ArmA II: Operation Arrowhead discussion thread

[sniper pilot 36]

/FAIL and /Triple-Facepalm! Especially on the Editor part of your post.

I FAIL at life, yet I am able to use the editor very well. How much more simpler do you want it?! It is so laughable because even my 8 year old sister has learned th baisics of creating a map with civilians and waypoints with vehicles and a working Ambulance for when she gets a "boo-boo". -And barley a graphical interface? ROFL, LMAO I'm not even gonna bother explaining how wrong you are on that one!

I guess my kid sister and I, are such fanboys that we know how to read and type. You don't have to be a scripting wizard to make a great mission and that's a fact. "Good design is as little design as possible."

The Editor is the least of this game's problems! Heck and it is arguably the foundation for which this game is built upon.

I agree and to be perfectly honest the reviewers have a point. I haven't played enough of OA to really comment much on it but concerning ARMA2 the campaign really kind of bored me. No scratch that it really bored me. And the game was too buggy and too boring to keep me interested. So I didnt play it for like 8 months or something. Then I decided to give it another try to see if performance and bugs were any better. And they were, but unfortunately the campaign still kinda sucked. I mean who wants to get in a helicopter just to pull up a map and point and click a hundred times where to go to try and find a guy in car that looks like every other car for 20-30 minutes. WHY CANT I FLY THE HELICOPTER geez!!! Boring. Anyway finnaly after looking on internet for cheat to be able to fly helicopter myself i discovered ARMAHOLIC and all the user created missions and campaings where you actually got to shoot people and fly choppers yourself and I was hooked. But out of the box the game isn't much in my opinion. It is the user created content missions, and campaings that make the game. And as far as the editor goes you have to be a programmer to get any real use out of it. I mean it barely has a graphical user interface, and even very simple things like deleting a unit require long text commands/programming. Why must I write a script for everything. Why aren't there just options to select from that will create these scripts for me? Why can't I select weapons from a list? Why most I write a huge set of commands to pick the equipment of a single soldier. Anyone who argues the editor is easy to use is just being a fanboy who does not want to admit the short comings of the game. It is okay to see faults in a game you love, only when we recognize the problems can we get them fixed.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Sniper Pilot

[JSj 12]

I think you both have some good, valid points. The editor is no doubt an awesome tool, and will contribute greatly to keeping the game alive for many years. It's really easy creating a simple yet fun and challenging mission by just placing some units and waypoints.

But that doesn't mean it could not be made even better. For instance, being able to select the units' equipment from a drop down menu instead of having to learn and typing in script code would be a great feature.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Johan S

[glowbal 13]

But that doesn't mean it could not be made even better. For instance, being able to select the units' equipment from a drop down menu instead of having to learn and typing in script code would be a great feature.

Have you any idea how many equipment there actually is in the vanilla game alone?

And with mods, it would tripple that, atleast.

The scripting way is very simple and works great.

[mrcash2009 0]

@Component Actual ...

Have you used the "Mission wizard" (if you want most of it done really fast for you)? Have you been online and tried the online mission creator? have you downloaded real time mission making scripts (MP mainly) that are freely down loadable and work as a 3D editor.

Why aren't there just options to select from that will create these scripts for me?

Are you aware of the Module approach and what that has shortcut since Arma1 ... go and play Arma1 and try to get High command via COC/CEX script, you would have a breakdown. Modules introduced in A2 are massive scripts done for you just to place on a map and it runs. Since Arma1 there has been so much done in terms of modules that takes some pain out of it. Have you realised there is a community and scripting section and this is all on a plate by other makers already?

Ammo can be placed via ammo boxes onto a map, hey presto ammo, some simple scripting commands already mentioned = gives you the weapon you want. And again, already mentioned to get specific load outs and more fancy then scripting is the way and isn't exactly a strange concept with any SDK of other games.

I would love to see the editor updated with a load-out menu option, that's a request feature, but its not as if its that taxing to get it running, plus loud-out scripts already exist.

