jollysam

Yes, I'd love more Moon-based content. I've spent at least 10 times more time and effort there than on Mars. Also, could we hide the boundaries of the maps a bit more? It seems very obvious at the moment where the playable area ends and the background begins, especially from any sort of height. It kind of takes away from the illusion of being on a massive planet when we can clearly see the square that we are restrained to. Or maybe they are fixing this for the final release already?

Hi bi_raptor, Thanks for your answer. Yes, I understand the need to focus on the engine and features before adding scenarios. How about using patches to add the top community-voted scenarios from the Steam workshop to the game? It would encourage good scenario-building among the community, and save us crawling through the nonsense to find the gems. Wow, yes, a 'manned' campaign would be amazing! I can imagine spending a lot of hours on that, so long as it was substantial. I assume that will focus on Mars rather than the Moon/Deimos?

Hello everyone, I have a request for the developers of Take On Mars regarding the scenarios, particularly the manned ones. I, like many, have had many hours of enjoyment in Arma 2 and its expansions. Like Take On Mars, it has a great editor and an excellent engine. However, very few BI-created missions and campaigns shipped with the game. The first game had two very short campaigns, and three single missions. The first version of IL2 Sturmovik had a similar problem. It felt like the developers were depending on the community to create their own missions for it. This is fine, but not all of us want to go through the hassle of learning how to code and make missions. Nor do we want to play our own created missions, because we already know how to beat them! Yes, I can download other people's missions and campaigns, but there is no way to tell the difference between the good stuff and the badly-translated, badly-coded crap before downloading them. What I am trying to say is; please don't let Take On Mars go down the same road. Yes, giving the community the ability to create their own scenarios is great, and I'm sure there will be many quality scenarios made by them, But please make sure the final game ships with plenty of BI-created scenarios too, if only to give us an example of what a good one looks like. Take On Mars is essentially a game, after all, not just an engine. The test scenarios that are in the Beta are pretty fun, make more of those! In short, don't just give us the tools; give us some goals to strive towards. Let me know what you think. Keep up the good work. JollySam

Yes those would be good. So are real spacesuits partitioned to prevent a suit being completely compromised? There is a lot of stuff showing up in manned section of the game, even if many of them aren't finished yet. I really like the outer space scenarios. I've been looking through the workbench, and I see models for a space shuttle and a cruise missile(!). By the way, who is office_guy, scientist, and aurora_pajamas? Are they going to be non-playable characters in one of the future patches? Aurora has the ability to form words, I see.

Hello everyone, For me, the manned missions are one of the best parts of the game, and one of the biggest reasons why I decided to buy it. I've been thinking of a couple of ideas that could improve them that I'd like to share. I don't know how many of these ideas are already planned for the game, and I know that there are plenty of other things that need to be addressed before most of these are considered, but here they are anyway: The ability to choose your spacesuit My personal favorite of the three spacesuits is the 'heavy' NASA-type suit. But the only way for me to get one if I don't start with one is to continually kill myself until I spawn with one. How about an option in the options menu that I can change to select which spacesuit I'll get when I enter a scenario/multiplayer game? More stuff to put inside our bases I see bunk beds, chairs, shelves, even a small kitchen in the large pressurized rover/mobile lab in the manned mission scenarios. It would be great to see these as buildable items for our Moon/Mars base. At the moment there isn't really much to do inside, besides stockpile vitamin bottles and TVs. More items would increase the roleplaying aspect of the game and give an insight into how astronauts actually live today. Less fiddly construction Building a base on Mars should rightly be challenging, but at the moment it feels like I have to be far, far too accurate before the base pieces 'snap' together. Decreasing the amount of accuracy that we need to attach things together would make construction a lot faster, and would encourage larger and more complicated construction projects. Role-playing multiplayer servers Anyone who plays Arma 2 knows that RP (role-playing) servers are pretty popular. Depending on what job you select when you start it up, you can play as a policeman or a civilian. You can get jobs, earn money, commit crimes and be sent to prison for them, all kinds of stuff. How about doing the same kind of thing in this game? Think about it; you start with only a spacesuit and a packet of food, but that won't last long. You get a job, either mining the surface of Mars (or the Moon) or exploring far-flung waypoints on the map. Now you can pay for a rented room where you can sleep to stave off exhaustion, and food so that you don't starve to death. Unfortunately, you carelessly run over another player on your way back one day, killing him. A militiaman (an admin?) sees it all and arrests you, and you're given a choice; pay the fine or spend time in jail. You don't have much money, so you're spawned into a cell in the colony's jail. Fortunately your crime was obviously an accident, so the militiaman only gave you a short sentence. When you get out, its chaos! A sandstorm is coming; the vehicles need to be safely stowed away, and everyone needs to be sent inside the buildings. The last airlock door closes just as the sandstorm hits; the players who were out exploring the surface just have to try and shelter the best they can. Then a tragedy strikes; an unsecured vehicle is caught by the wind and smashes into a building full of sheltering players... Don't get me wrong, I usually don't like RP servers. But if there's one location that can interest me enough to get into them, its a colony on the surface of the Moon/Mars. The ability to change appearance This is pretty low on the list because as I said; there are plenty of other things to address before this stage. But it would be useful to have a selection of heads; maybe 3 male heads and a female head; to choose from in our options screen, so that not everyone looks like a clone of each other outside our spacesuits. Let me know what you think. I'm sure there are loads of ideas for a simulation involving astronauts!

