ArmA II: Operation Arrowhead discussion thread

[paragraphic l 2]

I believe it was allready stated somewhere by ohara that not all of the new features would be working on the original ArmAII data.

Might be wrong about this, but it could allways be modded in if BIS doesn't do it. ;)

[dm 9]

I believe the flir must be based on special sets of textures and hidden selections.

So far so good for the new Arrowhead units, but what about the units of vanilla ARMA 2 (Marines and Chernarus ?) will FLIR work on them too ? That would mean edit all the units to add those new features in vanilla Arma 2 too...

Something that has TI will show up with the proper TI, something that does not will show up white. Thats how it works in VBS2.

As I stated before, you'd need the source data, thats the source and not just unpacked data, in order to bake the new TI info into it. So BI would either have to provide the source, or do it themselves.

[bogdanm 0]

Something that has TI will show up with the proper TI, something that does not will show up white. Thats how it works in VBS2.

The screenshot provided by Wolle shows something totally different.

That's what I think too as it's the same technique. I uploaded a screenshot which shows the differences between FLIR compatible units (left) and "normal" units (right):

The ARMA(and probably ARMA2 also) units are not showing up white with FLIR, they are almost invisible, so it means that ARMA textures don't work with VBS2 FLIR and I don't see how this can be changed without major work.

[Inkompetent 0]

That was the current implementation at the time of W0lle's post. It's just a minor change to make the 'invisible' units bright white, so I wouldn't take that screenshot as definite.

[dm 9]

The screenshot provided by Wolle shows something totally different.

The ARMA(and probably ARMA2 also) units are not showing up white with FLIR, they are almost invisible, so it means that ARMA textures don't work with VBS2 FLIR and I don't see how this can be changed without major work.

My "white" comment was a generalisation.

The thermal simulation is dependant on a LOT of variables, in some cases, they will show up white, in others they will show up as W0lle posted.

Click on it to make the ArmA man and car white!

Click on it to make the ArmA man and car white!

Click on it to make the ArmA man and car white!

The difference being that the hotlinked images are White Hot, the linked images are Black Hot. Time of day, weather, fog etc etc can make a huge difference too... I can post screenshots of all kinds of different setups until I'm blue in the face, the point is, the default ArmA2 content will NOT work with the TI system, since it requires new data to be "baked" into the model during binarization.

W0lle also posted:

A few pages back DM explained more or less how its done, he knows way more than I ever will.

And he wasnt lieing ;)

[Edit] Oh, and all these screenshots are taken in VBS2, so dont get your panties in a bunch :P [/Edit]

[Jelliz 10]

Ahhh. Most of the insurgents in Afghanistan aren't 'Al Qaeda' per se but Taliban (and within that predominantly Pashtun) insurgents, and as I said, I've rarely in videos of fighters in action seen them wearing anything but flowing civilian clothes/dishdashas with the odd chest rig/webbing. Even the purported armed Al Qaeda wing Lashkar al Zil don't appear to wear much in the way of camo clothing, though do show a better standard of webbing/chest rigs than the average Taliban insurgent. The only time I've seen camouflage commonly worn is by higher echelon Taliban types in their propaganda videos, but none of the footsoldiers of the type you'd usually be fighting seem to wear anything but civvy clothes.

ok, you sound more informed than me, i just found the reason for my statement in some news article.:P might not have been the most accurate piece of journalism then:P

[Defunkt 431]

...the default ArmA2 content will NOT work with the TI system, since it requires new data to be "baked" into the model during binarization.

But do we know that for a fact? Call it wishful thinking but I can't help but think (read hope) that these temperature textures might prove to have more in common with the normal diffuse map which can be switched at run-time.

[PuFu 4591]

But do we know that for a fact? Call it wishful thinking but I can't help but think (read hope) that these temperature textures might prove to have more in common with the normal diffuse map which can be switched at run-time.

hmmm....MNO.

what would be possible though is (especially if BIS releases a mlod/template) too look at how the "temperature texture" has been made, and then updated all the A2 content (huge project) with those....since the mlods for A2 are not foreseeable anytime soon....

[Heatseeker 0]

I hope they will do something about the lighting, its a bit dull.

Armed Assault was more colourfull, A2 lighting reminds me of Assassins Creed... not very natural.

[maturin 12]

I hope they will do something about the lighting, its a bit dull.

Armed Assault was more colourfull, A2 lighting reminds me of Assassins Creed... not very natural.

Assassin's Creed had incredibly atmospheric, theatrical lighting though. The exact opposite of Arma 2, really.

[Defunkt 431]

hmmm....MNO.

Is MNO an acronym or just a way of saying "no" in which case I'd be interested to know your reasoning. I don't know nearly enough about the subject to understand why some (or all) shaders need to be specified at compile time (and not the diffuse map) but whatever the reason I don't see that it is necessarily so for these heat-map textures. Are they not most likely (in DirectX terms) to be simple diffuse maps themselves?

Personally I like ArmA 2's lighting very much.

[Colossus 2]

Would be great to see ArmA II in a CC:GM look (light and texture wise), but I don't think this is a realistic goal for a expansion pack. Sad, but very plausible. Still, if they manage to fix most of the bugs and the small annoying things ArmA II's engine still contain I'll be happy.

[Heatseeker 0]

Assassin's Creed had incredibly atmospheric, theatrical lighting though. The exact opposite of Arma 2, really.

Really :confused: ?

I think AC's lighting looks similar to A2 in places, bright, dull and not very natural. Anyway the effect A2's lighting produces on surfaces doesnt look very natural.

I think BIS should tone down the shadders a bit and get more texture colours in there, graphics look a bit cold.

Edit

And sort out the day/night cycle atlast!

