The Main Problems of Arma/Arma 2

[THEBLITZ6794 10]

In my opinion, these are the main problems of the two Armas compared to the Flashpoints:

1. Island size

Yes, I'm serious. I liked the concept of having several medium-large islands over 1 uber island.

Everon was where most of the fighting was and I learned the island really well. It had a special flavor to it, a feeling of being at home. I might be in central Everon passing through Provins looking at its uniqueness. Each field, each town, each forest had something nice about it.

2. Scenery

I liked OFP's scenery alot. Now, it was very low tech and I believe it does need improvements but Arma 2 is in the Uncanny valley where its so good at being a video game environment that it looks like a bad real environment. I liked the simplicity of OFP. I saw the enemy and fired at him.

3. Engine

The engine was made for OFP. That's kinda obvious right? Well OFP was made for America vs Russia on rolling hills and flat planes. Tank battles, battle lines, and more of a firefight type of design. There were sneaking around missions which mixed it up but the core of OFP was those huge battles. Montingac Must Fall, Battle of Houdan, Return to Eden, ect. Missions where it's just a simple, huge ass battle. That said the engine is adaptable, has been modernized, and fits well with Arma 2 but it wasn't made for Arma 2 and not that it's bad but it feels a bt outta place.

4. Lack of Variety

One of the main things about the previous games was that they mixed things up in terms of who you play as. In OFP you had an infantryman, a tanker, a pilot, and a spec ops. Arma was kinda all over the place. Red Hammer fucked it up though with one private going around everywhere. Anyways, it introduced the whole game to you. The biggest thing you get in Arma 2 is an LAV 25 and you can ride in a Huey. This is more of a campaign issue though.

Someone pointed out that OFP had a cartooney feeling. I kinda agree but it made the game more enjoyable (at least on the xbox) and less serious.

Arma 2 seems to be in the Uncanny Valley...

Edited September 13, 2009 by THEBLITZ6794

[metsapeikkoo 10]

Then why don't you go and play flashpoint then?

[fabrizio_t 58]

I like very much ArmA2 all in all.

It definitely has some kind of OFP feeling.

Island size is fine to me.

I was never able to really enjoy ArmA though.

[JuggernautOfWar 1]

Yeah it feels like ArmA II has gone back to OFP's roots a little more than ArmA 1 did, which is good.

Why isn't this in the 'Suggestion' forum rather than the 'General'?

[sv5000 127]

In my opinion, these are the main problems of the two Armas compared to the Flashpoints:

1. Island size

Yes, I'm serious. I liked the concept of having several medium-large islands over 1 uber island.

Everon was where most of the fighting was and I learned the island really well. It had a special flavor to it, a feeling of being at home. I might be in central Everon passing through Provins looking at its uniqueness. Each field, each town, each forest had something nice about it.

2. Scenery

I liked OFP's scenery alot. Now, it was very low tech and I believe it does need improvements but Arma 2 is in the Uncanny valley where its so good at being a video game environment that it looks like a bad real environment. I liked the simplicity of OFP. I saw the enemy and fired at him.

gtg for now. will continue in moring.

Well I find the main problem with these two titles is most of the End users...

the islands now appear more lifle like and combat brutally quick, what i suspect real combat is like. Having only been on the delivery end of rounds downrange, I can only guess what being on the other end is like.

[Blake 0]

In a way OFP had a special "cartooney" feeling to it looking it back which is kind of hard to describe. The character models, islands, structures, the music and setup felt a bit surreal. It does create this special feeling of nostalgia as TheBlitz is probably longing for.

On the other hand ArmA 2 oozes is gritty realism so it creates a very different kind of feeling which I would not excange to anything else. Times of OFP are over and I don't think there's going back to the old days.

[Herbal Influence 10]

In my opinion, these are the main problems of the two Armas compared to the Flashpoints. ....

Well that seems like a misunderstanding if you talk of "the Flashpoints".

There has only ever been *one* single Operation Flashpoint. And this was made by Bohemia Interactive. They did then AA1 and AA2 (for their publisher withholds - for whatever reason, I don't know) just the trademark "Operation Flashpoint".

And Codemaster, the publisher, now wants to make money from the succes of OF with "OF2" without ever having had the people to do it, I mean the people from BI. They separated.

But on the other hand I really understand what you are saying.

