Looking back when OFP was just FLASH POINT

[Deathstruck 375]

Thank you guys !

Daaaaaarn I can still remember those pics from old czech magazine 'Excalibur'..

[W0lle 1050]

Ahhh the memories, those were the days as the Sim was something totally new and breathtaking.

I still remember my first attempts in the editor placing myself and then a tank, hitting preview and wondering why the damn thing always follows me...  

Yes by comparing the screenshots I must say the graphics and engine still look the same, no doubts.  

[mr.g-c 6]

Anyway, it am not looking back to OFP history without  a reason so if anyone knows about any coverage of OFP prior August 2000, please share it here.

This still makes me very curios....

[lockjaw-65- 0]

Wow just found this thread, what memories! You dont realise how much it has developed over the years even though i still got all original copies. Have not played on flashpoint since just before armed assault was due to be released.

I was on holiday in kent when i first saw flashpoint. We were staying with friends and playing on delta force one evening. I noticeded this game on one side called flashpoint. I ask my friend what it was like, which he told me that it has just come out but he did not like it because it was too complex and carried on playing delta force. Anyway later when he had done with the pc i thought i would have a look at it. Wow just could not believe it i was hooked and as soon as we got home I bought it. Many months later my friend did get in to it and we played on line together for many years.

 

Had to laugh when i looked at the original first flaspoint trailer the troops walking around like they had accident in there pants. never noticed that when i played it lol

[shinRaiden 0]

My google'd contributions:

Link's invalid, and Prague Post seems to have not put their July-Dec 2005 archives online, yet. It's a shame, it's an excellent article with useful info.

http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2005/08/03/virtual-victory.php

Gamasutra post-mortum for BI's development and delivery of the product labeled OFP:

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20011219/spanel_01.htm

Epic tail of publisher fail - "Bohemian Crapsody":

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=102189

Various other bits, duplicates some parts from the Prague Post article, and ties in factoids available from Czech Ministry of Justice publicly available online business records:

http://www.cbw.cz/en/bis%92-armed-assault-on-pc-gaming-/2918.html

[Deathstruck 375]

Do anybody have pics like this:

Or other similiar renders ? I remember a picture of Hind and a group of advancing soviet troops  

[shinRaiden 0]

In for the win:

http://pc.ign.com/articles/135/135449p1.html

April 14, 1999 on part 3 at the bottom.

Quote[/b] ]Bohemia Interactive and I-Magic are shooting for a June 1999 release for Flash Point, so you won't have to wait too long to get your hands on this one. As usual, as more info on the game becomes available, you can expect to read about it here, especially with E3 just around the corner.

[Placebo 29]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/135/135449p1.html

Bottom third:

Quote[/b] ]April 14, 1999

Touted as a real-time 3D action strategy game, Flash Point promises to combine several genres into one in an attempt to draw in a large audience who like a mix of intense firefights and brain-challenging tactics. Czech-based Bohemia Interactive, relatively unknown in the States, is developing this title and they're hoping that they have the skills to make an entertaining yet realistic wargame that can hold its own in the PC entertainment market.

Flash Point takes place in the mid-1980s, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union. The 80s was an era of tension between the NATO and WARSAW forces and, in the alternate universe of Flash Point, tension flared into a full nuclear exchange between the West and the East. With most of the world's military forces decimated, along with most of earth's population centers, there are only a handful of troops left to wage the remainder of World War III (of course, it doesn't sound like the world is going to be a hospitable place after the war, but what the hey ... you still want to win don't you?). That's where you come in. You'll start Flash Point as a career soldier. You've dedicated your life to combat, programmed to either prevail over the enemy forces or die trying. What a sucker.

The campaign will take place on three separate islands: Cain, Abel, and Eden. This keeps the conflict confined to a small area a thereby promotes fast action and irascible firefights. You can observe the action from a variety of different views, including the standard first person and third person views, but you can also opt to play Flash Point from a completely strategic point of view after the first few missions by manipulating your forces on the map, leaving the action up to the computer. The early missions will center around getting you up to speed on the interface by placing you in the middle of a few of the easier scenarios, mainly consisting of defense, scouting and escort missions. Success in these early assignments will lead you onto more difficult campaigns as you increase your skill and prove yourself to your superiors. And while the beginning portion of the game will stress the action side of combat as you learn the ropes, the later missions will emphasize more strategic planning as you will be in command of a variety of air, ground, and infantry battle units. There will also be a number of sea units offering support to your battle troops, although you won't have direct control over these units. There will be a total of twenty-five different vehicles and aircraft at your command, with each unit modeled after their real-life counterparts. Western forces will include such vehicles as A-10 Warthog tank busters, AH-1 Cobra and Blackhawk combat helicopters, and Abrams battle tanks while Eastern Bloc forces include T80s tanks, BMP-1s, and Hind attack choppers. There will also be a rag-tag resistance group who are trying to counter the efforts of both the West and the East, but you will not be able to control these forces in the full game, they'll only serve as a nuisance to your cause.

