Dragon Rising has been released

[King Haggis 0]

"looks thru mirror at himself while trying to hypnotize himself"

Sounds like a good idea. You really need brain reprogramming if you say ArmA 2 terrain sucks.

[Richey79 10]

To be fair to CM, they didn't pass it off as ingame - that video was leaked out and of course many people thought it was actually ingame footage, but it's 2d animation. It was entirely meant for internal use only, ...

I want to also point out that I never fully finished this but not long after I started making it, I resigned from CM for personal reasons :) So that was the end of that.

Wow, straight from the source. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Nice work, by the way!

Addendum: I feel I want to defend DR to some extent. Simply because I'm a contrarian by nature, I guess...

Mostly @Wolle - Yeah, I can't get any enjoyment out of the game sub-hard difficulty level. The little white an red crosses that appear to tell you whether you hit the enemy and the respawning friendlies and check points spoil it utterly for me. Also, that first 'mission' is rubbish, and plainly a tutorial. Whilst the second mission may be a bit silly for a special forces mission, it does develop dynamically and this is the point I wish to make. Yes, most of the enemy units' starting positions are scripted, but a lot of the missions play out dynamically and will be different each time. For example, in mission 3 sometimes the AAVPs will get through, and other times they'll be downed and then your squad will have to take out the enemy armour themselves. Neither does this develop randomly; it does depend on how you play the mission. Three things come from this. One: this genuine dynamism hasn't been done often on consoles. Two: it does give at least the illusion of the scope that an ArmaII mission can have. Three: in my opinion the single player campaign is better designed than Arma II's, in which they prioritised maturity and simulating the feeling of being in a wartorn Eastern European country over playability. It looks like Bis have learnt this lesson and are applying it to OA. I hope so, because, being frank, the campaign from Arma I was better than that of Arma II. We're talking relativity here.

So, to anyone who fancies giving DR a chance. If you've ever played any Bis game - even for 5 minutes - go straight in at hard mode, otherwise you will hate it.

Edited October 9, 2009 by Richey79
Read all previous posts.

[Bulldogs 10]

Can someone tell me more about the limitations in the editor? Ive placed 20 scripts in it, where as I got a pop-up telling me that the maximum amount has been reached, and when I placed 65 soldiers, and set one of them as players, I got nothing but a grey screen upon attempting preview.

63 entities, what does this mean?

The OFP : DR engine has a limit of 63 entities. Entities being soldiers, vehicles, and several other things. Meaning that you can't have a massive battle. You can, on the other hand, spawn enemies... but I'm not sure how to do that.

BTW... I noticed a lot of people mentioning the view distance in DR, it's one of the selling points that no one shuts up about. The problem being that after about 1km the detail drops rapidly to the point that anything after 2km away is just bland textured terrain (well, there's a few painted on trees up to about 10km)

[froggyluv 2130]

I loved micro-terrain as well for OFP but mainly because AI couldn't use cover at all, so it gave some variety to the firefights and landscapes. But there is no comparison to Arma2's micro-Ai that actually gets behind something when under fire while OFP they got near something which generally left them completely exposed.

Does DR have those dips and gulleys?

Edit - On the subject of CM and BI should have never split ways and would have complimented each other I say negative. How can one know that for sure? What would Arma2 have gained by merging with a DR - better performance due to world class limitations such as tethers, 100 or so entity counts ,low rent textures, 3 man squads and disappearing corpses? No thanks.

Edited October 9, 2009 by froggyluv

[SD_BOB 10]

@Bulldogs

Indeed, if they just increased the texture detail (alot) and added some more trees out in the distance it would look so much better. Thing is unless you actually go into the editor and look at how bad it is, you cant really see it with the fog and other effects present in the already created missions.

BTW:- I had a crack at the PVP (against my better judgement) and my god, its just pointless. Lag and everything aside (dedi servers anyone), the draw distance just ruins any type of play. Ok ArmA2 might not be the best, but at least the bushes stay to a reasonable distance allowing at least some concealment. In DR they just vanish at anything plus of 300m. Making the landscape totally useless.

[trickster1982 10]

Well, I left a couple of fair but critical comments on a couple of youtube videos of the game & got some abusive messages back

Do you have a point to your jag ass comment or are you just that much of a tool shed loser?

