I really don't have any problems with the basic movement mechanics of ARMA II, (momentum and head bobbing I actually like as it's more realistic). It's the controls that are clunky, imprecise and difficult to learn (need memorizaton like touch typing) that it makes the game not fun. All I want to do is hunt people down in CQB and shoot them but ARMA makes that not fun. (Don't care about the team work, helicopters, planes, running around in the bush or even the large environements) CQB is the basis of FPS combat and ARMA II sucks at it.
Especially considering that it's a 'infantry simulator' and that if I get shot once I'm dead. The unintutive, button heavy and clunky movement controls are also the main reason it keeps FPS players away. You know, the greater part of the gaming community. If they want to sell more games then it is the most pressing problem they have. I loved the semi-realistic shooting system in 'STALKER' and mentioning it's somewhat realistic nature someone recommended ARMA, but when I got the ARMA II demo the controls especially in CQB made the game experience crap. Now I've got the ARMA FREE version and it's still there. The only main battles I have in CQB are with the controls which if they don't get me killed make me feel like an incompetent and uncordinated oaf, not a professional soldier. Somethign as simple as a looking down ones sights is clunky, slow and looking behind a corner all but unsuable. (and I'm in third person, first person is even worse)
The whole idea that a dodgy control system rewards 'skill and patience' and acts as a way to filter 'bad players' needs to be gotten rid of. Any player who wants to be rambo will simply get shot once and die, so the game already takes care of rambos. But any other player who actually wants to enjoy playing the game with some tension filled CQB needs to deal with the clunky unprofessional controls, which are inferior to almost all FPS games, yet the consequences of getting shot are instant death, major turn off. In fact that's a good general principle. The easier and higher the consequences of dying in an FPS game the more brilliant, precise and intuitive the control system needs to be. So ARMA II as a minimium should really have controls at least asintutive and precise as Counterstrike.
In regards to movement there should be a 'movement speed' slider. Splinter Cell Pandora had that feature. (Try the demo) You could adjust your movement on the fly from careful very slow stalking type movement for stealth to a crouched slightly more loud sprint with a flick of your wheelmouse. They should have a similiar feature in ARMA 3 only more sophisticated. (An upward violent flick of the mouse wheel should switch one to the highest speed setting) 'Sneaking' will also become possible with this, incredibly important indoors. And realistic noises of dirt and steps will finally become a reality, essential for any realism.
They should keep the sprint key but modify it. For starts you should be able to shoot while sprinting, granted you won't hit anything but firing at the enemies general direction from the hip while sprinting (you'll slow down slightly automatically) towards cover is very important psychologically, it's also realistic. This feature will also be useful in certain indoor escape situations where barging in and firing from the hip may be your only chance at getting out alive or taking out a few of the enemy.
Crouching should be practically instant, prone a little slower (due to their being two movements, except when running as you'd throw yourself on the ground). Getting up should be slow. These should also take suitable hits to ones stamina. Walking or running while crouching for example is very tiring.
Stepping and jumping over things should be based on ones speed, ones 'height level' and where you are looking. That's to say if one runs at a full sprint while looking towards the fence at the last moment, that's at a waist height one will automatically go over it. But if one is crouching while doing this, one won't go over it. This is intelligent as it's obvious your using the low fence for cover and don't want to vault over it. A triple tap should be used to go over an obstacle.
There should also be a 'height slider', that is to say you would be able to adjust your height via the wheelmouse in minute adjustments and there should be some type of visual feedback on how much of your body is not behind cover/concealment. I'm thinking of a silouette image of your soldier in the HUD. This isn't unrealistic either, any decent soldier knows instinctively how much of his body is not behind any sort of cover. The hud's measurement of cover would adjust itself depending on where your body is facing and where you'r looking and whether your teammates have spotted any enemies and also your teammates. Apart from finding a degree of cover behind practically anything, (a tree that doesn't cover ones entire body, or a small rock one can go prone behind) the ability to rest ones weapon on a fence/rock/log and also 'stacking' outside a door and barging in 2 or 4 at a time, without shooting each other in the back. Also the amazing ability of being able to see and shoot over tall grass.
