Please, Start Fresh.

[Guest]

What more can i say? When operation flashpoint was released i was stunned. Amazed at it's capabilities.

8 years later i am playing the same game with few improvements and the same limitations. How long did it take BIS to develop Flashpoint? And how long did it take them to develop both Arma and Arma 2? Nowhere near as long. Doesn't that say something?

I think it's time for a new start. Scrap the engine you've been using these past few years. Develop NEW technology, start again! Give me that wow! factor i felt when flashpoint was released.

I would rather wait until 2018 and get a new, amazing game from BIS, then wait until 2012 and get Arma 3: Dejavu with new graphics.

Am i the only one who thinks like this? Please hear me out, i am not trolling. I love arma 2 so much, but it really is getting old. Sure, i only bought it 2 months ago, the more i play it, the more i feel like i've been playing it since 2001.

Maybe i am just letting the frustrations of Flashpoint, Arma and Arma 2 get to me, but i would love a fresh start from BIS.

Edited August 11, 2009 by Guest

[Deadfast 43]

How long did it take BIS to develop Flashpoint?

That's a good question.

About a decade.

[Guest]

And that is precisely my point. I will happily wait a decade for BIS to start again, rather than getting the same old flashpoint, except with glowing cows and lots of grass.

[th3flyboy 0]

I agree with richie, the engine needs to be replaced. The engine is a good one as it is, however it is seriously showing it's age, and is suffering from the kinds of issues FSX did. I personally think it would be best for the community as a whole to have a new engine used in the next ArmA, and in the process, the mod community can thrive like it did with OFP on ArmA 2 for a while. The engine feels like it is suffering from issues of carried over code. I think it would be best over all to start fresh and completely go from the ground up. BIS needs to take the time and completely change up their gameplan. if you want to make Real Virutality 4, do it, but do it from scratch rather than just rehashing the same code with changes. There are new APIs, coding standards, technologies, and methods, and you have to sometimes start from the ground up to use them. This is one of those instances.

[Guest]

Thank you for your post flyboy, i am glad you agree with me. It would be great if BIS would do this for us.

[eenter 0]

Making a new engine and a new game on it costs a lot more than making a game on the engine you have already established. So i don't think they're gonna do it.

[Guest]

Making a new engine and a new game on it costs a lot more than making a game on the engine you have already established. So i don't think they're gonna do it.

In the short run it's cheaper. But when you loose customers and/or do not gain new ones in the long run, it is much more expensive to keep using the same engine. You must accept the fact that new games will come out that outshine Arma, and when that happens, alot of the Arma community will flock to the newer game.

[cjsoques 0]

I agree wholeheartedly, it's the same game with a cosmetic makeover but more bugs and instability.

It is literally the same game...after 8 years or so, that's frustrating to those who thought ARMA2 was actually going to be an improvement in stability, interface, and gameplay...in reality it was just graphics and frankly I'd take the first three over graphics any day.

The game overall just feel amateurish and hacked together to work. Basically just throwing pieces of features into the game without looking at the overall system or cohesiveness of it.

But like I've said before, it's the only game we've got like it and until someone else beats them at their own game, this is all we'll have for the foreseeable future (ARMA3, 4 ,5..)

Agree with richie all the way

[Herbal Influence 10]

I am so happy with the new strategies and intelligence of the AIs in AA2!

They hide so well ... in shadows, behind bushes and trees, leaning only ... just to take a look, creeping up from behind the main combat line ... etc. etc.

So I am quite happy with this "new" OF being AA2.

So if BI develops a new idea or "machine" which is as unique and genious as OF and the AA2 is I would be happy, but nobody can rely on something like that happening.

Don't ya get used to genious acts ... ! ;-))

Edited August 11, 2009 by Herbal Influence

[Guest]

I agree wholeheartedly, it's the same game with a cosmetic makeover but more bugs and instability.

It is literally the same game...after 8 years or so, that's frustrating to those who thought ARMA2 was actually going to be an improvement in stability, interface, and gameplay...in reality it was just graphics and frankly I'd take the first three over graphics any day.

The game overall just feel amateurish and hacked together to work. Basically just throwing pieces of features into the game without looking at the overall system or cohesiveness of it.

But like I've said before, it's the only game we've got like it and until someone else beats them at their own game, this is all we'll have for the foreseeable future (ARMA3, 4 ,5..)

Agree with richie all the way

Your completely right. BIS are currently the only people doing what they do, and as long as that's the case we have nowhere else to go. Which means they can do whatever they want.

I guess we just have to hope they listen to us, and actually try and make us happier :)

[Big Dawg KS 6]

In the short run it's cheaper. But when you loose customers and/or do not gain new ones in the long run, it is much more expensive to keep using the same engine. You must accept the fact that new games will come out that outshine Arma, and when that happens, alot of the Arma community will flock to the newer game.

Except when they run out of money developing a new engine... and then they're screwed. You have to realize that money is pretty much everything. BIS are independent developers, that means they don't have a big name publisher to give them funding. It also means they can't even start making a game without first getting enough money from a previous game's sales. I really really doubt BIS can afford to develop a new engine at this point without additional funding.

[Guest]

Except when they run out of money developing a new engine... and then they're screwed. You have to realize that money is pretty much everything. BIS are independent developers, that means they don't have a big name publisher to give them funding. It also means they can't even start making a game without first getting enough money from a previous game's sales. I really really doubt BIS can afford to develop a new engine at this point without additional funding.