LOL your useless opinion made my day

I didnt say anything nasty, just what has been basically repeated throughout this thread!teenage fanboys that cant face the truth eh :rolleyes:

[maddogx 13]

Well, I left a couple of fair but critical comments on a couple of youtube videos of the game & got some abusive messages back...

That's weird. Normally the discussions on YouTube are pleasant and educated, the commenters unrivalled in eloquence and rhetorical skill...

[dmakatra 1]

I can sum up my opinion of Dragon Rising with a simple scenario I just went through:

Trying to complete the third mission, where you're outnumbered by at least 1:10, I found myself standing right in front of a PLA soldier, just two-three metres away. After a failed skirmish, mostly due to the unresponsive controls, I had emptied my mag. While reloading, I desperately tried to go for the pistol - which I only could do by using the numbers since the drop-down menu forces you to stand still for some idiotic reason, but the numbers slipped up and I instead went for the emptied M16. However, the change of weapons didn't register until I actually had reloaded my Chinese rifle (which takes forever), so when I actually got my M16 I had to do another slow swap to the knife. Then I went for the kill. All these reloads and weapon swaps took about 5-6 seconds or so I guess, maybe more, in which I actually crouch-side-stepped around the PLA soldier. You couldn't even get away with that in CoD1.

I actually was moderately looking forward to this game. Not like a sequel to OFP, but rather like a modern version of Brothers in Arms. But the mission design is shit, with stupid scenarios making ArmA1's campaign look plausible. The game is slow, unresponsive (and not in a good I'm-bulked-down-by-equipment-kind-of-way, but in a frustrating-tearing-out-my-hair-kind-of-way). The graphics are crap, which wouldn't bother me if it would've run well on my mid-low system - but it doesn't. There's just so many things wrong with it.

ArmA2's short-comings I can forgive, because the game is so ambitious. Games like CoD I don't like, but at least they're polished and free of frustration. But DR is neither. It's just shit to be honest.

[Sniperdoc 0]

ethne, sniperdoc

Take your stuff to PM where you don't bother the rest of the community with it.

This here is about DR and not about the poorly developed ArmA and ArmA2, BIS or the gaming industry in general.

You know... moderators really are meant to be unseen... not projecting their own perceptions or ideologies upon others.

Our statements were about a response to someone's comment about CM and BIS joining up and the reasons why and I believe was still inline with the discussion about DR.

Just because you may not LIKE our comments doesn't give you the right pass judgement at all. I'd call that an abuse of your moderator power.

Edited October 9, 2009 by Sniperdoc

[Zipper5 74]

You know... moderators really are meant to be unseen... not projecting their own perceptions or ideologies upon others.

Our statements were about a response to someone's comment about CM and BIS joining up and the reasons why and I believe was still inline with the discussion about DR.

Just because you may not LIKE our comments doesn't give you the right pass judgement at all. I'd call that an abuse of your moderator power.

And that, my friend, is ingoring the rules.

§2) Follow the instructions of the moderators

When a moderator or BIS staff member asks you to do something or to stop doing something, please follow their instructions. If you have questions/complaints/comments about the forum or moderators please PM them to a moderator, we will do our utmost to reply to any that we receive. If you have an issue that you feel cannot be solved by another moderator then please PM the head moderator (Placebo), he will be happy to look into the matter.

;)

Edit: Well, that, and Rule §18.

Edited October 9, 2009 by Zipper5

[LoLL 10]

I don't like OFP: DR at all...It isn't simulation..I will not buy this. :P

Comparing OFP: DR with ArmA II then ArmA II blows OFP: DR big time!

[Sniperdoc 0]

And that, my friend, is ingoring the rules.

;)

But it's quite plain he's passing judgement without fairness... because he's quite intent on personally continuing a conversation about a sniper at 2miles vs 400meters, which really didn't have much to do with DR/Arma at all. He doesn't ask them to continue their conversation via PM...? But rather, he joins in and eggs the conversation on.

That my friend is an abuse of power and complete bias.

[sarcasm]The fact that you're trying to suck up to the mods by your statement isn't very obvious either.[/sarcasm] And... further on that note... I haven't continued my discussion with Ethne. I have stopped as he asked.

@Bulldogs

Indeed, if they just increased the texture detail (alot) and added some more trees out in the distance it would look so much better. Thing is unless you actually go into the editor and look at how bad it is, you cant really see it with the fog and other effects present in the already created missions.

