Daniel

Someone's thrown up an e-Petition to keep F1 on the BBC. Sign it and pass it around if, like me, you won't be getting Sky any time soon. Worth a try. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57

Now that would be cool. :D

A poor animation wouldn't bother me that much. I have just as much fun in Arma as I did in OFP, and that frankly looked like crap most of the time. :D The really important bit is how easy it would be to just walk up to someone and stab and kill them. It's going to differ entirely depending on your own capability, that of your victim, how alert they are, how much gear they're wearing, and however many other things. Quick example: the Iranian bug soldier's seem to have some sort of environment seal around their necks. How's that going to affect your knife? Should there be the risk of just injuring them or failing all together? How should a human player know that some bastard just tried to knife them but it caught on their radio headset? I'd say at some point it would be useful to have some form of melee defence for when you're out of everything or simply unarmed. A punch, tackle, or swing of the rifle. Personally i'd love to see bayonets, although I appreciate many major armed forces no longer train with them. If there's another British styled expansion or DLC, it would be very useful, gameplay wise, to have bayonets for section attacks on positions. I know they've seen some use in Iraq and Afghanistan, but i'm sure they'd see more in a total war scenario a la Arma 3. There's nothing overly complicated about them, you just empty your mag at whoever you just charged up to, then proceed to stick whoever's still alive until you have time to reload. Apparently ballistic body armour is fairly ineffective against knives, i'd imagine a bayonet wouldn't have much trouble. Anyway, back to your stealth ninja kills...

PurePassion, I almost discounted your Proteus as just another boring drone, but I love the idea of inserting a team, then having it float off on its own and come back later. The perfect co-op game raid.

Must be your monitor, they're both blue with white patches on mine.

Agreed. Unfortunately I think we missed the chance when we bailed them out so easily.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14458424 Have a listen (at the risk of losing a few IQ points).

They need to break out the water cannons. Seriously. Our right to openly protest is hard earned and should be used whenever we, as a country, feel strongly about something. These idiots risk ruining everything by smashing up other people's property just for the craic. They've forgone their human rights by disregarding other people's peace and property, they should be dealt with accordingly.

+1 for Naval Fire Support. Agreed that above and below water warfare is a bit beyond the possibilities of Arma (without a dedicated development effort). That said, destruction and sabotage of naval assets should be possible. Just not pure, ranged naval combat.

And yet British Army Air Corps Apaches operate from British Royal Navy vessels. There's still no way to tell for sure what factions will or won't be in Arma 3.

That's actually very cool. I didn't realise DPVs could be so compact, hope they make it into the game. I wonder how BIS are going to simulate getting the SDV on and off an Astute class, considering that's probably classified/restricted. Is there any evidence the SBS use Mk8 SDVs?

You're reading far too much into details that may even change as the development goes on. You're best off waiting until for official confirmation on factions.

Screw buying Sky just for one fortnightly event, i'll just have to get my arse down the pub more often.

This, absolutely. For me, Red Orchestra was all about the experience of playing the game and trying to stay alive, rather than who killed the most or even which side won!

Even when the main character is SBS?

The OFP way of learning as you fought was excellent. Especially since at the start of the campaign the war hadn't even started, you were taught the basic mechanics, and then learned to command troops as you were promoted. I get the feeling Arma 3 is going to start at the deep end, if the current back story is anything to go by. So comprehensive tutorials have to be the way to go. I agree with InstaGoat, I haven't got the time to spend my days learning the game anymore as I did back in school. It'd also cut down on the new guys posting for help about the most basic things. 'How do I do this?' 'Oh that's easy, just play through section 5 on the armour tutorial, talks you straight through it.'

Mando Missiles is simply an example of how a complex FCS can be integrated to the RV engine as a mod. It has its flaws but overall its more realistic than the default game. Obviously people would prefer each FCS to be as close to the real thing as possible within the scope of the game.

Hey metalcraze, if you try any harder you might miss the point.

Anyone else catch the landing? I just happened to click on the BBC video feed, not realising it was live. Glad I caught it, had a great view from the pilot's HUD. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14232364

All of that is implied without me having to state it. Arma 2 is a simulator if you want it to be. It can just as easily be a corridor shooter a la Hexenkessel. My point being there's no point trying to categorise Arma 2, it's whatever people want it to be, it's how you approach it.

Aw, I wasn't expecting Gears of War. It looked so good on the screenshots too.

Arma 2 is a simulator.

I like it. I get the feeling it could take up a bit less screen but it's a step in the right direction.

Absolutely, something like HMS Bulwark or a NATO/US equivalent.

- Proper reload time per weapon (continued from the animation thread) So that belt-fed weapons, re-loadable shoulder launched weapons, etc. take the same time to reload as would be expected in the real world. The desired effect being that it forces players to either provide covering fire for those that are reloading, or forces those reloading to find cover themselves until ready to re-enter the fight. - A short tutorial campaign Covering all/most game mechanics such as weapon handling, vehicle handling, navigation, small unit tactics and squad command at varying levels. This could be made up of (Captain) Scott Miller's training at different points in his career, from his basic training up to his first real battle. You could also feature more specific mechanics in his SBS training, such as advanced weapon handling, how to call in artillery, how to control air assets, etc. - More dramatic death sequences So that when killed instantly, the screen snaps black and silent. Give the player a moment or so to take this onboard, then tell him he's died and proceed to show who killed him, OFP style. For less sudden deaths, let the player look around for a short time, have the sound fade away, the screen fade to black, etc. When killed in a vehicle, don't have the view snap to the centre of the vehicle, it looks really bad.