Questions on spec, multiplayer + weapon acuracy

[chrismvts 10]

Hi, 1st post and relativly new to this game. Only found about it as it was in teh pre order section of a website. I have tried searching for the awnsers to these questions but cant find any awnser. The questions are aimed at teh pc version.

1. Has the recomended system spec (pc) been made public yet, if so what is it.

2. Does anyone know or heard rumors of the acuracy of the weapons as I get very frustrated when the cross hairs are on but the bulletts are flying all over the place.

3. The RPG element, does that meen you will earn xp or similare the more you use weapons which unlock other weapons and armors etc?

4. Do you customise your chracter (face, clothers, sex etc)

Feel free to go off topic and discuss stuff as the more I find out about the game the better.

Cheers

Edited May 10, 2009 by chrismvts

[celery 8]

1. Today's mid-range should be fine.

2. If nothing has changed from Armed Assault, dispersion is minimal and swaying and bad aiming are the reasons for missing.

3. Either it means different skill levels or just the way the campaign is played, with much civilian interaction and doing different missions and making decisions.

4. Face and voice. Missions define your character type and clothing.

[walker 0]

Hi chrismvts

Q1. Has the recomended system spec (pc) been made public yet, if so what is it.

Answer

yes here:

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA_2

Projected Minimal PC System Requirements

Dual Core CPU

1 GB RAM

GPU with Shader Model 3 and 256 MB RAM

Windows XP or Windows Vista

Dual-layer compatible DVD drive, 10 GB free space on the hard drive

Projected Optimal PC System Requirements

Quad Core CPU

2 GB RAM

Fast GPU (8800GT level) with Shader Model 3 and 512 or more MB RAM

Windows XP or Windows Vista

Q2. Does anyone know or heard rumors of the acuracy of the weapons as I get very frustrated when the cross hairs are on but the bulletts are flying all over the place.

Answer

In ArmA you have ballistics, so things like bullet drop, bullet velocity and sight zeroing are modeled. If you do not know how to lead a running target at distances you will miss.

Q3. The RPG element, does that meen you will earn xp or similare the more you use weapons which unlock other weapons and armors etc?

Answer

Yes and No

If you are playing the campaign or the missions they unlock as you get better and achieve more.

BUT

In the editor you access everything from day one.

Q4. Do you customise your chracter (face, clothers, sex etc)

Answer

Yes you can. You can have your own individual character in MP. And play with a fully modded game with everyone else on a server running the same mods. ArmA is the most moddable game available, bar none. Anything can be changed.

Kind Regards walker

[max power 21]

Unlockables in this game don't have anything to do with experience points, though. The role playing aspect refers to your relationship and conversations with the locals, and their attitudes towards you.

[Litos 10]

...what happens if I have a really fast GPU but a medium CPU... Because I have core 2 duo e6550 2.33 ghz, and a GTX 260 graphics card, but when playing arma the framerate is poo on normal with 1024x1280@60hz, especially when flying a helicopter above a landscape.

This makes me think arma 2 will just destroy my processor, and i love flying the funcopter. Should I buy a quad core so i can enjoy the beauty of arma 2, combined with the performance? :S

[chrismvts 10]

Thanks for all the replys, you have definatly helped me build a picture in my head of what type of game it is. I never played arma so in my head its a Battlefield/ S.T.A.L.K.E.R type of game but more open fighting area like Soldner Secret Wars (if anyones old enough to remember that game).

Litos - I bought a dual core recently because games ran better on them as they wernt optimised for quad core. Im guessing games will start to utilise the quad core more and more but Im sure your dual core will be fine. I think your dual core is faster than some quad cores that are on the market. I have a Dual e8600 with 8gb RAM and a Nvidea 9800GTX graphics card so Im sure it will work fine.

Just remembered somthing else I was going to ask. I read somwhere that theres a mission where you take the role of a wild bore or somthing along those lines, was this a joke or a mod or sothing as I find it hard to beleive that a war simulator whould have somthing like that :D

Edited May 10, 2009 by chrismvts

[Scrub 0]

Do understand that BIS has a great sense of humor, push the limits of hardware, and show off the almost limitless capabilities of perspective in this engine. We've had aliens, dinosaurs, killer shrimp (anyone remember THAT? lol), Colonial wars (besides the WWI/II), cops and robbers, ZOMBIES (my fav off-military genre, if you couldn't tell).. more. If it ends up as BIS says, it'll be more forms of fun than you can shake a stick at.

