T J

Do you seriously think, they don't know about most of the bugs? There is always some point in development, when you have to release it, simply because you have some contract or because you have no money for development. So while are you complaining, did you thought about scenario of canceled project? What do you think? Isn't it better to have it as it is (it's playable yet buggy) and patched, than do not have it at all? Or have it perfect as STALKER or Duke Nukem Forever... Imagine the slating an addon maker would have gotten if they had released such a buggy addon, and that for FREE. Let's not forget that this is a game they have (supposedly) spent YEARS in the making. Sure, some, no, a lot of bugs will only show up after repeated playing on multiple systems of varying specs. I'm not talking about those. Rather the type of bugs that should have been spotted at their birth, eg, the wrong viewpoint in the trucks, noted now by BIS as a bug. Things like that should never make it into a final release. It would be interesting to take Marek aside privately, and ask him if he was happy with the level of pre-release Quality Assurance. My guess would be No. Seems to me, they took OFP:E, ported it BACK to PC, added some extra graphiccy stuff, probably from work on Game2, threw in some kit and models from VBS, and hastily mixed them all together. (without noting the mix up of kit between US Marine & US Army etc) Follow the screenshots released over the months and you will sort of see that happening. Dont get me wrong, I like the game, with all its quirks. But it could have been so much better. Should have been. It would be very nice to see BIS launch a topic "ACKNOWLEDGED BUGS" just for BIS staff to post in, showing that they have noted each one, and an approximate timescale or something for the fix E.G: Next patch. Im sure they know all about things we are yet to discover, but it would be nice to have an official forum acknowledgement, dont you think? Cheers TJ

In the 20player Co-op MP map, I took a littlebird over the town, and ejected under fire. On landing, jumped into one of the enemys vehicles, with the AT-5 rockets on top. Enemy opened up on me with small arms fire, firing full auto, clip after clip, so I turned the rockets on him. WHOOSH, BANG! Nothing, still there, still firing. Again, and again, he was impervious to the AT rockets. And it took several hundred rounds and finally a bmp to stop my vehicle in its tracks. And then on the 20player FF mission, the pickup that is near the target flagpole (blue pickup) seems to be mostly bulletproof. Again the AI fired several clips at it before it even got a puncture, and I was able to survive intact without a scratch sitting in it while they fired upon me. Love the bouncing truck though. Cheers TJ

Dont get me wrong, I hate hate hate the way the helicopters 'fly'. (esp. the mi17 - what is it with that?) BUT, I have found the footage that BIS used to model the flying characteristics on, and I have to say, they have got it perfect, the helo's in AA perform JUST like the ones in these vids! Small helicopter handling... One thing I would ask though, if the skids could be made more like the ones in This Clip then we would stand a better chance of surviving? TJ

Finally somebody notices! Did you notice the mashup of equipment? This console game, supposedly years in the making, (although I believe it to be a hybrid of OFP:E and some elements from game2, patched together in a matter of months) feels very much like a half-assed attempt. Doesn't seem to be any commitment to quality control, and the game is laden, laden, laden with bugs. Really obvious and bad ones. What kind of beta tester misses the glaringly obvious things such as we see? No wonder they didn't put a demo out. As for somebody who said, "which models were better in OFP?", I strongly suggest taking a look at the BAS Blackhawks and Littlebirds, where you will find more polygons, more animations. (the current cockpits suck). I think, but dont know, that the uh60 and littlebird models are actually similar to the BAS ones, just dumbed down a bit. Somebody will know? Then take a look at the other major addon releases. I was hoping for something at least as good as, but hopefully far exceeding the best of OFP addons. Maybe BIS could pull it back by doing a major update along with the 505 release, like patch 1.3 was for flashpoint. Lots of new content, missions, and BUGFIXES please! TJ

Nay, if YOU could read, perchance you would have noticed that my post was made 4 seconds after yours, thereby indicating that is was being written concurrently with yours. Capisci? Does anybody have both the CZ version and the german version, on the same machine, to do a direct comparison? As the version numbers are identical, then the copy protection must be the cause of the problems? And if a fix comes from Morphicon and not BIS, then it also seems protection based. If the problem is the protection, I would be interested to know if the securom workarounds eliminate the problem for you guys, until you can get it fixed? What is quality control coming to these days? TJ

So what IS the deal? is the german version WORSE than the CZech version ?? IS the German version 1.00.5087? Is the problem just the copy protection? If so, as long as you have your CD Key for your legitimate version, what is the problem in using the 'trial version' (without copy protection) until the patch is released? Cheers

Good. I hate perms. Great pics everybody!

