FP : DR - News & Discussion

[MadsHilde 10]

I'm just affraid I might like OFP more when it comes out. It seems to have less corny animations maybe even the graphics and performance is better. But I have no idea if it'll be less realistic gameplaywise than ArmA2. If it is less realistic it'll often attract younger gamers and that is no good to me. Man, I just hope BIS will patch this game and fix some important issues. The newly revealed changelog is for me only a bunch of very unimportant issues, I know more things are worked on which is not in the changelog.

[Rak 0]

Aside from usual fanboyism here, I think the trailer is promising. Especially inclusion of fire control systems for Tanks, Helis and other things(Javelin) is what makes this one exciting for me.

Graphics don't really matter for me as long as the gameplay is good.

[Rak 0]

The inclusion of Fire Control Systems is just what I've been wanting from ArmA 2, yet BIS failed me again. That trailer really got me excited as they've implemented those things, especially Javelin one is just sexy.

[MadsHilde 10]

Another thing wich I'm looking forward to see in OFP is how distant buildings and vehicles looks. In ArmA, distant bulidings and trees and stuff looks liked it's made out of paper and doesn't look solid at all. I know I'm being a graphicswhore here, but I can live with a little less realistic gameplay than ArmA2 for better graphics and animations and maybe performance. The actual reason for my concern is that I've just joined a clan of very nice people and we are having a lot of fun playing ArmA2, but if I end up liking OFP more I will be a bit torn. I don't believe you can play both games at the same time, you'll end up mixing controls and features and forget wich games uses what.

[Macadam Cow 1]

Whats left if you take away the eyecandies and sounds from DR?

A lollypop with GOTCHA writed on it ?

Aside from usual fanboyism here

It's not fanboyism, I don't want ArmA2 to be better than OFP2, it's just that it's really hard for me to believe them when they claim : "OFP2 will offers the most realistic military experience of 2009"

There are just so many disturbing details, I need to see it to believe it. That's all

Edited July 17, 2009 by Macadam Cow

[ProfTournesol 956]

Another thing wich I'm looking forward to see in OFP is how distant buildings and vehicles looks. In ArmA, distant bulidings and trees and stuff looks liked it's made out of paper and doesn't look solid at all. I know I'm being a graphicswhore here, but I can live with a little less realistic gameplay than ArmA2 for better graphics and animations and maybe performance. The actual reason for my concern is that I've just joined a clan of very nice people and we are having a lot of fun playing ArmA2, but if I end up liking OFP more I will be a bit torn. I don't believe you can play both games at the same time, you'll end up mixing controls and features and forget wich games uses what.

Could you be nice enough and not calling this game "OFP". "OFP: DR" isn't "OFP" and will never be.

[MadsHilde 10]

Sure enough, no problem. It's DR from now on. It's actually a shame they call it a sequal to OFP. If it was another whole new title maybe the game wouldn't be as "hated" as it is because everyone thinks it's a dumped down version of OFP, wich it surely is.

[Grimnirsson 0]

I need to see it to believe it. That's all

What I'm saying all the time - let's wait and see. Then we all can decide if the game is good or sucks. Any 'it's crap' before the release is hot air.

[SaBrE_UK 0]

I agree with the wait and see. ARMA2 is great in some ways but a few fundamental things spoil it for me totally. Most of them should be able to be fixed easily, but BIS might not do this.

Still there is no doubt that FP: DR will do a few (perhaps many) things a lot better than ARMA2. We'll just have to see what BIS' patches are like and what FP: DR's eventual modding community does to the game. As it is, DR doesn't look like it's the combined-arms sim we ultimately want, but it may have some saving graces once we've actually tried it. Likewise, ARMA2 has a few things (not to mention serious performance issues on many machines) that spoil the fun it promises.

Edited July 17, 2009 by SaBrE_UK

[Zombie_Mod 0]

Just saw a new video of DR and a couple of the things looked pretty damn better than ArmA. In ArmA2 it takes exactly 3 seconds to reload a SAW and DR the reload animations seems much better, also, when you shoot the Jevelin, the missile ALMOST flyes in a straight line, in DR the missile flyes way up in the air and hits the tank smack down.