That's interesting. I didn't think people could survive a vacuum for more than a few seconds, but apparently they can. I stand corrected! Poor chap, I hope he recovered okay. Maybe when our spacesuit is damaged, we could suffer a minor or major leak, depending on the accident. Then the player takes continuous damage until he gets back to a pressurized area.

Along with an Arnold 'eye-popping' astronaut head. :) That'll scare away any lifeforms. On that note, I think that death by exposure takes too long in this game at the moment... I shouldn't be able to take off my helmet, put it in my inventory, get it out, and put it back on again with no side effects. I don't know much about space, but exposure feels more like a vaguely stupid dare rather than a fatal mistake at the moment. Just an idea. How about an ability to add a country patch to our spacesuits/jumpsuit? I see there is already a space for one on the spacesuits. Just a simple way to customize our appearance and let others know where we come from back on Earth. Keep up the good work! I'll enjoy experimenting with the 'growing things' update later. :)

That's good news. I guess I wasted my time then :). I like the mining aspect done with the latest patch. Collecting various minerals and storing them in containers is surprisingly satisfying.

Hello everyone, This game looks very interesting, and I'm very tempted by it. However, I play most of my games on a laptop, since I travel around a lot. My question is; can the graphics/effects in this game be 'turned down' to run okay on laptops or less powerful PCs? Or is it going to be a real 'system-hog' on any graphic settings? I'm talking about both single player and multiplayer. I have a Sony Vaio E Series, bought about a year ago, if that helps. Thanks a lot for the help, Sam

Okay thanks, that's good to know.:)

Yes I guess that was a pretty dumb question, seeing as a mod screen is the first thing I see when I boot up the game:p. Whoops... I know you guys probably know this already, but if you set the physics simulation to the lowest setting (60Hz, I think), the Russian rover in the very first mission can't detach from the lander. It gets stuck inside it and can't move. Just a minor thing though.

Thanks, glad you like the ideas. :) I have a question; how moddable is Take on Mars? Can we expect to see a lot of user-made content/modifications like the ARMA 2 games? Or would it be pretty difficult to modify?

Yes, my laptop is pretty much the same as that one, and I can get ARMA 2 running pretty well with what I have. Thanks, that helps a lot. :) Another question: you say the physics are scaleable from 60Hz to 240Hz, but what determines that in a multiplayer game? The host's settings?

