Considering buying it now --- what's its status?

[NoxNoctum 10]

Everyone still is talking about the bugs, even the very recent review from gamespot pretty much said that was the only factor keeping ARMA2 from being basically the be-all and end all.

I thought these were being patched up?

Can someone give me an honest run down of what problems there still are bugwise? Especially related to the SP campaign?

My other main reason for buying ARMA 2 is the multiplayer. Now I'm a longtime Project Reality player... which is awesome and has a legendary community. Teamplay on pubs is absolutely unbelievable (partly due to the kickass squad system and very vigilant server admins). PR's gameplay is, in short, kickass. Its only flaw is the 64 player limit (which is a pretty big flaw).

How big a battle can I expect to participate in in ARMA 2? Like on a regular basis? (in other words not flukes)

How much do people play together/have mics? To give a basic example of PR's regular gameplay on PUBLIC SERVERS (NOT CLANS!), you can coordinate with 3 or 4 other infantry squads with a commander in charge calling in mortar strikes and CAS... you can ask for a Blackhawk to pick you up or a LB to strike a laser designated building etc... and people actually do it. That's the best thing about PR. People work together. Period. And on pubs too. It helps that pretty much 90% of players have mics.

Can I realistically expect this in ARMA2 as well on pubs or not? And how big are the battles? If it's just around 60-70 still I'd rather give the game a chance to get more patched up, but if there are people participating in 150+ lagless battles that I'm in.

Oh yeah and how's the netcode? I remember OFP's was shitty (other than that though it's my all time favorite game).

I'm a longtime fan of OFP, one of the originals and all that so don't feel the need to BS me ;). Just want to honestly know how good the SP and MP experiences are right now.

For SP, AI and bugs are my biggest concerns.

For MP, cooperation, lag, and server sizes are my biggest concerns.

Thanks all.

EDIT: One last thing, hear a rumor that CPU speed directly effects how good the AI is. True?

Edited July 26, 2009 by NoxNoctum

[cm 0]

1. SP campaign = unplayable. You may as well call it uncompletable unless you want to constantly restart your mission over and over and over again until you finish it.

2. 50+ isn't exactly rare, but I wouldn't expect to jump on any time and have always be able to join one.

3. This is a bit of a problem at the moment because the game is relatively new. Give it a few months when all the noobs have left and public may actually pick up in team work a bit. At the moment though you basically have to join a clan or a well administrated server in order to get a good game. I'd recommend Tactical Gamer if you live in the states (even if you don't, I play with them and I'm from Australia). They are serious about the game 24/7 and 99.99% of the players have the right mind-set.

4. don't really know about this but it depends a lot on the missions if you will get de-sync or not (99% are user created). If it is designed well and the server is fast then the game will run fine. It's only when missions start using 9999 scripts that things can go wobbly.

5. Still quite a few bugs, but MP wise nothing that really stands out. It's easily playable and the bugs go unnoticed for me at least

6. AI is 100x better than arma 1 but still has it's 'dumb moments' nothing too bad though

7. no the AI does not perform differently depending on how fast your CPU is. What kind of retarded rumour is that.

[p75 10]

Play the demo

[Poppis 10]

I would wait for the next patch before getting the game.

[LJGoose 10]

It's a great game. It has its issues but it will be fixed up. Make sure you are running a decent comp to. The only thing is the steep learning curve. Forget everthing you learned about PR and start over with this. Using PR tactics in this game will get you killed. If you are up for a challenge and realism this is where it is at. I still only know the basics and I have been playing for about 12 hours.

[NoxNoctum 10]

Has BI said they're working on fixing the campaign bugs?

Any kind of "stuff we're working on" thread that I've missed?

[bigduksixx 15]

Support this project by buying a copy. It only cost me 20ukp.

[NoxNoctum 10]

I'm going to I'm just trying to figure out if it's too buggy for now.

[S!fkaIaC 10]

Look how customers with serious problems are treated - > "its ready when its ready" when they ask for a fix. Nuff that I was so stupid, I suggest to all others to wait another 2 years until BIS might brought it to a decent quality.

[p75 10]

I'm going to I'm just trying to figure out if it's too buggy for now.

It is defenitely playable and fun. Some bugs, yes, but all are complaining, because even with bugs it is such a good experience.

Running a stable 30-40fps, everything on very high except AA on normal, viewdistance 4000 @1440*900.

Grtz

[Reyn 10]

Do people really still play the campaign and single player? It's all about multiplayer and it's a gem in that department :)

[Deadfast 43]

Look how customers with serious problems are treated - > "its ready when its ready" when they ask for a fix.

So you'd rather have a patch ready when it's not ready? :p

[bigduksixx 15]

Look how customers with serious problems are treated - > "its ready when its ready" when they ask for a fix. Nuff that I was so stupid, I suggest to all others to wait another 2 years until BIS might brought it to a decent quality.