I hope I won't see too much stuff like that in future DR videos, hope the game fails in other aspects or something.

Eh?? Why do you want it to fail?

Surely it's better for us if more of this type of game comes out and sells well?? The more people that get into this type of game, the more fun we all have.

NB: "Us" as in "war game player", not "Arma2 fanboy"

[von_paulus 0]

and what FP: DR's eventual modding community does to the game.

That's what it makes me wonder. How good the editor will be? Will there be any tools to help modders? Will they be able to develop a modding comunity?

The strength of BIS and ARMA lies on the community created around the series, specially the modders.

Someone said that Codemaster follows a simply commercial logic. I agree. I really doubt that they will be able to create a community like BIS.

[Grimnirsson 0]

"Us" as in "war game player", not "Arma2 fanboy"

I get the impression that there are not that many wargamers around here, the fanboy faction seems to be the majority. The silly I hope I won't see too much stuff like that in future DR videos, hope the game fails in other aspects or something statement shows it's more about 'my game vs your game' and not about the future of the genre...:icon_ohmygod:

[bravo 6 0]

ok, Wait and See.

Though let me mock alittle bit more with the title.. Dragon Rice! hihi

[dunedain 48]

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OkuEGdxygg&hl=fr&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OkuEGdxygg&hl=fr&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

Release 8 october 2009.


There is many things in there I would like to see in Arma2, but DR's vegetation is the worst I've ever seen ..

Arma2 : 1 2

DR : 1 2 Edited July 17, 2009 by dunedain

[ManDay 0]

You should rather be glad that we do have vegetation at all and the trees haven't left the island together with the civilians and the animals :D

Just kidding. I think you compare two uncomparable screenshots. Picked the bestlooking (scenery with contrast apparently set to 200% to mask the flaws) shot from ArmA and a shot from within air where you can hardly see anythings besides the chopper. Besides bashing graphics when there is no content to be bashed renders kind of lame.

Compare the overall package of GFX that OFP2 delivers with what ArmA2 ships with and you'll stand in awe before the sheer difference. It's not my job to pick you the examples - I don't have to convice you of anything. Browse the Flickr-Picture set and then compare the latest shots with the real ArmAII Screenshots (you may have made) - not the "ingame"-labelled artwork.

[bravo 6 0]

There is many things in there I would like to see in Arma2, but DR's vegetation is the worst I've ever seen ..

Arma2 : 1 2

DR : 1 2

what if the vegetation blocks AI sight in DR? :)

Im still waiting for ohara to officially confirm that BIS fixed it..

[MadsHilde 10]

I would like to explain my statement: I hope I won't see too much stuff like that in future DR videos, hope the game fails in other aspects or something.

What I mean is, that I hope I won't like DR more than ArmA2 because I've finally found a great clan to play with and it would be sad if I had to leave them because I wanted to play DR instead. There's is nothing "my game vs. your game" meant in the statement since I'm a totally new ArmA2 player, haven't played ArmA1 but I did play OFP back in the days.

[Blackhawk 0]

Is it me or do all the soldiers run like they have serious back problems?

[nodunit 397]

Why yes, yes they do, just like the original Operation Flashpoint. :p

I really hope they make a new rotor blur in the future, there are various types seen in videos, real life and photography but none like that.

how cute http://www.flickr.com/photos/sir_polaris/3704106961/

I'm trusting with all the low res textures and low poly vehicles that the game will run better.

appears they took away the grime layer on the abrams, dissapointing.

Edited July 17, 2009 by NodUnit

[Sennacherib 0]

sad, there aren't alien shiny cows :p

[Barely-injured 0]

The main problem i see with this video is the unnatural speed of everything, which is why i understand it when people think it is a battlefield clone. Or at least OFP1 with somebody pressing the x2 button all the time.

Some features are nice like the javalin FLIR, not realistic obviously but gets the job done.