The lack of any real stamina system is a major failing of ARMA 2. Apparently soldiers in the field have unlimited stamina and can run while crouching, hold up their weapon and have a steady aim indefinitely. There should be a rigorous stamina system and an excellent feedback system in place so a player can adjust their stamina use on the fly. (I"m thinking rate of breath noises, heartbeat noises, movement of ones vision when breathing heavily, groans of muscle extertion and a little stamina bar on the HUD) Just like in real life. When behind cover you adjust your speed and height to 'rest' your muscles and get some breath. When aiming down the sights you use all your 'stamina' to steady ones aim and control recoil and so on. Not being able to control ones stamina system will give one movement similar to ARMA II as it stands. Jerky and drunken. This will also make gear selection crucial as the less weight one has, the more stamina one has and the faster it regenerates, this makes one alot more mobile. Insurgents use this tactic already, due to their low weight encumbrence they have more stamina to use when fighting the enemy. Guirella forces to keep their mobility advantage will be forced to scrounge ammunition and arms from the enemy.
The only issue with this is the noise of ones breathing. But as long as they keep the noise of ones breath to the player and not the enemy, we can ignore this lack of realism. (your enemy not hearing your breath and groans of exertion )These noises will have a seperate volume slider too.
There should be a 'concentration key', that makes ones movements more steady and fluid. The aim of this key would be to put the player in a 'concentrate on your movement' frame of mind, since this takes more energy to accomplish there needs to be a stamina hit.
So in short my three recommendations that need to get done..
Movement speed slider (no brainer tied to ones wheelmouse)
Height slider with integrated line of sight behind cover feedback hud feature.(range of movement will be from raised on ones tippy toes to hugging the dirt)
Stamina system.
Concentration/steady button which steadies EVERYTHING, independent of speed or height - linked to the stamina system.
And after the above features are included, a 'sound slider' and sound button, which is to say a seperate modifier on how loud one is. This is irrelevant at long distances but in CQB or in the bush, control of how much noise your allowing yourself to make is crucial. With the above features perhaps this might not even be necessary. That is to say, controlling the amount of noise one makes will be easy.
The above features will also make the game easier to play and more intutive. ARMA simply has way too much buttons all of which need to be memorized to achieve any type of fluid combat. A seperate crouch, crawl and stand button is really lame, so early 2000's. A height slider will solve this tricky button mashing instantly. A seperate walk key with no 'sneaking' key, are they serious? A movement speed slider will solve the complaints while addding a huge amount of a nuance to ones movements which will increase realism tremendously. The stamina system will be invisible to the newbie but reward players who are concientious enough to conserve it's use, as well as a add a very immersive element of realism. (thanks to the sound effects of STALKER and the COD series)
I'm actually suprised ARMA hasn't used one single slider to control any aspect of infantry controls. Every mouse nowadays has a wheelmouse and a slider is by far the most sensitive control available.
So in short the concept of a stamina system as featured in STALKER and other games is essential for any realism (which enables the introduction of a 'concentration/steady' button). The movement slider as featured in Splinter Cell is essential for any nuance in speed of movement. And a height slider' and integrated line of sight cover feedback HUD is the next step in 'cover systems' which will make the finding, using and shooting from cover a new game mechanic in itself and not the crap experience it is now. And of course there's no brainer features like shot disperson with movement and weapon lag. (the heavier your weapon the more lag - bullpups might become more popular for this reason in CQB)
Also anyone heard the expression 'every soldier is a rifleman'? Well the idea is the infantry soldier with rifle is the backbone of the army. And as such for ARMA to be taken at all seriously as a realistic simulator it needs to get the infantry part right, and by 'right' I mean at least as good as some of the best FPS games out there. It's a tough call because the more realistic, the more complicated a game get's but this is no excuse. The more complicated a game the more intuitive, precise and innovative it's control system needs to be, that is unless you want anyone to stick with your game and buy it. ARMA II is no Resident Evil series. The graphics, storyline and even ambience are secondary if it doesn't provide the most realistic and through it's control system most enjoyable CQB experience available.
