-duke-

care to explain what u mean ? I know about some engines (like CryEngine by Crytek, or Call of Duty's one, where the terrain is recreated perfectly with all the particulars) that have been created about 1 year ago... and they recreate terrain really detailed I know! ArmA one is so good, but for example the new Cryengine for Cryis is incredible: my question is: why doesn't BIS try to do the same? FarCry even now is unable to use 1m satelitte geo data or recreate all detailed enviroment for huge battles Call of Duty and detailed terrain ? You must be kidding by this logic You must admit VBS1 based on OFPR already done what's mentioned here lol and ArmA/VBS2 beat the hell out of these and then You arguing with CryEngine 2 (Crysis) which is this year 2007 product BIS don't have millions from EA with unlimited workforce available to match Crytek work on CryEngine 2/Crysis anyway because this is upcoming game and work in project You can't tell what features ends inside and in theory it may match what You now imagine under 'Crysis' ehi ehi ehi don't attack me... the linkersplit's thought was that this technology is not new. why only to use it now? sorry i'm not impressed by this terrain. because this is their job after all. i just wait to see the final result one thing is funny, they seem like addons maker who are happy with their job. not really a professional attitude. i prefer the surprises the money does not create the creativity More money = more resources = more creative input. I'm glad to see that their moving forward with terrain modelling however, I'd be happy to see it remain even in it's current state of ArmA if it meant the addition of a deformable terrain model and buildings that fragment instead of collapse fully. If you want to breathe more life into the landscape, add animals, fallen/dead trees, ambient sounds, wind, rain dripping from a gun barrel, puddles, running water, etc. I don't need more pixels on my trees to be convinced I'm in a forest, I need supporting environmental effects to make my forest feel alive. Lastly, it would be a breath of fresh air if undergrowth, shrubbery and dense forest areas actually provided cover from AI as well.

I too was having issues up until the latest BETA Drivers were released. Now I have no texture dropping, LOD issues and my night vision finally works without strobing. The only issues I have now is rain looks a bit funky and the distance fog is still very prominent which are both very easy to tolerate. I don't run my game on high mind you because running shadows sucks the performance right out of the game for me but I gotsta have the shadows dammit.

As much as I like the new fire effect, it looks odd to me with large plumes of smoke. Smoke is more prominent when flames die down so a blazing inferno should have less smoke than just a few smouldering flames. I think it would be cool if the smoke was much lighter and far less dense while the flames are high. Once the flames start to die down a bit, the smoke should gradually increase until it's the huge, thick, clouds you see in your sample video. Of course I'm basing this off campfires as I've never seen a tank burn IRL.

I'm using these BETA Drivers on XP 32 and it's solved all my 8800 GTS (640 MB) issues. I no longer have texture loss, low poly count models rendered nearby, texture flashing and my night vision works without giving me the feeling I'm in a disco. I thought I'd add that I have between 10 - 15 hours playtime accrued on these drivers and the only issue that remains is fogging and some matted looking colors upon spawn (MP). This is by far the best ArmA has looked and played for me since purchasing the Morphicon.de online dl.

I fully agree. I just hope BIS is keeping a close eye on the community and taking notes on what they should try to incorporate into ArmAII.

Fantastic work as always, love this mod! The only issue I noticed was the lighting effects around smoldering vehicles at night was way to bright. It's almost as if there's road flares placed inside the vehicle giving off tons of light even though the vehicle isn't really burning anymore. Other than this, I think the mod is absolutely brilliant.

Gah, I don't understand some of you people around here sometimes. Here you have someone willing to do something to address another ArmA issue and instead of discussing the mod, lets belittle his work shall we? This guy is actually doing something to address one item in a list of an overwhelming issues that players have expressed here at one point or another and he takes flack for it by off the mark comments. I sure as hell hope a staff member actually mods the needless crap out (including most of my reply I guess). I'll definitely be giving this a try because it's much better to have short grass than no grass at all IMHO. One of the things I didn't like about OFP was the "turf" and I'm glad to see tall grass in ArmA. That said, I don't think the grass (or foliage for that matter) impairs AI enemy recognition as it does the player so any slight player advantage is a welcome addition. Great work!

Is this fan made for dwarf airconditions ? I mean 10mm...how is that supposed to be effective for your intended useage ? I have a 120mm fan to cool my case and it´s one of those cases where size does matter 00ps, clearly a typo Anyway, to make a long story short, it did help bring down my cards temp. but not by enough to really brag about (especially under prolonged load) but I saw no noticeable decrease in artifacts. I also failed to mention that while what I was experiencing did look to be heat related, it would happen immediately after starting a mission yet other times it wouldn't happen at all for several minutes.

