txrx

I cleaned out my install of ARMA [505 games] completely. Re-installed it from scratch, patched up as instructed. Also running latest Nvidia drivers  and getting some super weird graphic glitches and (since I re-installed) audio glitches. nvidia 8800 GTX 768mb Ram (177.83 drivers) Asus Mobo Intel E6700 Dual core @ 2.66ghz 3gb of ram XP SP 3 (32bit). I'm really upset that this game simply refuses to work. I want it to work, been a fan of OFP and this for a long time but now I have to resort to swearing at it and posting here. Games should never be this troublesome.. Oh, and I also got that weird lock up and freeze problem. First time I had that I'm pretty sure it killed my Mobo (which was still under warranty thank goodness). I'm not keen on having that happen again so it has to work perfectly and without fail or not at all. (on the above config.) Should also mention I'm installing Queens Gambit on to it 'after' updating from 1.04 to 1.05 which then takes it to 1.08 and then installing the 1.14 patch. Man, I paid for this (full wack not the budget re-release you see now a days) and feel somewhat disheartened when I get frustrated by something we all want to enjoy as much as any other game (if not more). Please help!!! Cheers

Great, no-addons, just removed the beta, everything installed 1.14 and what happens? Crashes to bsod or locks up every time I play the alligator mission. 100% genuine fan who paid for this upon release and I'm fed up with this crashing madness. I sadly don't have time to resolve it. My understanding is that patches actually improve stability. Well not in this case. I'll fire a formal email to BIS support so they know what problems I'm experiencing but in all honesty unless it's working after a complete removal,re-install and update then I'm walking away from this great game which crashes like a b******d on my decent rig. Cheers TxRx

A.I.

I was using that very set of nvidia beta drivers on my XP with the 8800gtx card after rebuilding the replacement board et al, still giving me problems. I guess that's why they call them Betas I guess. Don't get me wrong, there seems to have been a nice performance increase using the Nvidia drivers (or it could be the 4gb of ram & no swap file). I'm just experiencing crashes of the most significant type where windows just dies, which indeed, points to a problem at a much lower level such as drivers/hardware. Any how, the beta patch is a move in the right direction, just a shame the allied AI on your team is still thick as mud and continue to run in front of your line of fire whilst you're suppressing oncoming enemy troops.. and then there's the 'no point in playing the beta for any length of time' crashes I'm getting. Nothing else bombs out, and it is probably in some EULA somewhere, not to expect reliability till the final release etc, but man it's taking a fair bit of time for any updates on this one. With Codemasters' OFP2 in the wings, you can't help but wonder if they'll catch some more dissappointed Arma players due to these various issues. Granted, comparing Cmasters and BI is a little unfair, CM have tonnes of resource to apply to their games, BI don't by the looks of things.

Using the Beta 1.12 patch and I'm experiencing some pretty bad crashes. One of which seemed to have flagged a hardware problem I had (aka My mobo died and took 1gb of my 2gb of ram with it. whilst playing the beta), thankfully it was still under warranty etc, no problem there, picked up another 2gb and so on, and yes xp only utilises 3.5gb at most I know, swapfile off now etc.. But I'm 'still' getting some major crashes. Flashes of 16color desktop windows at 320x400 then black, dead. I though I had another blown bit of kit but thankfully it's all a-ok. After my last hardware scare whilst running the beta I'm kind of scared to play it since some of the crashes do indeed seem exactly like what happened when the board etc failed. Is there any logs I can send or decent report form I can fill out to try and 'aid' the beta process if I do run it. Outside of that I'm thinking I'll just leave the patch till it's final.

