Skeptic

Hi folks, I have a dedicated Linux 1.63 server running with Operation Arrowhead. Are there COOP missions that will run on it? I tried Escape from Chernarus but apparently I would need Arma 2/OA hybrid for that... I also have steam copy of Arma 2 standalone, but can't figure out what I need to merge and then make it Linux friendly (caps and etc) I remember having loads of fun with EVO and Domination but looking for a smaller team gameplay. Thanks in advance!

I highly recommend to follow official instructions posted in the first post of this thread. I had huge headache following necromantix's outdated instructions.

EDIT 2: OK, installed and running fine. Opened ports and can see the server via IP. New problem. Tried installing Domination and of course all files are with caps in their names. Any way Linux could host such mission that also looks like to be script heavy? EDIT 1: Decided to just follow official BI instructions (duh) and will port back how it goes. Hi gents, I followed the following tutorial and installed "a2oa-server-1.63.112555.tar.bz2" on a dedicated physical Ubuntu 14.10 32bit server (clean install) with steamcmd method. When I launch it through ssh, i get "no product.bin found" and "global stringtable not found" errors... Appreciate your help in advance.

How to apply: 1. Right click on Arma2 shortcut 2. Properties 3. In target window after the closing quote mark add switch(es) like this: "C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\arma2.exe" -nosplash -world=empty -maxmem=2047 So far: -winxp, use it in Vista/W7 to enable multi-GPU support -nosplash, skip those splash screens -world=empty, doesn't load as much stuff for menu, starts faster -maxmem=2047, allows game engine to use more RAM (2047 is hardcoded maximum atm, anything higher falls back to 2047). Make sure you have at least 3-4Gb for this to work. -window, windowed mode -noCB, turns off multicore drawing, slow down rendering but may resolve visual glitches -cpuCount=X, change X to a number equal or less than numbers of available cores. This will override our autodetection. Changing affinity on the fly is definitely not good, because worker threads are spawned on the game initialization, and by lowering affinity later you cause threads competing for cores. The best way to simulate dual core on quad core is to use -cpuCount=2 when you run the game and then change the affinity to 2 cores to make sure additional cores can never be used when some overshedulling happens. It might be also possible to set the affinity in the OS before you launch the process, that would work as well. Non-performance related: -mod=XYZ where XYZ is modfolder in "C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\" -profiles=profiles - will store profile info and missions in main C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\Arma 2\profiles folder Keep adding new things you discover...

!!!PLEASE DO NOT SPAM BUG TRACKER WITH NEW TICKETS!!! Use search - most likely your issue has been already reported. BIS developers read this forum, they can't simply respond to each thread. While it is frustrating to wait for solution to your problem, please be patient. Thank you. OK folks, some info so that you better understand how to use this tool. 1. First of all please search tracker for issues already reported before posting a new one. 2. This is not user to user troubleshooting - so please use forums for that. 3. It is expected to report information in structured form. "Hit and run" won't cut it. 4. You might be assigned a task to follow up with the issue you have reported. It doesn't mean that BIS will ship you C .Net source code to troubleshoot it but you may have to do some testing or provide more info/research. If you don't want this responsibility, then I advice not to post there. [/url] Edit: This tool has been around for a while and I'm not affiliated with this project. It is extensively used by BIS & modification developers. When I learned about it I liked the idea instantly. Suma, who is Lead BIS developer is frequenting that site and he gets tasks assigned to look at.

I'm afraid improvements you saw can not be attributed to this switch. -cpuCount is only for limiting number of cores, not forcing more. See my sig for Arma2 start up parameters. This switch may help to resolve graphical glitches and sacrifice speed.

Yep MP is very demanding, more so if it's coop with AI. So you get double whammy effect: CPU bottleneck in cities plus load of AI. BIS needs to do some serious optimizing.

HDD is not an issue. I'm running off SSD RAID-0 with two OCZ Vertex drives that push about 460MB/s with sequential reads. There is good discussion going on about DX API calls scheduling in Arma2. Somehow it is coded that causes conflicts and CPU struggles especially in cities. No amount of HDD defragging or speed of RAID will help at the moment.

Any positive feedback with 9.7 or 9.8 cats over 9.6? I'm still on 9.6, since latter ones break Empire Total War AA.

LOL, it doesn't degrade it - it displays garbage for image quality.

DX10 or 11 have nothing to do with this. This is simply ATI drivers. W7 is widely expected so ATI driver team probably polished it more than XP.