Everon etc. had a certain kind of "feeling" which is gone since AA1.

And I am not really able to describe it.

AA2 has another combat feeling and I can enjoy it, but I play OF as often as I do play AA2. There are still plenty of players and the game is a perfect one now relating to bugs and gameplay (commanders structures etc. -> bwmod).

It would be interesting to get this certain feeling "implemented" in AA2.

It can't (should'nt?) only be the "simplicity" .... I don't know ... yeah, maybe this certain kind of surrealism ... is great ...!

Edited September 13, 2009 by Herbal Influence

[Jimmy the Saint 10]

The thread starter made one incidental remark about the featured islands (Utes and Chernarus) in "ArmA 2". In my opinion they're just too few and do not satisfy my demand in numbers.

[kremator 1064]

Isnt't nostalgia clouding our views here. The reason that Everon was just so good was that we had never experienced anything like OFP before.

What Arma2 has done is raised the bar to an unbelievable height already, but we have seen it before, and that's why it just doesn't 'seem' as groundbreaking.

However, give me Arma2 any day!

[fabrizio_t 58]

Isnt't nostalgia clouding our views here. The reason that Everon was just so good was that we had never experienced anything like OFP before.

What Arma2 has done is raised the bar to an unbelievable height already, but we have seen it before, and that's why it just doesn't 'seem' as groundbreaking.

However, give me Arma2 any day!

OFP was an impressive milestone, it created a genre.

ArmA2 is following its trails and that's great.

I hope ArmA2 AI will be finally fixed -it's my only big compliant- since it has GREAT potential, but many OLD and NEW problems still plague it.

[sparks50 0]

Lets also bring back cardboard style ironsights, People walking like they have been stabbed by a pole, no join in progress etc at the same time shall we?

After all, these are the things that made OFP great, and the reason why Arma1 and 2 is a complete failure in any possible way and form. :)

[THEBLITZ6794 10]

Lets also bring back cardboard style ironsights, People walking like they have been stabbed by a pole, no join in progress etc at the same time shall we?

After all, these are the things that made OFP great, and the reason why Arma1 and 2 is a complete failure in any possible way and form. :)

1. ?

2. ?

3. i agree

[Barely-injured 0]

In my opinion, these are the main problems of the two Armas compared to the Flashpoints:

1. Island size

2. Scenery

3. Engine

4. Lack of Variety

Arma 2 seems to be in the Uncanny Valley...

1. Island size:

that is funny you are the first person i hear that says it is too big usually people want bigger islands so that they can have realistic armored maneuvers and better chance to employ fixed wing aircraft. As for the number of islands mods already allow you to use both arma1 and ofp islands in arma 2.

2. Scenery:

That is just nostalgia like other people said. I like the scenery in ofp but i wouldnt switch it for arma 2 scenery.

3. Engine:

Not sure i agree with you about the ofp engine, i think it preformed best in low intensity operations involving one or two friendly squads at most. yeah making huge battles was very fun in the editor but far from being the best of the engine. In arma 2 i think bigger battles are somewhat better now but still not ideal.

4. Lack of Variety:

I found a lot of people did not like this and it surprises me to be honest. I guess it is personal preferences. For me I very much like the idea of specialized campaigns like harvest red and i think putting an f-35 mission in it for example would be out of place (just like what i heard about putting warfare missions in it would be out of place... didn't get there yet :o). I liked the variety in the ofp campaign only because it was done in a very nice chronological order eg: you sabotage some targets as spec op then take the whole area as infantry then hold it as armor. But other wise i would prefer to have three separate campaigns because if i start a campaign in a tank i expect to finish it in a tank, but that is just me i guess.

[THEBLITZ6794 10]

1. Island size:

that is funny you are the first person i hear that says it is too big usually people want bigger islands so that they can have realistic armored maneuvers and better chance to employ fixed wing aircraft. As for the number of islands mods already allow you to use both arma1 and ofp islands in arma 2.

2. Scenery:

That is just nostalgia like other people said. I like the scenery in ofp but i wouldnt switch it for arma 2 scenery.

3. Engine:

Not sure i agree with you about the ofp engine, i think it preformed best in low intensity operations involving one or two friendly squads at most. yeah making huge battles was very fun in the editor but far from being the best of the engine. In arma 2 i think bigger battles are somewhat better now but still not ideal.

