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160thSOAR

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Posts posted by 160thSOAR

  1. Posted

    FYI pirate scene does Steam releases even before official sales start because they can just preload and crack puny Steam's DRM.

    OTOH nobody has cracked BIS DRM yet.

    Steamworks is a bloatware aimed at children who want meaningless achievements that thousands of players unlocked as well.

    No it's not.

    Steam is hardly perfect, but it offers a whole lot more than some achievements. Steam lets me keep all my games in one place so I can easily do whatever I want without having to do annoying disk switching. As an added bonus, I don't have to worry about misplacing a disk that I've had for years, something I'm very good at doing. I like Steam for the convenience, nothing else.

  2. Posted

    Honestly, the best kind of server is just one with good admins who know what they're doing. However, so many servers, even those of units that I respect, don't seem to have much coordination going on. The only server I have found that is consistently well-policed is the 7th Cavalry server, for the simple reason that the unit is big but still well-organized. Other units either have no real control over their public servers or are only in control for a small amount of time. In this game, quality of admin largely seems to determine quality of gameplay if something bad happens. This can be extremely annoying, because in many servers, this means that a single misbehaving player can ruin a game people have put hours into in a few minutes.

    I'm trying to prevent this with a method that, I admit, is very heavy-handed, but I think is well worth it. If you can stop some idiot from running off with a rocket launcher to destroy a tank because he actually has to put effort into getting that rocket launcher, I think that's good. If you can stop a new player from crashing an MV-22 full of players into a mountain, why not? Yes, it's a pain in the butt for the ArmA veterans, but it will help keep out the influx of idiots in each new ArmA title. People who want to learn the game will learn it, and people who don't want to - well, they won't. If you're stuck on something as a new player, just be smart about it. Use the forums. Use other people on Teamspeak. Use the in-game text chat, for crying out loud. If you're not smart/determined enough to do these things, I'm not sure I want you next to me when the rest of the squad is dead and we're the last ones standing.

    This is server-side. It's at the admin's discretion to utilize. It's not an issue if you don't want it to be.

    As for the question about mission cycles.... Honestly, I think a mission cycle that goes between Domination and an airpower-centered mission would be kind of odd, to say the least, but I still don't think people who don't know how to fly aircraft/use certain weapons should be allowed to waste slots with those weapons in multiplayer.

  3. Posted

    I got into this game all on my own. Here's basically what happened to me.

    Back in the days when BFBC2 was the battlefield game everyone was playing, I happened on a post talking about some "super-boring military simulator" called ArmA2. I ignored the super-boring part of that sentence and went for the military simulator part, searched for ArmA2, and came up with ... nothing really that helpful. I couldn't find anything that told me exactly what the game was like, and I was too dumb to search for videos. I was afraid it might be like CoD, but with rifles that kill in one shot instead of five. (Yes, I was a total idiot back then.) So I searched for ArmA2 Guide, came up with dslyecxi's TTP2 and read through the whole thing. What really got me into the game was the vehicles - I saw that there were a zillion of them, and it made me happy. :)

    So I tried to buy the game. There were all these different versions of ArmA, and I had no idea what was what. It took me about half an hour to find out that ArmA2 CO was ArmA2 and OA combined. Luckily, Steam didn't give me any trouble installing the game.

    The first thing I did was jump into the campaign. I couldn't hit a barn door with my rifle (on average, it was taking me three shots to hit one target on the carrier), and it took about 5 minutes for me to figure out how to vault an obstacle. Razor Team rode the Venom in, and I was like "Finally, action!" Unfortunately, I had no idea what my AI was shooting at. I shot three enemies through the entire mission. I got to the point where Miles is shot, then realized I had no idea what I was doing, and quit the campaign.

    I started looking for some way to get my skills up, and found Boot Camp. I did some of the Boot Camp missions, which helped me understand the very basics of the game. It still took me a week just to pass the vanilla firing range, though. It was still a long time before I managed to do anything useful in combat. For the first week or so of playing MP, I would just shoot my rifle in the same direction everyone else was shooting, because I had no idea what to shoot at. Luckily, I managed to find magnified scopes and use those.

    Total Time Invested: 2 months or so

    Hair-Pullingly Frustrated Moments: At least 15 or so

    End Result: Priceless

  5. Posted

    I can answer some of your questions, but not all of them. I use Steam, so my knowledge of the DVD-based version is somewhat limited.

