Arma 2 from a new person's perspective.

[John Stamos 10]

Hello. First and foremost I would like to say I took interest in Arma 2 when steam made some acknowledgments of it months ago. Through some gameplay videos and other screenshots I took heavy interest. I also have about 4 of my friends interested as well. We currently have the demo but there's some issues I don't understand.

Let it be known I've been browsing these forums heavily ever since I got the demo. Unfortunately it seems many of the players here were/are heavy involved with Arma 1 and Operation Flashpoint. (Games that I never knew existed up until the release of Arma 2.) This is fine of course because I believe nothing is better than a small tight knit community. Though when browsing the forums I can't seem to find any "new" information regardless of how hard I try.

I was reading about different mods and such, like warfare and CTI. I cannot seem to distinguish the 2. I'm not even sure exactly what CTI is, how how do I join the games? Is it a custom mod? Must I download it?

Furthermore I find when I join games, (some are more obvious then others, like a TDM or Deathmatch), I'll find I'm just "dumped" into a huge landscape in the middle of nowhere. I can't find a way to type to my team members and no one responds to voice chat, I look at the map only to find some spots where I think I should go, but for all I know everyone could be afk in a corner because I can't get any response. Is it because everyone is so knowledgeable of the game that they just do work like no one's business? or is everyone as new as me and entirely clueless as what's going on? I wish I knew!

Please let me reiterate, I enjoy this game entirely. But as a new person there's so many unanswered questions that through the website and extensive forum browsing I can't seem to find answers for. This is my attempt to answer all those questions.

Maybe if I make a list of newbie questions, it'll help out anyone else in my position.

-What's the multiplayer cap?

-What different modes are there with the stock game?

-What exactly is this CTI mod, as it seems to be the most popular(?) Is this like the Dota of Arma 2?

-Why am I able to see all my enemies on the map when I'm 90% positive

that most of them aren't in line of sight? (I realize my teammates can reveal positions as well.)

-Is there a way to chat in game via text?

-I find this is heavily modded game, sorta like Oblivion. For those who played Oblivion vanilla and remember some of the flaws, there were alot of issues that were fixed via player modifications. Eventually there was a list created that was thought to provide the "best" experience for Oblivion without changing the overall gameplay. Is there a similar list for this game? Mods that shouldn't be played without?

Of course when I think up these threads, I tend to forget everything as I'm typing them so I will come back later when I have more questions. I hope you all understand where I'm coming from and don't take this as a negative post. I really enjoy Arma 2 (demo) and my friends do as well, but we just feel so lost right now. It's like trying out an MMO that's been around for 10 years and trying to understand what's going on. It's not newbie friendly!

I hope someone can help me with these questions and provide even more information on topics I haven't touched or don't even know about! Thank you in advance I appreciate the opportunity to be able to voice my thoughts on this game.

[MareNostrum 10]

As a new player I had the exact same experience with multiplayer and I thank you for starting a topic on it. I also do not see the point of all the coop 30 evolution marine 30, whatever the missions called, and dominate servers. You spawn in a giant airfield miles away from any actual combat. All your teammates are running around spawn crashing vehicles into walls. I also had the experience of people ignoring me when I tried to type to them in chat "wheres the objective? whats the point of this game mode, etc..." Later I found out that if you go to the flagpole you can change your spawn to a location thats actually closer to the combat zone, but there was still almost zero teamwork.

Infact I experienced MORE teamwork in the demo than the full game for some reason. In the demo on the coop servers with a cap of 6 players the team was more likely to stick together. In the fullgame coop servers have so many players that they all just run off on their own. I don't understand how theres any fun in those missions :(. How could someone play these barbaric game modes.

