Arma 1 abandoned?

[hoak 0]

Well, the current patch level for Armed Assault is still a beta, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that BI will release a final -- they've been very good to Armed Assault and Operation Flashpoint Fans.

Then, there are things that each BI game can do that others can't or don't, and mods that each have that make them unique that really can't be ported or scaled to the next game due to render limitations etc....

It doesn't seem unreasonable to assume that all three games will have an Audience for some time to come, once the newness has worn off ArmA II.

:)

Edited July 12, 2009 by Hoak

[Ionflux 0]

Well, the current patch level for Armed Assault is still a beta, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that BI will release a final -- they've been very good to Armed Assault and Operation Flashpoint Fans.

:)

I completely agree dude! Well put ;)

[sv5000 127]

BI are trying to get Arma2 out the door, just wait and they will release the final patch for Arma.

if not bf1943 is pretty popular at the moment....

[SlipperyJim 0]

10 patches that screw up more things than they fix. 10 patches that took 3 years just to get the game to a playable level. If you consider that acceptable than there are many other game companies that would like you to beta test their games for free.

[derk yall 0]

And what these 10 patches screwed up, SlipperyJim?

[-)rStrangelove 0]

ArmA1 is far away from being abandoned. In fact I have the feeling many ppl who bought ArmA2 and have problems with it (99%) are buying the ArmA1 Gold version atm to enjoy all the great addons and stable gameplay for hours. You simply can't have that with ArmA2 atm.

ArmA2 will eventually take over, but (wild guess here) not before next year.

[Ionflux 0]

10 patches that screw up more things than they fix. 10 patches that took 3 years just to get the game to a playable level. If you consider that acceptable than there are many other game companies that would like you to beta test their games for free.

Tell you what, go develop your own game! :rolleyes:

[hoak 0]

10 patches that screw up more things than they fix. 10 patches that took 3 years just to get the game to a playable level. If you consider that acceptable than there are many other game companies that would like you to beta test their games for free.

If you want to be more honest and technically correct you should have said:

'Ten patches that fixed most issues, and for the most part addressed them in order of importance and value to ArmA Fans. Ten patches that made the most ambitious, largest scale, most feature rich, realistic and detailed game increasingly more playable on systems that can barely run far less ambitious and capable games/engines. Ten patches that support a game and mod capability with a mod content in volume and quality that would value in the thousands of dollars (or whatever your least favorite currency)...

Ten patches that have made many happy ArmA Customers, when other Developers not only don't patch their games, they don't offer the level of support for Fans to address specific features and issues of game play based on preference...'

:)

[dm 9]

Its ok, he's been given short breaks from the forum for his attitude towards the patches before: http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1183369&postcount=380

[HOPEnSPIRIT 10]

Arma 2 is Arma 1 1.17 :P You must buy this latest "patch".

ArmA 1.17 Change Log:

- Graphics Updated

- Campaign (4 Player COOP)

- Multiplayer Mission Pack

- Bug Fixes NONE!

:laugh:

[mr.g-c 6]

It doesn't matter as SlippreyJim is 100% right.

3 years until Arma1 got playable... still poisened with bugs, but rather "good" playable...

About the Topic:

I don't play Arma2 currently either, but i still play Arma1 and OFP1.... Im'm sorry as usual to say it in those simple and direct words, but Arma2 the worst bugfest i saw so far.

I personally think it will take months if not years until it will be really fun to play with a lot of bugs been fixed.

Xenos post Quoted before is 100% correct too. My second youngest brother which i would say hes a total addict of Arma Series, threw Arma2 in the corner and said he will play it when its crash-free and most anyoing bugs (which i would say some are simply "unfinished features") be fixed.

So our conclusion here is that Arma1 is not abandoned at all. It might be in the future just like the Move from OFP1 -> Arma1, but until that point its still "Actual".

[icebreakr 3159]

I'll make one more island for A1 if 1.03 doesn't arrive soon :)

[hoak 0]

Its ok, he's been given short breaks from the forum for his attitude towards the patches before: http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1183369&postcount=380

Well, it is something a lot of prospective ArmA/BI Fans do complain about, and something that would be prudent for BI to develop a constructive PR policy around that levels more realistic expectations toward their games -- as they do unfortunately get a bad (and undeserved) rap for this elsewhere... The 'using the paying Customers as Beta Testers' unfair and unrealistic as it is, is repeated endlessly elsewhere, and reinforces very negative (and granted uninformed) meme/gossip, that hurts everyone...

Though one look at paucity of Developer/Publishers that actually attempt to create games for this genre, and the way the few that do horribly fumble it when they do, would one would think give prospective Fans a clue that this is one tough genre to build for and do right, and that BI and it's Fans are still here having fun -- dial their attention to the fact that somthing that works is going on here and an appreciation for deferred gratification...