    For your question about mods: Mods are undeniably awesome. After I started using the ACE mod, it was hard to go back to Vanilla. However, I would recommend starting off with the vanilla game and learning it first. ArmA2 has a very steep learning curve; ACE will only make it worse.

    For your question about patches: All you need to do is install the game, find the latest patch online and install it, and you should be good to go. :)

    For your question about Reinforcements: For Steam at least, Reinforcements installed into Combined Ops the first time I ran it. This might be the same for the disk versions. Try running RFT and seeing if it goes over into CO.

  7. Posted

    This may be the same problem as in Mission E08 - Armor Training where you cannot switch to the M240 machine gun. After patch 1.60, certain weapon class names were changed (M240 was changed to M240BC), but some code was not edited to accommodate for this, rendering certain parts of the code ineffective.

    A little bit more detail would be nice though. Can you switch to the HELLFIRE and just can't get it to target, or can you not switch to the HELLFIRE at all? Also, if you are using any mods, turn them off.

    I'll see if I can replicate this myself.

  8. Posted

    Really? I hadn't noticed that the SUV could take that much damage in that mission.

    If the ZU-23 Ural ever engages me, my vehicle is often disabled within the first volley. That's why I take it out on foot. However, if I accidentally go over the hill in the SUV before engaging it, I tend to be fairly screwed. Even if I retreat back over the hill, then crawl over the rise prone, the ZU-23 will always rip me up. I have to be careful I don't go too far forwards. It's a balance between moving far enough to the right so that the infantry squad behind the rocks won't engage you, but not moving so far that the ZU-23 can see you. Can be hard to do sometimes.

  11. Posted

    I can see why many people dislike this idea, but I still believe it would go a long way to reducing the number of idiots on public servers.

    In vanilla ArmA2, even in a well-moderated server where you should be on TS3 to fly, idiots grab the helicopters without authorization and crash them several times every day. Then there are the people who are always taking a sniper rifle and an AT launcher. Then there are the people who stand around, look at your character writhing on the ground, shoot at you a few times with their rifle, and wander off. My point is that there are a lot of people who play this game who have simply no idea what to do. I'm trying to minimize that by forcing them to learn.

    Remember, this is a server-side option....

  13. Posted

    The number of mods I have is growing out of control. It's become a huge pain launching them through typing up the file names in the usual way.

    I've tried Alpinestars's ArmA 2 Launcher, but I can't get it to launch Combined Ops. It just launches either OA or ArmA2; I can't get it to launch both.

    If someone could either a) suggest a fix to my current mod launcher problem or b) suggest another one that works for CO, that would be awesome.

    Thanks everyone!

  14. Posted

    Yes, all of you people who say that you don't need training have a point. You don't need it, and some of you probably think it would just be a pain in the ass. Well, you're right.

    But I've seen a lot of people who do need it. I'm talking about the idiots who grab a Chinook and crash it into the middle of base 5 seconds later. Or the guy who tries to revive you with an enemy 5 steps away and gets his head shot off. Most of these people need to be forced into learning what to do.

    Basically, this will prevent a lot of unwanted chaos. Yes, it will be somewhat annoying for some of us, but it will be helpful in the long run.

    Anyways, like you said, it only affects the default BI missions. It won't affect whatever you make for a clan op, and multiplayer mission-makers will be able to choose whether they want to include it or not.

    I can see why this would annoy certain people though. I find the training missions fun - I like to try to learn the new little things about a game before I jump right into multiplayer. ArmA3 is going to be different from ArmA2, and this is one way to learn about the differences. But plenty of people probably disagree with me.

  15. Posted · Edited by 160thSOAR

    I was playing America's Army 3 the other day, and it hit me that the America's Army games were doing something right.

    In the America's Army games, there was a thing called "Training." To use certain weapon systems in multiplayer, you had to qualify with them in training. For example, to use the M249 SAW, M203, and certain types of grenades, you had to pass the Advanced Weapons course. To use the M24 and M82 sniper rifles, you had to pass courses with those weapons. To use the AT4 and the SMAW, you had to pass the anti-tank course. You also had to take a course to be a medic and a course to be special forces. Even better, to fly a helicopter or a jet, you would have to demonstrate that you can perform combat operations and not slam into a mountain the first time you actually get shot at.

