Was the campain even bug tested?

[ikkeii 10]

Read the forums mate. Quite a few people saying that they will be returning the game. Sales figures do not represent returned product.

[bascule42 10]

Well I for one am having a bloody good time playng this game. Its so good, they can be forgiven for Harvest Red....just :rolleyes:.

Open the editor, drop a hind in the south western area of the map, take it for a spin at 50m altitude following the railway 'till its terminus, then fly back. If you still feel the same way after the journey then you have no soul and wil never cry again.

[reb0rn 10]

if i had bought the game i would drop a bomb at their HQ... be happy there is cracked games so you can see the CRAP thay want to sell :)

[ikkeii 10]

Now I never said I didnt love the game. I do. its great. but its too buggy. So I hate to love it.

On another note: They obviously have a lot of die hard fans, what these loyals have in common is that they are all modders/editers. They enjoy this game because its a good game to mod etc

For new customers like myself, who isnt a modder, less than impressed with the bugs in this game. I want to be able to play it now but I have to wait until all the bugs are fixed and I learn how to edit/mod.

Edited July 23, 2009 by ikkeii

[chacro 10]

I've been reading these forums for the last few days. I, along with many similar posters here, was a huge fan of operation flashpoint. I don't have the time or the desire to play multiplayer games. I have modded games to add challenge or immersion as I see fit in the past.

I share many other poster's desire for a more immersive gaming experience. I missed out on Arma, but when I saw Arma 2 came out I was extremely hopeful for another great game.

I can understand if one or two people complain about bugs or issues with the campaign, it is bound to happen. Even crashes are likely to happen when you're dealing with a wide array of hardware setups.

However, I'm really surprised to see across these forums, and in almost every review of the game I read that there are show-stopping bugs in the campaign. I cant describe how dissapointing that is to me because I see so much potential here. More shocking is not a single person has come forward saying that they were able to complete the campaign without forcing the missions to end. That is amazing and ridiculous. Even worse, there is no response from the development team on this thread despite several requests for a simple "we're looking into it" response. Seems like a novice move to me.

I guess everything that can be said has already been said in this thread, but I appreciate the feedback. I never do this much due diligence on a game before buying it but this one seems to be completely broken. What a shame.

I will check back when its in a $20 bargain bin. More likely, however, it appears I can skip the game altogether if operation flashpoint is more stable and accomplishes what Arma 2 set out to be. At this point the bar is set to "Does the game work?"

I'm very sad to say I hope that ofp2 wipes the floor with Arma 2 when it comes out. Capitalism will run its course.

[.kju 3240]

@ chacro:

Just a note. A dev of the campaign did just what you said in other threads.

Does he has time to do it in every thread. No. ;)

[chacro 10]

kju- thanks for the info. I realize that they can't read every thread, of course, neither can I. I'm glad to hear it.

[nettrucker 142]

Yeah,

I understand you.

Today I opened OFP 1, loaded the campaign "Too young to die" with GRAA Pack 3.0.

Wow, that is a very Tom clancy or fanta-thriller experience !

Wow I never thought that someone would still play this OFP campaign.

Anyway given the magnitude of the BIS games I don't wonder about bugs: I guess it is almost impossible to get this game bug free from release date. Think of the concept of other games how are they build. There is nothing else comparable in my opinion and believe me I played some FPS but in the end I turned always back to BIS OFP/ArmA series. I know they will improve until bugs are ironed out. It may take some time but it always have been like that and I can accept and live with that.

Regards

nettrucker:D

[eirulan 10]

Wow I never thought that someone would still play this OFP campaign.

Anyway given the magnitude of the BIS games I don't wonder about bugs: I guess it is almost impossible to get this game bug free from release date. Think of the concept of other games how are they build. There is nothing else comparable in my opinion and believe me I played some FPS but in the end I turned always back to BIS OFP/ArmA series. I know they will improve until bugs are ironed out. It may take some time but it always have been like that and I can accept and live with that.

Regards

nettrucker:D

Grazie per la risposta.

Ho visto che sei anche un musicista. Saluti !

Edited July 29, 2009 by eirulan

[Ozihcs 10]

Anyway given the magnitude of the BIS games I don't wonder about bugs: I guess it is almost impossible to get this game bug free from release date. Think of the concept of other games how are they build. There is nothing else comparable in my opinion and believe me I played some FPS but in the end I turned always back to BIS OFP/ArmA series. I know they will improve until bugs are ironed out. It may take some time but it always have been like that and I can accept and live with that.

Regards

nettrucker:D

I think you are spot on there. ArmA 2 is a simulator, and sims are by nature much more complex than other games. In fact, the problems we are having is typical of the simulation genre - the enormity of the task makes it almost impossible to pull it off 100%. One of the greatest sims ever made, by (possibly) the greatest simulator programming house - Falcon 4 from Microprose - was so bugridden and performed so badly on the hardware of the day that is was nearly unplayable. People are still modding and fixing it - 11 years after its release. You might even argue that Falcon 4 was the straw which broke Microproses back - they spent so much time and resources developing it that they went bankrupt afterwards. And they did release a couple of patches, but the game was still only marginally playable.