The Czech version number is given as 1.00.5087. Please confirm FULL german number Cheers

In the players settigns and cfg file, there is a setting for HDR isnt there? On Low I think it is set to 8. What if that was set to 0 would it make any difference? I have not much idea about that sort of thing....... also, what sort of maxmem settings are you guys using with 1gb RAM? My spec P4 3.4Ghz 1Gig Ram Nvidia 6800 256mb Cheers TJ

On the subject of heli's has anybody had the bug in the blackhawks, where the miniguns just empty themselves as soon as you press fire? While your finger is on the mouse button they act normally, but then continue on in a wierd way until all ammo is spent. And the 'ammo' that is fired off unintentionally, doesn't hurt anything/one. TJ

I'd take issue with that, "as it should be" I do a lot of shooting and have never, ever, even on pests that have had their throat slit, seen blood as bright red as in Arma. I have no idea as to why those textures would have been chosen for the wounded/KIA models. Just lessens the realism does it not? Anyways, isn't the RUSSIAN version due out today? (28/11/06) We still dont have a definitive answer as to whether the CZ and DE versions are the same version?

good point. What version do you have on the german copy? Is the blood still grey?

yes, did the same last night testing many different attempts and actions. Interestingly it seemed a lot easier flying in first person view, less tempting to roll the thing sideways perhaps. At any rate, once the downwards rush to the ground started, there seemed to be very little I could do to pull out of it. Would be interested to see what Deadmeat could do with the models and adjusting the c.o.g. etc (Hint Hint ) TJ

I too was surprised to see that its out already, and now can send my minions to go get some

Well done, much better. Some time ago, when working on the BAS blackhawks or lb's cant remember which, I used the fire texture from DF BHD to produce a similar effect to what BIS has done with arma, but I was dissatisfied with it, so it never got any further. For similar reasons the default BIS fire textures dont look right, the flames arent to scale or something, I dunno, but something is wrong. Anyway, your new ones are much better by the look of it. Well done. Now all we need is someone to redo all the soldier models to get rid of that disgusting red paint. WHAT THE HELL KIND OF 'ARTIST' WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?? <end rant> keep it up TJ

I expect all the real talent works on VBS

Now that ARMA is released in CZ, it's no secret that it has also been available openly on the file sharing networks, and the starforce protection cracked too, at least enabling the downloader to try the game in SP mode. My question is this, what do people, and developers consider the impact will be on overall sales of the game? I guess it is only a matter of time till somebody releases a working keygen, the language problem isn't a problem anymore, so will the majority even bother buying the game when it is finally released in their locale? Might it have possibly led to greater sales if the game had been released simultaneously? What plans do BIS have in place to ensure that cracked copies can't say be patched, or especially, that versions using a keygen cant play on public servers. (Its already well documented how you can play on a VPN, but that will limit the cracked copies to playing with each other) I also wonder if the release of a demo might not have lessened the interest in the cracked version? It strikes me that most downloaders have done so to get a taste of the game before it is released in 3 months time to the majority of territories. Hopefully, the 505 release will contain a major update and patch, and also, a load more content, model and MP mission wise that will make it seem an attractive proposition for an actual purchase. I appreciate that most long time posters here are hardcore fans who buy the game out of loyalty and appreciateion anyway, but that isn't true of the vast majority. Are there enough genuine fans to make the game a commercial success? What are your thoughts? TJ