    I think implementing this as a server variable be a great idea. For example, to qualify for machine guns, you might have to take a course that taught you how to use suppression and base-of-fire techniques and then have you demonstrate this in the field against AI. To be a medic, you would have to be able to understand things like securing the area around a casualty before just running in and (if it's included in ArmA3) how to treat for different wounds. To carry an AT weapon, you would have to engage live armored vehicles, not just wooden targets. To carry a sniper rifle, you would have to demonstrate a certain amount of accuracy with your weapon.

    Of course, there would be some weapons that everyone could use, such as those that require little training. Everyone should be able to use an RPG-7, simply because that weapon takes so little training to use in real life. Most assault rifles should also be able to be used at the start. Soft vehicles like HMMWV's should be drivable by everyone.

    This isn't a points-based unlock system. Doing things in MP does not earn you AT. I think that this system would force players to demonstrate enough skill with a certain weapon or at a certain role to use it in MP and not be a waste of space on their team.

    I think that it could work as a server variable. Too restrictive on regular servers, though.

    Thanks to OnlyRazor for this idea.

    What do you think?

  16. Posted

    I like to use Steam, but I know plenty of people who don't like it at all.

    BIS should let people keep their freedom of choice as to whether they like to use Steam or a physical DVD. I've never used the optical drive on my computer, nor do I plan to anytime soon, but that doesn't mean everyone else feels that way.

    And Steam does have its problems. Like how Offline Mode doesn't work unless you've already been online. Counterintuitive much?

  17. Posted

    I'd prefer it if BIS released its expansions as DLC's, doing it like BAF and PMC. BAF and PMC didn't give the community any trouble, but there was still a reason for people to buy them. (Those who have seen the NLAW scope before and after buying BAF will understand me.) OA made problems for servers because half the people couldn't see Vanilla vehicles. Certain servers just took off their ArmA2 Vanilla vehicles, which is a shame, because the Marines' stuff is awesome.

    Tl;dr: Standalone Expansions = Bad.:(

  18. Posted

    I have a strange problem.

    I've created the "Campaigns" folder in my ArmA2 directory and placed the SEAL Team 6 DEVGRU folder inside of it. I have all of the proper mods installed, including the Robert Hammer weapon packs. However, when I click on Campaigns in game, I get a message saying: "No entry 'Campaigns/DevgruV3.0/description.ext.campaign'." I've probably made a really stupid error and just haven't realized it....

    Thanks for the help!

  20. Posted

    Here are a few things I suggest.

    Bind the "Optics" function to a mouse button so you can easily use the sights of crew-served weapons. You'll need this in ACE.

    Bind the "Toggle View" function to the most easily accessible mouse button. This might not be so great for most people, but I am constantly switching between 3rd and 1st person view when I fly fixed-wing or attack rotary aircraft.

    Put "Hold Breath" to Tab.

    Bind helicopter controls to a Battlefield-style system. Unbind the "Left turn" and "Right turn" functions entirely, as they do not help you fly. You need to have total control over all functions of the helicopter. (This doesn't apply if you have a joystick.)

    Bind the Zoom In / Zoom Out keys to V and B if you only use zooming in vehicles. (Like me.)

  21. Posted

    Yes, I have found the non-reversing SUV's annoying myself. There have been several times when I come out of a hull down position, thinking I've eliminated all of the enemies, and a guy I didn't notice starts shooting at me. Then, when I try to order the driver to reverse, he starts trying to turn around and usually gets stuck. It's gotten me killed a few times from people with RPG-7's.

    Miniguns are fun, yes. :) I prefer the CROWS or GPK HMMWV's though, because you can't get killed as easily in them. The SUV has paper-mache armor as well.

  24. Posted

    The AI doesn't drive or fly very well in this game. If you want to get somewhere in a vehicle, it's best to drive it yourself. The AI isn't nearly as incompetent at combat as it is at driving, so I suggest having the AI dismount and you drive the HMMWV.

    As for the helicopter.... AI can't fly very well in this game. They routinely crash into mountains and stuff (not as bad since 1.60, but still not great). I know certain mods like SLX can fix this to an extent, but BIS missions don't like mods.

  25. Posted

    Make sure that you are not running any mods, or that the servers you are trying to join have mods that are the same as yours. Servers that you can join should have a GREEN light on the far left of their spot in the server browser.

    Could you please provide more information about the problem? It's kind of hard to understand what you're saying with the current way your post is.

    Hope this helped!

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