What small details would you like to see?

[smellyjelly 0]

Well, since we have a topic for the larger features, I think it's only proper if we also have another topic for the small features/details. If GTAIV has taught us anything, it's that these details really can make the game more interesting. Anything that doesn't have a large effect on the gameplay is a small feature in my personal opinion.

My list:

Lights:

-Get rid of the cones. If they absolutely must be added, make it look like dust instead of a solid cone.

-Make extra light functions for vehicles by adding "Lx2" to the controls menu. The interior of tanks, like the M113, are pitch black at night and it would be nice if we could have a light in there. In addition, Humvees and civilian cars could be given hazard lights.

-Nights would look much better if the building windows lit up. Interior lights would improve cqb during the night.

Vehicles:

-Better damage effects, including textures, explosions, broken glass, and bullet holes. If possible, I'd personally like to see a pysical damage system whenever I crash. Even GTAIII quality damage would be acceptable.

-Vehicles shouldn't blow up so easily. Bullets should just disable them when shot at the engine. Helicopters shouldn't blow up everytime they crash land, though the player shouldn't be uninjured.

-If the mirrors aren't going to work then we need to be able to look behind us when in 'free look'.

-Car physics really need to be improved. In Arma they can be parked on the side of a mountain which is really unrealistic. They also don't act well when tipped over.

-Better car controls. When accelerating too fast I'd like them to peel out. When braking too hard they should fishtail or drift. Both should include appropriate sounds and smoke.

Sound:

-There are a ton of missing sounds in Arma that should be added. Sounds, like trees being run down, cars ramping in water, and a ton more need to be added.

Map:

-Parking lots, alleys, garages, ect.

-More objects around the cities, like vending machines, parking meters, potholes, ect, to help show life. They should be used sparingly and not just spammed carelessly throughout the cities.

Now that I'm finished, what small features do you think should be added?

[Commando84 0]

that was a big list smellyjelly!

I have to agree on it all even though some things i haven't thought of that much like car physics.

I would add some more civilian random stuff like civilian air and sea stuff if possible and ability to duck for cover when in a gunne position in like a hmw jeep with a key.

Small items like Infrared strobe light for special forces and pilots to be deployed on the ground so that friendly transport helos can come and pick you up more easily at nighttime.

I think bas had those in ofp so its doeable, it came with the delta rangers or with one of the chopper addon packs.

Flashlights for soldiers and civilians to use, would be very cool for those night patrol missions or for civilian type of missions.

Maybe laser pointer thingys An peq or whatever they are called.

They had 'em in the transformers movie to call in a airstrike with by pointing with their rifles on a target area and then the aircraft could target the laser dot.

a couple of more damage models or destroy animations for choppers and aircraft especially.

Would be nice to see rotor blades fly off the chopper when they hit something like a building, powerline or something.

Adding possibilities that you can get electricuted from power lines when touching them the wrong way or place.

Adding the ability for electrical fences, with Sounds and a few small particle fx of course!

[fabiantronc 0]

All than I need it's a more dinamic game.

Also the ability to put in a helmet or a hat, or just if a bullet impact your helmet this fall from your head.

Ability to put in a scope to your rifle or take out it.

And the last one, If in ArmA2 the war will be against russians, they would speak russian and not English, like in ArmA when all people of Sahrani speaks English and it must be speak spanish.

[baddo 0]

And the last one, If in ArmA2 the war will be against russians, they would speak russian and not English, like in ArmA when all people of Sahrani speaks English and it must be speak spanish.

I'm thinking that this would add a lot to the game. I've mentioned it earlier somewhere on this forum. It is not exactly a small thing though.

It would be great if ArmA2 would have Russian characters speaking Russian. I'm sure the Russians would love it too as long as its properly done.

It irritates me quite a lot when in movies there are "Germans" or "Russians" et cetera which do not speak their own language! How am I going to believe that they are Germans or Russians if they speak English? No way!

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Quote[/b] ]Now that I'm finished, what small features do you think should be added?

Pretty much everything you listed. But I'm not expecting more than maybe 10% of it :E

Surprise me BIS!

[smellyjelly 0]

Quote[/b] ]that was a big list smellyjelly!

Hehe, thanks. I tend to appreciate the small details more than the bigger features. I know I'm weird like that.  

Speaking of civilians, hopefully this time they'll run for cover or drive away instead of just laying prone. It's almost like they're just asking to be shot.  

Yeah, for helicopters if the rotor hits the ground it should kick up a lot of dirt.

