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Stendac

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Posts posted by Stendac

  1. Posted

    Arma's campaign sucked because it was a sloppy mess, not teamswitch. The final assault on Bagango was poorly done, period, had nothing to do with teamswitch. If all the campaign missions were put together with the same love and attention to detail as "Blood Sweat and Tears," which was built around a player switch, it would be a different story.

    There's no feature in gaming inherently bad enough to destroy a game on it's own, it's a combination of botched ideas that killed Arma's single player campaign, not teamswitch.

    Oh, you said it, man.

    I stopped playing the campaign because it was no fun. Things have somehow gotten worse since OFP.

    Teamswitch? I didn't like it at first either, but like most people, i just accepted it grudgingly.

    However, it shouldn't never have been used to make up for a shoddy campaign that was way difficult for all the wrong reasons.

  2. Posted

    It seems that too often Arma is a game that looks good from a certain angle or from far away. Get up close though, and the player quickly realizes that:

    Many buildings can't be entered (and don't look good up close).

    Those that are enterable aren't particularly interesting.

    Trying to move around the close quarters of the inside of a building is frustrating. (it makes the already loose controls even more noticeable.)

    The view distance in Arma was fine. For Arma2, instead of increasing the view distance, I hope that BI is working on the details of the game. Nice looking buildings and soldiers with better facial expressions. At the very least, I hope the controls will be better in the next game.

    I loved OFP and I was gonna buy Arma no matter what the reviewers said. But after Arma... I'll just wait and see how Arma2 turns out.

  6. Posted

    I wouldn't base my opinion on the AI on this one video.

    It's only one example and what bothers me is that we can't really see what the AI soldiers are fighting and where their opposition is located. More testing needed.

  11. Posted

    What comes to mind -

    How the heck can it be that BIS would plan on releasing Game2 in say one year, when Arma is not even really shelf worthy, nor truly finished, no tools released for addon makers?

    Why ask this? Simple, say 6 months from now Arma finally gets all planed out right, the game is *relatively* bug free, the addon tools are out, and big addons,mods, and missions are in the works.

    Ok, so, in another 6 months, Game2 is released, and... all this trouble of people working on big addons, mods, and missions is gone, Arma is *officially* relplaced by Game2, and the whole cycle repeats...

    Ofp had to be around for a very long time before real high quality user created addons,mods, and missions came to be finished - I really dont understand the logic in making Arma at ALL if Ofp2 is going to come in 1 year later and render all the projects in the making for Arma useless...

    Egghhh - dont even want to think about this sh*#, Im working on a mission that will probably take another 3 - 6 months for Arma, to what? See at my missions release point Game2 come out and everyone leaves Arma -

    I think Bis should focus on Arma more, not just jumping to a new game platform so quickly, when considering how much influence user made stuff is on this current platform, if there isnt enough (plenty) of time for user made additions of great quality to come to light in Arma before the next platform is released, why bother allowing us to edit Arma?..............................................

    Even worse, ive heard rumor that Game2 will not support the "standardized" scripting format of Ofp/Arma, and only the new script format will accepted, which means even if a large scale mission like mine thats been ported over from Ofp to Arma was desired to be ported to Game2, it wont ever happen...

    Sorry to sound negative, I guess if Game2 comes in a year, all I can hope for is that Arma still survives it for another 5 years, or else I think alot of peoples time that is currently being spent on large scale applications for Arma will not amount to nearly what was hoped for, like me...

    It might be too soon to worry about that. We haven't seen much new information on Game 2 and everyone's probably sceptical that it will actually come out in 2008. They originally said that Armed Assault would have a release date in July 2006 or something like that. Well, I live in the US and it still hasn't been released here (although it's only a matter of days until May comes around). In fact, since ArmA's release was delayed, it would be prudent to push Game 2's release date back as well to allow an appropriate interval between the games because BIS doesn't want people skipping over ArmA for Game 2 either.

    Game 2 sounded very ambitious. If anything, I'd expect it to experience even longer delays than Armed Assault did. And I'm sure that BIS is happy to let us all have plenty of time to chow down on ArmA so that they will have more time to quietly work on Game 2.

  12. Posted

    Out of curiosity, can anyone identify the weapon that the soldier on the left is holding in the Operation Flashpoint 2 picture?

    It looks a bit short. A carbine of some sort?

    But more importantly, how likely is it to see a soldier with one of those on the battlefield? I'm assuming the soldiers are American, even though we can't see their patches.

  13. Posted

    Hi all

    As I said you cut your cloth accordingly. BIS works under constraints of time, money and the law. BIS has to choose what it thinks is important enough to spend its limited resources on; as well as not break the law. Inevitably some of the constraints lead to compromises.

    I will not dispute that it would be nice to have accurate modeling of armor values. So what is you plan to achieve this?

    1) First explain how you will pay BIS to do this work or what financial motivation BIS have to do the work.

    I can actually come up with a solution to this.  nener.gif

    2) Then explain how you will provide the people to do the work.

