ARMA 2 DE 1.01 (final) Impressions - Post ALL Impressions/Videos/Screenies Here

[EricM 0]

In my eye, even on low settings, Arma 2 looks better and runs faster than Arma 1 on high settings.

From early tests though, the ocean is a powerhog... Anyone else noticed ?

I have the smoothest FPS I ever had in Arma* (good clue is that there isn't any motion blur when turning !) flying over hundreds and hundreds of trees over the mainland (VD 3000m) and yet, every time I arrive at the shore and go over the ocean, it stutters, motion blur comes back heavily...

The ocean is gorgeous, but the effect kills my poor 8800GT... Is it the distortion effect that you see underwater ? I don't know... but it's weird that you have better FPS in the forest, than over the ocean...

*edit : Settings set normal and, postprocessing and terrain detail to low, VD 3000m.

Edited June 2, 2009 by EricM

[maddogx 13]

Just to make a point about lowering certain settings in Arma2, I've made a set of screenshots to show what effect the settings Model detail and Terrain detail have in the game.

As I've said before, I play with pretty much everything else on Very high, except Postprocessing on low. View distance is 2500m, Fillrate is at 100% because I don't mind a bit of aliasing at high resolution (1920x1080). In the following screenshots you can see the visual difference from very low models+terrain to very high models+terrain (including FPS in the top left corner). All other settings remain as I detailed above. Click each image to see its 1920x1080 original:

Very low

Low

Medium

High

Very high

Note that there is basically no visual difference on the soldiers and tank. Between low and medium settings you can basically see there's more grass, but other than that, the difference is really negligable from close up.

[whisper 0]

MaddogX, what about distant features between settings?

[TonnyRat 0]

MadDog, can you post the same picture, or a different one set, one with very low/very low and 200% fillrate and one with very high/very high and 200% fill rate. I'd like to compare those two shots to the ones above. Thanks for doing this!

[Nicholas 5]

I know this may be a dumb question so don't bash me, but what exaclty is the fillrate, i notched mine up to 100% and i guess I didn't notice anything much different

[whisper 0]

I know this may be a dumb question so don't bash me, but what exaclty is the fillrate, i notched mine up to 100% and i guess I didn't notice anything much different

It's the "replacement" for Anti-Aliasing. From what I've seen, it may be a bit better quality-wise, but it's also worse performance wise.

I'd gladly have FSAA option back

[4 IN 1 0]

you set fillrate to 200%? I dont think that would be a good idea as this will surely kills a lots of FPS

[TonnyRat 0]

you set fillrate to 200%? I dont think that would be a good idea as this will surely kills a lots of FPS

no, I want to see the difference in image quality given the same scene for 100% fillrate and 200% fillrate.

[Steakslim 1]

no, I want to see the difference in image quality given the same scene for 100% fillrate and 200% fillrate.

Yes, this would be a better comparison since it seems the fillrate can make the game look more impressive, but also kill your framerate.

[STS_SolidSnake 0]

After playing around a couple of hours this weekend, specially in multiplayer i must say this game is great, it really is worth 40€ in it's current state. After buying Left 4 Dead for the same price which is a game with a content close to nothing, and seeing valve releasing l4d 2 a year later same price, this game's 40€ is NOTHING next to that. Really good price that i am willing to pay double for a developer like Bohemia.

One of the only games available that really deserves a higher price.

No doubt knowing BIS this game will get even better after all the next patchs, but the atmosphere is really excellent, love the mp games where we are dropped off by mh-60s and hearing the chopper fly away in 5.1 surround is just... Wow! Never experienced anything like that in any other game.

There are a couple of annoying bugs left out, but nothing really major, the game is very playable, i've had tons of fun this weekend with the german community, can't wait for the game to be released worldwide where the real stuff is gonna start.

[mike@uk 0]

Here's a screenshot of the UAV FLIR when using the UAV Terminal:

Edited June 2, 2009 by Mike@Uk

[walker 0]

Hi all

4 IN 1 have you got ArmA II yet?

Kind regards walker

[Nicholas 5]

Aherm, where is UAV terminal, I cannot find it lol, too bad I cant speak German would make it easier.