[That guy 10]

the cool thing about ArmA is the bullets actually come out of the actual muzzle of the weapon model, so the weapons them selves have have high degrees of accuracy (pin point accuracy at close range, with little deviation at long), but the muzzle bounces around a lot, in addition to the sites becoming miss aligned, causing realistic missing. as opposed to the simple cone of fire seen in most other games

[celery 8]

in addition to the sites becoming miss aligned

When does that happen? My sights have always been spot on.

[andersson 285]

@chrismvts, I suggest that you youtube armed assault to get a sense of what kind of gameplay it is about. See if you can find ingame footage from missions, look for movies recorded by groups playing mp.

Ofcourse there are no roleplay whatsoever in arma, but arma2 will have interaction with other characters (at least in the campaign) so you can talk and get info from them.

Edited May 10, 2009 by andersson
roleplay

[whisper 0]

When does that happen? My sights have always been spot on.

When not in ironsight mode, your crosshair suffers from parallax difference with your actual gun's line of fire, so your bullet won't go exactly where you aim

[celery 8]

When not in ironsight mode, your crosshair suffers from parallax difference with your actual gun's line of fire, so your bullet won't go exactly where you aim

Isn't that just normal weapon sway? It's not misaligned or anything because the small bead always shows where the bullet goes.

[Litos 10]

Litos - I bought a dual core recently because games ran better on them as they wernt optimised for quad core. Im guessing games will start to utilise the quad core more and more but Im sure your dual core will be fine. I think your dual core is faster than some quad cores that are on the market. I have a Dual e8600 with 8gb RAM and a Nvidea 9800GTX graphics card so Im sure it will work fine.

Still, even if Arma runs like half a poo on my PC, I'm not even sure what to upgrade. RAM, or processor, or both. I'm low on budget so I doubt I'll be able to buy either, but once I buy arma I will hopefully see.

Damn, after I bought my graphics card I thought it was all over. Didn't think I'd need a new processor before like half a year from now..

[whisper 0]

Isn't that just normal weapon sway? It's not misaligned or anything because the small bead always shows where the bullet goes.

Negative, the small beads show where the bullet goes for a certain constant distance, but closer or farther away from that distance, you won't hit exactly where the "small beads" is. It's called "parallax", if you're not aligned with the sights (and out of ironsight view, you are not aligned, your PoV is your eyes while your weapon is a bit off center, below and to the right), your current PoV won't coincide and line of fire and your PoV will only cross once.

Contrary to many, if not all (not sure there), other shooters, bullets in OFP/ArmA goes out, not from a fictional point aligned with 1st person PoV, but from the true weapon in the true direction the weapon is aiming. As the view-point is around the head of the character (so not aligned with weapon aim), parallax issues appear.

When you switch to ironsight, your point of view goes to the eimpoint of your weapon. It simulates your character putting his eye on the aiming system (lowering his head to do so)

[That guy 10]

when moving weapon sights do become misaligned.

even though when moving, you can aim part of the weapon at a target the shot can miss

here is a little diogram. the " . " represents point of impact

____.

---_|_--- properly aligned sights

__.

---|__--- misaligned sights

as you can see its just like shooting a real weapon. i find it to be (along with the true first person and freeaim) to extremely satisfying to shoot in Arma

now if only it were possible to make a 3D optical scope model :P

Edited May 10, 2009 by That guy

[walker 0]

Hi all

Whisper most people do not understand parallax described in words, best if you draw a picture ;)

What Whisper is talking about is actually "Parallax error" it is very hard to explain without pictures

Here have a read and see the pictures:

http://www.shootingtimes.com/optics/parallax_040307/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax

BIS put iron sights and scopes in for a reason.

Why do you think only noobs use the crosshairs?

Kind regards walker

Edited May 10, 2009 by walker

[celery 8]

Hi all

I think we Arma players all understand what parallax error means.

But am I a noob if I get first place with 100 kills without using ironsights or the scope a single time?

The misalignment quote that I replied to specifically mentioned sights and not crosshair so talking about the crosshair is useless.

Kind regards Celery

[WOMBAT33R 11]

Do understand that BIS has a great sense of humor, push the limits of hardware, and show off the almost limitless capabilities of perspective in this engine. We've had aliens, dinosaurs, killer shrimp (anyone remember THAT? lol), Colonial wars (besides the WWI/II), cops and robbers, ZOMBIES (my fav off-military genre, if you couldn't tell).. more. If it ends up as BIS says, it'll be more forms of fun than you can shake a stick at.

