Arma newbie questions

[wingtip 11]

Ok, untill yesterday I had never even heard of arma... I was doing a google search for OH58D (the helicopter) because i fly rc helicopters (my site indyhelis.com)...

I came across a web page for a oh58 conversion for some game called Arma... thought it looked interested and googled it for video and thought this was great... well that led me to Arma 2 and their site and after seeing the trailers I want it... Ive been around since the atari 2600 days and have done just about all the fps games but gave up on my battlefield series games nearly two years ago.. hoping they come out with something new soon... in the meantime i have been playing crysis and crysis wars... this game engine is second to none and the most realistic environments you can imagine... however, the game is hacked to death for online play, as the bf series has been as well.. so ive been waiting for a new game, a breathe of fresh air and i think i found it in arma 2

sooo my newb questions about Arma 2 since ive never played anything Arma related...

1) is there joystick support for aircraft?

2) will there be a map editor and/or mission editor?

3) when there are new maps made (in arma1) did mp have autodownloader or did you have to install it ahead of time before going online?

4) is there good server control/functions that allow kicks,bans, messages, map rotation etc???

[binkster 0]

1) Yes From ArmA1 to me mouse and keyboard was easier for me)

2) Yes This map editor is like no other and can do much much much more than just place objects on the map.

3)Install ahead... There are tons and tons of addons made from the community. Not all servers run addons.

4)Yes. If you own your own server you can controll everything you just said/ and more.

[wingtip 11]

Thanks... Im sure i will have other questions especially on where to buy this if they dont import it anytime soon...

[Steakslim 1]

in the meantime i have been playing crysis and crysis wars... this game engine is second to none and the most realistic environments you can imagine... however, the game is hacked to death for online play, as the bf series has been as well..

The hacker issues for both those games are no worse than any other game out there. However you'll be pleased to know ArmA doesn't draw in very many hackers, aside from the one's who just want to cause trouble rather than make themselves look l337.

[von_paulus 0]

Welcome to the forums and the comunity.

3) If the map needs custom addons, you've to install them before running the game. Otherwise no problem, you'll automatically download the map and the mission.

I too have been around since 2600's days. You'll feel at home, playing this game. This game has a certain appeal to more mature players.

[max power 21]

2) will there be a map editor and/or mission editor?

Not only that, but if it is like ArmA 1, there will be a tools suite published sometime later that will allow you to add new soldiers, vehicles, weapons, islands, and objects, and script allow you to add all kinds of new features to the game. It's probably one of the most flexible game engines out there.

[celery 8]

Let's try not to get every new guy hyped by the modding capabilities. It's not exactly a cakewalk for anyone to create new units, maps and other stuff.

3) missions for the islands/maps you already have will be downloaded as you join the game but if the system is like in A1, you have to download custom addons manually.

[wingtip 11]

Ok, another newb question since i havent played arma1... how does the arma engine do at water detail and physics?

can you swim underwater, can you knife fight under water like the old black hawk down days..?

also, are the keyboard functions assignable to user preference???

Edited May 20, 2009 by wingtip

[funnyguy1 0]

In ArmA:

You can swim.

You can't knife fight at all (without modifications), the game is about fighting at much larger distances, you simply don't need knives nor have time to use them, and it's completely different from black hawk down/AI is probably too smart to be fought with knives.

You can assign all the things you want where you want them + the game supports track ir.

[Deadfast 43]

ARMA 2 seems to have much, much better water than ArmA 1.

Just see for yourself.

The physics I don't know.

Pretty crap in ArmA 1 to be honest, but that's a price you have to pay for such a complex game.

Indeed you can assign keys to whatever you want to.

ArmA 1 even supports combinations (CTL + something,...) and double-taps (2x W for fast sprint).

[wingtip 11]

the game is about fighting at much larger distances,

Fine with me.. this is what I want.. Which is one of the reasons why I never got into the call of duty games.. their mp maps sucked balls from being to small and every corner you turned you had a gun barrel in your face... no stealth to the game at all...its just spawn and start defending yourself...

So just how large are these maps?

[BEEJ24 10]

maps? no only 1 huge piece of land, including forests, cities, villages and open countryside and beaches.... the multiplayer aspect may use all of the map in a scenario but other smaller scenarios may only use 20%, it all depends on what your objectives are

[Deadfast 43]

The OFP and ARMA series are very much different from most of the other games.

What you actually play is called a mission. Anyone can create these with the included mission editor and host them (connecting players will download the mission of the server).

Missions take place on "islands". In contradiction to the name they don't actually need to be an island. Think of them as a huge piece of land that can have up to several hundreds of square kilometers.

For example ARMA 2's Chernarus has ~220km^2.

[von_paulus 0]

Moreover. You'll have different types of gameplay. Cooperative, CTF, CTI, DM, etc. Against other players or against AI in cooperative mode.

[walker 0]

Hi all

What is called a mission in ArmA is what most FPS call an island.

A mission in ArmA is often bigger than a whole campaign in any other FPS.

I made one mission in ArmA with 2 battalions on my side and 3 or 4 on the OPFOR it takes 10 hours to play. You can save game with it. ArmA 2 should be even more capable.

ArmA comes with 2 standard islands, the largest of which is geographically about the size of 10,000 COD4 style islands. Each island has collateral objects such as buildings airports and clutter such as signposts trees, flora etc. upon it.

An island can have an infinite number of missions created upon it.

Missions can use one small corner of an island say a city or some farms etc. Or it can use the whole island it is up to mission maker.

