ATTN NOOBIES! - New to ArmA II or OA - Here's the place for your questions

[NeoArmageddon 958]

Hello.

I have a slight problem with disabling the crosshair in planes. I turn it off in settings, and it does not show up when playing with infantry but it shows in plane cockpits. How can I disable it there?

I think this addon will help you: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=11297&highlight=SCRUFFY

It removes EVERY crosshair ingame, even on mp servers with crosshairs enabled (if they allow this addon, of course).

[GoblinShark 1]

Hey folks, I'm brand new to Arma. I was introduced to Arma through DayZ (put the torches away, please!)

I was looking for general help and assistance regarding the entire game. Any great guides you recommend, tips, hints, strategies, unwritten rules to be polite while playing? I love military history, military simulators, and being in the military. After playing this game a bit in DayZ, I new I would love the rest of the game as well.

As of now, because of all the DayZ installing / files moving / updaters / beta patches, my files are a bit odd. I can't find servers to play on. Should I do a complete wipe of the game and download it fresh? I purchased Combined Operations, from this website.

- Thanks!

[pipscouse 10]

You can turn off DayZ temporarily via the options expantions screen mate (or try using one of the Arma launcher progs as you can able and disable them there). Then you go to Filters on the multi player screen and hide expansions. This will lose the DayZ servers when you hit multiplayer and leave just vanilla servers. I would also recommend getting Arma II and the BAF and PMS DLCs as you will miss alot of content just with OA. You might have to reinstall OA and the DLC after installing Arma mind so a complete wipe would be necessary and probably beneficial. As for guides - Dyslexi's (I can't spill et - do a search) guide is the a great starting point. Also check out YouTube

[tremanarch 6]

check this guide: http://ttp2.dslyecxi.com/

and Check Multiplayer Warfare Mode: ftp://clan-gmc.de/pub/Games/ArmA2/Warfare%20BE%20Tutorial.pdf

Great for the first 200 / 300 hours of the game. After you did the ingame tuts and maybe the OA campaign or Scenarios to get quickly familiar with the gameplay.

[Byzantine 1]

Hi guys

I am totally new to Arma 2 and one the first things that shocked me is the number of available mods for the game.

So i'd like to ask you if there are any mods that can be considered as a MUST, particularly in terms of enhancing the whole experience of the game.

So far i've seen that WarMod is quite comprehensive but what about others?

Thanks in advance

[tremanarch 6]

mods are very diverse.. campaigns or scenarios are mods like sound or visual edits..

[gunso 10]

Hi guys

I am totally new to Arma 2 and one the first things that shocked me is the number of available mods for the game.

So i'd like to ask you if there are any mods that can be considered as a MUST, particularly in terms of enhancing the whole experience of the game.

So far i've seen that WarMod is quite comprehensive but what about others?

Thanks in advance

For starters you can use JSRS and blastcore, then you can try total conversion mod like ACE. There's also AI enhancement mod like zeus, ASR and a few more. After getting familiar with the mods then you can start playing with the editor. If you're getting familiar with the official island like your own backyard you can start playing with custom island mod. Finally with the editor start porting your favorite mission to custom islands.

[crazyjake56 10]

Could anyone point me toward any active pvp servers or communities. I have been playing against AI recently but would like to try fighting against players now.

[gunso 10]

Could anyone point me toward any active pvp servers or communities. I have been playing against AI recently but would like to try fighting against players now.

Warfare servers is pretty popular, just load up arma 2 vanilla without any mods and browse the multiplayer server list base on lowest ping. You should easily see public servers nearby with low ping that have players in it. there's gameson.net server in aussie, hotshots XR server in europe and a few in the states. Join in those that have less than 200ms ping for you for good gameplay experience.

[crazyjake56 10]

Warfare servers is pretty popular, just load up arma 2 vanilla without any mods and browse the multiplayer server list base on lowest ping. You should easily see public servers nearby with low ping that have players in it. there's gameson.net server in aussie, hotshots XR server in europe and a few in the states. Join in those that have less than 200ms ping for you for good gameplay experience.

Thank you.