[Grimnirsson 0]

The main problem i see with this video is the unnatural speed of everything

It's just a trailer...give the audience some action, put as much content into the movie as you can...whatever

Grim

[sanctuary 19]

As a trailer it is very nice, but as usual it delivers no real informations on many unanswered questions about that game.

What about the AI ?

What kind of realism in ballistics, various weapons/vehicles handling, damage and armor system ?

What kind of features for the equipment, gametypes ?

Is there some kind of mission replay/record system ?

What about the mission editing possibilities/limitations ?

What about the level of possible modding ?

etc...

Out of some claims from the PR guys , there is always nothing really demonstrated about those questions.

So sure, all those videos are nice, but they are just nice viceos, i always have no idea on what exactly is this game, an arcade game like a BF, a semi realistic game like OFP/ArmA/ArmA2, or a serious simulation ?

Edited July 17, 2009 by Sanctuary

[Grimnirsson 0]

It's supposed to be a warsim and I think they will be closer to any definition of this term than to a CoD clone. But that's just guessing from what I read on the CM forum:

Che Guevara 67 recently posted about the tactical artillery choices and the point was raised that a ‘Harassing’ fire mission is not a real artillery request. To clear up some of the issues I thought I’d explain what the differences are between each of the different fire mission patterns and how they may affect the AI you use them against. I should also point out that we chose the name ‘Harassing’ for one of the patterns as we felt it best described the result.

* A ‘Tight’ pattern is 4 waves of 4 shells over an area of 20 metres. This is an intense focused attack on a small area design to take out armour and buildings.

* A ‘Scattered’ pattern is 4 waves of 4 shells over an area of 50 metres. This is used more speculatively when there are multiple targets in a large area.

* A ‘Barrage’ pattern is 20 separate shells over an area of 20 metres. This is a sustained attack on a small area perfect for convoys as they’re passing through a narrow valley.

* A ‘Harassing’ pattern is 20 separate shells fired over an area of 50 metres. As the name suggests this is used to harass the enemy that maybe dug in. As it is sustained fired it is perfect for keeping the enemy suppressed.

All of these patterns are available with all three sizes of artillery at your disposal. My advice is use the tight and barrage patterns with the medium mortars, the scattered and harassing patterns with the heavy mortars and all four patterns are great with the unforgiving howitzer.

Hope this has cleared up some of the questions. Time to call in the ‘Hard Rain’

__________________

Ian 'Helios' Webster

Community Manager

-----

The below is a post from Mike Smith the lead artist on Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. He very kindly took time out of his busy schedule to write the below and take some screens to describe some of beautiful time of day and weather effects you'll experience first hand in the game!

Hi Guys,

I thought it would be good to fill you in on the way the dynamic time of day and weather system we have in Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising works. It’s very powerful, and gives us the chance to really change the visual aesthetic when you’re fighting around the island. The system is easy to set up in the editor, and can be very powerful if you start delving into the scripting control.

We have x5 weather ‘states’:

Clear – clear skies bright and stark lighting

Cloudy – bright with cloud cover

Foggy – heavy fog, lower visibility

Overcast – hazy and oppressive, heavy cloud cover

Stormy – dramatic moody storm clouds

Each of those has the full time of day cycle of 24 hours, done in such a way that they blend seamlessly as the game ticks over.

On top of the above weather conditions, each has a 0-100% fog setting, to allow different aesthetics. For example the visibility on the foggy weather setting with fog turned to 100% is very close (5-10 meters) and gives tons of atmosphere, ideal for tense sneaky Spec. Ops missions. Whereas in clear weather the fog adds a haze effect, where visibility is very high (you can see the entire length of the island, all 32 km!).

On top of this you can blend between any fog setting and/or any weather setting. For example you could go from very close fog to a very clear day, if you wanted. You can also control the time of day… All of this is available in the editor and through script control, we can’t wait to see what the community do with this. As ever pictures describe better than words, here’s some examples of the dramatic lighting we can achieve.

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366544

Grim

[cross 1]

Some discussion about OFP2 AI. I hope it grows into a more rounded and detailed topic.

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366762