The internal editor in ArmA allows you to place assets eg soldiers, tanks, aircraft, sandbag emplacements etc. awell as additional collateral objects such as buildings, cars, trucks, and civilians, plus ground clutter and alows you to set their behaviour with way points and triggers or scripts if you need them.

ArmA also has modding tools to create new islands, vehicles, flora, soldiers and civilians sounds etc.

Kind Regards walker

[Andi 10]

I always find it quite amusing to see newbies asking questions like this, while all others try to explain what is hardly explainable. :D

I remember installing OFP back on release and starting to play and I was like:

It's just indescribable, you have to experience the game by yourself. There's just no game like this. Can't compare to anything. :D

[ScorpionGuard 10]

Fine with me.. this is what I want.. Which is one of the reasons why I never got into the call of duty games.. their mp maps sucked balls from being to small and every corner you turned you had a gun barrel in your face... no stealth to the game at all...its just spawn and start defending yourself...

So just how large are these maps?

I'm sorry no one answered your question. The map size is 225 km2 for the production map (in box). But the game/simulation engine can go up to 10 000 km2. That if you wish to mod your own maps. You can go enen bigger. But you will only drew us hardcore player. The engine is also build for a Brigade size (3000-6000 personal) unit to be on the same server at once. For you see the engine was build for the US Army and Marines, Austrian Defense Force, UK Military etc. See VBS 1 and 2. So thanks for joining the community. We look forward to seeing you on the field.

Edited May 21, 2009 by ScorpionGuard

[lapa 1]

The engine is also build for a Brigade size (3000-6000 personal) unit to be on the same server at once.

Sure :j:

[CameronMcDonald 146]

I'm sorry no one answered your question. The map size is 225 km2 for the production map (in box). But the game/simulation engine can go up to 10 000 km2. That if you wish to mod your own maps. You can go enen bigger. But you will only drew us hardcore player. The engine is also build for a Brigade size (3000-6000 personal) unit to be on the same server at once. For you see the engine was build for the US Army and Marines, Austrian Defense Force, UK Military etc. See VBS 1 and 2. So thanks for joining the community. We look forward to seeing you on the field.

:( Christ, they're moving up in the world.

[ModeZt 0]

2.1) tools for creating your own missions will be included.

2.2) there will be a set of modding tools. land modelling, object modelling..

but there might be a delay with their release ( i would expect 3-10 month depending on the amount of bugs in the game itself )

3) new locations and objects must be loaded before going online. but the default territory is huge and you can make tons of missions with various scripts, gamemods and so on. theese missions that don't require new objects are downloaded from the server when you first connect to it.

4) yes. in my arma experience when there where no admin on the server we usually voted for one of the players to become an admin with a temporary ability to kick & chage map

Edited May 21, 2009 by ModeZt

[CarlGustaffa 4]

I'm sorry no one answered your question. The map size is 225 km2 for the production map (in box). But the game/simulation engine can go up to 10 000 km2. That if you wish to mod your own maps. You can go enen bigger. But you will only drew us hardcore player. The engine is also build for a Brigade size (3000-6000 personal) unit to be on the same server at once. For you see the engine was build for the US Army and Marines, Austrian Defense Force, UK Military etc. See VBS 1 and 2. So thanks for joining the community. We look forward to seeing you on the field.

Ok, I'll bite...

Don't be mislead by the above. No Arma server has gone above 120-140 players I think, with IC Arma Team vs Team tournament. And even then it's kind of crippled with lag according to some players. Make it a coop and you'll start having problems at 30-40 players since AI takes too much CPU power. I find it very hard to believe that Arma2 will be able to support anything above full platoon sized infantry units, with a few attachments or support groups.

No addon landscape has provided bigger sized landscape than the original yet, while keeping the same level of detail. Most addon islands are quite small compared to the official one, simply due to the workload of creating them. 10.000 km2 is simply outrageous.

:(

Back on topic.

2) OFP/Arma/Arma2 have on of the 'best' mission editors out there in terms of ease of use, responsiveness, and stableness. You can 'easily' create simple singleplayer objectives with it and try out many things. For more advanced editing, you have to learn the scripting language, but now your options are quite limitless. It has a steep learning curve though, and although the Biki is a major source for any scripter, it can also be frustrating for the beginner. What appears to be extremely simple can quickly turn into a nightmare during the first attempts. Even the sheer number of commands can be intimidating. Going even further, you'll have to learn the 'file system'. What files does what. How does external sounds work, etc. Addon making/editing is a whole different ballgame. As Arma 'preloads its addons upon startup to update/replace/add classes', you are required to shutdown Arma for each edit. This is a major pain for sure, not to mention how the smallest 'insignificant' errors will cause the addon to crash/not start Arma.

3) Arma doesn't have autodownloader of addons, only the packed mission file which can contain scripts and sounds etc. If the mission requires an addon island or addon collection of scripts and/or models, you'll have to quit Arma and install it. The good thing about this is that most public online games are addon free. This tend to create missions with far less bugs since addons often carry with them bugs at any severity. It also prevents you from having your own addons that conflicts those found in the mission.

[ScorpionGuard 10]

Hello again. To CarlGustaffa. When it come to number of players on a ArmA server. The highes number og player is 250. When stating the Brigade size unit on one server. I'm speaking of the engine itself. That's why I said "see VBS 1 & 2". Now you can run that many people on ArmA. You just have to have a IBM System z10 EC. Whitch will run you about $1,000,000.00 plus tax. And about 600 Blade Servers + (IBM or Cisco) with ButterFly Net software pack to bring it all togather. And this is on the cheap side. No telling what the military is using on there end of it. So there you are. Please read the specifications for VBS 2. Thx. And good day to you sir.