smellyjelly

Well, since we have a topic for the larger features, I think it's only proper if we also have another topic for the small features/details. If GTAIV has taught us anything, it's that these details really can make the game more interesting. Anything that doesn't have a large effect on the gameplay is a small feature in my personal opinion. My list: Lights: -Get rid of the cones. If they absolutely must be added, make it look like dust instead of a solid cone. -Make extra light functions for vehicles by adding "Lx2" to the controls menu. The interior of tanks, like the M113, are pitch black at night and it would be nice if we could have a light in there. In addition, Humvees and civilian cars could be given hazard lights. -Nights would look much better if the building windows lit up. Interior lights would improve cqb during the night. Vehicles: -Better damage effects, including textures, explosions, broken glass, and bullet holes. If possible, I'd personally like to see a pysical damage system whenever I crash. Even GTAIII quality damage would be acceptable. -Vehicles shouldn't blow up so easily. Bullets should just disable them when shot at the engine. Helicopters shouldn't blow up everytime they crash land, though the player shouldn't be uninjured. -If the mirrors aren't going to work then we need to be able to look behind us when in 'free look'. -Car physics really need to be improved. In Arma they can be parked on the side of a mountain which is really unrealistic. They also don't act well when tipped over. -Better car controls. When accelerating too fast I'd like them to peel out. When braking too hard they should fishtail or drift. Both should include appropriate sounds and smoke. Sound: -There are a ton of missing sounds in Arma that should be added. Sounds, like trees being run down, cars ramping in water, and a ton more need to be added. Map: -Parking lots, alleys, garages, ect. -More objects around the cities, like vending machines, parking meters, potholes, ect, to help show life. They should be used sparingly and not just spammed carelessly throughout the cities. Now that I'm finished, what small features do you think should be added?

Well, I'm almost finished with my first model, (a car   ), though I have no idea how to texture. If someone could provide me with a complete tutorial, from making the textures to applying them then I would really appriate that. In the mean time I'll be searching google.

Since you mentioned it, Gamespot doesn't even have a page for Arma 2. I understand that Arma 2 is still a work in progress, so I can excuse the lack of combat screenshots and videos, as well as any trailers, but having a page should be one of the basics. Then again, that may be Gamespot's responsibility, and not BIS.

Yeah, I read that in the rules after my post. Lucky I posted here first, eh? Anyways, I'll pm you with my desired name.

I have a question... Can a mod change my username? I'm not too fond of the one I have now, but I don't want to make a new account.

I disagree. Probably the most intense moments I've had in Arma was the ambush after spending 10-15 minutes placing my soldiers. Hopefully with this it should be easier.

So that's it? Is that "UV Mapping"? How should I get the texture? For someething very large, like the side of my car, is it best to manipulate a picture from Google to fit? Then for small peices like the windsheild wipers or pedals I should just make my own? Also, [APS]Gnat, I'm not sure what you mean by: Finally, is there any reason to choose TGA rather than PAA or PAC?

Nice video, though doesn't really show any updated features aside from the grass and different vehicles. The ending is cool, but I'm going to assume that the ship isn't moving because I think it was already stated that Arma II won't allow for moving vehicles to hold objects, (hopefully BIS changed there mind).

I have a few more ideas. One part of Arma I was kind of disappointed in was the weather. I put the slider all the way to the left expecting some major wind, thunder and rain, but really, it wasn't even that much. Hopefully Arma 2 will show more diversity in the weather. I'm also not too big of a fan of the flat clouds in Arma either. Hopefully they can be replaced by 3d clouds, (BIS was bragging about the updated fog effects, surely that can be used to simulate clouds). Additionally, it would be cool if the clouds actually blocked out the light when covering the sun.

That's not a small detail, that's absolutely necessary. You're right. Another point I forgot: Fix the light casted by the fires. The grass is about 10x brighter than the ground and it doesn't look too good.

BIS said a long time ago that Arma mods could be ported to Arma 2. It was a while since they said anything, but there is no reason to believe that has changed.

Hehe, thanks. I tend to appreciate the small details more than the bigger features. I know I'm weird like that. Â Speaking of civilians, hopefully this time they'll run for cover or drive away instead of just laying prone. It's almost like they're just asking to be shot. Â Yeah, for helicopters if the rotor hits the ground it should kick up a lot of dirt. The helmet falling off sounds like an interesting idea. I'm not sure how secure they are so it might take more than a bullet to knock it off. Maybe a well placed grenade or a rocket? I like the language idea. For the people who don't know Russian it might be best to make it optional, but even then it should be broken English with an accent, (like the main characters in Stalker). The civilians should yell stuff in Russian when shot at or injured. I noticed it Stalker that even if the enemies repeat the same stuff in Russian, it doesn't get repetitive because I can't recognize it easily. I have a few more ideas: I neglected to put this in my first post because it's not really a small improvement, but I'll add it anyways. The lighting really needs to be improved. I'm hoping for dynamic lighting and shadowing in Arma II, but since it's at such a large scale I'm not sure if it's even possible. Here's the basic improvements I'm hoping for: -Smoother lighting (e.g. car headlights) -Bump mapping shadows at close range -Dynamic shadows for large objects (e.g. Buildings, cars, bridges) -Realistic bloom from all light, (not just the sun) and better looking shadows -Better looking headlights and tail lights I also would like to see the menu cleaned up. Binoculars and lights don't need to be on there because we can add them as keys. Perhaps it should be customizable. I play with the TruerangeAI so this isn't a problem now, though I hope in Arma II BIS increased the distance the AI would engage each other. It would be cool to have working traffic lights that the civilians obey when in "Safe" or "Aware" mode. If there is a free roam mode then the AI should have daily routes like in Oblivion for a more lively world, complete with rush hour and lower traffic congestion times. Also, does anyone else get that helpless feeling while trying to get off a ladder, swim to land or "jump" of the side of a small building? My character tends to be frozen and that needs to be fixed. Speaking of falling off of buildings, the amount of damaged sustained when landing needs to be decreased.