The helmet falling off sounds like an interesting idea. I'm not sure how secure they are so it might take more than a bullet to knock it off. Maybe a well placed grenade or a rocket?

I like the language idea. For the people who don't know Russian it might be best to make it optional, but even then it should be broken English with an accent, (like the main characters in Stalker). The civilians should yell stuff in Russian when shot at or injured. I noticed it Stalker that even if the enemies repeat the same stuff in Russian, it doesn't get repetitive because I can't recognize it easily.

I have a few more ideas:

I neglected to put this in my first post because it's not really a small improvement, but I'll add it anyways. The lighting really needs to be improved. I'm hoping for dynamic lighting and shadowing in Arma II, but since it's at such a large scale I'm not sure if it's even possible. Here's the basic improvements I'm hoping for:

-Smoother lighting (e.g. car headlights)

-Bump mapping shadows at close range

-Dynamic shadows for large objects (e.g. Buildings, cars, bridges)

-Realistic bloom from all light, (not just the sun) and better looking shadows

-Better looking headlights and tail lights

I also would like to see the menu cleaned up. Binoculars and lights don't need to be on there because we can add them as keys. Perhaps it should be customizable.

I play with the TruerangeAI so this isn't a problem now, though I hope in Arma II BIS increased the distance the AI would engage each other.

It would be cool to have working traffic lights that the civilians obey when in "Safe" or "Aware" mode. If there is a free roam mode then the AI should have daily routes like in Oblivion for a more lively world, complete with rush hour and lower traffic congestion times.

Also, does anyone else get that helpless feeling while trying to get off a ladder, swim to land or "jump" of the side of a small building? My character tends to be frozen and that needs to be fixed. Speaking of falling off of buildings, the amount of damaged sustained when landing needs to be decreased.

[Linker Split 0]

Quote[/b] ]Now that I'm finished, what small features do you think should be added?

Pretty much everything you listed. But I'm not expecting more than maybe 10% of it :E

Surprise me BIS!

indeed you will not get more than 5% of these.

Check my sig

[MehMan 0]

And you base that on what? What addons have you seen from ArmA that are being used in VBS2?

[Linker Split 0]

And you base that on what? What addons have you seen from ArmA that are being used in VBS2?

Well, since I'm a part of the Community where i live, I'll think as a community member: how can I verify what addons are being used ? all i can offer is that they are given as a compatible source on a commercial site ,for use in a commercial product.

check here

[Placebo 28]

Well, since I'm a part of the Community where i live, I'll think as a community member: how can I verify what addons are being used ? all i can offer is that they are given as a compatible source on a commercial site ,for use in a commercial product.

check here

As with here the same rules of content permission apply, if you haven't received a request to use something of yours in VBS2 then it's not being used in VBS2.

And please remain on topic.

[NeMeSiS 11]

I play with the TruerangeAI so this isn't a problem now, though I hope in Arma II BIS increased the distance the AI would engage each other.

That's not a small detail, that's absolutely necessary.

[privatenoob 0]

Sound:

-There are a ton of missing sounds in Arma that should be added. Sounds, like trees being run down, cars ramping in water, and a ton more need to be added.

soldier gear........you only hear footsteps and those sounds aint good either but the rest of gear on the soldier should be heard, like in XAM mod.(I think it was that mod anyway)

[MehMan 0]

And bullet casings hitting things like walls, vehicles, etc.

[smellyjelly 0]

I play with the TruerangeAI so this isn't a problem now, though I hope in Arma II BIS increased the distance the AI would engage each other.

That's not a small detail, that's absolutely necessary.

You're right.

Another point I forgot:

Fix the light casted by the fires. The grass is about 10x brighter than the ground and it doesn't look too good.

[Sennacherib 0]

less "simulation", more funny

[NeMeSiS 11]

less "simulation", more funny

But isn't ArmA about serious gaming?

[shinRaiden 0]

Well, since we have a topic for the larger features, I think it's only proper if we also have another topic for the small features/details. If GTAIV has taught us anything, it's that these details really can make the game more interesting. Anything that doesn't have a large effect on the gameplay is a small feature in my personal opinion.

My list:

Lights:

-Get rid of the cones. If they absolutely must be added, make it look like dust instead of a solid cone.

-Make extra light functions for vehicles by adding "Lx2" to the controls menu. The interior of tanks, like the M113, are pitch black at night and it would be nice if we could have a light in there. In addition, Humvees and civilian cars could be given hazard lights.

-Nights would look much better if the building windows lit up. Interior lights would improve cqb during the night.

