3rd person view

[CarlGustaffa 4]

I don't know how these new difficulty modes work in Arma2 yet, but in Arma1 you had big problems on veteran:

* No idea who was who with friendly tags turned off. But friendly tags are also too good when on.

* No locking indicator, meaning you could accidentally lock a Javelin onto a friendly.

* AI abilities in general skyrocketed, meaning the gameplay wansn't fun. ACE helped though.

We played with a few of these improvement mods, but all we tried had significant problems for us. I fixed them for our own internal use, but since I couldn't provide keys (would be considered theft), they couldn't be used on signature checking servers. And they should be checked, since I could have also made them work better for us instead of creating a disadvantage. That would probably be called cheating.

Proper example, ACE mod. By default you get the same zoom levels (concentration mode) in raised mode as you get in ironsight mode. We hated that. So I changed this so we only got half the zoom, full zoom only in ironsight mode. But naturally I couldn't just release this 'fix', since ACE made them originally. As for cheating, I could also have made sniperscope zoom values if I wanted.

I tried the Spon mirror thingy and it was great, but iirc I ended up with some problems with it. In a chopper you can actually lean forward and to the sides while stretching neck in order to obtain better spatial awareness, something you can't to in the game. The reduced 3rd person view would help simulate that somewhat. I agree on the tanks though, although I wouldn't mind it at all for low skill modes, as it doesn't provide you with a tactical advantage.

We do have our server setup the way we want. However I like to play a lot on public servers where there are lots of players. Although many claim to have 'realistic' setups, I find them not very realistic at all with all that help going on...

[frederf 0]

The crosshairs on/off difficulty option is always something that bugged me. If you turned crosshairs on it made the game like BF2 where you could hip shoot to 300m. If you turned the crosshairs off you couldn't hit jack at 10m CQB and Javelin/Stinger/LaserDesignator type weapons were severely hamstrung.

Why can't we have a middle ground with crosshairs for the aircraft or electronic weapons that need them, faint fuzzy CQB aiming circles, and the rest off.

[thyco 0]

i use 3rd person more so in A2 at the moment just because it gives me better FPS and less slow downs compared to first person, and on the idea that it gives you the upper hand, it takes a bit of time to be able to get to the point where you can see over the wall you are behind which can and has been my down fall due to getting flanked many times

[Raphier 0]

I for one have found the 3rd person more immersive that 1st. Heck, 90% of game footage, screenshots I've seen are in 3rd person.

I think the reason why I prefer 3rd person is because it looks better and has much interesting animations than 1st person. The body awareness is better in 3rd person and immersion is top of the line.

I just don't know, BIS's FPV just doesn't cut it.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

@Raphier: So look at the guy in front of you :) 3rd person more immersive than 1st? That's a first. Anyways, 3rd person screenshots tend to look very similar to each other, just like 1st person screenshots do. For best results, I suggest using camera.sqs or be in spectating mode for games that use it. 'Screenshot obtainability' shouldn't matter as long as you're able to use it to an unrealistic advantage (looking over walls and rigdes).

@Frederf: You nailed it on the crosshairs. Big, faint circles to indicate an approximate center of 'screen' (but also works when floating zone is used) would be great. The lack of lock indicators is the real killer for me, but I'd still like to have grenade tossing and launching crosshairs due to lack of proper sights.

[dmarkwick 261]

I like the crosshair myself. I know people say it shouldn't be used because you don't get in IRL, but then again IRL you're not looking out of a box on your head, and also IRL you see stuff in 3D, which means you can get a pretty good bead on stuff naturally. Maybe a "circle of probability" rather than a definite bullet aim point?

[frederf 0]

Yeah I forgot to include grenade throwing since it's pretty silly with crosshairs off.

You know I'll probably end up making a unified crosshair mod for ArmA2, I've done most of it before. Trouble is I need to mess with the actual crosshair models (yes, they are models with textures applied, very flat 3D structures) to get the idea crosshair behavior.

[afp 1]

I like the crosshair myself. I know people say it shouldn't be used because you don't get in IRL, but then again IRL you're not looking out of a box on your head, and also IRL you see stuff in 3D, which means you can get a pretty good bead on stuff naturally. Maybe a "circle of probability" rather than a definite bullet aim point?

You are so right, "no crosshair" is not the best solution by far.

I think closest to the real thing is "truecrosshair" mod, four dots that define "the circle of probability" your talking about... So you need to have an ideea where the bullet may hit, but not to know exactly - just like an unaimed shot in real. I still use it in single mission, its just awsome, far better than default ArmA cursor.

There is a small problem with it, in zoom mode the 4 dots get closer instead of getting further, but still the best cursor for a realistic game.

[Maddmatt 1]

I think closest to the real thing is "truecrosshair" mod, four dots that define "the circle of probability" your talking about... So you need to have an ideea where the bullet may hit, but not to know exactly - just like an unaimed shot in real. I still use it in single mission, its just awsome, far better than default ArmA cursor.

There is a small problem with it, in zoom mode the 4 dots get closer instead of getting further, but still the best cursor for a realistic game.

Agreed. I like that mod.

As for the dots getting closer when you zoom, are you sure that's not because you have 'hold breath' bound to the same key? How close the parts of the crosshair are indicates your accuracy, as in how much sway you will have. Notice it expands when you are tired.

Personally I really don't like the standard ArmA 2 crosshair. It seems even more accurate than the iron sights, that's even worse than the ArmA 1 crosshair!

At least if they removed the centre dot it would be ok.

Would be nice if there were some measures to decrease accuracy when not aiming through the sights, like some extra sway or slow 'drifting' around.

As it is now, you could cheat when playing without the crosshair by turning off floating zone and sticking something in the middle of the screen...

Edited June 9, 2009 by Maddmatt

[Nicholas 5]

Actually, i disagree. I mean, some people really like the crosshair. If you don't like it, turn it off simple as that.

[afp 1]

Johnny, I suggest playing a bit with truecrosshair mod.

Indeed, Maddmatt, I have hold breath on right mouse click too. Hope we will have this for ArmA 2 too - an option in game would be even better... About cheating - this is what probably happen since some servers disable all cursors and you cant use your own..

Edited June 9, 2009 by afp

[CarlGustaffa 4]

JohnnyBoy755, I also suggest reading the thread as to why turning it off doesn't work, at least it didn't for Arma1 multiplayer. In singleplayer, I have full control over difficulty obviously.

I liked truecrosshair mod as well. In fact, I based our version on it a while back, but changed a number of things in it. However, I found the cursor too accurate even then. Going into proper aiming mode didn't really give me much benefits over the crosshairs. It should be bigger, meaning that you would have to estimate a little longer before blasting off at a 300m target without having to use the sights.

It's much better if you remap your hold breath imho. It allows you to hold the breath when you're ready to do the shot, instead of being out of breath when it matters.

[afp 1]

Yep, I tried a larger version (photoshop only) it doesn't look bad. Also a rectangle version (but it looks worse).

Edited June 9, 2009 by afp