I've seen all those youtube videos of people having fun and using teamwork in armed assault 1 and 2 but its hard to find. It feels like I'm looking for the holy grail of simulation epicness, hopping from server to server but finding none :(

[ghodan 10]

I've seen all those youtube videos of people having fun and using teamwork in armed assault 1 and 2 but its hard to find. It feels like I'm looking for the holy grail of simulation epicness, hopping from server to server but finding none :(

Joint http://ic-arma.net/

those guys play more serius then public server chaos.

[no use for a name 0]

1. -What's the multiplayer cap?

Depends on the server, but I think 64vs.64 is the game's max

2. -What different modes are there with the stock game?

There's quite a few; but I think the more popular for REAL players are Force on Force, co-op, and warfare.

3. -What exactly is this CTI mod, as it seems to be the most popular(?) Is this like the Dota of Arma 2?

CTI = Capture the Island. I've never played it tho because co-op is where it's at ;) ; but I assume it's like capture the flag but with more resources (like Force on Force)

4. -Why am I able to see all my enemies on the map when I'm 90% positive

that most of them aren't in line of sight? (I realize my teammates can reveal positions as well.)

This depends on the difficulty settings; clients use whatever the server is set to

5. -Is there a way to chat in game via text?

yes, use the / key. also you have to be in the right channel for others to see your text. use the , and . keys to change your channels. If you want everyone (including enemies) to see use Global

6. -I find this is heavily modded game, sorta like Oblivion.

The game's just been released so the mod makers are still hard at work; but you could check out and ask this question in the Arma2 modding forum. If there's a new mod coming out, it'll be there. The more popular ones for Arma were sound and special effects mods, and then ACE was probably the most ambitious gameplay mod that changed just about everything.

as for servers, you really need to find a good group of people to play with that are mature and use tactics/teamwork. I've never had ANY fun on some pub server with a bunch of kids running around like idiots thinking this is BF2.

Edited June 28, 2009 by No Use For A Name

[cm 0]

This is simply one of the problems with pubs and domination/evolution etc.

The servers go to shit because everything becomes unorganised. If you want to really experience the game, approach your local clan/squad/arma community. I'd recommend the Tactical Gamer servers tbh because they are always polite to noobs, play seriously, and kick/ban people who don't.

(btw the server isn't up yet, and I'm not a TG member either).

The unfortunate thing about arma is the game REALLY depends on who you play with, more so than other games. Luckily, there are a ton of small communities who will play the way it's mean to be. Joining a random pub is not really recommended. Joining clan servers is more likely to get you into a serious game.

One thing I should mention is to introduce yourself as someone new but willing to learn. If you start pressing buttons and walking around willy-nilly, you'll soon find yourself out of the server as quickly as you got in.

Hope that helps.

BTW, CTI = capture the island (a term used in arma1, OFP when the only maps were islands).

[dvolk 10]

ArmA 1/2 MP is not the place to look for teamwork. Like it or not, teamwork in ArmA is an big inconvenience, so you'll only find it on private servers.

Don't give me that crap about the unwashed masses on public servers. I played ETQW and the worst public server had more teamwork than the best ArmA 2 server. That's because in ETQW you didn't get anywhere alone, while playing alone is the best way in ArmA.

[Mc Speedfreak 10]

as arma2 has just been released there a a tonne of new servers up atm which are loosely run as public servers. there you find an insane ammount of people "shooting the shit" or trying to figure the game out.

in time more and more serious servers will appear.

[whisper 0]

ArmA 1/2 MP is not the place to look for teamwork. Like it or not, teamwork in ArmA is an big inconvenience, so you'll only find it on private servers.

Don't give me that crap about the unwashed masses on public servers. I played ETQW and the worst public server had more teamwork than the best ArmA 2 server. That's because in ETQW you didn't get anywhere alone, while playing alone is the best way in ArmA.

