ladlon

Ya, I play (pretty much exclusively) Cipher and the Flashpoint (both versions) mods... and often as a lone wolf (although sometimes with one or two AI teammates, just for a change once in a while). So, usually, I don't wrestle with that commanding issue. If you memorize the more common command sequence to their number sequences (ex. 1-4-2), then I imagine it could go a lot smoother than going through the physical menus. Still definitely not a deal breaker for me in any way. They get so much right, that it's really not terrible when things sometimes go wrong in a session. Ha! Funny you mention the Falcon4 manual, as it's sitting right behind me. Ya, those where the days, eh! I guess the lack of full documentation thing is becoming very common. Same thing seems to be happening in sports games. I recently got myself a cheap copy of Fifa9, and it practically has nothing in the manual. And even with the hints and tips scattered in the game interface itself, it still doesn't explain all things (and always assumes you know what all the various move/kick names... like 'ground cross'). Ah, well... I guess that's what Google and Wikipedia are for... :D

Actually, ya, I agree... The one 'gripe' I have with Arma is that the control scheme can sometimes lead to frustrating 'misunderstandings'. I completely understand (and appreciate) the open, modular system they have in place, and it makes sense for expandibility and compatibility, etc... But, that said, I certainly have had many experiences where I spend 5 minutes just trying to get (say) one of my crew in a vehical as a gunner, and another in the back... or have them move to a certain spot on the map. Always human error, to be fair, but nonetheless frustrating. It often becomes a frantic comedy of errors, where it's like 'NO! Wait! No, YOU stay there! YOU go over here! WAIT!!! What are you doing!?! NO! Don't get on that motorcycle! Will you please lie down so you won't get shot! HEY! Where are you going now! ARGH!!!!' (Again, please know that I love this game... probably my favorite of all time, and I'm not saying the game is 'broken'... just that sometimes the control system can 'motivate' human error..... (am I saying this carefully enough? hehehe). The context sensitive menus can sometimes be your worst enemy (...ex. you neglect to specify a team member before going through all the command trees, etc). Not that I have a solution... It's a ridiculous amount of commands that they have to address, so it's not like the 'screwed up something easy' by any means. The fact that the AI can generally navigate and act on the world as it is impresses me to no end. Playing with human teammates, it's all good, and it's a simple matter of you saying what you want, and the human understands (and makes natural assumptions, etc). When dealing with the computer AI, there's SO many details that have to be specified, that we take for granted. I don't imagine the interface will ever get a full overhaul, as (beyond being a lot of work) it would also mean throwing off all those who are used to the system for years. Even then, I'm not sure what would be a better system. It seems the best solution is for us humans to adapt to the software, instead of the other way around, as it's ultimately easier, I think! Anyway, that's just my 2 cents (plus tax and exchange rate) ---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 AM ---------- Oh, one other thing... as far as 'accessablity' (in the sense of it being easy to learn), one sore spot with Arma has always seemed to be the 'lack' of a proper (complete) manual... which has puzzled many users. Granted, a complete manual for the game would probably be the size of a phone book! But, on the other hand, it's hillarious how there are STILL people out there who don't know how throwing a grenade or using a grenade launcher truly works in the sim! Even recently, when I asked about it, I found there's a lot of people saying, 'Ya, I still don't really know...'. It's an odd thing, the (apparent) lack of full documentation... but, something that we pretty much accepted, as it's a beast of a sim that keeps growing and evolving anyway. The experience of the game is well worth the researching and experimenting anyway!...

Looks fantastic, guys! I was pleasantly surprised to see Arma3 announced on this site today (...I haven't been here in quite a while). I'm still playing Arma2 all the time, and am praying that you never start leaning towards catering to the 'action' crowd. I like Arma because it is unscripted, open world, and realism based. I actually LIKE the fact that things aren't orchestrated so that there is never 'long moments of nothing happening'. To me, that is what makes Arma great, is the fact that it's all happening, real... A session CAN be me laying in the grass, with 'nothing happening' for a long time (...but, the beauty is that I don't KNOW whether anything will happen with each passing minute!). I truly appreciate the game that allows me to think, plan, consider, worry... as opposed to 'entertaining' me with continuous action so I 'don't get bored'. There is nothing 'boring' about lying under bush cover, worried that there may be enemies nearby that you haven't spotted yet! Keep up the excellent work and support, and I will continue supporting your product and applauding your efforts! Cheers!

