shinRaiden

Steam is the seed of all evil! If anything like that happens i´ll buy a console asap Noone should need to fiddle around with crappy online activations or things alike. Just recently i tried to get some of the free games off of steam (a portal episode afair) and it didn´t work at all due to the completely idiotic ticket system in use. Remember when HL2 was released? Activation servers could´nt handle the load and many customers sold their copy on the same day that they bought it. Way to show the companys that they´ve made a bad decision .. still the game got pretty popular .. same with bioshock .. stupid customers. When i buy a game i want to have it on CD/DVD. I want to be able to play it out of the box (pretending not everyone has inet access). And i want to be able to install it on any PC i deem fit - as often as i like. Online distribution can got to HE11 .. bleh Steam is a big step towards SOLVING a lot of the problems plaguing the PC side of the industry, the very issues that have encouraged the migration to consoles. First, your arguement about online activation is bogus. Nowhere does Steam require online product activation, only Valve games and similarly designed products implement that. Entirely Optional, at the discretion of the developer and publisher. Second, lumping the trial tickets in with generic activation is also misleading, as they're two different and unconnected technologies. You're unfairly branding the optional activation component with the unrelated and newly implemented free ticket system. Third, similar complaints have been made about every other online distribution system ever deployed. Those complaints no longer hold water post-zero-day due to statistical averaging. The same complaint could be made about Sprocket as well, and the limited re-activation issue there, an issue that never existed in Steam. Furthermore, the activation process, and the distribution process, are significantly different components of the network infrastructure. Swiping them together is likewise misleading, as they function independently, and can be separately implemented at the discretion of the developer / publisher. Third, a wide range of games previously CD/DVD only are now available additionally on Steam. This includes a wide range of no longer published games, for which the CD/DVD's no longer are created or stocked, by the whim of the developer/publisher. Fourth, my steam account is installed and loaded on every PC I own. All the games I have downloaded via steam, including those that rely on Steam's authentication services and those that do no, are installed in part or in full on all the machines. I have been able to re-download previously purchased products any number of times following system rebuilds or de-installations as I see fit. Notably, no disc gets scratched each time I re-install. Steam does exactly what you demand of it in that point. Case in point : I went looking for a game recently. None of the major retailers carried it, although it is a recent title. All carried the expansion pack, which requires the base that they no longer sell. I finally located a 2nd tier store that had one remaining copy. It was off the rack, behind the counter. Disk 3 was damaged from manufacturing so bad that when I exchanged it the clerk said it was a "+10 epic fail" and that he'd never seen one so bad. The problem is you look at narrow and misleading definitions of what you interpret 'Steam' to be. @Kooky : I agree with you, that there's a major issue with playability. While MP is nice and all, it's increasingly used as a crutch to compensate for poor balance and design and lack of content. Achievements are often further abused in a frankly insulting manner to entice the player to grind in often ridiculous manner for nonsense badges. When designers speak of 'episodic' content, they mean a grind on your wallet with little or no re-playability. I think this is part of the draw of the MMO's, is that they are the only thing providing replayability presently. Corridor shooters, such as CoD4, are inherently extremely limited in their replayability because they lack the ability to modify the environment. Once you've cleared one level, you know how to clear them all, and it's just a matter of re-running the exact same thing just slightly different. The big question though that has gone unanswered, is why are the premier titles on consoles vastly outselling PC ports? I don't think anyone has drawn a conclusive answer. TFA cited the oft-quoted theory of piracy. Perhaps. There's also the theory of suppressed sales due to poor reception. There's also the theory of console gamers being more receptive to episodic content. I have yet to see an exhaustive breakdown that verifiably says one or another for a given title. There's any number of possible reasons, and none of them pleasant for those who's day job is in the industry.

Guns At Batasi Excellently depicted, by some of the finest, and a timely story.

sCalc strangely truncates empty fields, so you may end up with something like this : <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">"str_string_name","string_en", instead of <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">"str_string_name","string_en","" like what Excel or a saved MySQL query would output. That said, I've had better success with OpenOffice for projects due to specific processing requirements. The BIS stringtables tools however will accept either 'version', though these are not designed for any useful community purpose. Also note that BIS products do not use a standards-based stringtable.csv file format, the quotes will need to be stripped from the first column. Lastly, either Unicode or UTF-8 file formats will be accepted by the engine. With the languages listed, you probably would be ok with UTF-8, though there's a chance you might need expanded Unicode for Russian support. The ArmA engine does not conform to Unicode protocols in that it does not use the Windows text libraries, but instead uses its own text loading and processing mechanism, using Unicode character addressing.