2 big mistakes here :

- ETQW has better teamwork "because you can't do without". I can't count the number of games overwhelmed with statspadders or worst, lemmings. FYI completing an obj by lemming is no teamwork

- ArmA rewards single player over team. Just popping out of my head, a dedicated transport pilot in CTI can be the difference between a loss & a win

In general teamwork is only what YOU do to achieve it. Don't expect it to magically come from the game itslef, it comes first and foremost from you. "ArmA has no teamwork" is meaningless

[Balgorg 10]

I agree with most of the above, and yes when you first start playing multiplayer its hard to know what to do. When I first started with Arma 1, I was kicked of maps for no apparent reason, possibly because experienced players thought I was arsing about, when infact I was just damn lost and couldnt find the chat key........ But once you get into the swing of things the teamwork can really pay off. In games like evolution you have to slog it miles to the next destination, if your rank is too low you have to rely on pilots to pick you up, and drop you off.

There is nothing more satisfying when yer out in the middle of knowhere and you flag down a passing copter for a quick lift.

The new Evolution map is a WIP, so its not as good as the old Evolution maps. Stick with it and it will all make sense. This aint no COD.

[sabre4809 0]

Look for the proper servers that are properly admined etc. And try join a clan or something. Look here: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=75086

Also the game mp cap is: Whatever the server can handle.

[katua 10]

I have been playing a lot arma 2 demo coop mp missions and tbh most of them are teamwork based and people is ready to help each others.

[John Stamos 10]

The new Evolution map is a WIP, so its not as good as the old Evolution maps. Stick with it and it will all make sense. This aint no COD.

Ahhhh! Speak english! =]

I'm not familiar with Evolution, [insert Fail Here---->]or what WIP means.[/fail] I'm still on the demo don't forget, so I'm not entirely sure if I'd know what you just said if I had the game. I just find the demo to be so fleshed out that it'll give me proper time to adjust before diving in. Like most games that aren't battlefield or call of duty though, I worry that the Demo has more players then the Full version, essentially splitting the community. People who played Frontlines: Fuel of War will know EXACTLY what I mean. They released an updated MP patch for the Demo users before the actual full version users. There were more players on the demo then in the real game, and the community was torn. How's the balance here?

But yes, I enjoy the fact it's not an "arcade shooter" like CoD is. That's why I'm here making this thread :)

edit: Hah...WIP...work in progress. Wow I'm slow today.

Edited June 28, 2009 by John Stamos

[CarlGustaffa 4]

5. -Is there a way to chat in game via text?

You don't state where you're from, what kind of keyboard you're using. On my norwegian keyboard it is the - key, to the right of , and . keys. I'm assuming by 'No Use For A Name' from US that a US keyboard has the / at the same position.

Isn't it mentioned in the manual?

---

WIP = Work In Progress; not a finished mission. Personally I think Evolution sucks. It's more often than not a hunt for points with no teamplay going on. Domination is better, but a bit too hardware oriented, although I haven't got Arma2 yet so I don't know any of these missions here yet. Good games for learning the game I guess, but don't get too high hopes on how it is played, at least on public servers.

Edited June 28, 2009 by CarlGustaffa

[dvolk 10]

- ArmA rewards single player over team. Just popping out of my head, a dedicated transport pilot in CTI can be the difference between a loss & a win

That's funny I could swear that in the most popular MP ArmA 1/2 CTI mission you can teleport from the base right to the battlefield, which removes any need for transport.

- ETQW has better teamwork "because you can't do without". I can't count the number of games overwhelmed with statspadders or worst, lemmings. FYI completing an obj by lemming is no teamwork

That's not how to I remember ETQW. The games I played required excellent coordination & tactics and knowledge of the game's many subtleties. Lemming strategies were trivial to defeat.

If any game resembles lemmings it's ArmA CTI ;)

In general teamwork is only what YOU do to achieve it. Don't expect it to magically come from the game itslef, it comes first and foremost from you. "ArmA has no teamwork" is meaningless

It's not that you can't have teamwork in ArmA or that it's not fun with the right crowd, it's that there's no real need for it beyond the need you yourself project on the game. Other games like ETQW do it better by requiring teamwork to win.