[kapitanbasa 1]

hi all. finally was able to access BI Forums after some weeks...

i have a question about ACE mod...can I use it to play through campaigns that were not originally made for ACE? like the original campaigns (in Reinforcements for example)

[gunso 10]

hi all. finally was able to access BI Forums after some weeks...

i have a question about ACE mod...can I use it to play through campaigns that were not originally made for ACE? like the original campaigns (in Reinforcements for example)

not recommended, you might have issues like unable to complete the mission and etc. I tried Zeus_AI on OA mission and my team leader started to chase the enemy patrol far away. i cant even complete the 1st objective.

[Nicholas 5]

It is best to not use any mods or addons when playing the vanilla missions.

As far as PvP goes, I would highly recomend you check out Project Reality for ArmA.

[kapitanbasa 1]

not recommended, you might have issues like unable to complete the mission and etc. I tried Zeus_AI on OA mission and my team leader started to chase the enemy patrol far away. i cant even complete the 1st objective.

It is best to not use any mods or addons when playing the vanilla missions.

As far as PvP goes, I would highly recomend you check out Project Reality for ArmA.

thanks a lot for the heads up. currently i'm groping around the singleplayer Armaverse as I have no stable internet connection. i've downloaded quite a number of mods and islands and taking in a lot of years' worth of information from here and Armaholic. loving it so far.

[tremanarch 6]

Warfare servers is pretty popular, just load up arma 2 vanilla without any mods and browse the multiplayer server list base on lowest ping. You should easily see public servers nearby with low ping that have players in it. there's gameson.net server in aussie, hotshots XR server in europe and a few in the states. Join in those that have less than 200ms ping for you for good gameplay experience.

yeah for warfare just filter for CTI (Capture the Island) Missions..

[Ragnarok77 1]

Hi i just downloaded Arma2 the other day and ive been playing around in the US Showcase just to learn and practice piloting and such. on the main runway in one of the hangers there is a UAV stored there but for the life of me i cant figure how to pilot it. ive checked the control tower but cant find anything. If anyone can help that would be fantastic. Sorry if this question was already answered but i was getting tired of looking through all those pages.

[GoblinShark 1]

Hey folks - so I was curious, as I read through everything I see a lot of "AI-based" combat. Someone in here recently posted with issues finding PvP servers, just above me. I saw some MOD recommendations. It sounds like Arma II regular is what needs to be played for PvP? Is the "regular" Arma II without any expansions the best option for PvP? I love players on player interaction, and would love to hop in the fight.

[gunso 10]

Hey folks - so I was curious, as I read through everything I see a lot of "AI-based" combat. Someone in here recently posted with issues finding PvP servers, just above me. I saw some MOD recommendations. It sounds like Arma II regular is what needs to be played for PvP? Is the "regular" Arma II without any expansions the best option for PvP? I love players on player interaction, and would love to hop in the fight.

refer to particular group that hosts the server for allowed mods, they usually post it on their forum.

[Banjo 1]

Hopefully the veteran players of this game can help me out (I posted this at GameFAQs but then figured here might be the best place to find the current "community" for the game!)

I bought the ArmA X "anniversary edition" box set the other week, after falling in love with the Xbox 360 game "Operation Flashpoint: Red River" a while back, and later learning the "backstory" behind it and the original OFP, the "two dev teams" and so forth. I used to love an old game called "SEAL Team" when I was a teenager, and I'd often heard that the original OFP (by BI) was the "spiritual successor"... so that made me interested as well!

Now I've got the box set, the first thing I did was install ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead, and was looking forward to it from all the great things I've heard about it. However, I'd also heard a lot about the VERY steep learning curve: it is more of a "simulator" than a "game", is the majority of what I've read, but that's cool.

So after taking ages fiddling around with the options just to get rid of a hideous blur to the graphics (turns out you turn off "post processing"!), I started the basic training missions.

Immediately, I'm concerned by three things, and would like to know if it's "just me" or something else?

1) The very first ArmA 2 basic training mission won't progress past the firing range for me: tells me to "fire off a few rounds, then start the rifle drill". I fire, move to the marker... nothing happens. Known bug?