I agree that ArmA 2 on the 360 with a full mission editor would be good. I'm a 360 owner myself, and it's understandable that you are just defending your console of choice. The PS3 doesn't just support mods in games, though. It also supports keyboard & mouse control, USB transfer of save files, bluetooth communication and control devices, and free cross-platform online gameplay (among other useful features). That's why I made this thread, not really to discuss 360 vs. PS3, but to discuss the possibilities of the PS3 version of ArmA 2. I will conclude this post by reiterating what I said in earlier post: I look forward to BIS creating a combo package with a bundled keyboard and mouse so you won't have to type out scripting commands with our controller sticks. Rock Band's certainly proved that console fanboy's don't mind being raped in the pocketbooks for peripherals that are an ordinary part of any PC. As for the UT3 mod scene, well reports were that Sony held back the content signing tools allowing third-party content porting from PC to PS3 for the significant fact that externalizing the content importation process would remove the validation process that makes consoles a viable competitor to PC's. Opening the platform to anarchistic development intrinsically destabilizes the whole system at a fundamental design level. If you lock in the platform and content, you can make guarantees about robustness and stability. If you unlock it, all you'll get is "dude, you content sucks on my system with other people's mods" and "hey, 'hidden' content, I'm sure nobody's going to be sued over this..."

ORLY. I've seen some pretty ridiculous stretching and hanging, and I don't even play it. I was watchign someone else play it. +1000 +1000000 This is that god damn trigger finger issue all over again... Seconded. No ragdoll, and no bunny-hopping, for very good reason. If you want that sort of crap, un-install any BIS products you have and go back to TF2.

Ok, now that we've established a context for the discussion, we can continue. I was referring to the potential capabilities of the platform while you are instead talking about the polishing of the final deliverable product, without regards to mod potential, ie the "out of the box experience". You and I talking about, and have a focused interest, in two totally separate things. Hence my prior point about when it becomes apparent that the parties are not arguing over the same subject, further argument is just plain silly. Similar enthusiasm was expressed prior to ArmA's release as well. Setting your expectations or rather demands, higher than what BIS may be able to deliver, is setting yourself up for disappointment. A safer course of action is to instead turn the focus around and look at what you intend to do with what BIS provides. With regards to the penetration system, I refer you to this post : Penetration Info That's what I was referring to. Imperfect, but, with community coordination that system can be used to make a working mechanism for all weapons and armor. While you're at that noble task, how about World Peace and End To Hunger? Ideally, there would be additional parameters like armament type and classification, but that likely would still be broken by differences of opinions. I'm not positive, but I think for the workload reasons cited previously, that it's not widely implemented in various vehicle classes. Hitpoints is also obviously an issue, but there are ways to compensate in most cases for its shortcomings in the configs and models and scripts. Lastly, I would strongly recommend an introspective consideration of the potential reasons why BIS was able to include features XYZ in the engine, yet not apply them to the content. The answer has already been given many times over, yet generally fails to be accepted by the community.

Great what i found there at page 214: A nice thing this manual They already do this. I have been shot down by fire from the main gun. Although more rare than with the MG I have seen it happen. They will also use the howitzers against you. Indeed. While it is not the ideal solution I would prefer, careful config balancing can achieve this effect now.

Which is wrong in my opinion, and its "just" you opinion. Thank you for opening your mouth, removing all doubt, and proving my point, although you actually weren't the target of that particular comment. k, let me spell it out for you then. You say that the vehicle destruction is 'wrong'. Are you familiar with the model.cfg and config.cpp model destruction capabilities? Evidently not. That capability is already implemented in the platform, however due to development constraints could not be implemented into the content. Again, to quote Ondrej : Since you're unfamiliar with how this can be done, I'll give you a freebie : What you'll need to do is rig the destruction effect so that when when the vehicle is damaged, the turret is hidden, and you spawn a debris wrecked model of the turret along with whatever particle effects you care for, all done in your spare time without consideration for deadlines or budget. <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> class Animations { class damageHide { type="hide"; source="damage"; selection="damageHide"; }; } That code snippet is from the recently released ArmA content source, and proves that that capability exists, but was not practical for BIS to implement into the content for the release. The same goes for most, but not all, of your gripes about armor penetrability. There is a penetrability system implemented in ArmA, it has its limitations but with careful, calibrated, and coordinated content development can be used for a wide range of weaponry types effectively. 'Mod Wars', addon manglers, and re-packers generally run counter to this objective however, as they introduce conflicts that destabilize the balance in parameters. Weapon effects can similarly be handled now by trivial scripting. Back blast can be modeled using setVelocity or setDammage on objects within a defined range and direction of the shooter, depending on the weapon fired. I'm sure BIS is well aware of the limitations in their content, again, you can scroll up for further proof of that. To fault them though for not doing what they in fact have actually already done is unfair and uninformed. That's what I take issue with. Lastly, the issue of differences of opinion in discussion style. The posts I write with which you disagree, are written free-form as they come to mind. They are spontaneous and un-scripted. I am in no way attempting to sandbag anyone, this is just naturally how I think. I have made no criticism of your manner of communication, only of the content and substance of those communications. Those who have met me in that mystical place called 'real life' can attest to this. As an aside, I find it strangely ironic that BIS, who's product reaches a very wide international market, still continues to dig their heels in regarding proper standards-based OS-level localization support in their products, despite this actual engine issue having been brought to their attention nearly three years ago.