As regards not seeing shortcomings and fanboy blindness, show me a game SDK that can do what this does in the time it takes to do it, and the scope of what can be achieved. Its not fanboy'ism its cups half empty at your end to be honest.

Edited July 10, 2010 by mrcash2009

[wamingo 1]

Have you any idea how many equipment there actually is in the vanilla game alone?

And with mods, it would tripple that, atleast.

It doesn't matter, it can be indexed automatically by addon.

ie

- ArmA2.pbo -- (m4, m16, 5.56 ammo, ak...)

- OA.pbo -- (desert m4...)

- some_mod.pbo -- (paingiver 2000, lightsaber...)

actual names may differ.

[JSj 12]

How about just making the Gear menu available for units in the editor? Then you could adjust every units equipment however you want. And for vehicles this could be used to set the equipment to be stored in the vehicle when the mission begins.

Since you can filter the Gear menu to just show rifles, handguns, launchers etc., it wouldn't be too difficult to quickly find the equipment you want, even though there's a lot of stuff available in the game. And those who prefer the script method could continue to use that.

[Guest]

How about just making the Gear menu available for units in the editor? Then you could adjust every units equipment however you want. And for vehicles this could be used to set the equipment to be stored in the vehicle when the mission begins.

Since you can filter the Gear menu to just show rifles, handguns, launchers etc., it wouldn't be too difficult to quickly find the equipment you want, even though there's a lot of stuff available in the game. And those who prefer the script method could continue to use that.

That sounds awesome, and no doubt a mod could be developed to create an in editor selection menu.

[odjob 0]

That would be very welcome, it seems like an easy thing to add.

Post it in the "Suggestions" part of the forum :)

[CW001 10]

Aha, the one where you are alone in the forest?

Most epic gaming experience, ever.

No joke, I hid in a bush for about 2 hours whilst some bmp 2 frantically hunted me down. Then, an entire squad was approaching me in my little hiding spot, but they were casually walking, so they didn't know I was there.

I just layed prone and hid until everyone had run off, and then I sprinted it. Dodging bullets and whizzing around like a mad man, what a brilliant experience!

For me it was the Battlegrounds single mission. This was back when I was not a PC gamer (heresy, I know) and I was playing it on Xbox. I was having a good time, just faffing about in the editor after completing After Montignac (which was absolutely terrifying). I was bored, so I fired up the single missions and pamped on Battlegrounds. When I saw all the soldiers surrounding you, the tanks, moving over the hill, the radio messages, the assault, and then the counter attack...it blew my mind.

Few years later, played it on PC. Still amazed me even then. Same as After Montignac. Epic missions the lot of them.

[echo1 0]

I noticed something odd in OA that I don't remember seeing in ArmA 2 - planes don't stay in level flight, they always drop out of the sky unless you keep pointing them up. What's up with this?

[Jelliz 10]

I noticed something odd in OA that I don't remember seeing in ArmA 2 - planes don't stay in level flight, they always drop out of the sky unless you keep pointing them up. What's up with this?

It's BIS's contribution to the campaigns against fatigued driving. A crashlanding will surely wake you up right?;)

[jpinard 10]

Guys don't be too hard on the reviewers they have heaps of games to review and because of this some farm out reviews to junior inexperienced staff and some just can't sit for hours until a game 'clicks'. Also many reviewers are not used to complex 'shooter' simulations, they see so many cod like games and expect most to be like that.

They do get a lot right as well, dragon age got great reviews everywhere and I think everyone that played it has to agree.

Anyway when have reviews ever been kind to ofp, arma and arma2? And it does not matter because after 10 yrs only the ofp/arma fans will keep coming back.

Gving gaming sites leeway because they have a lot to do is what's causing so many sites to hire crap reviewers. As the common denominator sinks superb writers like Tom Chick, Bill Abner, Troy Goodfellow, Evan Lahti etc get marginalized. We'd be better off if 90% of the sites out there closed and all that traffic was went towards a few high-quality sites to better support their writers.