    I can actually come up with a solution to this too.  nener.gif

    3) Finally explain what compromises you will accept in order not to break the law.

    Now this is the show stopper inevitably the armor values I would produce would have to be wrong.  confused_o.gif

    Solutions

    Your project plan is of great interest to me MehMan and [CS]SOBR[1st-I-R].

    Failing this why don't you set up a Mod team and do it.

    BUT bearing mind factor 3) how would the inevitably inaccurate model of damage produced; to comply with security and arms control laws, be any better than a compartmentalised statistical damage model. Do a cost benefit analysis.

    Kind Regards walker

    Wow.  Reading this makes my head hurt.

    What is BIS's financial motivation?

    It's because they're advertising their game as the "ultimate realistic combat simulation experience".  Jeez, it's dumb that I even have to say it.

    And can you provide a link or something to show us where these security/arms laws draw the line on what's too accurate?   

    Yes, BIS definitely has time and resource constraints.  But don't try to attribute armor damage oddities to a fear of being sent to jail.  

    Please note that nobody is asking for 100% accuracy here.  But it would be nice if things were a bit more believable; nothing that would even approach a breach of national security.

  15. Posted

    Well if I had a good story, I'd have more of an interest in what I'm making. Actually, from your comments, that struck every point I felt was wrong in the film. The reason is, honestly, I get bored making certain aspects of the film and just extend the footage to "take up time"... I'm just officially challenged when it comes to basing a movie off of something and have the interest to carry it throughout the film because idk what I'm filming actually wink_o.gif

    Yeah, it is of the utmost importance that you create and flesh out an interesting story that you're happy with before beginning to make your video.

    I'm no video maker, but it's similar to if you're writing a short story. Sometimes writers fail to fully think through their story and they end up giving lengthy, detailed descriptions for settings in plots that don't go anywhere. Don't assume that things will fall into place while you are putting together the actual video. It's much easier to make changes during the planning process.

    Anyway, this is something that I had to keep in mind when I was writing a story for my English class.

    Story-driven videos sound pretty tough to make in ArmA. A good story is going to need some good characters. This is pretty tricky since it will probably require some good voice acting. Also the character models in ArmA don't convey emotions very well and it doesn't look totally natural when they talk.

  16. Posted

    SOBR[1st-I-R] @ April 11 2007,18:44)]Of course I have read the book, I would not comment on anything I dont know for sure.

    Sure the mission was a mess-up and naturraly the author has to critize someone, namely the HQ and the officers and planers.

    This still doenst mean that the book advertises the US forces as the bad guys. They are described pittyfull and readers (like you) believe everything he writes because you say: "oh see... he talked bad about the US officers, so he must be a neutral guy only displaying the truth".

    What I mean is when you read the book, you get to love the Rangers and 1st SFOD-D and are turned more pro-american than you were before. Isnt that propaganda enough ?

    I think I had a greater respect for the fighting ability of the American soldiers after reading the book.  I didn't necessarily feel more pro-American.

    Why?  I think the book was able to grimly describe how our supposedly goodwill mission to Somalia degenerated into violence.  In this sense, it isn't really gung-ho pro-US Militarism.  One Somali man described how the helicopters buzzing by close overhead would frighten people.  Another man talked about an incident when a US helicopter fired some rockets into the building he was in.  Some men he knew were killed.  The soldiers themselves describe firing grenades into windows indiscriminately because a fighter might suddenly poke his head out from any one of them and light up the convoy.  I think one soldier even said that he's sure that he accidentally shot a child in the chaos.  How pro-America is that?

    At any rate, it never really stuck me as US propaganda.  I think one of the important lessons that a reader could take away from the book is this: The military is a broadsword.  As powerful as it is, it's not necessarily good at winning hearts and minds or for bringing order to a country.  Sometimes, its presence only results in more violence.

  17. Posted

    SOBR[1st-I-R] @ April 10 2007,22:44)]Puma you should not really believe everything written in books  wink_o.gif

    That book is rather typical american propaganda than anything else. Although there are many accurate books out there, Black Hawk Down isnt one of them.

    @ Plaintiff

    It still makes no sense to have a suppressed M4 for that occasion mate ....

    Ouch. That's a heavy accusation against Mark Bowden there. Can you be more specific?

    I did a little search and found some websites that criticize Mark Bowden for being too pro-military and making unfair statements in other writings, but so far I haven't found anything about Black Hawk Down specifically.

    I read the book myself years ago and I liked it a lot. Bowden interviewed some Somalis about their experiences and you can begin to understand why many of them began to resent the presence of the Americans. This perspective wasn't really there in the movie.

    Sure, Bowden has his own opinion about mission and the eventual troop pullout, but does he actually lie in his book?

  18. Posted

    Yeah, I just watched the review for STALKER on gametrailers.com and they also said they were impressed by the AI. It was one of the game's noticeable strengths despite its flaws in other areas.

    I guess it couldn't hurt ArmA to give the AI a swift kick in the ass.

