Engine only

[alef 0]

What about an engine-only plus editor version of the title at a lower price? Maybe available for sell only for download because of the lower size?

One need to use then only 3rd part content (mods, missions, etc.) for example, and none of the full-product (checking pbo's signs).

[shinRaiden 0]

Eh, what to you constitutes said engine?

[Messiah 2]

I'm assuming he means the game sans missions, campaigns and official units...

so then... what stops you then downloading all that content you didn't pay for from, for example, a friend?

[SaBrE_UK 0]

If the price of the full game is too steep for you, wait until it's in the bargain bin. Or don't buy it at all? Selling a cheaper "lite" version would just mean less money for the developers, unless for some reason a good number of people want this "lite" version which is doubtful. Absurd in my opinion.

[Killbert 0]

I think thats what we got with ArmA. Missions and the campaign seemed pretty hastly done. Hopefully we get something playable as well with ArmA2.

[Maddmatt 1]

I think thats what we got with ArmA. Missions and the campaign seemed pretty hastly done. Hopefully we get something playable as well with ArmA2.

Units and the map also count as playable content.

If you bough only an engine, it would be completely unplayable until people made and released maps, units, and missions.

And without original content to look at, everything would have to be made from scratch. That even includes animations. Community content would have no original standards to base their stuff on.

Very few people would even bother anyway.

I think it would be idiotic to sell a bare engine

[baddo 0]

Well, what is a game engine?

It is something that is not even Armed Assault. It is something more lower level.

So, if you would get a game engine only, then you would have to start programming (in C++ most likely) if you want to ever have something playable.

But wait - you said "plus editor version of the title"? Is it "Armed Assault" but without any content that makes it "Armed Assault"? Yup, sounds like it to me...

So, good luck!    

You are in for a very rough ride if you get them to sell you something like that. My bet is that you will soon give up with such a useless package and do something else with your life.

[Inkompetent 0]

To be able to use ArmA without the official campaign and other missions one still needs all the animations, sounds, other graphics, objects, models, etc to have something that's playable at all.

The campaign is but a fraction of the cost of the game, so you wouldn't save much money on getting that alone.

And fact is, I think it'd be a waste of money for BI to even create a campaign free version, since distributing yet another version of the game isn't exactly free.

[alef 0]

This is the engine I mean. Including the editor, which I don't know it's part of it.

ArmA1 comes out with a free playable demo version. But what I mean in this thread is the same engine BI will sell with the full product. And not through a publisher, but from the BI site, like you actually do with the lite versio of BI tools, but with a creditcard page on the download link.

For what concern the full content, yes you can get it from a friend, like you could actually get QG for ArmA1. Or choose to buy apart, if made available this way. It is the license telling you what you are allowed do with the game content. This can be maybe enforced with the program sign/hash system.

At least for me, it's not the problem for the 50 euro (here too), but others could think twice about buying it. It just about balancing selling less copies at more price with the option to sell more copies with less content at lower price.

This silly idea of the bare engine comes seeing what you can get for free from the community. ArmA2 will be the largely compatible, so much free content might be reused. It would be nice to know how many original BI config setting and resources are still in use with a good mods compilation.

[Dwarden 1124]

considering companies sell theirs 'game' engines for 10 to 10000 times more than games on these engines ...

i mean this is like ask Epic please sell UE3.5 (UE3) cheaper than GoW2(UT3):)

[MehMan 0]

Yeah, but there they sell the source code and license. I think he just doesn't want content with his copy. Why exactly? I don't really see a point in this.

[baddo 0]

He would need to figure out how to use it so he would eventually have to get the original content as well in order to figure out how the thing works...

Don't say BIS would give good-enough documentation so that the sample content would not be needed. No-one is going to believe that.

[Mr_Tea 0]

I don`t think ArmA II will be that expansive to justify this request at all. We`re not talking about an new version of VBS, what cost`s up to thousands including every "expansion".

[alef 0]

I'll try to put this in another way.

Let's take the whole available replacement mods now for ArmA1. Sound, textures, vehicles, weapons. If you replace a whole config/pbo do you still need the original BI one? (it's a real question, I don't know the answer)

My concern is that you can get stuff for free which replaces the paid content. Ok, maybe it doesn't worth to discuss about this for 50 euro, but I hope you get the idea.

[max power 21]

I'll try to put this in another way.

Let's take the whole available replacement mods now for ArmA1. Sound, textures, vehicles, weapons. If you replace a whole config/pbo do you still need the original BI one? (it's a real question, I don't know the answer)

My concern is that you can get stuff for free which replaces the paid content. Ok, maybe it doesn't worth to discuss about this for 50 euro, but I hope you get the idea.

And this works out in BIS's favour in what way?

[Maddmatt 1]

...

Maybe you don't realise that all community still relies on BIS content in some way, such as animations for infantry.

Even vehicle addon makers use original content as a reference at least.

So without any content to begin with, you will not have the rest of us make it for you for free

I'd rather buy a full game. You would need the equivalent of the BIS team (minus programmers) working to make a playable game. And modders don't work full time in offices together, and they don't get paid.

Who's gonna buy the motion capture studio to make animations instead of just buying the full game?

[alef 0]

Taking into account the hardware requirements to run the game, those 50 euro are a minor part. BI know their own business, they will do what is right for it. Let me just say that when I stated "engine only" did not mean "arma2.exe only".

For me, and supposing for others, being this discussion going nowhere, you moderator are free lock down this thread at your wish.

[Inkompetent 0]

Taking into account the hardware requirements to run the game, those 50 euro are a minor part. BI know their own business, they will do what is right for it. Let me just say that when I stated "engine only" did not mean "arma2.exe only".

And well, if you want more than the raw engine, what's so horrible about paying $50 for a game with missions, instead of $45 for a game without?  

[baddo 0]

So what content would you want and what would you leave out?

You sound like you want some sort of a "half-game". Not the full game but one without some content.

So where the line goes? What's in, what's out?

Campaign is out? 3D models and textures are out? Configuration files are out? Sound files...?

It ends up so that you need the full game anyways to be able to do anything useful with it.

And the big problem is, as I mentioned already, that if content is stripped out, and if you are not given excellent, full documentation how to use the thing, then you are in deep trouble. You may have something great but you are going to pull your hair out while trying to learn how to use it. That's what many people do with the full game already, how does it sound if (most of) the 'sample' content is left out?

[Mr_Tea 0]

Engine only? No way.

Can`t say that often enough.

If you want that game for less money, wait half a year and buy it than.

[dentist guba 0]

it takes modders a while to figure stuff out with a new game, i downloaded some horrible ARMA ones which were at best unfinished, at worst they can even mess up official units.