I just want a GTA IV mod, good old Niko Belik!

Takes on ArmA II all on his own! :D

[sbsmac 0]

I agree with Celery. The vector between eyes and crosshair is parallel with the vector of the weapon's barrel. At most, there may be a very small translational difference between them.

>Why do you think only noobs use the crosshairs?

Nonsense, and quite the opposite for most of the players I know! Iron-sight mode is for snipers and even then it's easier to use the crosshairs if your target isn't too far away. :-)

To address the original question though, whilst there is no bullet dispersion, there is a simuation of weapon sway due to exertion or rapid movement which means that the small white line in the center of the 'T' crosshairs moves around relative them. However, if you can get that line over somebody and fire, you will hit them. (Assuming you are not at sniping range.)

[thaFunkster 0]

Just remembered somthing else I was going to ask. I read somwhere that theres a mission where you take the role of a wild bore or somthing along those lines, was this a joke or a mod or sothing as I find it hard to beleive that a war simulator whould have somthing like that :D

chris:

From my understanding this wild boar thing is just for fun and it is not part of the 'serious' campaign. There is a amoury section, where you can go in and read up about all the weapons in the game. In this section there are all kinds of mini games such as rifle ranges etc where you have to acheive certain scores, there are all types of other fun little games and the 'hunted' game is one of those.

[Andi 10]

When using the crosshair I adjust the parallax error by myself by just moving the aim a tiny little bit more to the left. :confused:

[Squint 0]

The crosshair helps compensate for the loss of some of the natural situational awareness we all have.

When playing a game, you are looking at a three-dimensional image rendered in two dimensions. It may not seem like it, but your brain loses some of its ability to judge the spatial relationships of objects in the image. Essentially, all 3D games are optical illusions, fooling the brain into believing there's actually depth where there is none.

The path of bullets—especially those you fire yourself—is primarily along the depth of the image, where, as I said above, there actually is no depth at all. In reality it's much easier to aim without looking down the sights and generally hit or be close to what you're aiming at. In Arma, and especially with the "float zone" feature that lets you move the rifle independent of your view, judging the bullet's path is much more difficult than it would normally be. The crosshair alleviates this.

[chrismvts 10]

Is the armor you wear dependant on the weapon you pick? for instance can I equip an mp5sd and still use the guile suit? Or does armor depend on the faction your fighting for (if you have to choose faction that is). You can tell I dont know much about this game, it does seem though that alot of info is based on what the 1st Arma was about and not because what has been confirmed on the 2nd.

Ive noticed theres alot of video footage for this game but theres no actual firefight footage. Are there long periods where your just walking somonewhere with no enemys to engage?

I watched a video somwhere that said you can talk to an npc and get a helicopter lift into the contact zone. Does this work like a world of warcraft flight path just with helicopters not dragons (although by the sounds of it thats just a mod waiting to happen :p)

Could this game be described as being like Soldner secret wars (if anyones played it)

[whisper 0]

Is the armor you wear dependant on the weapon you pick? for instance can I equip an mp5sd and still use the guile suit? Or does armor depend on the faction your fighting for (if you have to choose faction that is). You can tell I dont know much about this game, it does seem though that alot of info is based on what the 1st Arma was about and not because what has been confirmed on the 2nd.

Ive noticed theres alot of video footage for this game but theres no actual firefight footage. Are there long periods where your just walking somonewhere with no enemys to engage?

I watched a video somwhere that said you can talk to an npc and get a helicopter lift into the contact zone. Does this work like a world of warcraft flight path just with helicopters not dragons (although by the sounds of it thats just a mod waiting to happen :p)

Could this game be described as being like Soldner secret wars (if anyones played it)

Hehe :) Welcome aboard !

1) Your "armor", suit or whatever is not dependant on your weapons

2) there can be long period of walking, or crawling silently amongst foes for that matter, it's dependant on the mission you play, and as we don't know yet the campaign, we can't say exactly. But let's say it's possible.

3) Not working like that at all. It's just a chopper, put there by mission maker, and that will bring you where you tell him,really. I mean, it can be destroyed on the way, it's just another unit in the map doing its job like every others (and like you)

4) not played Soldner, I can't say.

[andersson 285]

This is ingame footage from arma1. The gameplay can differ alot depending on mission, environment, SP, MP, other players, mods and so on. But this is an example of a coop with working communication.

The gameplay will have the same basic mechanics in arma2 as in OFP and arma1.

Search youtube for armed assault ingame and you will find.