Under WinXP 32bit I have to set VidMem to Very High (I have HD4890 1Gb), otherwise I get really bad glitches. Under Win7 64bit no such problem.

Pleas elaborate, what do you mean dated platform? This is state of the art 3D Engine. The fact that executable is not compiled under 64bit means nothing. There are few games out there that run in native 64bit, and there is no proof that 64bit exe runs better than 32bit one under 64bit OS. One potential benefit of 64bit exe would be ability to utilize over 2Gb RAM. I'm not sure Arma2 needs that much, so there shouldn't be a problem. ---------- Post added at 08:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:25 PM ---------- Arma2 seems to be CPU limited, higher clocks might help a bit, but I hope future patch will address this. ArmaMark doesn't test CPU performance much because there is nothing going on with AI. Regards.

-cpuCount is for limiting number of cores. You have four so it won't do anything for you. Also with cpuCount switch you need to also set affinity accordingly. Read here.

Current Arma2 engine is limited to -maxmem=2047, anything above reverts to default and will never use above 2047. ---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:26 PM ---------- You got that right. 3D Res<Interface Res=Faster FPS but crappy image.

Yep, I've had better experience on W7 64bit. Will install 1.03 today on XP and see what's up.

Hi folks, I would like quad core users to run several tests for us in controlled manner to help understand how Arma2 performs. UPDATE: It looks like Arma-Mark II is not ideal tool to measure CPU effectiveness of real Arma2 gameplay. Test results (last updated on June 16th, 2009 ref# p5.n42): Quad core improves performance over dual core - 2 Quad core does not improve performance over dual core - 1 Inconclusive/retesting - 2 (ref# p4.n35) Background: Requirements: Set your settings: Texture Detail - Normal Anisotropic Filtering - Normal Terrain Detail - Normal Objects Detail - Normal Shadow Detail - Normal PostProcess Effects- Low Report to us your specs: Cpu - Ram - GPU - OS - Resolution - Please run four tests and post armamark score for each. If possible please reboot your PC after each test. Run and report these results Test 1 - no changes to Arma shortcut (running with 4 cores) Test 2 - add -cpuCount=3 switch to Arma shortcut (running with 3 cores) and when you run the game change the affinity to 3 cores Test 3 - add -cpuCount=2 switch to Arma shortcut (running with 2 cores) and when you run the game change the affinity to 2 cores Test 4 - add -cpuCount=1 switch to Arma shortcut (running with 1 cores) and when you run the game change the affinity to 1 cores ArmaMark installation Shortcut change "C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\arma2.exe" -cpuCount=3 Setting affinity in task manager (firefox as example, you'll be changing arma2.exe) You will see 4 boxes if you have 4 cores. Keep 3 checked for test 2, 2 checked for test 3 and etc. Thanks for your help

In my case going from XP SP3 32bit and Cat 9.4 to Win7 RC 64bit with 9.5 Cat cured it. This is definitely driver issue. I'm back on XP now with 9.5 and in few short MP sessions (<=1hr) I had no problems with mem setting on very high (have 1Gb HD4890 here).

Always backup your steam games: Steam->My Games->Right click->Backup local content. I suggest splitting files in 4Gb chuncks and writing them to DVD ROM. If you need to reinstall games - install Steam first and then restore your backups ;-)

Try adding -maxmem=2047 to shortcut.

Please take screen shot with FRAPS and post here. Also make sure your desktop resolution, 2d and 3d in Arma all set to the same value.

Yep, you're right - something is going on with SP that caps frame rates... And new hardware won't fix those. Considering that most value of Arma lies in MP I still advice folks to get at least Dual Core CPU+4Gb Ram+ATI4850 or nVidia 250. Regards.

Even though SSD won't help with SP low FPS in MP I really love my RAID-0 Vertex 2x30Gb. Bought them for Arma1 and it helped a lot to remove LOD pop-ups and delayed texture loading with M107 scope.

I understand, but keep in mind 2600 and 3800 are really weak, 8800gtx and 8800gt could literally run circles around those two. Here's my info about Arma2 GPU performance (note that it didn't test CPU/AI). Low Med High

I'm with ya on XP - when they drop DX9 and XP support in games then I'll move over. So far DX10, 10.1 don't have anything exciting. The thing is, PAE /3GB switch only helps with exe modded header that tells OS it's 3GB aware. I know some time ago some folks modded gothic3.exe header. Without it it's pretty much worthless.