I had the same kind of problems as many of you here only my "spikes" were all over the place and usually seemed to be most prominent when looking west (I believe). At the time I was using an X1900GT and when I experienced the issues, I added a 10mm input fan to the front of my case to see if bringing down the temperature a bit more would help. Sadly, it never really worked for me regardless of driver version (current and rolled back as far as 3 releases). I double checked every location I had an issue with when picking up my 8800GTS and the issues were gone. I know I'm no longer an ATI user, I just thought I'd add my input since my X1900GT had similar issues. BTW: Windows XP 32 Bit Conroe E6600 2.4 Dual Core (Original Card) ATI Radeon X1900 GT 256 MB DDR3 (I believe)

These drivers fixed all my ArmA related video problems, finally. No more texture loss, low rez models close up and no more issues with night vision and ground textures flickering. I played for more than 3 hours today without a single issue: BFG 8800GTS 640 MB Windows XP 32 Bit Conroe E6600 Dual Core 2.4

I think it looks pretty good actually, nice job.

Can't say as I've been here long enough to really know that much about you Placebo, but with over 8 pages of welcome I guess I should chime in as well, welcome back.

Well I spent some time in the Canadian Military (oxymoron) in '86 so my memory may be a bit hazy but I remember it being very difficult to complete any kind of move instantaneously as well. In fact, I may be one of the few people here who is not completely out of sorts about ArmA's animations because there really not that bad. I certainly prefer them to the arcade animations of virtually every other game out there. Yesterday was the first time I pulled my head from the editor and actually spent some time online. A few of my buddies and I hooked up on Teamspeak, found a decent UK server, and played Evolution for almost half a day. It's been years since I've done anything like this and it was an utter blast. Plenty of teamwork, coordinated efforts, players helping players, etc.; the way gaming should be. Sure theres some bugs but that can be said for any game really. At least BIS hasn't turned their back on us and left the game unsupported. Anyway, h3ll with it, I'm g0nna go play some more ArmA.

OK bud, I just sent you the mission I've been doing most of my testing with. Watch it be me again

The thanks actually goes to you for not only continuing on with this fine mod but for actually fielding the continual suggestions. As for my last response where I thought the rain looked much like the very first versions, well, the reason was that Symbiot rain wasn't even working and I was using ArmA's default rain. For whatever reason, -mod=Ca_SymbRain no longer works for me but -mod=ca_SymbRain does. I've tested this new version and the only comment I can make is that it's a bit patchy. The rain comes down in sheets (which I love) however, there is a very noticeable gap between sheets of rain that actually looks like there is no rain falling at all. If I were you though, I'd take it for what it is which is just another comment and not necessarily something you have to do. In all honesty, I liked the version you had prior to the last version the most. I thought the fog, rain, etc., was perfect (never noticed the "running through sheets of rain" issue so I can't comment). I wish I could tell you what version of rain it was. All I have to go by is a quote in your post as the link has been removed: Anyway, you've really done a great job with this mod and I can only hope that we see more from you in the future. <--- EDIT ---> OK, after talking completely out my @ss on the last few responses I think I may have found out what the problem is. Is it possible that there is now a bug in these latest versions whereby if you start a mission assigning a static object (invisible H for example) with this exec "camera.sqs"; that it causes the rain not to work? The mission I've been running while testing all your rain updates is one I plan to use for some camera and script testing in hopes I can eventually make a movie from. Up until the last few versions, starting off in free cam worked like a charm and your rain mod was working perfectly. So tonight the rust snapped from one of the rusty cogs within the inner workings of my brain which made me load another mission where I start as player. Voila, Symbiots Rain mod in all it's glory. I then went back to my other mission and sure enough, the original ArmA rain is only visible until I V Key from camera.sqs to player. Once I leave free cam and assume player, the rain script works fine. I can definitely say that if this is indeed a bug, it was introduced within the last few releases as its worked fine previously.