Movement is so sluggish in all BIS games, WHY?
in ARMA 2 & OA - SUGGESTIONS
Posted
PRECISION!
I really don't have any problems with the basic movement mechanics of ARMA II, (momentum and head bobbing I actually like as it's more realistic). It's the controls that are clunky, imprecise and difficult to learn (need memorizaton like touch typing) that it makes the game not fun. All I want to do is hunt people down in CQB and shoot them but ARMA makes that not fun. (Don't care about the team work, helicopters, planes, running around in the bush or even the large environements) CQB is the basis of FPS combat and ARMA II sucks at it.
Especially considering that it's a 'infantry simulator' and that if I get shot once I'm dead. The unintutive, button heavy and clunky movement controls are also the main reason it keeps FPS players away. You know, the greater part of the gaming community. If they want to sell more games then it is the most pressing problem they have. I loved the semi-realistic shooting system in 'STALKER' and mentioning it's somewhat realistic nature someone recommended ARMA, but when I got the ARMA II demo the controls especially in CQB made the game experience crap. Now I've got the ARMA FREE version and it's still there. The only main battles I have in CQB are with the controls which if they don't get me killed make me feel like an incompetent and uncordinated oaf, not a professional soldier. Somethign as simple as a looking down ones sights is clunky, slow and looking behind a corner all but unsuable. (and I'm in third person, first person is even worse)
The whole idea that a dodgy control system rewards 'skill and patience' and acts as a way to filter 'bad players' needs to be gotten rid of. Any player who wants to be rambo will simply get shot once and die, so the game already takes care of rambos. But any other player who actually wants to enjoy playing the game with some tension filled CQB needs to deal with the clunky unprofessional controls, which are inferior to almost all FPS games, yet the consequences of getting shot are instant death, major turn off. In fact that's a good general principle. The easier and higher the consequences of dying in an FPS game the more brilliant, precise and intuitive the control system needs to be. So ARMA II as a minimium should really have controls at least asintutive and precise as Counterstrike.
In regards to movement there should be a 'movement speed' slider. Splinter Cell Pandora had that feature. (Try the demo) You could adjust your movement on the fly from careful very slow stalking type movement for stealth to a crouched slightly more loud sprint with a flick of your wheelmouse. They should have a similiar feature in ARMA 3 only more sophisticated. (An upward violent flick of the mouse wheel should switch one to the highest speed setting) 'Sneaking' will also become possible with this, incredibly important indoors. And realistic noises of dirt and steps will finally become a reality, essential for any realism.
They should keep the sprint key but modify it. For starts you should be able to shoot while sprinting, granted you won't hit anything but firing at the enemies general direction from the hip while sprinting (you'll slow down slightly automatically) towards cover is very important psychologically, it's also realistic. This feature will also be useful in certain indoor escape situations where barging in and firing from the hip may be your only chance at getting out alive or taking out a few of the enemy.
Crouching should be practically instant, prone a little slower (due to their being two movements, except when running as you'd throw yourself on the ground). Getting up should be slow. These should also take suitable hits to ones stamina. Walking or running while crouching for example is very tiring.
Stepping and jumping over things should be based on ones speed, ones 'height level' and where you are looking. That's to say if one runs at a full sprint while looking towards the fence at the last moment, that's at a waist height one will automatically go over it. But if one is crouching while doing this, one won't go over it. This is intelligent as it's obvious your using the low fence for cover and don't want to vault over it. A triple tap should be used to go over an obstacle.
There should also be a 'height slider', that is to say you would be able to adjust your height via the wheelmouse in minute adjustments and there should be some type of visual feedback on how much of your body is not behind cover/concealment. I'm thinking of a silouette image of your soldier in the HUD. This isn't unrealistic either, any decent soldier knows instinctively how much of his body is not behind any sort of cover. The hud's measurement of cover would adjust itself depending on where your body is facing and where you'r looking and whether your teammates have spotted any enemies and also your teammates. Apart from finding a degree of cover behind practically anything, (a tree that doesn't cover ones entire body, or a small rock one can go prone behind) the ability to rest ones weapon on a fence/rock/log and also 'stacking' outside a door and barging in 2 or 4 at a time, without shooting each other in the back. Also the amazing ability of being able to see and shoot over tall grass.