What happened in the case of F4 was that the source code of the game leaked out, and was picked up by the flight sim community and refined over a period of many many years, and in the end the game became a fantastic war- and flight simulator. It is still the benchmark for all dynamic campaign engines, and imho still reigns as the supreme example of what a simulator should be like.

Okay, now unlike Microprose, Bohemia are still very much alive. And I suspect that they are well aware of the state of their product - although perhaps a bit surprised by the number of problems are having with their campaign. I choose to think that this was an honest mistake and not a calculated move on their part.

There was never any chance whatsoever that a game such as this would be released bug free. It never will be - it's too complex. But I definitely feel that BIs first and foremost priority should be to fix the showstopper bugs in the campaign ASAP.

I have also noticed that while most reviews mention that there are big problems with the campaign, they still give good scores in the end. To me this suggests that many reviewers recognize the complexity involved in making a simulator, and are prepared to let BI work out these problems over time. Hardcore simulator games are few and far between these days, and any software house still willing to invest the massive time and effort required to build a new one deserve all the encouragement they can get - otherwise the genre will die completely.

So, I am not trying to say that it's okay that these problems are going on - it isn't. Some of the bugs I've encountered myself are so glaringly obvious that I am frankly surprised that they weren't fixed before the international release. But what I _am_ saying is that this is a game of massive scope and complexity, and Bohemia Interactive is a small independent studio with very real monetary limitations. I am confident that they will fix most of the major issues eventually, I completely understand that people are upset with the current state of affairs, but I also want to warn you that if we the community are too hostile towards those few players left in the simulation genre they may eventually decide to pack it up and head for greener pastures. There is more money in one half-baked (and massively bug-ridden) movie tie-in than in 10 ArmA games..

[nettrucker 142]

There was never any chance whatsoever that a game such as this would be released bug free. It never will be - it's too complex. But I definitely feel that BIS first and foremost priority should be to fix the showstopper bugs in the campaign ASAP.

I agree with you on that one. But believe me fixing bugs is a hell of a work. You must be very careful because fixing one thing can screw up other things and seen the magnitude of the programming effort to create such a game it is a complex and difficult task. I believe BIS is mostly under pressure being only a small developer. Budget is limited I guess and splitting up from Codemaster forced them to release ArmA1 in a very premature state otherwise there would be no ArmA2 right now. The community itself was constantly pushing for a new release. Most people don't consider such kind of aspects.

I fully understand people ranting about the bugs in missions which do not work properly. I really do. A lot of people are really disappointed especially people who are new to BIS Games. OFP was also buggy when it came out back in 2001 and they fixed it slowly but surely. That shows me that BIS is dedicated and committed to their games. How many other developers you know that are working constantly on patches to improve their games. for being honest I don't know any except BIS. Yeah maybe others release a couple of patches and that's it because they are already working on new projects.

This is addressed to the new people to Arma II.

Believe me you don't have wasted your money even some of you might be convinced of it. This game hasn't only one aspect to be considered. The campaign is bugged . . .:D try multi player then. Real life issues has always prevented myself to play online. For the first time in my life I have the chance to try that out and I did. You know what . . . it is a real blast. Especially playing PvP.

You're not into multi player then fire up the editor and create your own missions. I'm more an editor guy myself and I had fun for 8 years in a raw.

The community is the greatest community I've ever been in and you will see for yourself how active and creative the community really is. New content is created constantly from Islands to weapons, units, vehicles, aircraft, enhancing scripts and tons of more stuff. Not to mention all the awesome mods which have been created in the past. Take a look at Dev Heaven these guys are working to bring old OFP and ArmA content to ArmA2. They are committed and dedicated to do all this stuff and therefore my kudos to Kju and all the other guys involved in this great project. I could go on listing tons of stuff but I give it a rest. Give it some time and you will see that you didn't waste your money.

Well in case you don't like this game at all than I can't help you.

Regards

nettrucker

[laggy 0]

I haven't read all posts in this thread, got tired after three pages of bitter complaints.

I have been playing the campaign as hosted coop and we are currently on the "Manhattan" mission.

Is the campaign bugged ? - yes

Have I been frustrated with it ? - yes

Is it still playable and mostly enjoyable ? - yes

Maybe I'm just very forgiving when it comes to bugs, I design many missions myself and I have an understanding of all the problems involved with making a huge, complex, unpredictable mission with a good storyline and atmosphere. Expecting it to be completely bug-free is unreasonable.

I sincerely think that "Manhattan" (so far) is the most magical experience I have ever had in a game. It feels like the whole world is out there and you have to find a needle in a haystack - Lopotev. You have complete freedom and multiple moral choices dealing with the civilians. Everywhere you go, something happens and there seems to be and endless range of options.

This is what I always wanted and I find it very spurring to see if I can create something of similar quality and immersion myself.

Go ahead, call me a BIS spy or whatever, just bear in mind that I have even been banned from this forum at one point.

TAKE NO PRISONERS :coop:

Laggy

[br@cob 10]

If you get the version 1.02 patch it is possible to win the campaign without resorting to cheats, check out my walkthrough on how to do it at arma2.telcen.com In one case I found a bug that worked to my advantage!