Hmm, I never had a chance to play version 1.0 because I have the Sprocket version. What does it sound like?

I think if, instead of vehicles blowing up from bullets they just break down, support could play a bigger role. If the car is even salvageable, you'd might have to patch up the engine and wheels, and if the fuel tank was punctured then that would also require repairs before being refilled. I guess the same goes for helicopters. If they wouldn't blow up every single time they crashed then we could get some decent support missions, (medic, search team, or repair) or some "I am injured by a crash and lost" survival missions. Sorry for kind of getting off topic, but I just hope BIS makes it easier for the player to survive different situations to make the game last longer. By automaticly dying in those situations we miss out on a potential search and rescue or survival aspects of Arma.

It's a view from the bottom, and I really just drew it to give an example of my idea. I didn't pay too much attention to accuracy because I just wanted to show the technique. The lines represent the different faces on the bottom side of the vehicle. If no one else get's it then I'll redo the picture.

Hey guys, it's been a long time since I'm posted here. I couldn't work on my car for a while because Bulldozer was messed up. Luckfully the problem didn't persist with my new hard drive and I finally finished the exterior. I'm not sure how I should make the bottom of the car. Should I fill in the most I can with a large rectangle and then fill in the gaps, like this: Or is there a better way? Also, a long time ago someone mentioned that I should add the mirrors as an object. However I'm not too sure how to do that or even what it means exactly.

Yeah, I agree. Plus, I don't think the player should automaticly call out the enemy as well. The player should have to do it manually.

I know I was also getting those errors before, but I can't remember what caused them. I may be thinking of a different problem, but try running another game. When I had issues with Arma I started also having issues with other games. I'm pretty sure restarting the computer fixed the problem.

I've been thinking of how empty Arma feels, then I realized why. There is absolutely no population. Yeah, it wasn't hard to figure that out, but I did have an idea that could fix this: BIS should add a slider in the editor, (like they did with weather or fog,) that controls the density of the population. It would help make user-made missions feel much more alive and realistic, as well as save time for people who try to do it themselves.

Yeah, maybe BIS should have a developer blog about the atmosphere. Anyways, there is a little bit of information here. Armed Revolution In 2008, there are a glut of freeform shooters on the horizon - Ubisoft's Africa-based sequel to Crytek's original, Far Cry 2, GSC Game World's STALKER prequel Clear Sky, Bethesda's Fallout 3 and Bohemia Interactive's Armed Assault 2 - and all these games are pushing the technology of open-world gaming into new territories. In Armed Assault 2, for example, the development team is adding role-playing elements to the military simulator format, including a dynamic conversation system. "If an NPC witnesses something in the game, even if it's something the gamer doesn't see themselves, then the NPC will remember," says Statham. "If, for example, an enemy squad moves through a town 20 miles from where the gamer is, the NPCs in the town will observe this. "When you enter the town a couple of hours later, you can ask them if they've seen any enemy presence, and they'll tell you that they saw an enemy squad moving west about two hours ago - if they're friendly to you. Perhaps they know that you killed a civilian in the next town across, so they won't tell you anything at all, or they'll lie to you to set you up for an ambush by the enemy..." It's not much, but I'm interested in finding out more about this. However, I'll try not to get my hopes up, because as far as I know that concept is still in it's planning stage and might get scraped. Hopefully we'll get a trailer or video sometime soon showing off the new features that are 100% in.

Well, in the other thread I suggested Arma II with roman numerals rather than the number, because "arma" is the Latin word for weapon. I guess that's not as big of a change as you had in mind. As far giving Arma 2 a completely new name... it has it's pros and cons. Either way people will find out about Arma, (that could be a good or bad thing), and in the end I don't think it would have a huge influence either way.

Yeah, I think the pistol says "stfu".

Before I begin downloading it, can anyone tell me if I have to, and how, I can uninstall the beta patch?

It's just a mushroom, right?

I was wondering about this as well. In some of the earlier videos it appears they remade Rahmadi and I think that would be an interesting setting for a beta or demo.