Just a few of my ideas: - How about a Search and Rescue multiplayer mission? One player could play the sole survivor of a crashed rover; he's in the middle of nowhere, his suit is running out of oxygen, and the winds are getting up. He needs to find somewhere to shelter himself, maybe put out a flare. The job of the other players is to go out and find their downed comrade, and bring him back to base before he suffocates. Maybe there could be several teams out trying to find the survivor; the winner would be the team who finds and brings him back first. - The ability to import our own logo for our space company; which shows up on our suits and vehicles. Players love doing that kind of thing in games; it makes it feel more like 'our' stuff. Whole websites run comfortably providing such things. I'm looking forward to buying this game, rough edges and all. But I hope it doesn't spend much longer in 'Early Access', players can get burned out on that kind of thing. I don't want the multiplayer lobbies to be empty by the time the final update comes.

Did anyone figure out the answer to this? I want to change the HQ callsign to 'Lion', like in the BAF campaign (I'm making a BAF-theme mission). Thanks alot, Sam

Hello everyone, To help solve the lack of British heavy armour in ARMA 2, I am trying to make an addon that adds British-controlled versions of the default M1A1 and M1A2 TUSK tanks to the BAF 'Armour' roster, under both 'Woodland' (the default woodland-painted USMC tanks) and 'Desert' (the default tan-painted US Army tanks). So the BAF roster would have the following added to it: BAF/Armour (Woodland)/ M1A1 (USMC version) BAF/Armour (Woodland)/ M1A2 TUSK (USMC version) BAF/Armour (Desert)/ M1A1 (US Army version) BAF/Armour (Desert)/ M1A2 TUSK (US Army version) If you can make this addon, or if you know how I can make it myself (I have PBO Manager installed), please let me know. What I need to know is: 1. How to copy and paste vehicles 2. How to change the faction and crew of that copied vehicle 3. How to save the result as an addon file. Thanks alot for the help, JollySam

Hello everyone, I am making a short mission involving the Shapur map. On Shapurs main menu animation, I notice chimney smoke coming from the factories and industrial areas in the background. Is it possible to add this to my mission in the editor? I think chimney smoke and window lights would help alot towards making Shapur feel like a busy industrial zone, and not just an abandoned wasteland. I have looked up chimney smoke/house lights/etc here and on Armaholic, but the information I have found only refers to Utes and Chernarus, not the Takistan maps. Any help, or links to relevant tutorials (that work with the Shapur map) would be very appreciated. Thanks alot, JollySam

I hate to 'bump' this thread, but I am still very interested in an answer to this one... Otherwise, does anyone know where I could find any tutorials where I can find the answer?

Are there any British-sounding female voices in ARMA II? I wouldn't expect there to be, but I thought I'd ask all the same.

Hello everyone, I'm a British player looking for a British Armed Forces squad to join in multiplayers. I got ARMA II: Combined Operations a week ago, though I played Operation Flashpoint for years before that, so I'm well aware of the controls/concept of the game. I've liked to play as a medic in the multiplayers I've done, though I also enjoy ferrying people around the battlefield in helicopters or whatever. I'm generally looking for a squad where I can keep learning how to play ARMA II multiplayer well, with a group of friendly people, whilst having a good time. Unfortunately, I don't have a microphone at the moment, though I intend to get one at some point. In the meantime, I've found I can communicate fine with messages and the game commands. If you know a squad that would suit me, let me know! Thanks alot, JollySam (on Steam) or Sam (in ARMA II)

Whoops, so did I.

OK, thanks.

Hello everyone, I've just bought ARMA II: Combined Operations and both expansion packs, and I'm looking for a British Forces-themed clan or squad to play with online. I've only done a few multiplayers so far, but I've enjoyed being a medic, or else just ferrying squads across the battlefields in a car or helicopter. I played Operation Flashpoint for years before I got ARMA II, so I'm pretty sure of the controls. I'm afraid I don't have a microphone at this point, but I've been able to communicate fine so far with messages or the radio commands. If this message is in the wrong forum, sorry about that. Let me know where I should repost it. If you are a part of a British Forces squad, or know of one, let me know! Thanks alot, JollySam (or just Sam in-game)