BTW:- I had a crack at the PVP (against my better judgement) and my god, its just pointless. Lag and everything aside (dedi servers anyone), the draw distance just ruins any type of play. Ok ArmA2 might not be the best, but at least the bushes stay to a reasonable distance allowing at least some concealment. In DR they just vanish at anything plus of 300m. Making the landscape totally useless.

Well... I'm kind of surprised that the difference between 1920x1200 and 1650x1080 is soooo much greater. How does this display on a console/TV... no way it can achieve 1920 rez on a TV? I noticed the 1920 rez picture thread on the CM forums and the pictures look amazing... but they look nothing like mine when it's maxed on 1650 rez...?

I guess they must've used higher quality textures at that level...? Just seems odd, cause you figure they'd have used better textures at the lower rez to make it look good on a TV.

Edited October 9, 2009 by Sniperdoc

[myshaak 0]

I just love this video:

The developers were working so hard on the optimalization that there is most likely not only just the 64 entity limit on the entire map, but also an entity limity in the immediate player's surroundings! Or did the PLA invent a cool harry-potter-like invisibility cloak? :eek:

[krycek 349]

Actually I was happy when OFP 2 was announced because competition is good for everyone.Mil sims it's such a small market that we should be thankfull when one is announced.

I don't consider myself an BIS fanboy,I appreciate their products and their huge talent but I'm also very pissed when I have problems with their games.

Arma 2 by far is no perfect,but patched has huge potential.Now after playing Dragon Rising I think it's the perfect example of bling-bling in the world of games and current state of the industry.

Looks shiney,simplistic gameplay,not many detailed textures,limited number of AI in editor,oversimplified island and WTF is wrong with vehicle handling?I tried to drive an Hummer in editor and after accelerating a bit the car starts skidding and I barely control it,this happened at low speed,what the hell is this OF:Dragon Rally??

Btw anyone knows what is the key to look around in the car or it doesn't have one?

Not really sure what they wanted with this,either you make an arcade game for everyone or either you try to make a game realistic as possible but still fun to play,you can't have both.

As a game of his own it's good for killing some time also they shouldn't had used the name OFP,perhaps this way it would have fared better.

I wasn't overhyped with this game but I just simply wanted to at least approach the level of OFP and Arma series(and finally BIS to have an worthy rival) but what we have here is the small retarded brother of Arma 2.

[whisper 0]

But it's quite plain he's passing judgement without fairness... because he's quite intent on personally continuing a conversation about a sniper at 2miles vs 400meters, which really didn't have much to do with DR/Arma at all. He doesn't ask them to continue their conversation via PM...?

That my friend is an abuse of power and complete bias.

[sarcasm]The fact that you're trying to suck up to the mods by your statement isn't very obvious either.[/sarcasm] And... further on that note... I haven't continued my discussion with Ethne. I have stopped as he asked.

Well... I'm kind of surprised that the difference between 1920x1200 and 1650x1080 is soooo much greater. How does this display on a console/TV... no way it can achieve 1920 rez on a TV? I noticed the 1920 rez picture thread on the CM forums and the pictures look amazing... but they look nothing like mine when it's maxed on 1650 rez...?

I guess they must've used higher quality textures at that level...? Just seems odd, cause you figure they'd have used better textures at the lower rez to make it look good on a TV.

Your arguments with each others are annoying and not bringing to the discussion apart from you two. It's the same kind of annoyance that led to the other DR thread closure.

Arguments between you 2 => PM. It's that simple

Edited October 9, 2009 by whisper

[Zipper5 74]

I just love this video:

[YOUTUBEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLvmF_f7jwk[/YOUTUBE]

The developers were working so hard on the optimalization that there is most likely not only just the 64 entity limit on the entire map, but also an entity limity in the immediate player's surroundings! Or did the PLA invent a cool harry-potter-like invisibility cloak? :eek:

That's just... wrong... I have never seen a game do that before... :confused:

[Deadfast 43]

Btw anyone knows what is the key to look around in the car or it doesn't have one?

There isn't one.

[whisper 0]

There's a "look left", "look right" keys in keyboard configuration

I don't know what they're usefull for, though. Tried in vehicle, no go

[Tarnish 0]

That's weird. Normally the discussions on YouTube are pleasant and educated, the commenters unrivalled in eloquence and rhetorical skill...