But, games are entertainment, born of instant gratification -- so, smoothly handling these objections, turning them in to the positives they are ergo that BI builds one of if not the most ambitions game/sim/mod platforms you can buy, and supports it very well and for the long haul, then amplifying and repeating endlessly (in good marketing fashion) would gain some ground...

:)

Edited July 15, 2009 by Hoak

[manzilla 1]

But this whole argument of BIS using us as paying beta testers is a farse. BIS ain't the publisher, they most likely have to meet a date set by the publishing agreement.

[deady 0]

Every developer has to meet deadlines really. But they manage to put out a product at version 1.00 that is of a quality that BIS games only reach by about 1.06. Where BIS does do well though, is in it's long term support of a game. Arma 1.16 is really quite good now. Joining online games is very smooth. It's just a shame 1.16 has been beta for so long and also a shame that even when it does go final, the Arma playerbase will be split between Arma and Arma 2.

[hoak 0]

Every developer has to meet deadlines really. But they manage to put out a product at version 1.00 that is of a quality that BIS games only reach by about 1.06.

I disagree... Can you name one recent, contemporary, reasonably feature rich DirectX 9 game that at version 1.00 wasn't met with just as much in the way of frustration and disappointment for running issues as ArmA or ArmA II?

I think how people perceive and react is based on what happens to them, i.e. when you have a deal breaking issue (or seven) with a game you spent a wad on, and it's not reconciled inside a reasonable space of time (for most people that would be the next fifteen minuets), you perceive the game as defective -- and truly as an individual that's a perfectly reasonable response.

But I don't see that BI's games have any more issues or are any less playable 'out of the box' then any other comparable games -- and there aren't many that can compare to BI's games as far as what you're getting for your money.

Where I think BI does fall down (hard) is in communicating their intentions with their Customers, and PR in properly appealing to and setting realistic expectations with their prospective Fans and Customers. When a significant number of paying Customers find something broken, or worse can't even play the game, and the Developer doesn't even communicate something along the lines of:

'

Oops, we see it, we're working on it... Be reasonable, be patient and give us some time to get this squared away properly, we won't let you down...

'

It only leaves people the option to assuming something negative, i.e. the worst: it won't be fixed, they have my money and don't care, they're not competent, they don't believe it's an issue, they don't read the forums etc. etc....

Fortunately there's now a fairly large Audience of BI/ArmA Fans, that know BI have the 'Man Skills', the integrity, work ethics, and love of their craft that they will smooth out the rough edges, and in time just about everything will be nailed down for everyone.

In the interim however, BI still has a big hole in PR and marketing support for its products, that makes them look absentee or unconcered to the uninitiated, and paying frustrated Customer's feathers quite reasonably get quite ruffled -- sadly, this has taken a considerable toll in negative perception and almost certainly on sales...

:o

Edited July 15, 2009 by Hoak

[RUDOLF 9]

It seems ARMA1 is really outdated now.

[hoak 0]

Why would you say that?

:confused:

[hund 0]

I guess he meant that if you've tried Arma 2, ArmA seems a bit old and stiff. Maybe a bit smelly too, like a corpse you put into the cellar during winter, not realizing that the furnace was heating up the space under your house, thus accelerating decomposition.

Or something like that.

[Sinzan 10]

.... like a corpse you put into the cellar during winter, not realizing that the furnace was heating up the space under your house, thus accelerating decomposition.

Or something like that.

Thats pleasantly morbid

On topic: I have armaI and II. I found that after the newness wore off of armaII, ArmaI made it's way back to the top of the frequently used programs list. So it's alive and kicking, here anyways.

[wipman 1]

Hi, i haven't touched the ArmA in like 3 months or so, and i don't think that i gonna youch

it again. The ArmA is dead for me. Let's C ya

[Blackhawk 0]

ArmA 2's AI is so amazingly good in Urban and Rural areas that I can't bear ArmA's AI. I still play ArmA MP though, but ArmA 2 has completely hooked me.

[haroon 10]

As for me ,no matter how good ArmA 2 is,i have to get going with Arma I for some reasons.

Arma I is enough for me,,,,,at least for 2010......

I think ArmA will not easily get abandoned as I have seen the example in OFP.

There are still many out side who play OFP.

And i am one of them too,but i also have ArmA.:D

[william1 0]

as i rarely played Arma lately i opted for unistalling it completely , it's the first time since OFP came out i don't have a BIS game installed, and as my computer can't handle Arma II i think this is a definitive farewell to the series, at least for a long time. It's time to try something else :rolleyes:

[desertjedi 3]

Maybe a bit smelly too, like a corpse you put into the cellar during winter, not realizing that the furnace was heating up the space under your house, thus accelerating decomposition.

For a minute, I thought you were quoting some of the reviews that have come out for Arma 2.

The best way to summarize some of them is to simply use the word "broken". But that's what we've heard from many forum peeps as well about Arma 2.

It will take time - just like Arma did - to fix all the problems. It's good to hear that people are playing Arma 2 in its current state and better yet that they're enjoying what BI has developed.