Having more than the islands in CAA1 is kind of tricky ... you'll have to use a lot of additional (and very good addons):

SLA pack

Sahrani civilians

M113

Stryker

Ka-50

Desert USMC units

And of course the great upcomming Project RACS mod for the southern native army :)

When I got some time I'm gonna try porting the remaining civilian vehicles over to ArmA II.

Edit:

Sorry for getting offtopic with this post. I was mistook this thread for the CAA1 thread when I posted it. Sorry about that mistake.

Legislator - could we dump all those into one giant mod folder so it would work like one big ArmA1 pack?

I would love it if someone ported OFP campaigns/missions and ArmA1 campaigns/missions to ArmA2. I feel like I missed out!

Edited July 11, 2010 by jpinard

[[GLT] Legislator 66]

Legislator - could we dump all those into one giant mod folder so it would work like one big ArmA1 pack?

Sure you can. There's no need to create a separate mod folder for every single addon. Most addons can be grouped into one mod folder.

That's one point of OA that deserves thousands kisses - we can continue using 99 % of every A2 content :) I would get an heart attack if I'd have to start my work done in the past year all over again.

[Zipper5 74]

I would love it if someone ported... ArmA1 campaigns/missions to ArmA2. I feel like I missed out!

In that regard you didn't. ;)

[jpinard 10]

In that regard you didn't. ;)

Well maybe someone can do the OFP ones then. Is OFP a basic version of the ArmA2 engine like ArmA1 is?

[Wolfstriked 11]

I never played OFP but from watching videos I can see why it was so loved.The first mission I played in Arma2 I was dropped into darkness with guys screaming GO,ILL COVER over and over.I had no idea what I was supposed to do,how to shoot or even turn on night vision.But OFP seemed different in that there was a voice guiding you.Your told to drive to another base and to pick up fuel since your motorbike is low and the ride to new base is looooong.Lows and highs is what experience is all about.The masters build suspense into their craft be it games or movies etc.Its just gaming back in the day was better somehow.Like the devs wanted you to feel something that sadly nowadays is not there anymore.Hard to pinpoint what it was.

[JSj 12]

Arma 2 and Arrowhead has the bootcamp. You can't expect to just jump into the missions right away without going through the bootcamp or reading the manual and know everything about how to play.

[ProfTournesol 956]

Arma 2 and Arrowhead has the bootcamp. You can't expect to just jump into the missions right away without going through the bootcamp or reading the manual and know everything about how to play.

OFP campaign had a bootcamp too, at the beginning of it.

[jakerod 254]

OFP campaign had a bootcamp too, at the beginning of it.

Which was annoying because every time you restart the campaign you have to go through it again.

[ProfTournesol 956]

Which was annoying because every time you restart the campaign you have to go through it again.

Left shift + numpad minus + ENDMISSION :)

[Zipper5 74]

Or CAMPAIGN if you don't want to touch it at all. :D

[Alwarren 2767]

The first mission I played in Arma2 I was dropped into darkness with guys screaming GO,ILL COVER over and over.I had no idea what I was supposed to do,how to shoot or even turn on night vision.

In OFP, that was basically part of the story. You played a greenish private, and the overwhelming events in the beginning served to really suck you in. You DID NOT know what to do, and it was supposed to be that way - after all, you get shot at for the first time, and I figured it would feel exactly like that - disorientation, panic, what-to-do-now. The missions where, however, written for that specific feel. It just fit. It was just awesome.

I actually played the demo first. That has you being loaded into a truck with other troops and attack a village. The same feeling - you are pretty much lost, overwhelmed by what is going on, but you eventually master it, just like the private in OFP. It ultimately connected you to the character.

OFP was a masterpiece. I wish they would invent selective memory deletion so I could play it all over again :)

[sparks50 0]

Its never too late to pick up OFP gold edition Wolf, recommended if you like a great singleplayer campaign.

You can buy it used at amazon for the price of a meal.

[jonneymendoza 10]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/07/12/nvidia_geforce_gtx_460_review/3

Looks interesting

[Fox '09 14]

yeah, not bad at all. although the card itself isn't really a good buy for anything else - arma 2 may be something.