I'd like to voice my opinion on this as well. I'm a HUGE Arma fan. I loved Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2, and still think they are great, too. But, I was turned off of Battlefield 3 due to the lack of bots. I kept looking at COD, but really dislike the frantic pace of it. No, for me, my favorite, by far is Arma (Arma2, Operation Arrowhead, etc). As some have stated, it IS the realism that is what makes it for me. The non-scripted, open world. The fact that things aren't choreographed (...as 'nice' as that looks, it sometimes makes things predictable, as you KNOW that it won't be quiet for too long, whereas with Arma, you truly don't know how things will be with each minute). Like others, I too actually enjoy hiding in the grass... worried about my next move... PLANNING things out, THINKING it through... CONSIDERING my options... Even the 'dull' moments are great, as they are really part of the experience... In Arma, 'dull' moments are often 'tense' moments. In fact, this is one of the reasons I don't think I would enjoy COD and similar titles, as there is no real stratagy, planning, thinking things through.... but, instead, seemingly just fast paced run and gun (which to me is dull, in long stretches). Certainly, there is a place for that sort of thing, and I'm by no means writing it off as 'bad'. I'm sure a lot of us still enjoy having a Rambo moment, or causing lots of explosions, or living out an 'action scene'. It's all good. BUT, I TRULY hope that Arma never begins catering to that, and strays from it's realism base, as it really is about the only game/sim that does cater to that. There are plenty of 'action' titles out there, so there really is no need for Arma to make the HUGE mistake of trying to please everyone (because you ultimately will end up pleasing no one). I think there are plenty of us 'realism' fans. I just noticed Arma3, and I can't tell you how excited I am about that! Looks fantastic, and I am 100% buying it when it becomes available... both because I totally love the series, and also because I want to support the development team, who not only create an amazing product (and one that just keeps giving and giving, with so much depth and features). I can't wait for Arma3, and will continue playing Arma2/OA for many years. No ill will to the original poster. I see the point you are making, but I strongly feel that Arma's strength is that it IS the (seemingly) only realism based military sim (and a great one at that), while there are plenty of other action based games out there to satisfy the 'other crowd'. Cheers!

There's a ton of user made missions which you can download, but also, I think what you may be after is something like Cipher, the Flashpoint series (ex. Flashpoint: Takistan) and Guerilla Warfare... which are all randomly generated missions, so infinite replay value. I play Cipher and the Flashpoint series exclusively, as I like randomness. They are both great. Cipher gives you a very specific mission, where a briefcase with secret documents is hidden in a randomly placed 'hot zone' (enemy area). You have to make your way over there (and it gets very dangerous as you enter the perimeter of the enemy zone), and then try and find where the briefcase is... upload the data, and then escape to an extraction zone. The Flashpoint series is a bit more broad, giving you a random, ongoing war zone overall. You can get missions to go to a random part of the map, if you want an objective, but otherwise, it's mostly just a battle and survive, which is cool too. This one has loads of options (game modes, game settings, etc), and when you die, you become a rabbit, and can (safely) observe the continuing battle, and spawn back into nearby units whenever you wish. Both are highly recommended (by me), if you want something that is dynamic/random. User made missions, obviously, will be less (or not) random, but will arguably be more focused and 'choreographed'. Hope that helps!

Hi, Tomsonb.... I'm still trying to get an answer on this: Sorry if this has been addressed already, but I was playing as a sniper in Flashpoint: Takistan, and inevitably ran out of ammo for the M107(?). The friendly vehicals did not carry the approriate ammo, and there were no working 'call support' features... so, I'm wondering how you re-arm as far as ammo (sniper).

I almost never tried Arma... I was always interested in it, but assumed it was too hard core for me. Not that I don't like hard core (quite the opposite, I love sims), but that I thought it was out of my league... that only skilled/knowledgable military type people would be able to comprehend and/or survive in it. So, I just admired it from afar. But, one day, I noticed the demo for Arma1, and figured 'why not?'.... At first, it was obviously intimidating, overwhelming, and killed me fairly quick... as expected. But, after a bit of trial, I was somewhat in control, and certainly was impressed. So, I bought Arma2 (which came out a few months after I tried the Arma1 demo), and I absolutely love it. It's a sim I play very often, and keep coming back to. The amount of content and variety (campaign, instant random missions, armoury, multiplayer, etc... plus the variety in the vehicals, locales, etc) are just staggering for the regular price you pay. Unlike seemingly so many games out there these days, this one actually seems to want you to have fun and do whatever you want to do, however you want to do it, and just keeps giving and giving (rather than being the usual linear, confined, do-it-our-way-or-forget-it frustrating crap I'm seeing now). Plus, the support actually seems to care about the quality of their product, and addresses it even AFTER you have paid for it. Don't see much of that these days... And it just keeps getting bigger and better... yet stays tight and solid quality.