Instead of using a linear mission tree, the developers at Bohemia Interactive have opted for a dynamic mission design meaning that you'll continue to play until you've either won or lost the war. There will be no preset orders or objectives and you must use your available units to the best of your ability to conquer the enemy troops on each island as you progress through the game. There will be a bit of resource management in Flash Point but, unlike most other RTS games where you're in charge of extraction and mining operations as well as combat operations, your sole duty will be as a military commander, so resource management boils down to efficiently allocating troops, fuel, and ammunition.

From what we've seen, the graphics in Flash Point are shaping up quite well and the design team has focused special attention on the little details. For example, when you look through your binoculars, there are scratches and hairs on the lenses. The ground vehicles will kick up dirt when traversing across dusty terrain and will billow smoke when damaged. There is a full complement of realistic looking vehicle interiors and you'll be able to visually tell the difference between the inside of a T80 and an Abrams with just a glance. The organic textures are also looking quite nice at this stage with full, thick forests and water that actually ripples when you wade in. There's even simulated tidal action as waves will lap onto the land and full day/night cycles so you'll be able to use the cover of darkness to your advantage.

Flash Point will feature head-to-head action for those of you looking to take on human competitors and, to add to the replayability of the title, there will also be a scenario editor in the final version of the game where you'll be able to control such variables as in-game forces for each side and which island to deploy your troops on to begin the skirmish.

Bohemia Interactive and I-Magic are shooting for a June 1999 release for Flash Point, so you won't have to wait too long to get your hands on this one. As usual, as more info on the game becomes available, you can expect to read about it here, especially with E3 just around the corner.

-- Tal Blevins

[Placebo 29]

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/015/015449/imgs_14.html

Screenshots to go with the April 99 article

[Raptor 10]

Also found some entry under FP: Status Quo.

- neoseeker.com

- blues news

- Gamesunits

- with nice Screenies.

- old Interview on bonusweb (cz)

[lockjaw-65- 0]

Look at the recomended system specs. lol

Windows 95/98/ME or 2000

Intel Pentium III 600 CPU or better

128Mb RAM

450Mb Hard Disk Space

16 bit DirectX compatible soundcard

24X Speed CD-ROM Drive

Compatible 3D graphics card with 32Mb RAM

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

Not the oldest, but I stumbled on this fan site,

Quote[/b] ]Nace: Operation Flashpoint - Fan Site de Argentina : 16 de Septiembre, 2000

They have some old screenshots.

Notice the audio player at the bottom.

http://opflashpoint1985.iespana.es/opflashpoint1985/oldnews.html

World Release Countdown

http://opflashpoint1985.iespana.es/opflash....001.jpg

[rundll.exe 12]

Look at the recomended system specs. lol

Windows 95/98/ME or 2000

Intel Pentium III 600 CPU or better

128Mb RAM

450Mb Hard Disk Space

16 bit DirectX compatible soundcard

24X Speed CD-ROM Drive

Compatible 3D graphics card with 32Mb RAM

Ahh the memories when the 3DFx cards were the bomb, and it died I had a voodoo3 card back then, running OFP in Glide... 333Mhz AMD K7, 128mb ram and 16MB voodoo 3. And it just worked great!

Btw, some interesting reading at the links posted above, thx!

[Alex72 1]

Nice thread!

Remember the first time as well. What an experience it was. First time you understood how big the maps were. First time you understood how free it was. It was PERFECT! Exactlly the type of gameplay i had been looking for. BIS have given me a series that delivers experiences rather than conventional point hunting. When i played the ORIGINAL Operation Flashpoint i had experiences that stayed with me for days afterwards. Same thing with ArmA. It has been a super nice ride since then, and with ArmA2 it will continue for a long time into the future.

Sorry for not posting what you asked for maybe, but i got a bit soft here. Thank you BIS for being around. Imagine if you were into making tamagochis or something. Then we wouldnt have been here. Oh frightening thaught!

EDIT: And yep, i agree. Graphics hasnt evolved at all.

/Alex

[mattxr 9]

But if we talk about memories where is the secret BIS fun page is it also gone? Without the briefcase its a bit hard to find.