:D

Priceless!

[ebud 18]

Borrowed a copy to try it out on the PC. Runs really well at least. LOVE the interface and overall front end production values... really, really well designed at least with the style, typography and graphics.

In-game... just played one mission and it runs really well on higher settings at least for my now lower end system. Feels similar to GRAW but not as "tight". I'm enjoying it at least "as is" and looking at it in a vacuum. Again, at least I can play it straight away with 0 need to adjust anything. Nothing. Just install and play.

Biases aside, it'll be a fun one time playthough to kill some time which is all COD4/GRAW2/etc was for me as well and I enjoyed that diversion a lot. OFPDR isn't great and I'll hold off judgement til I play it through, but I don't see it as being nearly as bad as some are suggesting, but then again I see it as just a shooter game to kill a few hours with, not something that will keep me occupied for years on end. With that in mind I think I can enjoy playing it a few hours.

LOL at the vid showing the LOD popping. That's a good engine stress test but not a good indication of how gameplay is. At least it forces you to design missions with good FPS in mind.

[4 IN 1 0]

I throught that ARMA2 unit popping is bad, didnt expect that DR did it worst...Plus I just cant love the animation, They just feel.......wrong......

I cant understand why people always say that DR animation is good while ARMA2 one is bad:confused:

Edited October 9, 2009 by 4 IN 1

[TangoRomeo 10]

Well, I left a couple of fair but critical comments on a couple of youtube videos of the game & got some abusive messages back

If the comments don't get besieged by spam demons, there's a good chance of the nameless leprous internet puppets from Alpha Centauri stopping by. I like it though, you just don't have to take it seriously.

Concerning DR. I just took up Risen and Drakensang, 2 role playing games, together ~ 50 Eur.

[Cultivator 0]

After reading, that OFP DR AI can use buildings and the AI in ArmA2 not... i made 2 little clips to show the truth. For an Ai which is not scripted it looks very imressive to me how they do.

Its not perfect, but they cover each other and they know how to get in a building... and i think with a bit of effort BiS could do it on a much better way with the micro AI.

After reading so much about DR (the first Rendervideos were nice and Codemasters said "Our game will look and feel like in this rendered videos) i thought it will be a good game... but now :rolleyes: ... mhhh

But know the most OFP/ArmA-Veterans know how hard it is to make a game like this... and i am waiting for OA and ArmA3 :D .

operation flashpoint 2 is gona kickass this game

Someone wrote it as a comment in one of my xfire ArmA2-videos... now i can just laugh about it.. hehe ...16 year old naively COD-boy who was in dreams after the PR-Attack by Codemasters...

Regards Culti

[maddogx 13]

I throught that ARMA2 unit popping is bad, didnt expect that DR did it worst...Plus I just cant love the animation, They just aint right at all, I cant understand why people always say that DR animation is good while ARMA2 one is bad:confused:

It's not just the animations. The head height is totally wrong. It looks like he's playing a midget. It's not so much the scale of the infantry units compared to the vehicles, it's more the scale of the environment. As if they decided to scale down all entities compared to everything else, thus making the island seem "bigger".

Another thing I noticed is that the glass on the truck doesn't show any hint of damage, even after he's unloaded multiple clips into it.

Edited October 9, 2009 by MadDogX

[-RIP- Luhgnut 10]

So the game is crap, and many of you guys still bought it. So why do some developers bother putting effort into their games again? :(

This is why I (almost) never pre-order games.

It's hilarious that BIS's "dated" engine does more (and mostly better) than this "next gen" engine by Codemasters that had a huge budget.

This goes to show the huge amount of work that is required to create a convincing open world game.

Oh well, it looks like hardly anyone likes it besides some console gamers and a few popular review sites (proof you can't trust them).

Difference is those games were actually good at what they tried to do ;)

The funny thing is, is that the EGO engine is rather old. They use it all over the place. They have an engine that is rather good for racing games, and they use it over and over and over. Their games are really a MOD for the EGO engine is all. Face it, they appeal to the console gamers with that engine, so they use it because they don't have any development time needed to build the engine. Just build a mod.

OFPDR, is just that, a MOD. Nothing more.