Where to start?

[Hoppern 10]

Hi all!

I have given up the campaign for now - buggy, bad story etc. I loved OPF, and I really want to get back to that feeling with ArmA2.

I never played ArmA1 due to some years without gaming, but now I'm back. So I have given up on the campaign, but I want to find other ways to enjoy this game.

So where should I start? I have fooled around with the editor, but I only come up with pretty simple missions. I have read all over about the great community and massive amount of mods. I tried multiplayer, but didn't really understand it.

So, where should I start? Any beginners tips to how to enjoy the massive potential of this game?

[Inkompetent 0]

Seek out some squad, clan or community from your own country (there's a sub-forum for that here at BIS' forum). It gives you some regular buddies to play with, some people to help introduce you to the kind of missions you are interested in, and well... ArmA2 is all about teamplay anyway. Makes it vastly better!

[Hoppern 10]

Thanks, but the problem is that I am not that really into multiplayer, and don't have enough time to join a squad "full time". I'm looking for a great SP experience, but right now that got ruined by the campaign.

[Herbal Influence 10]

Download crcti warfare 0.9 and put it into msmissons-folder ... and start it on your PC (don't forget locking it - click on lock-symbal) as multiplayer game.

Download: http://forums.ogn.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=44985&d=1247825848

There will be years of fun for you. I am doing cti (mfcti and crcti) since they came out ... in ... year 2002 I think.

And this way you open another way: If you get bored by bots - you simply "unlock" your PC and ... after a few minutes somebody will enter and game with you, if you want him to! You can tell him to leave and wait for another ..... or even kick him. Though this wouldn't be very friendly and might upset him for good reasons.

Edited July 20, 2009 by Herbal Influence

[hund 0]

What is it about multiplayer that you don't like?

[Hoppern 10]

I do enjoy a good multiplayer game, but I'm more of a casual multiplayer gamer - I play TF2 with friends from time to time an so on.

I have the impression that the MP in ArmA 2 (from Inkompetents post and other threads) that it's essential to join a squad. I have actually looked up a squad in my country (Norway), but it looks like it takes to much time and commitment to even get started. I work, go to school and live with my girlfriend, so I don't have time to do weekly trainings an so on. Though I think MP would be a lot fun, its not for me right now.

I will check out crcti warfare 0.9:)

[Herbal Influence 10]

When I wrote crcti is for years ... it really is ... maybe the first hours (EDIT: days !) you are just a learner.

And - as far as I know - there is no recent manual to do it, only the old one at

http://mfcti.sourceforge.net/MFCTIInstructions/Instructions.html

But don't hesitate to ask in a crcti - thread! ;-)

[Hoppern 10]

Yeah. I tried it just now, but didn't understand a thing:S I really haven't gotten into the whole warfare thing yet either. I have only played the OFP campaign before, and all this new modes in tottaly new to me. Its quite overwhelming, and I'm not sure that I like it. Feels like I have wasted my money. I am ready to try to learn it, but the lack of documentation is killing the game for me:S

[Herbal Influence 10]

Oh ... ok ... but don't forget it's not an official mission .... it's all done by the community.

And there's where you find help too.

Just ask.

Yeah - and sure it's overwhelming. It is AA2 at it's best! :)

[cadmium77 16]

Hi all!

I have given up the campaign for now - buggy, bad story etc. I loved OPF, and I really want to get back to that feeling with ArmA2.

I never played ArmA1 due to some years without gaming, but now I'm back. So I have given up on the campaign, but I want to find other ways to enjoy this game.

So where should I start? I have fooled around with the editor, but I only come up with pretty simple missions. I have read all over about the great community and massive amount of mods. I tried multiplayer, but didn't really understand it.

So, where should I start? Any beginners tips to how to enjoy the massive potential of this game?

Learn the editor inside out.

Then read recent military analyses of contemporary operations and military manuals you find online. Construct authentic operation models and play them. You won't be disappointed; the AI in this game is one of the best around. Play the same scenario a dozen times and you'll have a different battle every time..

Use Dunnigan as you model;

Jim Dunnigan's Game Bibliography

[in his own words...] "I have authored over a hundred published simulations of historical and current events. I'm constantly asked, "did you design this one, or that one," and sometimes even I'm not sure. So I put together a list. Most were published by SPI, although at least five other publishers are also represented. A dozen or so are still in print, the rest are collectibles. Consider this an example of what one person can do if they apply themselves."

http://www.paladin-press.com/product/1015/53

OMG I've got to get his book now..

A QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO WAR, 4th Edition

The Tools for Understanding the Global War on Terror, Cyber War, Iraq, the Persian Gulf, China, Afghanistan, the Balkans, East Africa, Colombia, Mexico, and Other Hot Spots

by James F. Dunnigan and Austin Bay

The first three editions of A Quick and Dirty Guide to War not only provided essential tools for understanding wars and hot spots around the world, they delivered remarkably accurate projections on the outcomes of each conflict. War-game simulation specialists James F. Dunnigan and Austin Bay have revised their highly regarded analyses, bringing up to date not only the many conventional conflicts around the world today but the new battlegrounds that have emerged since the previous edition was published more than a decade ago – the Global War on Terror, counterinsurgency struggles around the world and the latest frontier of modern combat: cyber war.