2) So I tried the OA basic training first mission. Doing the timed course seemed impossible, since my character "slides around" so much/so fast when moving. I keep "overshooting" where I'm running to, and the mouse cursor whips around like anything. I've tried reducing and increasing sensitivity, but it doesn't seem to make much difference. What am I missing here?

3) And this is the big one. Weapon accuracy seems terrible! I get that this isn't COD, and we actually have "real" bullet physics/drop here, and I'm happy if the answer is just "practice!" but I'm surprised at how hard even the timed training firing range was: I simply can't pass the SAW range because poor accuracy, massive recoil (yes, I'm crouched) and the afore-mentioned "mouse lagginess/super-sensitivity" is making drawing a bead on and hitting the targets a complete nightmare.

I really REALLY want to love this game. I don't mind "hard", but "impossible" is killing any fun for me here, and I can't shake the feeling that I'm just not setting something right, or missing something obvious.

Honestly, is it just typical for a beginner at this game to suck this bad? I wouldn't mind getting destroyed online, or even by enemies my first time out... but not being able to run an obstacle course or hit a wooden target is pretty demoralizing! Losing to AI is one thing, losing to the UI is something else!!!

Is it me being a "noob", the game being deliberately super-hard to control, or some kind of UI bug I'm encountering? I just want to be sure... as I said, I bought this "blind" on fans raving about it, and really want to love it (as much as I adored Red River, for all it's quirks and flaws).

(oh, and while researching my woes, I came across info about the copy protection the game uses: "Fade", and for a moment I wondered if it could have accidentally been triggered in my legit copy... but "Fade" introduces obvious graphics distortions and - I'd presume - a warning/notification, and doesn't JUST ruin gun physics, right? Or else how would I know if this was the cause?)

[Tankbuster 1747]

Don't worry. Unless you've been naughty, you won't trigger Degrade (it's not called Fade).

Also, don't worry about sucking at the game. Persevere, and it will become clear. A lot of your shots will miss - like you say it's as much a sim as a game. If you're shooting from standing up, try changing stance to improve accuracy. Also, see how you are ranged, there's no point shooting 500m with an MP5. Check your zeroing too, if the game you have uses it.

The SAW is impossible to use unless you're prone. Even then, you're better off using harsh language on the enemy. Bursts of one or two rounds are the only way. Yes, I know... burst of one. :)

---------- Post added at 16:39 ---------- Previous post was at 16:37 ----------

Losing to AI is one thing, losing to the UI is something else!!!

LOL. Excellent. I see you have the sense of humour that will help you through this game. :)

[orcinus 121]

Don't worry. Unless you've been naughty, you won't trigger Degrade (it's not called Fade).

Also, don't worry about sucking at the game. Persevere, and it will become clear. A lot of your shots will miss - like you say it's as much a sim as a game. If you're shooting from standing up, try changing stance to improve accuracy. Also, see how you are ranged, there's no point shooting 500m with an MP5. Check your zeroing too, if the game you have uses it.

The SAW is impossible to use unless you're prone. Even then, you're better off using harsh language on the enemy. Bursts of one or two rounds are the only way. Yes, I know... burst of one. :)

^^ What Tankbuster said.

One of the best discoveries I made when starting out was Kronsky's "Moveable target range". Written for A2 but works well in CO. Get it from Armaholic, the primary site for finding missions & campaigns, mods & addons, useful information & tutorials: www.armaholic.com

Re mouse:

1. In the game options menu, controls: start with very low settings for X & even lower for Y. Put smoothing to nil.

2. In game difficulty, set aiming dead zone to nil. Turn off head-bob (completely unrealistic & makes me nauseous - YMMV).

Test the settings in Kronsky's firing range mission & tweak X & Y sliders til the mouse has the sort of sensitivity you want. Use a few weapons for the test - something with iron sights, something with reflex optics, & something with a scope; I find the optimal settings are a little different for each 'type', so I settle for compromise positions. Then try adjusting the smoothing if you want it, then add in deadzone if you want that. I don't use smoothing or deadzone, but that's just my preferences.