In fact it would be very interesting to have an (anonymous) vote poll set up to give an indication as to how many visitors to this site have actually downloaded the 'trial' version, just to have a taste, dont you think? Please understand I am not in any way encouraging anybody to break the law, but there is no point pretending it hasn't happened already. My real surprise was the speed with which starforce was disabled. TJ

add <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">-server -config=server.cfg to your arma shortcut. Dont think you'll need two licences though, even if the server is running the same CD Key as ONE of the players, it will still run ok. Only when 2 or more players with same CD key try and join is there the message "CD Key in Use" arma default port is 2302, but you can use what you want by editing the config, see the bis wiki about dedicated servers for info TJ

add <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">-server -config=server.cfg to your arma shortcut. Dont think you'll need two licences though, even if the server is running the same CD Key as ONE of the players, it will still run ok. Only when 2 or more players with same CD key try and join is there the message "CD Key in Use" arma default port is 2302, but you can use what you want by editing the config, see the bis wiki about dedicated servers for info TJ

well well well.......... During part of the dev process on the BAS helo's, blackhawks and lilbirds, I spent many many hours flying them, and could get them to perform admirably and under full control. (yeh ok, the models were great and a credit to Wayne and DM, beautifully balanced etc) Maybe, just maybe its those hours of conditioning to old OFP that have affected me, but I hate hate HATE the new flight model. I fly with keyboard and mouse btw. But to me it seems that the helo's are flying along a rail, like an underslung rollercoaster. And the worse part is that the rail seems determined to lead down to the ground after any attempt at a fast turn. Last night we played MP "CTI", and time after time the hawk ended up slewing into the ground. It seems almost impossible to correct the loss of lift once it sets in, and down she goes. Obviously there has to be a lot of compromise in an arcade simulation like arma, but surely, and hopefully, those compromises would enable the game to run on the easier side, rather than make it more difficult? Perhaps we could do with one of those vote polls setting up about the new flight models? TJ - UK

Dunno if this has been mentioned. In the MP game with the blackhawks, when I selected the crewchiefs slot and doorgunners slot, one click of the fire button completely emptied the minigun. all rounds were fired off, although after removing my finger from the fire button, the rounds were no longer deadly, and did not kill other players. I was a client under a non dedicated host.

yeah, super work. This made me giggle though, from the .RPT (bug list) file

My first impression; Sahrani is a beautiful island, well laid out and full of possibilities. Size was, only the same as what had been accomplished already, but able to handle the models better, and the fact that you can tab in and out at will without crashing the PC is reassuring. Obviously the water is a big improvement. But my overall feeling so far is that something isn't "right". this looks like something that has been quickly mashed together, not a game that has supposedly been in development for a few years. Its like somebody got a mixing bowl, threw in elements of the console version (elite), a little bit of VBS1, and a few bits of a new engine. But it all seems bodged together and uncomplete. The content, model and equipment wise, is woeful, and inaccurate, and the models themselves have exhibited lots of flaws at certain LODs. It feels a lot like playing early OFP. The sounds are horrible and amateurish, and the interface and overall impression in the editor and menu boxes seems poor, lacks that 'quality' feeling. This release (czech) version is what you would normally expect a demo to be like. What this 'new' engine and island need desperately, is somebody, some team who can give it the attention to detail that it needs. To create a decent set of models, a decent scenario, and to give it the kind of care that is so obviously lacking so far. My biggest disappointment so far though is the choppers, and the way they fly. Having spent (literally) 1000's of hours flying and testing the old Littlebirds from BAS, and the bigger choppers, the new 'way' of flying feels just wrong. Here's hoping that the game now gets some attention from somebody with the ability to really improve upon it. TJ

see post in alt.games.operation-flashpoint sorry, no further support offered or given, nor will I have time to come back here and read any follow ups. just clearing out my HDD and hate to see 1000's of man hours go down the tube without anybody getting at least SOME benefit. They are 'BETA' but were pretty damned close to final, inasmuch as it will probably take you a long time to find ALL the bugs we wanted to iron out!! enjoy TJ signing out............forever. bye