Edited September 21, 2009 by Heatseeker

[Clavicula_nox4817 0]

ok, you sound more informed than me, i just found the reason for my statement in some news article.:P might not have been the most accurate piece of journalism then:P

What article?

And no, it was not accurate.

[Steakslim 1]

Really :confused: ?

I think AC's lighting looks similar to A2 in places, bright, dull and not very natural. Anyway the effect A2's lighting produces on surfaces doesnt look very natural.

I think BIS should tone down the shadders a bit and get more texture colours in there, graphics look a bit cold.

Edit

And sort out the day/night cycle atlast!

I think they went for that cold autumn look. Granted I would of liked to see some more vibrant colors during different parts of the daytime, where if it's a clear sky, everything didn't still have that slightly grey, semi damp look about it. However, I think that would require the engine itself to be able to rapidly change the time of day color settings on the fly depending on cloud cover and such instead of a general day cycle color. So for now the overall lower saturated look is fine with me, though it is a trend in several games that does annoy me from time to time. I always thought ArmA's colors were a bit cartoony in the color departement. ArmA2 nailed that problem in a multi-patched coffin. It has a great feel to it....though it just has that same feel all the time.

[Heatseeker 0]

Well i still hope they manage to make the graphics feel more vibrant and hot, even if some of you consider this cartoony i much prefer it over brown and cold, its boring.

[nodunit 397]

Try adjusting your contrast and brightness (ingame), this will make colors more saturated and makes a big difference in visuals.

Edited September 21, 2009 by NodUnit

[Steakslim 1]

Well i still hope they manage to make the graphics feel more vibrant and hot, even if some of you consider this cartoony i much prefer it over brown and cold, its boring.

Oh for OA I agree. I would much prefere if things looked rather sunbaked, colorwise, for the expansion.

[Alex72 1]

Im just thinking atm of OpA + ACE2 and how versatile some weapon systems will be (that is if ACE will work in OpA ofcourse). Like the M4/M16 for example.

M4/M16: M203/Hunt-IR + ACOG/CQB + PEQ(IR-Laser) and a flashlight. :) Now thats a system.

S'gonna be gud.

Oh and i hope that map has a river. Proven on Icebreakr's Panthera island that it give so much versatility to missions. The river doesnt have to have some new fancy flowing water animation (even though preferred ofcourse), but Panthera island has shown that the usual sea anim works good.

Alex

[manberries 0]

Ya, doesn't have to be a moving river. You could easily explain away the water as the rare flash floods that desert environments experience. (I don't think Afghanistan has them, but since "Takistan" could easily be near Kyrgyzstan which does). They build bridges to cover these flash flood waters, most of it runs off, but a good amount ends up stagnant for a good month or two.

[That guy 10]

the colors that we have seen in the screens of OA so far are definitely dull

compare:

http://dslyecxi.com/screens/ArmA2/Arrowhead/images/arma2_arrowhead__vehicles_abramstusk.jpg

with http://dslyecxi.com/screens/ArmA2/Arrowhead/images/arma2_arrowhead_ingame_shot_01.jpg

the "render" pic looks much more natural, wile the in game looks flat

i know that different times of day, and lighting conditions exist, but i think what has been shown is too extreme. (course it might just be some cinematic filters thrown on)

but even in A-stan not EVERY thing is dull and drab. there is color

like the awesome mobile: http://dslyecxi.com/screens/ArmA2/Arrowhead/images/arma2_arrowhead__vehicles_car_painted.jpg

I mean look, this mosque should look beautiful with its tile mosaics, but not so much... http://dslyecxi.com/screens/ArmA2/Arrowhead/images/arma2_arrowhead_ingame_shot_08.jpg

All the pics we have seen seem to be around mid day as well

[EricM 0]

It's just a post-process filter for the screens. You can play with it in Arma 2 already. it's just to give it the "Bleach Bypass" look of so many war movies and series from Saving Private Ryan to Flag of Our Fathers.

Note : I like it desaturated...

[4 IN 1 0]

it would be good if BI made the filter chooseable

(and gray right now is atless better then brown like in many other games)

[LeonAdi 10]

I wish the russians will remain in game and maybe enter the China to help them against US and major european allies. Put more big powers in game, not tiny countries from 3rd world with not air, and armor.

[Flash Thunder 10]

Additional Weapons/Weapon Systems

AA12 shotgun- Would be sweet to have in CQB

Milkor MGL M32- What can I say kick ass!

Desert Eagle- Fits the setting, so why not??

Riot Shield

Additional Vehicles/aircraft/Fixed Wing VTOL:

Desert Patrol Vehicle

Little Bird

Bradley Tank

New Features:

Weapon Slings

Adjustable Scopes, Range Finder scopes

Wind

Fire Propagation

Ability to edit objects scale ingame editor, assuming the ingame editor will ship with OA completed.

Rappel from Helos.

Shoot from passenger seats of all vehicles, All vehicles have fully modeled interiors and working gauges etc.

Improvements:

More natural Realistic Lighting, more lighting effects and farther drawn shadows. Headlights that can be shot out and proper Sun rays.

Special Effects with multiple frame animations, multiple muzzle flashes per gun that don't like 2d sprites, addition of fire propagation, more dense smoke pillars and improved explosion effects.

Animations: Unique reload animations for each gun some guns look like they share the same animations. :mad:

Improved vehicle physics, easier vehicle control, they slide around too much lol

Better voice actors, come on BIS please some of these voices are down right annoying and halarious, It would make it more immersive if you added native English speakers and had dialgue for enter that HMW instead of that vehicle, also move to 3 not that spec ops. Multiple stage voice acting, yelling, calm, stealth etc. More voice effects for injuries too would be welcome.

Please improve or fix the lip synch it looks really bad.