To prototype a map takes hours with the matured development process. To polish it to an acceptable level for the entertainment market takes months at a minimum for development.

When individuals make posts demonstrating an absence of rational judgment so extreme as evidenced in certain cases in this thread, further discussion is moot as it is impossible to have any sort of moderated or negotiated discussion of the matter. The only option is to allow that action to stand or fall on its own merits, further debate is futile. I will make one point of caution. Excessive attention to the precision of niche gadgetry will not alleviate the fundamental issues affecting ArmA. It will in fact serve to distract, and not properly inform, the very development team you wish to influence. Rather, a measured analysis of top-down operations, and fitting the gadgetry into the system of the whole, will result in a more appropriate and polished product. The platform is already quite robust and can meet the demands of its users. To blame the platform for the shortcomings of the product is quite unfair and frankly ill-informed. To quote a prior poster :

Drudge does whatever drudge does. Given the amount of info all the British media immediately dumped in response, it's clear part of the bargain was that they got lots of coverage, just it was understood by a gentleman's agreement to keep it under wraps until the unit rotated back. Far enough, despite politics some folks still have decency. Whoever leaked it though should be air-dropped into the middle of Afghanistan with a sign around around his neck saying "I am an infidel pig" and left with 3 days rations of water and hard tack.

If you believe everything you see on TV, and assume that that statistically reflects reality, then come on over, you'll fit right in with all the rest of the residents of the state of Loonyville. It's one of the reasons why TSG is so refreshing, they publish the ACTUAL FACTS - ie the police reports and paperwork that the media finds boring. Sure there's stuff that can be improved in society, but the 'great thinkers' who presumed that utopian parks are inherently probable also were high on mind-altering substances and often mentally ill to boot. The biggest difference you'll find here is that instead of state-mandated selective memory like the old countries, you have the liberty to choose your own flavor of selective-memory and observation.

YouTube, like most other Intardnet ratholes, ran at a substantial loss until Google decided to throw good money after bad. It's kept afloat only because it's THE 900lb gorilla now, the ad revenue is ok, and the operating costs evidently have stabilized. Part of that though is the fact that compared to Stage6, an individual content item on YouTube has substantially lower infrastructure costs (storage and bandwidth) per session and item, and youtube has already gained critical mass for low-quality content, while the expectation is that Itunes will seal up the market for high-quality. Regardless of the DRM boogeyman, this endeavour was just as doomed from a business and technical aspect as was the divx hardware player, despite all the tech addicts wishful thinking. Blaming boogeymen where their services are not essential (why should the RIAA get involved if DivX is bleeding cash over an unsustainable service?) is just beating a dead horse.

That was never in vanilla OFP, it was modded in by several mods. Oh, i didn't noticed it was not in vanilla OFP.. ^^ well could be a nice animation to add then edit: 44: I never understood why the GL on the tanks never worked.. they are there but never usable, Would it be possible to work in ArmA 2? Adding support within OFP would have been more complicated, but there's no reason why they couldn't be pseudo-simulated functioning in ArmA now.

Distribution of games over steam does not require presence of an active Steam session. I purchased and downloaded Space Empires IV over steam. I can run SE4 out of its install dir without steam loaded or logged in. That's a decision the developer chose to make. Copy control can be left entirely up to the developer if they wish to only utilize the sales and distribution network.

Search, the situation has been discussed many times in many ways. Short answer, your targets should be about 12k tops for complex vehicles, 8k for characters and mid-range vehicles, 4k for 'rare' weapons, and 2k for common weapons and junk. That's the most complex your vertex counts should be, and less than that would be really nice as well.