Vehicles:

-Better damage effects, including textures, explosions, broken glass, and bullet holes. If possible, I'd personally like to see a pysical damage system whenever I crash. Even GTAIII quality damage would be acceptable.

-Vehicles shouldn't blow up so easily. Bullets should just disable them when shot at the engine. Helicopters shouldn't blow up everytime they crash land, though the player shouldn't be uninjured.

-If the mirrors aren't going to work then we need to be able to look behind us when in 'free look'.

-Car physics really need to be improved. In Arma they can be parked on the side of a mountain which is really unrealistic. They also don't act well when tipped over.

-Better car controls. When accelerating too fast I'd like them to peel out. When braking too hard they should fishtail or drift. Both should include appropriate sounds and smoke.

Sound:

-There are a ton of missing sounds in Arma that should be added. Sounds, like trees being run down, cars ramping in water, and a ton more need to be added.

Map:

-Parking lots, alleys, garages, ect.

-More objects around the cities, like vending machines, parking meters, potholes, ect, to help show life. They should be used sparingly and not just spammed carelessly throughout the cities.

Now that I'm finished, what small features do you think should be added?

To aggregate your points :

Lights :

* Increase count of accessory lights exponentially

* Use pixel lighting instead of vertex lighting if possible

* Fully implement light occlusion in buildings and vehicles etc.

The last would likely be extremely 'costly' in terms of development and fps load. Because everything can move around and has day/night lighting, it's not practical to pre-calc your lighting (the post-vis rad step from corridor shooters). As a result, you'd need a massive realtime ray-tracing system to even partially keep up with the occlusion calculations. Not impossible, but impractical. Intel's claiming various tech demo's, but they're regarded as highly suspect and I wouldn't put it past them to borrow hints from the processed rad data, and in any case the visual space is exponentially larger in ArmA, and dynamic to boot.

Vehicles :

* Store damage by selection, not whole vehicle

* Add additional parameters for existing penetrability materials

* More fully utilize existing parameters such as the damage controller in model.cfg.

* Simulate vehicle behavior, friction and forces, centers of gravity and mass, etc, instead of simulating the position and visualizing the vehicle at that position.

Something the community might want to do for kicks and giggles is play with the 'damage' controller in the model.cfg. As a quick example, use it to make 'crumple zones' by doing linear translations, instead of just hiding the selections.

Sounds :

* Moar quantity plzkthx

* Ambient micro-noises for dynamic mixing

Maps :

(fill out maps as time available, instead of just 'shell' training towns.)

------------------------------------------------

@Linker Split :

If some one chooses to use ArmA content of any source in VBS2, there's no way BI automatically gets to know that, and there certainly isn't anyway to do mandatory 'site audits'. The purpose of that statement has to do with convincing the customers that the 'pro' product is a simple and popular 'Serious Games' product, that it's not big and scary and locked in like old-school 'legacy Modeling & Simulation' systems. All BI can do is encourage them to use content most appropriate to their requirements.

[Sennacherib 0]

less "simulation", more funny

But isn't ArmA about serious gaming?

how gaming can be serious?

ofp was a good compromise between a simulation and a funny game. Arma is boring: slow voices, robotic voices, gameplay not really good, the soldiers movements are slowlier. the ability to jump over an obstacle is non-existent.

if a "serious game" must be annoying, well BIS is on the good way.

[funnyguy1 0]

less "simulation", more funny

But isn't ArmA about serious gaming?

I'd say ArmA is much more orientated towards the arcade style of gameplay than ofp...It really doesn't need more arcade parts.

I would be really happy if they focused on the realism this time. Stock ArmA was in fact a CoD4 compared to the quality of mods for ofp...Now when it's modded to meet the realism needs of many players, the out of the box missions (apart from being rather poor from the beginning) seem even worse, or sometimes unplayable.

[Frank-O 0]

My vote on small detail would be on;

1) rotating ejection of empty bullet casings;

2) "turned out" rotating views of surrounding area like each post was a gun mount. "turned in" slower ability thru fixed and rotating periscopes and "leaning" left right to see more of area thru narrow viewport for driver.

[DVD 0]

...

ofp was a good compromise between a simulation and a funny game. Arma is boring: slow voices, robotic voices, gameplay not really good, the soldiers movements are slowlier. the ability to jump over an obstacle is non-existent.

if a "serious game" must be annoying, well BIS is on the good way.

Sad but true.

