Inside ArmA2 with Jerry Hopper & Lord. J.Kingsley

[jerryhopper 286]

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UPDATE

We have rerecorded the interview, and both part 1 & 2 will be broadcasted at Saturday october 4.

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Fellow gamers!

Are you still wondering what ArmA2 will bring us? Well, we at SahraniRadio share these thoughts, and decided to shine some light in the darkness that's called 'ArmA2'

Sahrani Radio brings you an exclusive interview with Ivan Buchta, Lead designer of ArmA2

In this 2.5 hour- 2 part special, Mr J.Kingsley & Jerry Hopper dive into the depths of the upcoming blockbuster from Bohemia Interactive ArmedAssault 2.

Armed with over 80 tough community questions, this is probably the most revealing show of this year.

In part one, Ivan Buchta tells about himself, and answers all the questions that the community have left on our answering machine.

Next week in part two, Mr Hoppper & Kingsley try to get as much of the submitted written questions answered.

And if that wasnt enough, Ivan Buchta was so kind to send us some pictures, along with two exclusive ArmA2 ingame screenshots.

The special -rerecorded- edition of the Goodmorning Sahrani show will be aired in 2 seperate episodes.

DOWNLOAD

Episode 1  -  Saturday 4 september at 19:00 GMT+1

<a href="http://www.armedassault.eu/Start-download/Radio-shows/37-Goodmorning-Sahrani-EP20-Ivan-Buchta-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">

Episode 2  -  Saturday 4 October at 20:30 GMT+1

</a>

Dont miss it & tune it at : http://sahraniradio.armedassault.eu:8000

We rerecorded the complete interview to serve the community even better.

Our first recording wasnt worthy for the community, and therefore we present you this new 'ClearVoice' version.

Ivan Buchta  - Just another day at work

Check out these 2 exclusive screenshots or ArmA2

It looks like one of the first images which showoff some building destruction.

A local gives directions to the troops.

You can say about him what you want, but this guy has balls!

[Rejn 0]

We have seen some interesting developments with Arma2's AI,

how much of a contrast is there in how the AI will be dealing with urban environments in Arma 2 as opposed to Arma?

Can we expect to see the AI enter and exit buildings with ease?

Will this still have to be scripted via building pos commands or will the AI act somewhat more independant in regards to entering buildings in Arma2 as compared to Arma?

Thankyou.

EDIT: Can we download a copy of the interview at a later time?

[.kju 3245]

What is your vision for the OFP-ArmA series - how should ArmA3

look like?

[DrBobcat 0]

Excellent! I recorded my question and sent it off. I imagine this interview will prove quite informative! Or, at least, I hope so...

Thanks Jerry!

- dRb

[mrcash2009 0]

Ok well you did ask so here everything I would like to know regarding "sound" in arma 2 :

1. Are they going to use dynamic voices much like RUG DSAI stock in the sim?

2. How implemented is EAX in the engine, reflections, depth etc. Or will effects be applied pre-rendered to stock sounds?

3. Will there be more voices used for team/radio than the selection in Arma as it is now?

4. Whats the minimum spec soundcard for the next version?

5. Will modding sound be similar to Arma, any nice flexible additions in configs modders can use such as reverb depth, reflection, internal EQ?

6. Will Arma have a more flexible internal audio mixer, one volume for radio coms, one for first person voice, once for effects, one for music etc?

7. ECS brought much life to the ambience and immersion into Arma with church bells, more birds, flies, clanging sounds in urban areas, extra wind effects etc will this be more detailed in Arma2 ? Vanilla Arma did sound like an empty space allot of the time.

8. When it rains will we get nice running water effects off of buildings / metal etc and will there be any details like brushing sounds past bushes, twigs cracking etc in woods, this was accomplished really well in the original Ghost Recon (ahead of its time for the sound details).

9. Will there be ear ringing effects near grenade blasts, and what kind of audio effects will be used in situations like that and medic/injured moments (more medic dynamic calls etc?).

