Ai, though heavily scripted react to gun fire and take cover against objects intelligently, they jump over objects in there way. That is an example of execellent scripted Ai.

I can agree to the SuperSniperAI, lack of intelligent covering (coming, as AI more precise in moves now) ;

but CoD4 is just a corridor with bunch of max 8 guys on your side moving and firing against max 12 guys at the same time ;

of course the AI can be heaviliy scripted, telling "detect 10 m around you if you can find cover, and play anim 'back to wall' to look fun".

In ArmA it would most likely be "ok, detect the most dangerous enemy for you , verify if you know him, look for cover 50 m around you, check 360° if you're covered from everyone who can shoot you, and detect the size of the object you're at to think 'should I crouch or go prone to shoot him'"

Quite more complicated, especially on 200km2 plain fight area  

[NoRailgunner 0]

Enixj7 please don't compare mainstream shooters (mostly CQB) with ArmA - more open range combat and using different tactics.

Quote[/b] ]Ai being able to kill you with one shot from hundreds of metres away.

Human player can do this in same way...

Why ArmA2 should be another high colored & pimped with special effects corridor shooter like CoD4?

Let's see what we get with release of ArmA 2 - BIS dev. featurelist is imho allready full/closed.

[Enixj7 0]

Totally understand thats why I mention Crysis which deals with large areas. The point I'm getting to is they should be layers of Ai.

Indvidual Ai with profiles (eg a Sniper profile so it acts like a sniper)

Fireteam level Ai (Moving in small groups providing full cover, taking examples from Cod4)

Squad level Ai (commanding effectivtly assaigning orders etc)

I think good 'human like' AI, Good animation and good presentation is what BIS should be aiming for, the more time they spend on making the Ai rock solid and script free the more people they will impress with ease of use.

Commander level Ai ( Ai that can read the stratgeic importance of the mission and effecitly command multiple squads)

[jakerod 254]

Totally understand thats why I mention Crysis which deals with large areas. The point I'm getting to is they should be layers of Ai.

Indvidual Ai with profiles (eg a Sniper profile so it acts like a sniper)

Fireteam level Ai (Moving in small groups providing full cover, taking examples from Cod4)

Squad level Ai (commanding effectivtly assaigning orders etc)

I think good 'human like' AI, Good animation and good presentation is what BIS should be aiming for, the more time they spend on making the Ai rock solid and script free the more people they will impress with ease of use.

Commander level Ai ( Ai that can read the stratgeic importance of the mission and effecitly command multiple squads)

From what I heard about Crysis AI you have to define cover in every mission you make using markers. They really have no clue what they're doing unless you put those markers in. Ideally I would like it if our AI knew where cover was without me having to put markers by every tree, rock, crate etc. I don't have the time to place 10,000 markers on a map that takes place in a single village.

[-duke- 0]

The thing about ArmA that bugs me the most is the vehicle damage model, the rusty, burned out, hulks is just unsightly looking to me.

I can live with it however if they just do something about the country specific staggered release dates; that was ridiculous. I ended up watching a game develop for years only to be forced to purchase a game I couldn't understand.

If your going to release the game, please, please, please release an English version as well and make it available so even a Canucklehead can get his greedy mits on a copy.

[Enixj7 0]

Sorry Jakerod but thats totally unfounded, I make maps for Crysis and not once needed to put down a marker to use cover.

It pains me to see that people defend arma's flaws so freely. Again point to Crysis, fully aware BIS is not as talented or as a big budgeted as CryTek but if you stripped away the lovely graphics and make a large scale map similar in detail and scope of say Arma then it'd probaly run better, look better and have physics.

Arma II needs a physics engine, it needs improved Ai, it needs to be less clunky, more intuitive (the command menu is one of the worst to ever grace a computer system) getting in and out of vehicles should be context sensitive for example; rather then a) walking up to a vehicle, b) selecting a menu and then c) choosing the option. It should be quite simply work up to any vehicle press action button once, no menu, straight into the vehicle with something as simple but subtle as a open door animation. For more complex issues like choosing position in vehicle, hold action button for a context sensitive icons.

It needs these because OpF:DR so far has shown it has all of these.