This fourth edition takes up where the last edition left off and analyzes the monumental events that have occurred since 1996 – September 11, the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – while guiding readers through dozens of other significant developments around the globe, including the tinderbox situation with Iran and oil flow through the Persian Gulf; the final disintegration of Yugoslavia; the struggle for regional influence between Brazil, Colombia and Hugo Chávez's Venezuela; Israel's attempts to deal with a fragmented Palestine Liberation Organization; China and India's growing influence in Asia and beyond; ongoing chaos and suffering on the Horn of Africa; Russia's struggle to reassert itself on the world stage; and much more.

Dunnigan and Bay present an enormous amount of information in a series of concise, insightful briefings coupled with their shrewd projections of potential outcomes, making A Quick and Dirty Guide to War a thought-provoking reference on the face of war in the 21st century.

James F. Dunnigan and Austin Bay are U.S. Army veterans, acclaimed military historians and analysts, and designers of war-game simulations. Dunnigan has been a lecturer to the U.S. State Department, CIA and U.S. Army War College. Bay writes a syndicated national security column and has appeared as a guest commentator on CNN, C-SPAN, Nightline and NPR.

http://www.alanemrich.com/CSR_pages/Awards%20Pages/CSR1975.htm

FireFight (1976)- Done under contract for the Infantry School. To be used for training Platoon Leaders and senior NCO's. Tactical level, units represented vehicles and fire teams. Contract allowed for commercial version, which became a best seller.

A tactical game of modern (late 1970's) mechanized combat, partly funded by the US Army as a training tool, to show the effects of the long range and lethality of modern weapons on the techniques and tactics of the modern battlefield.

Game components: 400 die cut counters, two 22" x34" geomorphic maps, rules booklet, briefing booklet.

BTW the briefing booklet for Firefight is one of the best essays on modern mechanized warfare ever written. A must have for any real wargamer.

http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/FIREFIGHT-SPI-flat-try-OTTIMO_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ370201821797

http://cgi.ebay.com/Firefight-war-game-boxed-(TSR%2FSPI)-new-Board-Game_W0QQitemZ290326049750QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090622?IMSfp=TL090622145003r39094

Edited July 20, 2009 by Cadmium77

[Hoppern 10]

Dude, chill. If thats what it takes to enjoy this game, I'm shelfing it right now.

[Inkompetent 0]

What commitment is needed in a squad varies with every squad. Always worth checking if there's one around that suits your available time and energy.

As for single player... Well, just check the User Missions forum to see what people have made :)

[BoxiouS 10]

Cadmium77. thanks for that, interesting stuff. You seem to have misread this post from the op though...

I do enjoy a good multiplayer game, but I'm more of a casual multiplayer gamer - I play TF2 with friends from time to time an so on.

:D Hence...

Dude, chill. If thats what it takes to enjoy this game, I'm shelfing it right now.

I love the way you start with "Learn the editor inside out"

:D

@Hoppern.

There is no easy way into this game. It at least takes some effort to actually figure out what to do in MP. I hated it the first time i played it, purely because the server was full of clueless people trying to play Battlefield 2. that shit doesn't fly in Chernarus, and it makes it unpleasant for someone trying to learn the ropes, and if you stumble upon any server running a harder difficullty than recruit, it makes it even harder.

I urge you to stick with it though. I have a thing for obtuse games and this reminds me of Stalker in many ways. The game asks for something in return for the satisfaction it creates. it's complicated, unpredictable, and hard as nails. Like Stalker (was) it's an unfinished masterpiece. only it's got MUCH better support.

I spent three hours led in a field last week. Moved about 60 feet that whole time. Never shot my weapon once. Had an awesome time though;)

There's masses of action here too. Just don't expect it the instant you join a game. Makes it better IMO. you feel like more of a hunter when you have to hunt.

Don't try and win the war. Just the next fight:)

[frederf 0]

Multiplayer is going to be a big, confusing thing at first. 95% of the servers are playing Domination/ Evolution/ Warfare type missions which take the standard gameplay and try to make it into Battlefield 2 where you're unlocking stuff and earning money and teleporting across the terrain by magic. That's a whole thick layer of frankly... crap and it's not doing you any favors or avoiding any bad habits when trying to learn the core game.

The editor, tutorial missions, and the armory are pretty good for experiencing simple, core gameplay. The campaign is a good idea too up to and including about Manhattan. After that it gets into Warfare style play which is pretty bleh. SimHQ has a pack of missions which are smallish military vignettes that play like ArmA2 missions are supposed to play like.

In the end, ArmA2 isn't a game so much as it is a playset. Asking how do you play ArmA2 is like asking how do you play with Legos? However you like and can manage.

[cadmium77 16]

Dude, chill. If thats what it takes to enjoy this game, I'm shelfing it right now.

Well, this is ultimately a military simulator, so perhaps before you go out and try to embark on simulating the military, it might be a good idea to know just what it is the military does. And that's not at all a boring thing, since the US is now spending a Trillion dollars a year on the military. They're buying systems with an internal logic to them, an inherent strategy and tactics built into them. So if you're going to sample this game on any level transcending BF2 or COD which are pretty annoying wastes of time for the most part IMO, then you might want to use this simulator (not game) as a kind of study tool...

That's a lot more fun than it sounds.

---------- Post added at 07:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:18 PM ----------

I love the way you start with "Learn the editor inside out"

:D