Bit precious aren't we? Tell, you what, let's tell everyone not to buy, cause the release to be poor financially, see support the the product stopped prematurely and then pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. :j:

If you want to support this sim then put your money on the table now, not in 2-years.

---------- Post added at 11:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 AM ----------

So you'd rather have a patch ready when it's not ready? :p

He probably thinks that for 20 quid the devs should come round his house and patch his copy personally!

[theukmoog 10]

Do people really still play the campaign and single player? It's all about multiplayer and it's a gem in that department :)

Some of us would like to play the co-op campaign but it's unplayable in current condition.

The co-op campaign is the ONLY reason I bought the game, to play through with a mate and we still feel ripped off by Bohemia and pissed off at all the people here telling us that the campaign just doesn't matter!!!

[bigduksixx 15]

Some of us would like to play the co-op campaign but it's unplayable in current condition.

The co-op campaign is the ONLY reason I bought the game, to play through with a mate and we still feel ripped off by Bohemia and pissed off at all the people here telling us that the campaign just doesn't matter!!!

Are you seriously trying to tell us that there is no other aspect you're interested in?

[BoxiouS 10]

I would wait for the next patch before getting the game.

Nonsense. Just ignore the campaign and make skirmishes in the editor. You can make a mission in 10 minutes that you can play for hours, from both sides, or as armour or from the air etc... If the editor was the only thing that came with this game it would still be awesome value for money. You can get used to all of the weapons, squad commands and the ai 'behaviours', the vehicles and the aircraft

((OT)) I had no intention of touching the aircraft (or even half of the vehicles) when i bought the game, but this last few days i've been perfecting slow bombing of the castle on the hill in the (addon) F-16 (freefall bombs). That thing is just awesome to fly, flaps down and really slow popping up over the wall of the castle, afterburner on, drop bomb(s) flaps up and hope i don't get caught by it. Took 5 minutes to make and i've played it loads, with variations:D)((OT))

Support this project by buying a copy. It only cost me 20ukp.

Agreed. Cost me £22.50 on release day. That's £32.50 less than COD 4.5 will be on release if that rumour is true:eek:

Look how customers with serious problems are treated - > "its ready when its ready" when they ask for a fix. Nuff that I was so stupid, I suggest to all others to wait another 2 years until BIS might brought it to a decent quality.

The fact that we got a patch in the middle of the night at the weekend tells me that they aren't just sat around not patching the game:rolleyes:

Patience is a virtue. (though if someone is desperate to play the campaign then it must be frustrating for them)

He probably thinks that for 20 quid the devs should come round his house and patch his copy personally!

With 100 gold floppy disks.

[Reyn 10]

Some of us would like to play the co-op campaign but it's unplayable in current condition.

The co-op campaign is the ONLY reason I bought the game, to play through with a mate and we still feel ripped off by Bohemia and pissed off at all the people here telling us that the campaign just doesn't matter!!!

Understandable but from my experience the game engine is not capable of being stable in single player/campaign situations, just like A1.

OFP CWC and OFPR were the only campaigns i ever played/completed and enjoyed.

Armed Assault campaigns are a different story...

[trickster1982 10]

My advice is buy the game, play with your settings till you get it right (I found using the nvidia 190.15 drivers, renaming the arma 2 file "crysis.exe", video memory set to very high, view distance 3000m & everything else set to normal has it running absolutely fine on my 2 year old rig & it looks great)

Ignore the campaign till they fix it & concentrate on some of the damned awesome single missions people have been releasing on here, you'll get your moneys worth :cool:

[wooly-back-jack 10]

still buggy and annoying yet, wait for stability before buying, don't think you can run this game well just because you can run the demo well either. :rolleyes:

I used to play PR myself and Arma2 has massive potential, I can't wait for bugs and crashes to be ironed out as I know it's going to be my main game for years to come. However, for many of us it's just not ready yet.

Give it a few months when all the noobs have left and public may actually pick up in team work a bit.

mY8IAcaEmXo

Project Reality used to have that problem too :p

[RedRage 0]

Jeez, it's only $50 dollars. I put more in my gas tank twice a week.

Game is worth it just for the editor alone!

[DarthElvis 0]

Still buggy, still unoptimized, still unfinished. If you want to spend $50.00 for an editor, go ahead.

For $50.00 , I expect the game to work as advertized. Wait 2 years, then buy it. Wish I would have done that for ARMA 1.

[Zombie_Mod 0]

Have to love the "even though this game is bugged to hell, you should still buy it and support the dev team" mantra being repeated here.

You are encouraging mediocrity!! What happened to standards and expecting better?

Why should people pay for something that they can't play right now? That is so very stupid. If BIS were to go bankrupt because their game was broken, who's fault would it be? Not mine, that's for sure.