I actually think the reduced visibility due to heavy rain is one of the best parts of this mod. I know some people may prefer longer view distances but you just don't get that in the real world in heavy rain. This mod has added so much to ArmA it's really incredible, great work, both of you! Ultimately I'd love to see the roads get wet, puddles form and water run off my rifle barrel but me thinks those are pipe dreams. I'd also love to see heavier cloud cover. I gotta tell you, I wish I knew how to do this stuff guys, then I'd stop yapping out my @ss in this thread Thanks for putting up with me. <--- EDIT ---> I tried the new version and I'm not a big fan of it personally (no offense). Your previous version really worked with the wind perfectly and this one doesn't seem to. Quite honestly, I'm starting to wonder if I did something wrong with the install because this version seemed to revert back quite a ways. Anyway, aside from the sheets of rain maybe being a very minute bit too opague, I liked the previous version much better. Thanks for taking the time to cater to our input

This is fantastic work and it really adds to ArmA. I was playing today with your mod and Symbiot rain as well as Chammys Sound Mod and it's like playing a whole new game. I know I've asked before but I thought I'd ask again (sorry to be a pain), but is there any chance of lengthening the smoke effect substantially or perhaps making it a user configurable value? Some of these missions can last quite a while so it sux to see the smoke disappear after a relatively short time period. Anyway, great work, can't imagine ArmA without it.

Downloading now. I was just playing with your other version yesterday so I'll state a comparison after trying this newer version. Thanks for your guys continual work on this project. I really believe it does add to the immersion factor of ArmA. <---EDIT---> Already trying it and I do think it's better than the previous version. It no longer looks as if there is sheets of rain with nothing between them and it appears that the speed a bit quicker now. Of course this can be my imagination but it does seem more realistic as compared to the last version. Question though, does the rain also impair the AI's ability of target recognition at distance, especially in heavy rain where visibility is lower (which I love btw)? Just curious.

...am I the only one here who's gonna die laughing if ArmAII comes out buggier than ArmA? I'm not going to p00 p00 anyones input here because its not fair. My only comment would be that I can't understand why there are so many negative posts that basically rehash the same thing over and over again? I think a lot of the animosity this game has created would be put to rest if there was a strong dev presence in the forums. Part of me wonders if the lack of feedback from BI is more the fuel than the state of ArmA? I'm posting this in good faith so please folks, don't crucify me for it. I only made the above comments due to my misunderstanding of a few key points: 1. If you hate the game so much, why do you spend so much time complaining about it? 2. Would your time be better served if: a) you moved onto a different game and/or community? b) perhaps had better feedback from a dev POV? 3. Is there any point in picking on each other in these forums? I'll be honest here folks, this community is really starting to look like an Ubi forum due to all the flaming and flame baiting. Does it really serve any purpose to collectively piss each other off? Yes I too have my issues with ArmA (should perform better on my Rig IMHO) but it is by no means unplayable. I agree that the original game is somewhat ordinary but this community is churning out some really terrific mods/hacks/addons that are making it into a completely new experience. In fact the only complaint I can level about the addon community is I wish it would take on n00bs like me willing to help out but to st00pid to know how or where. Anyway, I'm not trying to create my own flame bait, no I'm not a troll and I'm not looking to argue with anyone here. I know there is a lot of feeling (both positive and negative) in regards to ArmA, the question is, what can we do about it to ensure that the next product is better? It would be really great if we all could pull something from the ArmA experience rather than animosity. I think I'll go hug a tree now.

What I like most about ArmA is that its continually in a state of evolution. New content, new mods, etc., allow everyone to personalize the game in a manner that suits them the most. These facts alone mean that ArmA will continue to be one of my most used programs not just short term but for years to come. How often in this day and age can you honestly say a game developer actively supports their software even after the money is in the bank? Not only does BI support their software but they also give the community means to customize the game in every way possible. I think devs such as EA and Codemasters could certainly learn a thing or two from BI. Great work!

Well it looks fantastic and I can't say as I've noticed any huge performance hit with many tanks/helicopters/vehicles burning at the same time. I can also confirm that it works with ArmAEffects as well. All I did was ensure that -mod=@DM is before -mod=@ArmAEffects in my ArmA.exe. I'm definitely looking forward to your future versions. Thanks again for your work.

I installed Ca_SymbRain in C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA and simply added -mod=Ca_SymbRain to my ArmA.exe. Worked like a charm.

I'm using the latest version and already think it looks great, can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve

This looks fantastic, great work! Sorry if I missed this in the previous posts (didn't see anything mentioned), but is there any plans to make the burn time last longer?

I s'pose if it isn't a huge bandwidth drain, I can host a mirror if Symbiot is interested on one of my newer sites.