[stakex 0]

Nice list Smellyjelly, most of your list is great (although not all are really "small" details)... of perticular intrest to me are:

- Interior lighting. This is vital to be added to ArmA2 IMO as the cities in ArmA seem absolutly dead at night and more like ghost towns. This is especially true if the campaign does end up being an on-going persistent event.

- Better vehicle damage system (really not small). The system used in ArmA and Ofp is simply very out dated. If the same system is used, then thats really a major black eye for the game in general. Game systems should advance over time, and if the devs can't come up with anything better then the same texture replacement of ArmA, then Im sorry but thats very poor in this day and age IMO. As Smelly pointed out, even something on the level of GTA3 would be ok, but a dynamic system would be better... DD buildings were a no go, but still no reason vehicles couldn't be DD.

- Better detailed maps are also essential. The towns should feel like REAL towns, and be constructed as such. Not just buildings and roads grouped together with some fences and trees thrown in to make it seem like a town with no actual sense of real world planning. As you said there should be parking lots, alleys as well as shops, hospitals, police and fire stations, and any other buildings you would actually expect to find in a real world city or town.

Thoes are the parts of your post Smelly that really stick out IMO, and now for my wish list of "small" features...

- Improved cliping on weapons. Of course not ALL cliping can be fixed, but alot better job can be done then we saw with ArmA most noteably on the M203.

- Better handling how character models react to explosions. I don't care if its just better animations, actual physics calculation, or a combo of both.... but something, anything to not have characters go flyinf like frisbee's when an explosion happens.

- Actual animations for characters entering vehicles. Another area of the game that is very old and way over due for an update. Not really a small task, and its impact on gameplay is really small... but still, ArmA2 is a new game after all and better animations are needed.

-  Improved movement in tight spots, such as in buildings. In ArmA moving inside buildings or in any tight spot feels very clunky and its very hard to have any really good urban battles. I truely feel this is linked solely to the "true" 1st person perspective...

Thats just a few, but there are tons of small things that can be done to make ArmA2 the best game possible. We'll just have to see what ends up happening in the end....

[smellyjelly 0]

I have a few more ideas.

One part of Arma I was kind of disappointed in was the weather. I put the slider all the way to the left expecting some major wind, thunder and rain, but really, it wasn't even that much. Hopefully Arma 2 will show more diversity in the weather.

I'm also not too big of a fan of the flat clouds in Arma either. Hopefully they can be replaced by 3d clouds, (BIS was bragging about the updated fog effects, surely that can be used to simulate clouds). Additionally, it would be cool if the clouds actually blocked out the light when covering the sun.

[KAOSInc 0]

Maybe the programmers need to.....

1/ Go motorbike riding....cause the random falls off bikes in Arma on flat roads shouldn't happen!...Or buy Motorcross Madness 2(or any other motorbike game) and play that for awhile!

2/ Watch "Worlds Scariest Police Chases" because cars don't stop to a crawl with one tyre blown out...and they don't lose that much speed when driving on the grass. They only lose their steering capabilities. Maybe they should buy Crysis and see expertly done vehicle dynamics and animations when the vehicles are damaged!

3/ Have a look at Operation Flashpoint series again...4 islands...not some crappy built-in-two-hours island like Porto or Southern Sahrani.

[NoQuarter 0]

...- Interior lighting. This is vital to be added to ArmA2 IMO as the cities in ArmA seem absolutly dead at night and more like ghost towns. This is especially true if the campaign does end up being an on-going persistent event...

...- Better detailed maps are also essential. The towns should feel like REAL towns, and be constructed as such. Not just buildings and roads grouped together with some fences and trees thrown in to make it seem like a town with no actual sense of real world planning. As you said there should be parking lots, alleys as well as shops, hospitals, police and fire stations, and any other buildings you would actually expect to find in a real world city or town...

Could not have put it better.

____

Small details I would like to see?

Pathfinding. Some (apparently BIS as well) might consider this a small detail but I would rank it way up there...nothing more infuriating than watching your AI screw up a waypoint, fail to use a perfectly good road, the one you expected them to use, and go careening thru some town or down an embankment, only to get stuck or flipped over, and lost.

Better AI combat awareness:

  A simple shoot and scoot routine (fire-reverse 10 meters-reload-return to original postion) would be nice to have for AI controlled vehicles...instead of them standing fast in silhouette on the ridgeline, waiting to receive the return fire.

  If in contact with a known enemy and you order AI to move (withdraw) it would be nice if they would not advance toward the enemy (in plain sight) as part of their movement.

For a start.