4. Lack of Variety:

I found a lot of people did not like this and it surprises me to be honest. I guess it is personal preferences. For me I very much like the idea of specialized campaigns like harvest red and i think putting an f-35 mission in it for example would be out of place (just like what i heard about putting warfare missions in it would be out of place... didn't get there yet :o). I liked the variety in the ofp campaign only because it was done in a very nice chronological order eg: you sabotage some targets as spec op then take the whole area as infantry then hold it as armor. But other wise i would prefer to have three separate campaigns because if i start a campaign in a tank i expect to finish it in a tank, but that is just me i guess.

1. everon was the right size

2. uncanny valley

3. thats still firefights which was my main point

4. several campaigns would be fine in that case.

[-RIP- Luhgnut 10]

1. ?

2. ?

3. i agree

He was being sarcastic in his post ya mook.

[THEBLITZ6794 10]

well wuts wrong with the iron sights and how have people walked like being stabbed with a pole

[Steakslim 1]

...what's wrong with uncanny valley? It makes the pvp quite fun.

[Alex72 1]

The Main Problems of Arma/Arma2

According to the OP - not to me.

Just had to do that. The title states that is some universal problem with those mentioned games - wich to me its not.

[THEBLITZ6794 10]

...what's wrong with uncanny valley? It makes the pvp quite fun.

do u know wut the uncanny valley is? its when a robot is so simular to a human that it looks like a deformed person and not a good looking robot. the same is happening to arma 2 and will happen to al lrealistic games until theyre so realistic they climb the other side of it (3d games where u actually run around and stuff).

[Jimmy the Saint 10]

do u know wut the uncanny valley is? its when a robot is so simular to a human that it looks like a deformed person and not a good looking robot. the same is happening to arma 2 and will happen to al lrealistic games until theyre so realistic they climb the other side of it (3d games where u actually run around and stuff).

:nuts:

[Herbal Influence 10]

To me, JIP is the biggest change of all that cuts off a good gaming atmossphere of former times.

Talking about no-clan-gamers like me now:

• You had to* wait for co-gamers ... you waited up to half an hour. There was time to talk and build up an atmosphere.
  
• You than *had to* stay in that game for not being banned on that server, if you would just leave without proper reason.
  
• There was something like group feeling for a two hours of a cti mission, no steady comin and goin.
  

If I could chose, I would disable JIP for all times - for reasons of nostalgia and group awareness. :)

I know you can shut the server and have no JIP.

But that's not the same:

Few shutting the servers and so especially newbies never learn how to cling together with people they didn't know before.

That was some kind of realism for you rarely don't go to war with your neighbourhood friends or schoolmates.

But I like AA2 nevertheless ...

Edited September 18, 2009 by Herbal Influence

[JdB 151]

In a way OFP had a special "cartooney" feeling to it looking it back which is kind of hard to describe. The character models, islands, structures, the music and setup felt a bit surreal. It does create this special feeling of nostalgia as TheBlitz is probably longing for.

On the other hand ArmA 2 oozes is gritty realism so it creates a very different kind of feeling which I would not excange to anything else. Times of OFP are over and I don't think there's going back to the old days.

Yeah, but I feel the "cartooney" feeling of OFP vs the "gritty realism" of ArmA2 is mostly due to the advances in computer graphics over the years, and the limited experience of BIS' artists back then rather than real design decisions on BIS' part.

[schurem 0]

back then, ofp was the utter bleeding edge in gritty realism. be shure.

[Fudgeblood 10]

TC, if you're going to make a thread atleast spell the word "Everyone" correct, it's been bugging the heck out of me.

As for your complaints, I have to disagree. ArmA 2 is pretty much perfect imo (Except for bugs, glitches, performance issues etc).

[highfly 10]

well I agree with all of you!

but still, there is that kind of nostalgy and special feeling about OFP (cold war crisis and resistance) that makes it an oustanding one in the series (continuing with arma now). Whatever Arma 3 might be, OFP will always remain, in the same manner a game like DOOM remained. As the first one of the series, and the only one that is "a new experience". Sure Doom is not the best fps, and many new ones improved that type of gameplay, but still it was our first time killing zombies with rocket launchers, and as such it will always be "special".

But besides the "new" factor, OFP was a real great and fun game! I never found that much fun & excitment in Arma or Arma2, even if I love those games.