Oh yeah, we have a mission editor... well what if someone can't be arsed making their own missions, or doesn't have the technical ability? I've seen clever people struggle with using Word ffs! (GPs if you must know, lol)

I read the following today on Eurogamer forums ( http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/arma-ii-review ) from Placebo himself: "If only life were that simple, unfortunately in the real world it's not down to us to decide when the game is released"

That sentence says so very much:

1) You had a release date given to you by the publisher. Same as everyone else.

2) Your dev teams priorities are obviously very, very wrong if they're spending their time modelling chickens and cows, and not getting the core code working & tested before the KNOWN deadline.

3) You were struggling to meet the deadline so you let the game go out with bugs. Who signed off the game in this state? What pub does he drink in? :D

I want a job with BIS.

[harryohh 10]

Have to love the "even though this game is bugged to hell, you should still buy it and support the dev team" mantra being repeated here.

You are encouraging mediocrity!! What happened to standards and expecting better?

Why should people pay for something that they can't play right now? That is so very stupid. If BIS were to go bankrupt because their game was broken, who's fault would it be? Not mine, that's for sure.

Oh yeah, we have a mission editor... well what if someone can't be arsed making their own missions, or doesn't have the technical ability? I've seen clever people struggle with using Word ffs! (GPs if you must know, lol)

I read the following today on Eurogamer forums ( http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/arma-ii-review ) from Placebo himself: "If only life were that simple, unfortunately in the real world it's not down to us to decide when the game is released"

That sentence says so very much:

1) You had a release date given to you by the publisher. Same as everyone else.

2) Your dev teams priorities are obviously very, very wrong if they're spending their time modelling chickens and cows, and not getting the core code working & tested before the KNOWN deadline.

3) You were struggling to meet the deadline so you let the game go out with bugs. Who signed off the game in this state? What pub does he drink in? :D

I want a job with BIS.

Excellent point.Who really cares about the cows and the chickens.

[max power 21]

Have to love the "even though this game is bugged to hell, you should still buy it and support the dev team" mantra being repeated here.

You are encouraging mediocrity!! What happened to standards and expecting better?

Why should people pay for something that they can't play right now? That is so very stupid. If BIS were to go bankrupt because their game was broken, who's fault would it be? Not mine, that's for sure.

Oh yeah, we have a mission editor... well what if someone can't be arsed making their own missions, or doesn't have the technical ability? I've seen clever people struggle with using Word ffs! (GPs if you must know, lol)

I read the following today on Eurogamer forums ( http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/arma-ii-review ) from Placebo himself: "If only life were that simple, unfortunately in the real world it's not down to us to decide when the game is released"

That sentence says so very much:

1) You had a release date given to you by the publisher. Same as everyone else.

2) Your dev teams priorities are obviously very, very wrong if they're spending their time modelling chickens and cows, and not getting the core code working & tested before the KNOWN deadline.

3) You were struggling to meet the deadline so you let the game go out with bugs. Who signed off the game in this state? What pub does he drink in? :D

I want a job with BIS.

That's a very interesting world you live in. I like the notion that there are programmers on the BIS dev team that just get up out of their desks one day and proclaim, "Fuck it. Fuck this. I'm modeling a cow".

"Isn't that the art depts job?"

"It's your job to mind your own business."

You realise that if the design document calls for wild life, then wild life tasks are assigned appropriate to the department, and when they are finished they go into a repository. What the art dept. is doing doesn't really affect what the programming dept is doing unless they are late. Besides, most programmers I know can hardly even hold a pencil. Clawed hands from constant typing and gripping cans of redbull, you see.

BIS didn't seem to get the world wide publisher they wanted, and got a bunch of territorial publishers pretty late. It seemed like a case of 'surprise assholes, your deadline is in 6 weeks'.

Good examples of strawman arguments, though. I never get tired of those.

Edited July 26, 2009 by Max Power

[seba1976 98]

Why should people pay for something that they can't play right now? That is so very stupid. If BIS were to go bankrupt because their game was broken, who's fault would it be? Not mine, that's for sure.

It's not a question of who's fault is it, but a question of who's gonna pay the consequences of BIS going down. It took me a lot of time to understand that simple fact. I was a die hard fan of OFP by the time Arma 1 hit the scene, and boy all I wanted was BIS' head in a plate. I didn't realize back then that BIS was, yes, trying to sell a product, but a product that no one else was willing to provide. You can go a long run criticizing BIS for all it's faults, but you can't buy the competitor's product, because there isn't one. Simple as that.

So go buy the bloody game, not in one year, but the sooner the better, enjoy what the game allows you to enjoy, don't try to do things that still don't work, and you'll end up seen the whole BIS thing with a different perspective. You buy an engine, you enjoy what it can do, overlook what it can't, and with giving away some money you support A PROJECT.

It's ironic, but in military things you know shit happens. If you're playing a BIS game and a bug change the course of the battle, consider it another "contingency", and enjoy trying to adapt to it and still do some damage. It's a lot less frustrating than all the other options.

Cheers.