vini_lessa

Crusader Kings 2 is awesome. I think its their best game to date.

If any genre is counting, it was X-Com in 1993. If only shooters count, then it was the original Rainbow Six in 1998. This game simply blowed my mind, and changed the way I approach games forever. ;)

Cool. Where do I get this mod (for adding RSpear and R6 missions) ? Also, Im getting my X360 back from a friend today. Do you think GR 2 is worth a try nowadays ? (remember I like GRAW for the consoles, if that says something ;) )

Yeah, the series seems to have reached the bottom with Future Soldier. I didnt play it yet, but all reviewers say its more of a CoD than a GR. To be frank, I actually liked GRAW1/2 on X360 - even with console trappings and simplification, I found its somewhat open levels and tech-gadgets like drones, etc fun to play. But this time they went too far it seems. BTW, Im playing the original Ghost Recon right now. Bought it and expansions for very cheap on Steam. And Im using two interesting mods that I reccomend: heroes unleashed, that enhances AI, textures, interface, weapons, etc. and ENBseries that enhances gfx, adding bloom effect, lighting, surface reflections, transparency, etc. ;)

Do you guys know its a promo movie for their new game Ghost Recon: Call of Duty.. oops Future Soldier, dont you ? (its a prequel for the game, whose plot advances the "rogue spearead" warheads incident, as I understand it ) Anyway, the film is really cool. I think I saw "Ridley Scott" in the end credits. Is this guy the real Ridley Scott ?

Great video, Mr Bump. In that case, not only the AI moved between rooms, but moved in group. Cool. Another thing I like about SWAT3/4 AI is that it seems to have hidden morale and agressiveness atributes, giving it a very life-like unpredictness. Some enemies will give up on the first shout, some wont give up untill shot and shocked, and some will give up at first but then rise again and shoot you or then taking their weapon and running screaming, all the while speaking different and very appropriated expressions (like the one from the video "fuck, I wont die for this!"). By the way, on this hidden atributes thing - wouldnt it be interesting if ARMA had it too ? To be frank I never noticed this in the game myself (eg: it wasnt apparent if Razor team - Coops, Scarlet, Sykes and Robo - was really differentiated abilities-wise). Anyway, I think something like this would be interesting: Or maybe making these atributes hidden, and just describing/suggesting the abilites in each soldier profile. This way would be more realistic and in line with ARMA premisse, I think.

Batto, I actually have Raven Shield, but I don’t like its single-player campaign much. I think it deviated somehow from the planning emphasis of the originals to a more SWAT-like on-the-fly tactical action. Not that it’s a bad thing per se, but in case of R6 Im more a planner then a player, and always loved its “20 min planning, 2 min execution†thing. I even took more time watching the replays than actually “playing†the game, and finished RSpear in commander chair/watch mode in elite level. XD By the way, I bought both Raven Shield and Ghost Recon through Steam for very cheap. You may want to take look there.

Another game that I feel deserves mention for its "tactical tightness" is GRAW2 (for X360, not the PC version). Despite some console trappings, its tactical aspect is one of the best Ive seen (easily the best there is for a console ), and a great example of easiness of use and responsiveness we´re talking about here. P.S: tried to play Rogue Spear here but no sucess. The game wont run on Win7 with ATI cards. Damn. :(