Then go back to the firing range and practice with a wide variety of weapons, not just, say, a sniper rifle or two (many official & user campaigns/missions; AIUI, many MP admins restrict the weapons you can access; if you run out of ammo you have to use whatever you can scavenge).

Then practice some more. I still go to target practice every now & then :)

Best position to fire any rifle or MG from is prone, just like RL. Crouched is next best, standing is worst. Those three positions are also in the same order when it comes to presenting yourself as a target to the enemy.

There are a number of guides on Armaholic that can help - on sniping, on interpreting scope reticules and so on, plus more in these forums. Searching should get you quite a few.

[SandMan13 10]

Alright so I've played ARMA 2 Free and I want to buy ARMA 2 CO but my graphics card is not up to par for this game, I was wondering if someone could tell me if this graphics card could run this game fairly well and if it can't could you point me towards some graphics cards that could but won't eat my wallet? I'd appreciate it.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Galaxy+-+GeForce+GT+520+1GB+DDR3+PCI+Express+2.0+Graphics+Card/2344226.p?id=1218322060851&skuId=2344226&st=Galaxy%20GeForce%20GT%20520%2052GGS4HX2HXZ%20Video%20Card&cp=1&lp=1

[orcinus 121]

Alright so I've played ARMA 2 Free and I want to buy ARMA 2 CO but my graphics card is not up to par for this game, I was wondering if someone could tell me if this graphics card could run this game fairly well and if it can't could you point me towards some graphics cards that could but won't eat my wallet? I'd appreciate it.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Galaxy+-+GeForce+GT+520+1GB+DDR3+PCI+Express+2.0+Graphics+Card/2344226.p?id=1218322060851&skuId=2344226&st=Galaxy%20GeForce%20GT%20520%2052GGS4HX2HXZ%20Video%20Card&cp=1&lp=1

Can't help you with that, however there's a dedicated thread dealing with such issues. Have you searched that?

[Banjo 1]

Tankbuster & Orcinus: thanks HEAPS for the tips and making me feel welcome!

I laughed at the "busts of one" comment, because that's how I was trying it with the SAW!

Using Orcinus' advice, I got the mouse to respond much better already. I still feel rather "slippery" running around (one of the few times I've wished for analog control, so it's not just "snail pace walk" or "full tilt run"!), but turning off smoothness as well as lowering the sensitivity makes a huge difference to the mouse indeed, especially to aiming. I'm glad to be rid of the vomitous "head bob" as well (something I loathe in all games!).

Amusingly, once I got past the SAW range test (where - I forgot to mention - it won't let you go prone, just kneel), the game hilariously told me "See how hard that was? Now try shooting prone". Wow, really? :rolleyes: As someone who used to play as a "pigman" in a lot of games, I think I officially hate that SAW in ArmA 2! Amusingly, the sniper rifle and heavy weapons were a breeze to shoot after that!

I noticed something called (gasp!) "auto aim" in the difficulty settings... but it didn't seem to really make much of a difference to me, so I left it off.

Anyway, I definitely feel like I'm getting the hang of the controls more now, thanks to you guys. Just did the medic training and laughed at my "assistant" (?) showing off his awful acting skills, pretending to be wounded!

And that super-detailed firing range mod looks awesome! I'll have to give it a shot to get comfy with the weapons and UI tomorrow.

Thanks again!

PS Re: the "Degrade" DRM: so in other words, I'd definitely know if it had accidentally kicked in, then? I just don't trust any system enough to think it would only ever work when it's supposed to. :p

[orcinus 121]

Tankbuster & Orcinus: thanks HEAPS for the tips and making me feel welcome!

You're welcome <cough>

Re: the "Degrade" DRM: so in other words, I'd definitely know if it had accidentally kicked in, then? I just don't trust any system enough to think it would only ever work when it's supposed to. :p

Dunno, never seen it. Which tells you two things - I have legitimate versions (currently Arma X); and it's never kicked in by accident. I'm pretty certain I would have noticed!

Have fun :)