[Raptor 10]

1. What did he think about OFP2 and the features ?

2. What role did he play in CARRIER COMMAND: GAEA MISSION ?

3. Will they update the ArmA2 Interface ?

4. Is he happy about ArmA and ArmA2?

What are his thoughts when ArmA get released?

5. Some background infos would be nice, how long he worked @ BIS , previous projects, future and so on.

Maybe also how many people worked on ArmA, ArmA2 and CC:GM?

6. Did he keep an eye on new technics in 3D moddlling, mapping and hardware possibilieties and did it influenced his work on ArmA/BIS? Did he also keep an eye on other Games and their technics ( eg. Crysis, Farcry2 ) ?

[Big-Rooney 5]

Q1: With the new talk system will it be possible to acquire information from locals about enemy strength and positions.

Q2: There are two factions on the Island, will it be possible to play everyone off against each other by your actions in the field. Killing civilians means the local forces dislike you more. Killing enemies means they begin to respect you again.

Q3: As its been pointed before, will this game be more ambient than ArmA? Will there large numbers of animals and civilians scattered throughout the Island.

Q4: Will the military branches provided in this game be complete or will they be multiple branches systems like ArmA (Army, Marines, Air Force)

Q5: Will the Campaign involve fighting alongside the local forces? If so will your actions have a positive/negative affect on your relationship with them (Hearts and Minds).

Q6: Will the Russians be using new combat gear only or a mix of Gear from past-to-present, much like they did in Georgia.

Q7: Will AI be more spontaneous and mobile or as predictable and static as the AI was in ArmA.

[lwlooz 0]

Hello there,

This is great stuff. Thanks to everyone involved.

This could possible be a very interesting interview.

Like with the Suma interview I apologize for being lame and not asking specific questions as there is a million things and it all being WIP , I rather wait to report all of those as bugs/annoyances after the release (And be totally ignored).

But if you manage to find some time it would be nice if you could talk about topics such as "What do game designers do in times where gameplay sadly doesn't really matter",

his vision of the OFP/ArmA series (i.e what he would like it to be , or in what direction he would like it see developed), what he perceives as strengths of their games/engine,

new scripting&modding features of arma2,new multiplayer possibilities(i.e Saving),the AI,the AI Command Interface,improved armour combat(in light of recent news by CM).

But if I was to ask a specific question, I guess it would be along the lines of:

"What improvements to the AI and Command Interface have been done or are being envisaged to improve the gameplay for complex A&D and complex COOP missions?".

[A&D = PvPCoop,PaiPai: humans leading AI against other humans leading AI in 'military-like' reasonable objective missions , i.e a Mechanized Company has to take a town]

Basically as someone who usually plays wargames/sims and tries using this series as a tactical wargaming sandbox , creating custom warfare scenarios ,

I would appreciate it if some light could be shed what improvements us kind of people can expect.

Of course I understand that the major focus will be fps/shooter player concerns (Little graphical details,TINY GRAPHICAL DETAILS!,WHY ISNT THIS EXACTLY LIKE QUAKE YET!!! ).

Again, thanks for this interview in advance

[sorry for the repeats,but I thought I already posted this,but apparently the forum crashed right then]

[NoRailgunner 0]

1) Do smoke grenades and other smoke/fog stuff have an AI view block?

2) Is ArmA2 closer to OFP: Resistance + RPG elements? Like player is more forced to take care of (his) teammates and equipment.

3) What about the stories from other sides - are there plans to make more campaigns and with different characters?

4) Will there be an "training center" (SP+MP) so newcomers can get used to the pro & cons of weapons, vehicles, tactics and other stuff? Thought it would be nice to see it open for all community addons/mods too.

[Heatseeker 0]

Q: Hello, what does a lead designer do?

I think this should be answered before the interview, so that people know what to ask...

[guerilla -MCY- 0]

Hi, my name is Marek

Q: OFP had a big ctf community thanks to the fast handling of weapons and animation reaction time. ArmA made this kind of gameplay impossible due the realistic soldier animations. In all those previews we've seen the same animations. Are there plans to make it easier and to gain back the fast paced players ?