[KorJax 10]

Thanks I had these questions too. So that explains why in the demo on some servers the map doesn't work at all and neither the spawns.

Speaking of which how does spawning work? I've had some servers happen where spawning worked fine and you'd spawn at the HQ. Most others would have maps that don't work/show anything/any objective, and if you died you would just respawn where you died (repeat forever due to spawn camping...). It's the worst game system I've seen yet.

What game mode causes the above?

It's fun though when I find a real server to play on.

I'm on the fence if I should get the game though. I'm just not liking the idea that the only way I'll have fun is if I only play with a dedicated group, but at the same time I like the idea of a modern-day "planetside" where teamwork and objectives are king... even if planetside's multiplayer design was miles ahead of ArmA2's from what I've played in the demo. Atleast in PS you didn't NEED a clan in that game to be able to use teamwork/understand what was going on in the game.

Are there any choppers in the multiplayer demo? I'd like to try being a transport for players even if I have no idea WTH is going on because the game doesn't tell most of the time.

[MulleDK19 21]

1. -What's the multiplayer cap?

Depends on the server, but I think 64vs.64 is the game's max

64 TOTAL is max.

[ck-claw 1]

64 TOTAL is max.

Not true!:cool:

[arma2mods 10]

This game has been out just one month so it yet hasnt get it final defined . Currently it seems that the MP playing composition mode keep the Arma1 trend, meaning 68% is Coop against AI, 30% PvP is assisted by AI in in WF and CTI and the very small portion of only PvP, and missions basically are port over from A1 counterparts.

Usually in this case in release time of new game the players are less aware all the oppurtunities game can give and then the randomness is on it maximum.

More the game have similarity with it predecessors more it will benefit the players who remains loyal to saga, so A2 gaming expirience is bit complex to newcomers.

More ppl in one server less help and teamplay in general, so looking for few people manned servers might have more of it , if going to some random server in public.

[Meek 10]

Joining a dedicated group isn't as daunting as it sounds, I am new to BIS's titles (haven't played ArmA1 or OFP), and I have joined Charlie Foxtrot without incident, all that was needed was a few posts in their forums.

Gameplay is definitely better in 'serious' games, but failing that, you may want to stick to servers with fewer players as I find those have better teamwork then the bigger public servers, additionally, public servers belonging to clans are generally better then servers not run by clans.

Considering you are playing ArmA to get a break from 'arcade-style' FPSes, I would suggest that you avoid playing the Evolution and Domination missions.

[MareNostrum 10]

I want to play on servers with an actual mission and objective not this run to the flagpole/teleport/deathmatch crapfest that 90% of the servers seem to have. I've found some scripted missions that were fun but there is very few of them. I don't understand why so many people just love playing domination and evolution.

[cm 0]

I want to play on servers with an actual mission and objective not this run to the flagpole/teleport/deathmatch crapfest that 90% of the servers seem to have. I've found some scripted missions that were fun but there is very few of them. I don't understand why so many people just love playing domination and evolution.

Most people don't enjoy it. We need to wait for more people to make good missions.

[whisper 0]

See my sig for a concept you may like (or not :) ).

Not much spare time though to say the least, so it's very slow to build up.

[Placebo 29]

The thing that always scares me about people new to ArmA2 is them opening up control configuration option for the first time, I find it the most daunting part of the game, really could use some wonderful inspiration to solve that problem :)

[An Fiach 10]

I want to play on servers with an actual mission and objective not this run to the flagpole/teleport/deathmatch crapfest that 90% of the servers seem to have. I've found some scripted missions that were fun but there is very few of them. I don't understand why so many people just love playing domination and evolution.

Actually, I think that Domination is really good. It has objectives to be met and gives you the means to do so. It requires players to behave as a team though to make it good. Like most games, it comes down to who you play with online, whether or not it is an enjoyable experience. Give it time though ArmA 2 has that great new logic to make random missions, I'm sure someone will make good use of that.