Still there and still working

Oh okay finally found it.

Login

lol at the BIS Server

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/147/serverq.jpg

Ive been around since 2003 and never once been inside this site. lol. I knw either the password or user is Guba but never ever guessed the other one and no one would ever tell me lol.

[Dwarden 1125]

Pazderka's OFP history site

this site covers history of OFP very well ...

screenshots since 1997 and he got some exclusive ones

same with videos ...

it's amazing to see how the game progressed in past 12y

[Jahve 0]

I remember how, on the 17th of May in 2001, I picked up PCGamer.

It had the v0.36 demo on it. Little did I know, that day would change my life.

[Binkowski 26]

I still remember my older brother picking up Flashpoint in 2000, I was 10 at the time and didn't understand that it was a combat simulator. But I absolutely loved the game, it changed my view on video games forever. Thank you BIS!

[cozza 24]

I choose Flashpoint over RealWar for a Xmas present in 2001.

ahh Memorys. Playing it for the first time on Xmas day. Attack Everon then dieing trying to patrol a forest near Le Moule.

first time in the mission editor. Thinking the Script line was you can write a script for somebody to say and they say it

[dunedain 48]

I drooled over French mags for month, this one made my dreams until the release !! I was 13 and already fps addicted "since 1997", this game definitely changed me !! Thanks BIS. :bounce3:

Edited April 12, 2009 by dunedain

[aus_twisted 0]

Ive been around since 2003 and never once been inside this site. lol. I knw either the password or user is Guba but never ever guessed the other one and no one would ever tell me lol.

The user is guba and the password you can find by playing OFP CWC campaign lol

[nettrucker 142]

Yeah I can't help myself but smile. :)OFP was something really different at that time comparing to other "wargames". I played some other FPS but I always got bored and annoyed very quickly and turned back to OFP. It took me three years before signing up on the forums. I don't post much but I constantly follow any news concerning BIS games. Since ArmA was released I didn't touch anymore OFP. What I missed terribly in ArmA was the quality of the OFP campaigns and their storyline. OFP CWC and Resistence were superb storylines. The player could easily identify himself with the main characters. I was so fascinated by OFP that I started to get curious when playing with the editor. So I started to learn things especially concerning missions - campaigns. In my opinion a strong and good storyline will result automatically in a good campaign. Since I'm still waiting for ArmA2 as the rest of the world, so far can't tell anything about it. Saw all the videos and it is awesome. Heard lot's of people ranting though but there is no similiar game out there yet that can match with the BIS Games IMHO.

I will always love this game and I wanted just to say thank you for all the endless hours of fun.:bounce3::D

[Litos 10]

Dude, wtf?

So this is how the revolutionary military simulators came to be? xD

[oldbear 390]

Yes, the 1st time I have played OFP, it was the Resistance Demo. I had get it from a French Simulation Games Magazine, don't remember which one.

I have tried more than 10 times to play the 1st mission "Nogova Battlefields" and each time get killed. I believe the game as unplayable and wiped the demo from my HD and went buying Call of Duty !

I was a tactical games player, playing TacOps and the Combat Mission series but looking for a FPS.

After 3 months , I understood that CoD was beautiful but I was just a rat in a maze with a lot of Pavlov's reflexes and I went back to the Demo.

Just the start of a long personal commitment.

I had DL the Demo again today ... and the feelings were back !

"This is Papa Bear to all squads. You're approaching the enemy positions. ..."

Edited June 21, 2009 by Old Bear

[H.A.L 10]

Yeah, bring back lots of fond memories and film disappoints (Pearl Harbor) that year. It was the time my sister went on and on about the Sims and my mates tried to get me hooked on GTA3. And tried my hardest to rope my mates into playing flashpoint, but they just didn't get it, they simply didn't have the patience.

I think I was already hooked on OFP after reading PC Zone's preview & seeing those unit trailers on the website. The game totally blew me away with the immersion factor as pvt. Armstrong's 1st assault on a small town of Houdan, then later hearing the approaching tracks of T72s and running for that heli. evac. on the beach!

One of the best gaming experience is getting taken prisoner, then later escape their camp & had to navigate using the north star towards friendly forces, with russians hot on my heels. Never realised avoiding enemies was just as much heart-pounding fun.

Since then, I'd never returned to another run & gun fps shooter again. For me it's all about the immersive & tactical gameplay and compelling story that sucks me in. Then the editor & MP elements kept me going for years.

I'm glad the developers have the same passion as their fans here.