I understand what your saying, i really do.

But what you are saying is BIS are ultimately screwed. If they develop a new game they will run out of cash and go bust. And if they don't, someone will beat them, their sales will plummet, and yet again they will go bust.

[LeadCommando65 10]

Am i the only one who thinks like this? Please hear me out, i am not trolling. I love arma 2 so much, but it really is getting old. Sure, i only bought it 2 months ago, the more i play it, the more i feel like i've been playing it since 2001.

No, you are not alone. I can feel with you. The game is new but the mechanics are still the same (so, why are there so many bugs? :eek:). It's still the same, just with a graphics update, sadly.

[Big Dawg KS 6]

I understand what your saying, i really do.

But what you are saying is BIS are ultimately screwed. If they develop a new game they will run out of cash and go bust. And if they don't, someone will beat them, their sales will plummet, and yet again they will go bust.

Well, I'm certainly not saying that, but I'm certainly not disagreeing with it.

It's pure speculation of course, since there's no way I can know what BIS's financial status is. But in my opinion this is probably the biggest reason for the current condition of ArmA 2... lack of funding that is. It's sad, but seems reasonable. This is why I'm looking forward to their next project (which is not a milsim). Hopefully it will allow them to secure more funding.

[NoRailgunner 0]

Didnt BIS said that Arma2 will be their last military game?

Arent they working on Carrier Command: Gaea Mission?

Wouldnt it take too much time to develop an ultimate sim engine which covers all kind of things? Ist it clever to take the full risk, the money and time to develop and only focus on the best all-in-one simgame?

How many mainstream/casual and console players would buy such a hardcore game?

How many simfans left? Is BIS able to make real profit with the new engine+simgame?

[Big Dawg KS 6]

Didnt BIS said that Arma2 will be their last military game?

They said it was unlikely they would be leaving the genre for good, but yes they will be taking a break from it.

[madrussian 347]

The OFP/ArmA/ArmA2 formula is perfect in so many ways. Any attempt to improve or change anything should be thought through with great care.

However, BIS really should rip out the decrepit physics system and retrofit with something like hardware-accelerated PhysX.

Then a new ocean of possibilities opens up for all!

[Guest]

Well as they are taking a "break" from the Arma series, i can only assume that means they are not interested in it. Either because they have other projects they deem more important, or because they have no enthusiasm to continue.

I hope Dragon rising gets a good modding community and is given an ultimate realism mod, because i really need to get away from some of arma 2's limitations sometime. We'll see, i will always play arma 2, but the way things stand it isn't going to take a whole lot for another game to sell me.

[Big Dawg KS 6]

Well as they are taking a "break" from the Arma series, i can only assume that means they are not interested in it. Either because they have other projects they deem more important, or because they have no enthusiasm to continue.

Maybe they just want to try something new? That, or they need money. Maybe a bit of both. I'm sure a lot of the members of the dev team are tired of military sims... I know I would get tired of it after a while, but it doesn't mean they've completely lost interest.

[sabre4809 0]

ARMA 3 with the new 'Reality' Engine would be great. Damage system with component driven damage for vehicles(Engine, radiator, suspension, drive train,....) and people( Heart, Lungs, Circulatory system, skeleton, Brain, main arteries.....) all have they're own damage modeling. FLIR, FCS, etc everything thats always been 'limited' by the engine.

Anyway don't think ARMA will continue anyway, I think they're 'over' this genre.

[no use for a name 0]

I think Fallout 3 suffers from this also. Bethsoft has been using the Gamebryo engine since Morrowind (2002), and some of the bugs that were in it then are still in it now. Also if you go to their forums you have hundreds of threads about the same issues...random CTD, more picky about drivers, hardware, etc. It's almost a mirror image for pc issues

I think these companies are just trying to milk every last drop out of these engines, then when they've modified and tweaked them so much to run with current hardware it bites them in the ass.

Edited August 11, 2009 by No Use For A Name

[Big Dawg KS 6]

In addition to the cost, developing a completely new engine from the ground up would take a LONG time. Especially if you consider how big BIS is (tiny). At least a decade IMO.

[echo1 0]

The other issue here is that of VBS. Because of the nature of business/non-consumer software, huge changes are not automatically a good thing, irrespective of the benefits they may bring. BIS will still probably be using this engine for a while. But aside from this, I completely agree with many of the sentiments of above, the engine really is starting to show it's age. I hope that at least BIS is looking beyond their current tech and planning something new.

[TheSurgeon 10]

Or, instead of developing a new engine, use an existing one.

CryENGINE 2/3?

It is going to be used in a MMOG ( Project Entropia ) and is already used for architectural visualisation. And even for an other mil sim : iedvigilance

And Crysis.... :)

[cjsoques 0]

Except when they run out of money developing a new engine... and then they're screwed. You have to realize that money is pretty much everything. BIS are independent developers, that means they don't have a big name publisher to give them funding. It also means they can't even start making a game without first getting enough money from a previous game's sales. I really really doubt BIS can afford to develop a new engine at this point without additional funding.

Without first eventually overhauling the engine, the series is pretty much a dead end then.

What if we were all playing Half-Life 2 with Half-Life 1's graphics engine? That'd be hillarious, it's almost what it's like. You have to bite the bullet and overhaul eventually, and it seems about now is the right time to fix this.