1 - Create medium/high-poly version in Max/Maya/Favorite pro-level tool. 2 - Create normal maps / uv-unwrap textures. -edit- x - Create mapped reduced poly model versions -end- 3 - Import into Oxygen 4 - Verify sections count, reducing in Oxygen if negligible, re-working source in Max/Maya/other tool if complex. 5 - Swap textures into .rvmats. 6 - Create model selections and LOD's. 7 - Create carefully inherited model.cfg, verifying proper model functionality. For characters it's also beneficial to create several proxy poses to verify proper alignment. 8 - Binarize and pack using BIS provided tools. 9 - test and repair until adequate for release. 10 - distribute. ---------- p3d's, model.cfg, and config.cpp go in the addon's root folder. tga's and .rvmats go in the data subfolder. If you have an extremely large addon, management can be helped by making sub-folders of the data subfolder. Reference material to not be included goes in docs and source subfolders of the addon's root.

You don't. If you understand the content development pipeline process, you'd realize that you lose a substantial amount of the the usefulness from maya/max in the importation process to Oxygen-native MLOD. So unless you happen to be a BIS employee, or otherwise know the behavior of the model well enough to reconstruct all the supporting information which was culled from the model, it's not going to help you all that much. Rather, you should be looking at making any modifications at this point in Oxygen, as it can better suit your needs there.

Yes, yes, by all means, make a plain ArmA2 without "stuff". It's all good to me I just thought it was a nice edition to ArmA2 since this is near future. But, yes, maybe it's too early to call it a planned addition to USAF/Marines in real-life. Then again this thread is called "What military equipment and vehicles do you want?" for some reason Quoted for truth. Now let's look outside the box for a change. What do we have here? For the uneducated folks with their hands out expecting to be pandered to, we have a classy Radio Flyer Wagon. But for those who enjoy the Real Virtuality platform, and the satisfaction of creating new things, we see things different. First, we have a vehicle that is both articulated and tow-capable. It also has 'loose' role positions, with one to three crew. The driver can be external to the vehicle in a towing capacity with a cargo of one or two units, or can be an internal entity providing articulated steering. The internal cargo positions are also non-turreted and fully interactable and animation-capable positions as well. The technology required to appropriately implement the beloved red wagon would also be of benefit to a wide range of other vehicles. It merely requires a nominal amount of that rare substance in ancient and forgotten times referred to as imagination and creativity.

Where people get confused is that they make the assumption that vertex 2 of poly one is implicitly the same logical vertex as an identical coordinate vertex in poly two. That's not the case when rendering. Full-model mesh-based modeling programs, such as oxygen, often give false impressions that this is the case. From a strictly wireframe perspective, perhaps. But once you begin rending faces as sections, the rules change. The reason is that you need to describe the coordinates of a face, and that face is exclusive of other faces. As a result, the vertex count in face rendering can be substantially different from the vertex count in the wireframe reference. It's much clearer to see this distinction in face-based modeling programs (ie gtk-radiant) that have a raw-text model format.

At least Nvidia users get drivers. ATI does not provide drivers for laptop video chips, they expect the mfgr's to provide and maintain them. The 8600m has sufficient performance for ArmA, you probably just need to fiddle with the settings and balance it.

There's a strong case to made against the abuse of stringtables. The reason is that they don't correlate well to traditional programming methodologies. Yes, they can be abused to make interesting methods of managing functions and such. The #include method that the General described is much more maintainable simply for the fact that it can be standardized in a method that other developers can understand from a common standpoint. The principle is reasonably simple, just call localize string injecting params along the way. I take issue with it solely on the basis of bad practice. Leave stringtables for what they were intended for - string management.

The AI is reasonable, the Islands and content are generally what's wrong.

Uh, there's some fuzzy comments posted here that are in need of correction. DirectX is the limiting factor, ordinarily your full-screen rendered scene is limited to a single device. That's due to DRM policies. As a result, you're not going to be able to span across multiple graphics cards with independent outputs in full-screen mode. (You can however span multiple devices in windowed mode, with the various penalties involved.) A SLI rig aggregates two or three devices into a single virtual output, avoiding that issue. To multiplex the outputs, you would need a device that expands one output to multiple display interfaces, such as the TH2G. Support for triple 4:3 aspect ratio displays is built into ArmA, and triple 5:4 displays are relatively simple to manually configure. SoftTH is a work-around to create in software a virtualized wrapper to span multiple devices. It has its limitations as well. If you have a single video card, there is no need for SoftTH, you only need to enable desktop spanning (Nvidia-only capability) across the two outputs on the card. SoftTH comes into play when you have multiple or dissimilar video cards that you wish to span across in Fullscreen mode, and you are not concerned with performance or synchronization penalties.