  19. Posted

    Yeah, pathfinding doesn't come easy to AI.

    But other games don't even try. Just look at Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2. The developers didn't even bother to give the AI vehicles any pathfinding skills. They just move down a fixed track. If a soldier is standing in the way they'll just stop there and won't go around. Anyway, that's what the review said.

  21. Posted

    I saw that one a long time ago.

    What I found most interesting was that the first segment, where they guy is firing at the blackhawks, looked very life-like. The low video quality gave it that look and for a second it actually seemed like real life. Then I saw the guy with the rifle and I thought, "Oh, I guess it really is Armed Assault."

    Still, there aren't many games that can confuse you in that way, even for the shortest of periods.

    One of the others that I can think of was Ace Combat 4 for the PS2. At certain times it did look almost real. My grandfather actually glanced at the TV when I was playing it and asked me if it was real life or from a game.

    I hope games will continue to produce more and more of those "woah" moments.

  24. Posted

    Once i get Arma i will try to make a CTF map, maybe i can replace the flag with an object (like the blackbox of a downed jet or something), to be positioned in an area so that players have to search for and retrieve it, area of map... maybe 2/3 KM+, no vehicles, AR's, MG's and GL's only.

    Respawn = 0, how's that for an Arma CTF? biggrin_o.gif .

    Well, I'd give it a shot.

    By the way guys, did you notice that there is a bullet ricochet effect in Battlefield 2142? I noticed it when I was in one of those battle walkers and I was firing into the ground. I'm going to see if all of the guns in the game do this and what surfaces produce the ricochet. Does anyone know if this happens in Battlefield 2 as well?

  25. Posted

    I'll start with saying that I'm a hardcore co-op-player myself, and defy any respawn game - including CTIs. HOWEVER, I just want to say to the people that are complaining that CTFers don't belong in OFP/ArmA should take a look around. You guys, as well as me, don't see the enjoyment that CTFers can get out of games like OFP or ArmA - but that doesn't remove the fact that they actually do enjoy the game. Apparently there's something there that attracts them, however we may not understand it - but it's still there.

    So why bogger down on them? Aren't they sophisticated enough to be part of the community? Why should they be listened to when they are a minority? Well, I'll break something to you. YOU'RE the minority. That's why YOU play OFP/ArmA and not BF2 or CS. If nobody listened to the minorities you wouldn't have your precious OFP in the first place. EVERYONE should have the right to express their thoughts - and apparently OFP/ArmA attracts CTFers so they too should be able to put in a word amongst the military fanatics and the teamwork freaks.

    I, personally, am sick of the elitistic spirit of OFP players - especially on this board. Yes, I am a proud Flashpointer and I take every opportunity I get to promote this fantastic game on different internet forums or in real life. And yes, I fight the mainstream-wave of games today. But that doesn't mean I look down on the mainstream gamer. I instead see the mainstream gamer as a gamer that has not yet realized how fun and entertaining an excellent game can be, and has yet to experience how much adrenalin can flow through your body when you lie in a bush for half an hour doing absolutely nothing but scan the horizon. Even if it would not be their cup of tea I think their taste is crap, but I respect them for that. You may not agree with them, but at least you can respect them, right?

    Well, I've never played ArmA yet, so I don't know exactly why CTF players are upset by it. But I have played some OFP CTF in gamespy.

    I prefer other game types like Campaign Everon, C&H, and Coops. But, unfortunately it can be pretty hard to find servers to play on in gamespy and often I've had to settle for some CTF. And at first I really, really sucked at it.

    It was pretty bad. Why, I could go an entire game with only a single kill. But, I stuck with it for a while and I gradually got a little better. I learned to camp out instead of running blindly ahead and to try and anticipate where the opposition would try to peek out for their shots. I still wasn't very good, but at least I would get many more kills than I used too. Sometimes, I was a little proud of myself.

    That said, I still don't understand why CTF players love OFP so much. One of the main draws of OFP was having a huge island to wage war on, but most of the CTF games cordoned of a tiny plot of land for the arena. OFP wasn't specialized for the close range urban fighting that this created and it makes the rest of the island seem like such a waste. Most of the games didn't bother with the M16, instead arming players with the G36, which was incredibly accurate and lethal. It wasn't unusual for games to end it with 0-0 scores. Players ran forward, camped, shot emerging enemy, ran forward, camped again, etc. until they were killed and respawned to begin the process again.

    And you couldn't try to sneak around to the flag from the backside either. Many maps were in a rectangular shape with the two flags on either side. There would be houses for cover or different alleys you could proceed down, but your enemy knew that you were always approaching from the same general direction.

    This is not to say that CTF is a worthless game mode. It's kind of fun when teammates cover each other as they move forwards and take positions to protect the flag carrier. But the gameplay was tedious and repetitive. OFP's CTF felt like it really belonged in some other computer game. The fact that many matches began with a hip-hop song like "Never Scared" only further turned me off it.

    I guess I just began to resent CTF because there weren't enough servers with other game modes open.

    But at least I'm honest about it right?

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