That's actually true... I think a lot of people out there WOULD like Arma2 if they gave it an honest try. I know I've introduced a few people here to it, and they love it. Same with the TrackIR... They were skeptical at first, at best, thinking that it would be just a gimick with no real merrit... but were blown away by the experience it creates. I think too, that there are a lot of people who would like it if they give it a try that are on the OTHER end of the spectrum... instead of them thinking it's too boring or not arcade enough, many (like myself initially) may totally respect it, but feel it is 'out of their league'... that only a skilled 'military' type person would survive for more than a minute. I know I always had an interest in Arma, but just thought it was too hard core for me. Not that I don't like hard core, but that I wasn't skilled enough (or would be completely lost in all the info/techniques I assumed I would need to know). My first Arma experience, with the Arma1 demo, only a few years ago, was certainly intimidating... I felt much like a person would in a REAL military event... overwhelmed, awkward, lost, etc. But, very quickly, it went from a 'merciless insta-kill within a minute or so' type of thing, to 'still very dangerous, but I have a bit of a handle on what I am doing'. Now, after playing Arma2/OA for many months, it's far more 'easy' (in the sense of me understanding what is going on, being comfortable with the controls, etc). The danger is still there, but now I last for a very long time, and play long sessions often. It's interesting looking back at how intimidating and foreign it was initially, and now it's 'fun'. Kind of reminds me of how I felt using animation/3D modelling software for the first time vs how I am with it now. There's lots of reasons why it's not as popular... but, as mentioned, it's great to see that it is, nonetheless, extremely popular (within the group of people that know about it)! The support and community are impressively active and productive, and the longevity of the sim is unarguable. Definitely an impressive amount of content for the price of one game.

Okay everybody... We are no longer allowed to participate in this thread we've all been enjoying... It displeases NoRailgunner, and throws his universe out of balance.... hehehe... (Thanks to all those who 'spoonfed' me!) :rolleyes: See ya in the next thread, NoRailgunner! ;) (You know I'm messing with ya...)

Hello again, DMarkwick! Seeing a lot of you lately! For sure! Opinions will vary... But, I'm just getting an idea of what is popular, as well as opinions of mods. Getting some great info. Ya, at this point (after the most recent mod installs), I'm now more or less focusing on imporovments to the interface, I think... Looks like there's some mods for that out there, and some have already been suggested here. One issue that pops into mind that always drove me a bit nuts was that the squadmember icons on the map do not identify WHO it is... even just with the team member NUMBER, at least (referenced to the team portraits at the bottom HUD). So many times on the map, I'd be looking at a generic soldier icon, and be wondering who it was... If the guy is a specialist, and you only have one of that type, you can tell by the unique icon...otherwise, you (for example) choose a random team member number (while doing (say) a move order, and HOPE it's the guy you are looking at on the map! ...unless I'm missing something here! Just seems odd that there SEEMS to be no connection between the team pics on the main view vs the unit icons on the map view. I was always thinking that even a tool tip type thing (showing you the team member info) when you hover over a map unit icon would be great.

Hi, NoRailgunner... 'SUGGESTED mods for Combined Operations these days' ....because I'm asking what other people like, not asking info about each mod. :rolleyes: I HAVE been doing the searches, and checking new mods as well... I'm just seeing what poeple like these days... and what they feel of my list might be redundant or improved upon with other mods. If there would be, say, some sort of poll thread asking 'What's the best sound mod these days?', or 'What's the best fx mod?', etc... that would be part of what I'm after as well... but I couldn't find one, so I'm just asking here instead. Thanks for the link. I've been checking out that section. ---------- Post added at 07:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:07 PM ---------- Hi, SeaVee... Ya, those last four are new to me. They look pretty interesting! I'm going to give the Truemods a go, actually... Those look like something that might be of use to me too. JSRS and WarFX were really great recent additions to my mod list... plus, I'm also flushing out some of the older mods... like SLX... which only recently seemed to kick in (update thing?), reveal themselves, and make me want to uninstall them.

HA!!!! Too funny!!! One of my posts ended up in that Macadam Cow Arma video (above) as a quote!! Wow, I feel all imporant and stuff! Great vid! Really tells it like it is. That should be their official marketing video! I'm sold...again! And I already play it frequently!

I'm a huge fan of Arma2 myself! So much offered in one game/sim... looks great, and just continues to grow and improve. Just stunning, and incredibly immersive. I posted my praise in the 'Just wanted to say Thank You BIS!' thread... http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=90092&page=15

Hehe... Ya, I already saw the pics of heavy objects sitting on the key. Just saying it would be a nice addition to have a built-in toggle in one of the patch updates.

Not as 'luxury' as it sounds... Just a way to not have to hold down the W (or Q or E) key down as you are driving. Some way to toggle it 'on' so you don't have to keep pressing it through the whole drive. Not a biggie... but it would be a nice option.