[MehMan 0]

mike@uk: How?

[Laqueesha 474]

Aherm, where is UAV terminal, I cannot find it lol, too bad I cant speak German would make it easier.

I believe it is a game logic that can be placed in the editor.

You place the "UAV" game logic in the editor, and set yourself as the gunner of a UAV. At least, that's what I did to get my picture too look like Mike@Uk's picture.

[Sam75 0]

why tanks don't have thermal cameras like the one in UAV ?

[Nicholas 5]

I believe it is a game logic that can be placed in the editor.

You place the "UAV" game logic in the editor, and set yourself as the gunner of a UAV. At least, that's what I did to get my picture too look like Mike@Uk's picture, minus the FLIR.

Well, I was able to do that, but where is the "UAV Terminal" Do I have to be the gunner to even utilize the UAV? That's kinda stupid...

[eenter 0]

UAV Terminal is an warfare building and you must place it empty.

[maddogx 13]

By request, here are some screenshots showing the difference between 100% and 200% fillrate with both low and very high model+terrain details. I took the screens on Utes to show just how much the fillrate affects framerate, at least on my rig. My cat ran away with her tail between her legs...

I didn't make any thumbnails this time, because it would've been pretty pointless - they all look the same when the size is reduced. :)

Screens:

Low - 100% fillrate (45 FPS)

Low - 200% fillrate (24 FPS)

Very High - 100% fillrate (30 FPS)

Very High - 200% fillrate (16 FPS)

Note the framerate drop with 200% fillrate.

Edit: With very high models+terrain and 200% fillrate you can essentially see the settings maxed out, except postprocessing which is on Low and view distance, which is 2500m.

[Nicholas 5]

Wow! it also looks like Fillrate affects HDR effect, i placed the photos side-by-side and you could really tell the difference, the higher the fillrate, the lower the HDR effects. Thanks eenter for telling me where the UAV Terminal is!

Edited June 2, 2009 by Nicholas

[maddogx 13]

Wow! it also looks like Fillrate affects HDR effect, i placed the photos side-by-side and you could really tell the difference, the higher the fillrate, the lower the HDR effects. Thanks eenter for telling me where the UAV Terminal is!

You're right, I didn't even notice that. Weird. :)

EDIT: After a quick test I can also say that the fillrate optimizing only massively affects performance on high resolutions. If I play on 1280x720 (when recording for YouTube) I can set the fillrate to 200% and only see about 1-2 fps difference from 100% fillrate (tested in Chernogorsk - the ultimate framerate killer), while the quality is obviously very much higher.

Edited June 2, 2009 by MadDogX

[ohara 0]

Fillrate optimizer optimize just fillrate, if GC is slow due scene complexity or shader complexity, there will be no efect. In taht case CG dont have problem with drawing of pixels but with scene computing.

[MehMan 0]

I believe it is a game logic that can be placed in the editor.

You place the "UAV" game logic in the editor, and set yourself as the gunner of a UAV. At least, that's what I did to get my picture too look like Mike@Uk's picture.

Ohh. I was flying as the pilot! no wonder.

[TonnyRat 0]

By request, here are some screenshots showing the difference between 100% and 200% fillrate with both low and very high model+terrain details. I took the screens on Utes to show just how much the fillrate affects framerate, at least on my rig. My cat ran away with her tail between her legs...

I didn't make any thumbnails this time, because it would've been pretty pointless - they all look the same when the size is reduced. :)

Screens:

Low - 100% fillrate (45 FPS)

Low - 200% fillrate (24 FPS)

Very High - 100% fillrate (30 FPS)

Very High - 200% fillrate (16 FPS)

Note the framerate drop with 200% fillrate.

Edit: With very high models+terrain and 200% fillrate you can essentially see the settings maxed out, except postprocessing which is on Low and view distance, which is 2500m.

Thanks! Looks like the fillrate is a pretty major determinant in graphics quality. Definitely enables AA like some people said earlier on in the thread.

[nikodemus 10]

Does anybody here run the game on a Geforce 8800GTX 768MB? Would like to know how it performs with it (considering CPU you own too, of course...)

Thanks