The lack of any real stamina system is a major failing of ARMA 2. Apparently soldiers in the field have unlimited stamina and can run while crouching, hold up their weapon and have a steady aim indefinitely. There should be a rigorous stamina system and an excellent feedback system in place so a player can adjust their stamina use on the fly. (I"m thinking rate of breath noises, heartbeat noises, movement of ones vision when breathing heavily, groans of muscle extertion and a little stamina bar on the HUD) Just like in real life. When behind cover you adjust your speed and height to 'rest' your muscles and get some breath. When aiming down the sights you use all your 'stamina' to steady ones aim and control recoil and so on. Not being able to control ones stamina system will give one movement similar to ARMA II as it stands. Jerky and drunken. This will also make gear selection crucial as the less weight one has, the more stamina one has and the faster it regenerates, this makes one alot more mobile. Insurgents use this tactic already, due to their low weight encumbrence they have more stamina to use when fighting the enemy. Guirella forces to keep their mobility advantage will be forced to scrounge ammunition and arms from the enemy.
The only issue with this is the noise of ones breathing. But as long as they keep the noise of ones breath to the player and not the enemy, we can ignore this lack of realism. (your enemy not hearing your breath and groans of exertion )These noises will have a seperate volume slider too.
There should be a 'concentration key', that makes ones movements more steady and fluid. The aim of this key would be to put the player in a 'concentrate on your movement' frame of mind, since this takes more energy to accomplish there needs to be a stamina hit.
So in short my three recommendations that need to get done..
Movement speed slider (no brainer tied to ones wheelmouse)
Height slider with integrated line of sight behind cover feedback hud feature.(range of movement will be from raised on ones tippy toes to hugging the dirt)
Stamina system.
Concentration/steady button which steadies EVERYTHING, independent of speed or height - linked to the stamina system.
And after the above features are included, a 'sound slider' and sound button, which is to say a seperate modifier on how loud one is. This is irrelevant at long distances but in CQB or in the bush, control of how much noise your allowing yourself to make is crucial. With the above features perhaps this might not even be necessary. That is to say, controlling the amount of noise one makes will be easy.
The above features will also make the game easier to play and more intutive. ARMA simply has way too much buttons all of which need to be memorized to achieve any type of fluid combat. A seperate crouch, crawl and stand button is really lame, so early 2000's. A height slider will solve this tricky button mashing instantly. A seperate walk key with no 'sneaking' key, are they serious? A movement speed slider will solve the complaints while addding a huge amount of a nuance to ones movements which will increase realism tremendously. The stamina system will be invisible to the newbie but reward players who are concientious enough to conserve it's use, as well as a add a very immersive element of realism. (thanks to the sound effects of STALKER and the COD series)
I'm actually suprised ARMA hasn't used one single slider to control any aspect of infantry controls. Every mouse nowadays has a wheelmouse and a slider is by far the most sensitive control available.
So in short the concept of a stamina system as featured in STALKER and other games is essential for any realism (which enables the introduction of a 'concentration/steady' button). The movement slider as featured in Splinter Cell is essential for any nuance in speed of movement. And a height slider' and integrated line of sight cover feedback HUD is the next step in 'cover systems' which will make the finding, using and shooting from cover a new game mechanic in itself and not the crap experience it is now. And of course there's no brainer features like shot disperson with movement and weapon lag. (the heavier your weapon the more lag - bullpups might become more popular for this reason in CQB)
Also anyone heard the expression 'every soldier is a rifleman'? Well the idea is the infantry soldier with rifle is the backbone of the army. And as such for ARMA to be taken at all seriously as a realistic simulator it needs to get the infantry part right, and by 'right' I mean at least as good as some of the best FPS games out there. It's a tough call because the more realistic, the more complicated a game get's but this is no excuse. The more complicated a game the more intuitive, precise and innovative it's control system needs to be, that is unless you want anyone to stick with your game and buy it. ARMA II is no Resident Evil series. The graphics, storyline and even ambience are secondary if it doesn't provide the most realistic and through it's control system most enjoyable CQB experience available.