Hehe, lot of familiar faces around here! Metal from the codex and Smurf from adrenaline, how are you guys ? ;) Well, on the SWAT4 matter I think I agree more with Smurf, even if Metal has a good point. In my experience (finished Swat3 and reached mission 11 on Swat4 ) the enemies are in fact randomly placed and they DO react when they hear or sense you by opening/checking out doors, shouting things out ("what da fuck!?", "Who is there?", etc), and even panicking. On the other hand, I think they could be a bit smarter sometimes and actually shoot doors or look (and shoot) through windowns, etc. Anyway, I think SWAT4 is the appex of CQB tactics, surpassing anything else (R6s and H&Ds included) in interface functionality and teammates AI behaviour. What brings us to my original point: The degree of "tactical tightness" seen in SWAT3/4 is light-years ahead of ARMA´s. And by "tactical tightness" here I mean teammates responsiveness, precision in executing maneuvers, and capacity to react to new situations - I can play the game just giving orders and watching my teammates do it, and they will do their jobs most of the time. While in (vanilla) ARMA2 not only the command interface seems awkward and labour-intensive to operate (resulting in high-risk operation if you encounter yourself in a hot firefight), but the tactical behaviour of your teammates is inconsistent at best. God knows how many times in the SP campaign I tried to execute simple commands like suppress, fix-and-flank, cover, retreat, etc. just to see the AI not responding in the way I intended, or taking too long to do so, or simply not doing anything at all ! Its really frustrating, and ends up with me doing almost everything by myself and simply giving the most basic of commands to my teammates (like changing stances and RoE). Now, I see 2 valid counterarguments here: 1. The ARMA series environment is much more complex than the other games cited. Thus its much more difficult for the AI to asess all variables involved in a fast and flawless manner, resulting in a more unpredictable and inconsistent tactical behaviour (but a more realistic one, one could argue). Well, I totally agree with this. At the same though, this argument somehow helps to validate my original point: the game´s drive for realism and simulation made its tactical aspect feel "fragile" in comparison to the other less "simulationistic" games. 2. "Vini you moron, you didnt play the game recently did you? They released a lot of patches and mods that enchance your teammates AI tactical behaviour greatly!". If thats really the case, please tell me. Because I played the hell out of ARMA2 when it came out (stopped in last mission due to a game-breaking bug) and in that state the AI really felt fragile tactically - I remember there was a suppresive-fire command that simply didnt work; there was this issue where no fast retreat was possible because the AI entered a "bounce-dancing" [playing " " for those from Brasil :icon_mrgreen: ] whenever a enemy was nearby; I remember setting up and coordinating fireteams was a chore; And I remember the impossibility to give and stack waypoints on the map for them (the fireteams) to follow. If those things were addressed somehow, just tell me and I will gladly reassess the situation (I will even reinstall my game here).P.S: Ghost Recon does this. You dont have a "planning phase" like in R6, but you can create on-the-fly "plans" in a very easy manner - just set (stackable) waypoints, fire-arcs, RoEs, etc. and give "go-codes". And the game is set in open-area environments like ARMA (its a military engagement game, not a counter-terrorism one). Just remember to use some gfx enhancing mods if you try it today, because its from 2001 (same year as CWC). P.S²: This "CoC" mod seems exactly the thing that could enhance the command interface. Its not for ARMA 2 ?

ignore this post.

Hello there boys and girls, Im on that period of the year (again) when I must play a lot of tactical shooters. Thus Ive been playing Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, GRAW, SWAT, Full Spectrum Warrior, Hidden & Dangerous, etc. for the last weeks. And I noticed something interesting that I would like to share, and hear your opinions about. See, all the games cited have, in their single-player modes, have very efficient squad-based tactical functionalities - you issue orders through a simple and intuitive interface and your teammates (in general) execute it quickly and precisely. In ArmA/OFP:CWC, though, the tactical aspect always felt very unreliable to me: the interface is convoluted, making the issuing of orders and management/coordination of your soldiers/fireteams very awkward and slow ("weapons hold, go to house, turn north, lay low, weapons free"). And the teammates behave erraticaly at best - I remember simple commands like suppressive fire, flank, take cover, etc. being executed poorly, with teammates sometimes taking too long to follow the order, and other times simply doing anything at all (eg: one issue I remember is the impossibility to make a quick retreat in ARMA2 because your teammates would adopt a slow "bouncing-dance" advancing if there are enemies around; ). So the overall feel is that, despite being an unsurpassed experience in the sense of "being there" in the skin of a real soldier in a real war, the series always had a somewhat inconsistent and unreliable tactical aspect. This always made me consider it a great soldier sim, but a not so great tactical shooter, if that makes any sense. What are your opinions on it ?

This. For good and for bad.

Sorry to be blunt but.. WHAT DA FUCK IS THE TOPIC AUTHOR TALKING ABOUT ? :confused: The original ARMA2´s main campaign ( Harvest Red ) has all that - mass graves, ethnic-cleaning/murdering, civil unrest, political assassinations, etc. The author seems to have played OA´s "campaign" and thought all "series" is like that. (when in fact, OA´s campaign is the only one shallow and sanitized as he says - I dont consider the ARMA1 campaign a campaign at all.).

Exacly my toughts. ;)

THIS. Harvest Red missions are the most authentic portrayal Ive ever seen for a Special Forces unit in any game, OFP included. Actually they are the FIRST time I see it. All other games in industry treat Spec Ops as modern-day ninjas (hollywoodian type).