[MehMan 0]

I'll get my trusty mp3 player out and abuot to do some recording!

[Uziyahu--IDF 0]

Q: Will the XBox 360 version be released simultaneously or almost simultaneously with the PC version, or can we expect a long delay?

[opteryx 1562]

Ok, I don't feel like recording a question, mainly because I'm paranoid and don't feel like leaving my voice online so I'll ask here:

Since ArmA2 has been based on real world terrain unlike previous games by BIS, are there any changes in the tools that accommodate that? For example roads, are they using a new spline system or similar to match up with the satellite imagery? If not, how was this problem solved with environment design in ArmA2.

[Second 0]

I didn't see this question (but i've had beer,so), so here it comes:

Q1: Will there be OFP-like terrain detail setting, which affects to roughness of terrain? If not, then is terrain detail setting going to remain same as in ArmA?

Also if it's not too complicates (or not-related) i would like to ask also:

Q2: Why this OFP-like terrain detail feature wasn't included in ArmA? Engine related reason?

[ryankaplan 1]

forgive me if this question does not relate to the 'Lead Designer' but:

Is there any plans for a more in depth Indirect Fire System (Mortar/Artillery) in ARMA2?

I ask because Artillery and Mortars has killed way more men in war than bullets since WW1, so i find it ironic that it hasnt been included in ofp/arma franchise so far.

[stakex 0]

There are of course a ton of possible questions... but I'll just list a couple Id like to have asked.

Q1: Is there any chance we might see lights inside the houses that can be enterd, or vehicle cargo spaces to help improve the night time environment?

Q2: Since the Building Destruction blog in November 2007, there hasn't really been much, if anything said or shown about it. Are the current plans for destruction still the same as stated in the blog, and if not what are they?

EDIT: Good call Praelium, question edited

[Praelium 0]

Q1: Is there any chance we might see lights inside the houses that can be enterd to help improve the night time environment?

Wanna change that to include cargo spaces in armored vehicles?

Anyways, I want to know if there will be any targeting systems in Arma II, (FLIR, thermal imaging, radar, ect).

Next to improved AI, (which looks to be improved, though some aspects still look wip), this is my second most wanted feature.

[MehMan 0]

Until when can we submit our questions? Also, if I record several questions do I have to introduce myself every time?

[MehMan 0]

I didn't see this question (but i've had beer,so), so here it comes:

Q1: Will there be OFP-like terrain detail setting, which affects to roughness of terrain? If not, then is terrain detail setting going to remain same as in ArmA?

Also if it's not too complicates (or not-related) i would like to ask also:

Q2: Why this OFP-like terrain detail feature wasn't included in ArmA? Engine related reason?

This has been answered many times, it's due to the new streaming terrain.

[jerryhopper 286]

Until when can we submit our questions? Also, if I record several questions do I have to introduce myself every time?

Questions can be submitted untill tuesday 12:00 AM GMT

you dont have to reintroduce yourself, as long as you put your nickname in the filename.

example :

Jerryhopper1

Jerryhopper2

Jerryhopper3

etc...

[MehMan 0]

There we go, five questions recorded and sent, if I think of some more I'll record them and send them!

[lt.chris 0]

not sure if this has be asnwered before but ill just say it just in case  

We know that you are able to drag/carry fallen units, however are you able to load them onto hummers/choppers etc?

2nd question - Will there be an Armed Assault 2 T-shirt

(I still wear my ArmA one with pride)

[Second 0]

I didn't see this question (but i've had beer,so), so here it comes:

Q1: Will there be OFP-like terrain detail setting, which affects to roughness of terrain? If not, then is terrain detail setting going to remain same as in ArmA?

Also if it's not too complicates (or not-related) i would like to ask also:

Q2: Why this OFP-like terrain detail feature wasn't included in ArmA? Engine related reason?

This has been answered many times, it's due to the new streaming terrain.

Conserning ArmA2?

[funnyguy1 0]

My mic is wasted, so here goes the question:

Could you tell us something about the vehicles' targeting systems, fire computers, countermeasures etc. in ArmA2? Thanks