Combined Operations = problems

[TommyC81 10]

Spent hours on the forum just to realize the amount of problems people are having with this game. Unfortunately all the time spent didn't help at all; cross-linking and cross-referencing of posts here and there make it a nightmare finding any kind of solutions. Where is the WIKI with up-to-date workarounds (for the buggy installation procedure and laggy interaction)?

In short; Computer works flawlessly with all other games, in fact I just had a good run with OFP:DR (very fluid and engaging gameplay!) and was looking forward to dig into ArmA2:CO. Unfortunately that was just the beginning of a lot of problems which seems VERY common judging by the amount of posts. It seems to me that ArmA2 is the game worlds equivalent of installing Gentoo Linux on your computer, be ready to spend hours reading up and doing the things in the exact right order just to get it to work. Forget about; Use the Steam installer, adjust the in-game settings, enjoy!

So, currently I can ONLY "run" (whatever I should call it) ArmA2:OA. CO fails for unknown reason, and ArmA2 says I got the wrong cd-key. I'm using Win 7 x64, which seems to have bypassed the developers and causing a lot of problems with the registry. Starting AO I got a "jumpy" mouse pointer already in the main menu, sometimes the pointer moves ok, but more often it jumps 1-10 extra pixels for every pixels worth of movement. In the game, the mouse is laggy like crazy (yes, I've reduced mouse smoothing and tried running the game in all kinds of video settings on my HD5870, even tried changing the windows mouse setting (how can that be expected to be necessary???)). These are all well-known problems that a lot of people experience, and have done so for quite some time.

Already read 200+ forum pages and had 20+ tabs open with different users random advice of solutions and work-arounds, is this the way it's supposed to be? Did I suddenly become a developer of the game or did I buy a ready product?

Either way, where do I go now, game is unplayable. Refund? 5 hours of troubleshooting so far, would it be reasonable to send a bill of let's say 10$ per hour as compensation for these apparently VERY common problems?

Basic info:

ArmA2:CO bought via Steam for 50$.

Win 7 x64

i5 750

8gb RAM

HD5870

Updated drivers (checked and doublechecked)

[TommyC81 10]

Finally done downloading everything again, restarted by only running ArmA2 first. Actually runs this time, and mouse actually seems ok for now. Then run ArmA2:CO which also started, but mouse lag back again. What did they do differently between the two versions?

[Zipper5 74]

In short; Computer works flawlessly with all other games, in fact I just had a good run with OFP:DR (very fluid and engaging gameplay!) and was looking forward to dig into ArmA2:CO.

I wouldn't expect many people to help you when you on this forum when you claim that DR has "very fluid and engaging gameplay". ;)

I would first recommend trying to read through this thread to see if you can find people with the same problems, or perhaps answers to them.

Starting AO I got a "jumpy" mouse pointer already in the main menu, sometimes the pointer moves ok, but more often it jumps 1-10 extra pixels for every pixels worth of movement. In the game, the mouse is laggy like crazy (yes, I've reduced mouse smoothing and tried running the game in all kinds of video settings on my HD5870, even tried changing the windows mouse setting (how can that be expected to be necessary???)).

Try changing the mouse smoothing setting in game, and also try changing the number of sound samples you're using. People have been experiencing mouse lag if their sample is set to anything over 32 occassionally, so perhaps that might help.

Did I suddenly become a developer of the game or did I buy a ready product?

I'm surprised you say that and yet you like DR. There was so little content in that game that they did leave the modders to fill it, which they didn't.

Either way, where do I go now, game is unplayable. Refund? 5 hours of troubleshooting so far, would it be reasonable to send a bill of let's say 10$ per hour as compensation for these apparently VERY common problems?

Uh... No. What developer do you know of that pays their customers? Again, I'm surprised you say this yet you liked DR... :confused:

The Steam version of CO has indeed had some issues. However, if you look at the thread I posted at the top of this post, you might fix it.

Edited July 11, 2010 by Zipper5

[EDcase 87]

What ATI drivers Tommy?

I've seen people have problems with the latest and state that 10.4 are best

[no use for a name 0]

The mouse lag is sometimes caused by vsync. But I don't think ATI CCC has an option to disable it, and there's not an option in the vid settings. You'll probably have to DL a 3rd party program to disable it (RivaTuner maybe?). Also open up the arma2oa.cfg and try changing GPU_MaxFramesAhead=x & GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=x both to 1 (one) as that seems to help some people with the microstutters/lag.

[ast65 10]

Go play with your 360 or PS3 again.

[markhe 10]

I bought CO on steam a few days ago

I can run ArmA2 but cannot run for OA

Actually I would rather it be another way around

[TommyC81 10]

I wouldn't expect many people to help you when you on this forum when you claim that DR has "very fluid and engaging gameplay". ;)

I would first recommend trying to read through this thread to see if you can find people with the same problems, or perhaps answers to them.

Try changing the mouse smoothing setting in game, and also try changing the number of sound samples you're using. People have been experiencing mouse lag if their sample is set to anything over 32 occassionally, so perhaps that might help.

I'm surprised you say that and yet you like DR. There was so little content in that game that they did leave the modders to fill it, which they didn't.

Uh... No. What developer do you know of that pays their customers? Again, I'm surprised you say this yet you liked DR... :confused:

The Steam version of CO has indeed had some issues. However, if you look at the thread I posted at the top of this post, you might fix it.

Did read through that thread but after sooo many pages and references to other posts/threads all over to forum the frustration got the better of me. Why don't you summarize all those ideas and suggestions in a well-formatted wiki or SINGLE UPDATED STICKY NO-REPLY THREAD?

Already tried all settings in mouse smoothing (including removing windows "enhanced precision"). Sound samples was already at 32, didn't experience any change when trying the different values.

Regarding OFP: DR, bought it Steam sale for 5$ or so, was v.1.02. Wouldn't buy unless it was so discounted because of the "conflict" between BI and CM. The only problems I had was one glitch in one mission (the stealth one) which forced me to rerun it, one assault weapon that reloaded an extra time when swapping between grenades and rifle and some very minor AI pathfinding around some rocks on one occasion. As a big fan of the original OFP I did find the UI and the general game play feeling to be very refreshing and involving. Sure, less content but the bits and pieces that were included felt pretty refined. Never tried multiplayer, but from what I read that part seems buggy. I've read several recommendations for single player: OFP: DR, multiplayer: ArmA2.

What ATI drivers Tommy?

I've seen people have problems with the latest and state that 10.4 are best

Got 10.6, will try downgrading. Thanks!

The mouse lag is sometimes caused by vsync. But I don't think ATI CCC has an option to disable it, and there's not an option in the vid settings. You'll probably have to DL a 3rd party program to disable it (RivaTuner maybe?). Also open up the arma2oa.cfg and try changing GPU_MaxFramesAhead=x & GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=x both to 1 (one) as that seems to help some people with the microstutters/lag.

I'll give it a try, thanks!

Go play with your 360 or PS3 again.

Have neither.

I bought CO on steam a few days ago

I can run ArmA2 but cannot run for OA

Actually I would rather it be another way around

Another new customer with similar problems...

[ast65 10]

Well, that part with "...game is unplayable" got me a little upset. Sry me;)

[TommyC81 10]

Well, that part with "...game is unplayable" got me a little upset. Sry me;)

No worries man, it's a public forum. My first post was after hours of frustrating reading and tries to fix things...it gets to us all every now and then ;) Am just about to do a third run at getting things sorted out... Wish me luck, I'm going in! :cool: