ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead - DEMO!

[jblackrupert 14]

Dedictated server for the demo needs to be released.

Laggy Listen servers are not a great way to showcase a product you want people to buy.

Leave that to consolemasters.

[JSj 12]

Why aren't all of the bootcamp missions included in the demo? You would think it would be better to show off as many of the game features as possible to make it more likely that people buy the game after testing the demo.

[Capt. Sand 10]

well, the more content that goes into the demo means the more content goes into the editor. therefore, less need/want to buy the game. also, I think the posibility to make your own missions and share/play them with friends already makes the demo feel more like a full-size game than some games I've paid full price for.

however, if the extra content can be locked out of the editor and kept in the bootcamp, I could see myself agreeing with you.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Capt. Sand
added a word

[JSj 12]

Ok, that makes sense. Maybe there's no easy way to keep content out of the editor if it's included in the boot camp.

[RomeoSierra 10]

When I started trying to use the ambient combat module (ACM) after synchronising the module to my player nothing would happen! So I had a poke around in the editing forum & discovered if the ACM was initialised with a bit of script saved as an init.sqf & placed in the mission folder it works fine (in fact, it's awesome!, you should try it!).

So with that in mind I thought I'd make a simple ACM demo using the OA demo:

It is very basic:

1x mission.sqm

1x init.sqf

1x named acm module (BIS_ACM) (synchronised to player)

1x USMC motorized infantry (player as team leader)

1x large elliptical marker (named: BIS_ACM_1)(this acts as a no spawn zone, units spawned by the ACM will not set waypoints here either (although their path may cross the area if waypoint is on other side))

If you want more no-spawn zones just add another marker named: BIS_ACM_2, BIS_ACM_3, etc. (do not skip numbers must be in succession)

To use in your own mission: Create mission, place player, save. Then copy the init.sqf to your mission folder. Load mission then create an ACM module in the name field type: BIS_ACM. Sync to the player, create no spawn zone marker if desired (create marker: rectangle or ellipse, adjust axis a & b to a decent size. Then name it: BIS_ACM_1).

init.sqf:

waitUntil {!isNil {BIS_ACM getVariable "initDone"}};

waitUntil {BIS_ACM getVariable "initDone"};

//Sets frequency and number of patrols (0-1). BIS_ACM is module name

[1, BIS_ACM] call BIS_ACM_setIntensityFunc;

//min max spawn distance

[bIS_ACM, 150, 600] call BIS_ACM_setSpawnDistanceFunc;

//factions to be spawned

[["BIS_TK_INS"], BIS_ACM] call BIS_ACM_setFactionsFunc;

//Skill range for spawned units

[0, 0.6, BIS_ACM] call BIS_ACM_setSkillFunc;

//Amount of ammo spawned units possess

[0.5, 1, BIS_ACM] call BIS_ACM_setAmmoFunc;

//Type of patrol. With 0 meaning no chance of appearing, and 1 meaning 100% chance. -1 removes patrol type completely.

["ground_patrol", 1, BIS_ACM] call BIS_ACM_setTypeChanceFunc;

["air_patrol", 0, BIS_ACM] call BIS_ACM_setTypeChanceFunc;

You can change many parameters by editing the init.sqf. If you need help with that look here:

ACM thread

& here:

BIS Wiki: ACM - Functions

RomeoSierra's ACM demo mission

7-zip archive 1.34KB hosted on mediafire

MADE & TESTED ON OPERATION ARROWHEAD DEMO VERSION

:cc: ACM ROCKS :cc:

Edited July 31, 2010 by RomeoSierra
updated link

[ziiip 1]

Mission downloaded. :)

[RomeoSierra 10]

Mission downloaded. :)

Don't get too excited though! It's just a demo of the ACM, no objectives or anything just you & the ACM! But then that was the point....just to get the ACM working.

Still quite fun though...

Edited July 31, 2010 by RomeoSierra

[Qxs 10]

Fun fact:

Arma 2 DEMO, Benchmark mission: 30 fps (compared to ~44 in OA DEMO)

-it's not using the quad cores very well at all, but holy smoke does it look like a lot more fun that the OA DEMO...

[ziiip 1]

Fun fact:

Arma 2 DEMO, Benchmark mission: 30 fps

Arma2 demo was outdated even at its release. The full game has received some framerate boost with the patches,

[Muahaha 10]

Quick question to all,

Can the demo users play with full fledge game owner on LAN? Am persuading a friend of mine to buy CO, wanted to do a few sessions of Coop with him on his demo version. Just wondering.

[Capt. Sand 10]

I made a mission in the desert map of the demo, and was able to play it in the full version. so, I guess you could make a mission in the full version to play in the demo, as long as you use the same content that's only in the demo. this is regarding the desert map, though. I haven't tried it with the others.

[Muahaha 10]

I made a mission in the desert map of the demo, and was able to play it in the full version. so, I guess you could make a mission in the full version to play in the demo, as long as you use the same content that's only in the demo. this is regarding the desert map, though. I haven't tried it with the others.

Great. Thanks for the info. I hope it works vice-versa.

[jblackrupert 14]

I just uninstalled the Demo to install the full version of Arrowhead and it also uninstalled Arma 2 at the same time.

Is there some way to prevent this from happening?

Not for myself but others still using the demo until they get the full game.

.

Edited August 4, 2010 by jblackrupert

[That guy 10]

just make sure that the demo and full version are the same version number (1.52 or whatever). if not then they wont see each other

[jblackrupert 14]

Edit: Delete this

Edited August 4, 2010 by jblackrupert

[Capt. Sand 10]

jblackrupert, I think he was giving an extra bit of advice to "Muahaha," and it's a good thing, cause I forgot to mention that.

as for the issue you've run into, I'm going to check to see if the same thing happens on my end (I have the steam version of both games and demo).

Edit: no problems with steam, if anyone else is concerned.

Edited August 4, 2010 by Capt. Sand
no problems

[Petko 10]

I was trying to work out things with the demo for days, because there are some friends who wanted to check out the game before buying, but the thing got into a complete fail, because the demo was built with stupidity.

They wanted to check out the game with lots of players, pvp, or a larger coop. There were no dedicated servers at all, and there is no point hosting or joining 24 player TDMs locally, because it will lag like hell.

Ok, i will make a dedicated server if there are none, it will also be helpful to others who want to try out the game.

But then ive found out:

... that i cant collect the better demo missions from other hosted games, because its not saving the mission files in mpcache

... that the dedicated server rotation doesnt work in the demo, ive tried everything but the mission definitions does not work at all, only one mission can be started and thats all

... that the only TDM that was included in the demo was a wizard based mission, and wizard based missions cant be put on a dedicated server, even if these are the ones for 24 players, which should be only hosted on dedicated servers

... even if i try to manually adjust the included TDM from wizard to normal mission it cant be used, because the server doesnt send any scripts to the clients

... the included coop missions also cant be used on dedicated server, because they are bugged and doesnt let a player occupy the first slot

After my buddies saw me sufferint hours trying to host a game and make it work, the all got into the conclusion that this game is incredibly problematic to use and stupid.

I dont see whats the point building a demo, which will only cause people to frightened from the game, because there is no dedicated server support, and the only way to try out it in a bigger fight is to join a locally hosted 24 player TDM which lags like hell.

I know it was ment to be a demo and not a full game, but then again you could even strip it down to only one multiplayer mission that can be hosted on a dedicated server, not building up a demo with all that content, but with the inability to try it out properly in multiplayer because there are no dedicated servers.

Edited August 11, 2010 by Petko

[jblackrupert 14]

There was a server called "WPR" (Or close to that) on the demo, it's hosted in Ireland. Great pings even in North America and a good set of missions.

I don't have the demo installed anymore but you might want to try that server if it's still there.

[Petko 10]

There was a server called "WPR" (Or close to that) on the demo, it's hosted in Ireland. Great pings even in North America and a good set of missions.

I don't have the demo installed anymore but you might want to try that server if it's still there.

Its not working for them either, i asked them. There is always someone on the server, who is an admin, and he is changing those few maps manually (which they made themselves), with the console they said.

Edited August 12, 2010 by Petko

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Its not working for them either, i asked them. There is always someone on the server, who is an admin, and he is changing those few maps manually (which they made themselves), with the console they said.

All reasonable points there, no question. Nevertheless the things you tried out should not be deceisive factors for purchasing it.

The actual Game itself works fine in mulitplayer, and this in a complexity of variations no ordinary gamer could ever imagine. After all this is the reason why many of us play it.. with different addons and mods every day. There is more than you'd ever have time for.

Question the graphics, the performance or even the AI based on the demo, but dont judge multiplayer. That would be absurd.

You are right to ask "whats the use of a demo if it doesnt support all these features". Your friends may blame it on the demo, but should not judge the game on it. You are missing out the real soul of it.

[Petko 10]

All reasonable points there, no question. Nevertheless the things you tried out should not be deceisive factors for purchasing it.

The actual Game itself works fine in mulitplayer, and this in a complexity of variations no ordinary gamer could ever imagine. After all this is the reason why many of us play it.. with different addons and mods every day. There is more than you'd ever have time for.

Question the graphics, the performance or even the AI based on the demo, but dont judge multiplayer. That would be absurd.

You are right to ask "whats the use of a demo if it doesnt support all these features". Your friends may blame it on the demo, but should not judge the game on it. You are missing out the real soul of it.

Thank you for your inspiration, but i already bought it (and im playing with arma since years), and my point was, that i wanted to show it to my friends to convince them to buy it also. But it all went wrong, because this demo was just achiving the opposite, making them not buying it.

[W0lle 1042]

Their bad, it should be clear to everyone that you can't do the same with the demo as you can with the full title.

And name me a game where the demo comes with a dedicated server. These days you must be happy if the full game has dedicated server support.

[jblackrupert 14]

And name me a game where the demo comes with a dedicated server. These days you must be happy if the full game has dedicated server support.

Battlefield series did and still have active servers for BF2 and 2142 demos.

The dedicated server files for the demos are also available via their FTP site.

Example: http://largedownloads.ea.com/pub/demos/Battlefield/2142/

It part of the agreement that server hosts have with EA. They have to run demo servers for a certain amount of time. [For RANKED server status]

It wouldn't hurt of BIS to offer dedicated servers so newcomers to the game can see it in action on non laggy listen servers.

they could just give dedicated server files to trusted hosts and have them supply a few servers in various parts of the world.

Edited August 19, 2010 by jblackrupert

[Dwarden 1124]

you can run the dedicated servers already with the commandline -server parameter

so why You demand dedicated when You already have it as part of the demo ...

[Petko 10]

you can run the dedicated servers already with the commandline -server parameter

so why You demand dedicated when You already have it as part of the demo ...

its there but its not really working, you cant put in missions in the mission cycle