I've managed to get the uniform from the driver, met up with the guy in the house, cleared an area. Now I'm in the back of an APC with my squad and another similar APC advancing on an airfield. So far so good. But once we dismount and start moving towards the entrance a BMP empties enemy soldiers, fine, we eventually take them out but it's not without heavy, heavy losses. Then as the few remaining squad members advance it's almost always just me left, even after offering support. Heck, one of my squad leaders headed almost over 500m to the 9 o'clock of our advance for some weird reason, still got toasted. Then a t72 turns up and there's no weapons suffcient enough to either take it out nor avoid the shilka. My main problem seems to be the squads 'panicking' when the bmp opens up and you wind up with a tonne of friendly fire with AIs running out in front of you. Then the AI just gets daft and throws caution to the wind entirely thinking it's ok to bolt round the corner where enemy fire has just toasted 2 squad members. Great premise, odds are definately against you on this one but do you just sit it out till all squad members are dead then clean up the dregs before the t72 arrives and bolt with it opening up with it's main gun if it can't nail you instantly with the machine gun. I've tried this on 1.08, all the betas up to the current one but still getting nowhere no matter where I go and how well I take out the oncoming defence soldiers. Man, there's been attempts where I've killed all but a few on the other side of the fence by myself and only to have the few survivors of the 2 squads not move quick enough to beat the arrival of the t72. The Allied APCs never survive and there's no vehicle's to impound to even up the fight. Now, I'm sure you may have read this and possibly got the impression of a potential troll like post, but trust me, I'm not goading a reaction, it's more my frustration at having got lucky so far only to have a save point/restart point in a situation that's completely un-survivable nor has the AI up to the job (if they're meant to be that is). Anyone else had the same experiences or am I doing something completely wrong (always a possiblity!) Cheers TxRx

I also vote for somewhat more solid chopper handling, both in flight and hard landings, I mean, yea I'm taking this chopper down to the ground in a hurry but i'm aiming the strongest part to take the strain (aka the bottom of the thing, not the blades) and it just goes wrong almost everytime.

I was doing the exact same until I read this one and lo-and behold I managed to make the trip, pick em up and return just in the nick of time!

Ah.. I was able to actually do it in the Ka-50 once I took that vulcan out from a distance (lucky I had enough ammo to take out the rest of the armour). Must be the vulcan that's causing the 1hit ko' on the chopper. Another one ticked off the list! Cheers TxRx

Phew, glad to hear I wasn't the only one. I may just try the Cobra and tick that one off the list. Cheers TxRx

I'm really pleased with the 1.09 beta patch, a fab update (perfomance wise too) to try out. It's been a while since I played Arma and I'm working my way through the single player missions to wet my feet again but there is one Mission that's nigh impossible for me. The Alligator mission. It seems that once I make a pass and keep low over /near the base some thing hits my chopper and it's engine just dies. Now it's not even looking damaged let alone being hammered but even simple machine gun fire seems to KO the chopper entirely. I googled for a solution (aka how to complete it properly) and I found this. Is there anything I can do or will I just skip it? I'm flying the nap of the land and doing everything right (or so I thought). Cheers TxRx

Get a real sound card. That'll help.

There is defo some way still to go before Vista and DirectX 9 games are running as well as they should on a XP box. I've got both installed here (dual boot) and whilst Microsoft FSX will run like a dream on Vista, other DX9 games can crawl when compared to their XP installs. Company of heroes has a nice benchmark test and whilst it's not Arma it amazed me to see how much of a drop in FPS Vista can show it's interesting to see what difference programming api and methods can make. COH recently has had a Vista patch tho which I've yet to install. So I'd say it's early days in terms of the backwards compatibility stakes etc. I've yet to install ArmA on my Vista install but judging by some of the topics here I'm going to wait. Maybe a DX10 patch or update would be cool?!

I've got a 8800 GTX and with the recent patch 1.08, and the latest nvidia drivers it's much much smoother, there are still some weird issues (here at least) where shadows on some vehicles (delivery boy mission for example) and a misty environment, they look kind of strange but the view distance and detail levels really add to the fidelity of vision 100fold. I wish the GTS versions were out before I took the plunge with this 8800 gtx tho, mighty costly. I should say that all settings are on very high (except for textures which is on recommended default setting to use 512mb or more of vram) and whilst at a medium draw distance it's silky smooth. Once you start increasing that wildly you'll get slideshow city. Also the CPU will make difference too, running a dual-core intel e6700, which makes a difference as well I'm sure.

I haven't made or found any Saitek X52 profiles but I've certainly defined all the axis movements in ArmA's control options etc and found that enough for me. Saitek X52 is brill for controlling aircraft in ArmA. In their limited (yet enjoyable) simulated handling.