rainbird

AI is far more difficult to improve than visual maps, character textures and sounds. So I wouldn't expect any major improvements, even on release. and Kuskov: I think people are referring to convincing AI intelligence - an AI which is able to recreate human behaviour. It's not a matter of "AI difficulty".

All I want from arma 3 is a free pair of used teenage schoolgirl underwear and a genuine Feadog whistle. I don't know why I want those things, I just want them... What services do you _think_ you need and why? Are you talking about auto-patching? If so, I don't really think ther's any need for that. BIS just need to make sure they don't make such a mess of some of the manual procedures. If devs get things right, there should be no problem for the user to manual patch.

Well, thankfully ArmA 3 will not include such pointless and unnecessary features. :rolleyes: So no ArmA 3 for you (lol) and you best begin your search for an "alternative" ArmA 3 Steam based game, I guess. Good luck with that - you'll need it, considering the fact that there is no ArmA alternative out there. Tisk, tisk, the things people will forsake in the name of this strange Steam addiction..

No, Steam is a model of a future standard for the distribution of games. It's a trailblazer whom other companies, offering similar "services", and game publishers (the money men looking for ways to extort as much coin as possible, not the actual developers) are watching very closely. If it can be proven that Steam's ideas are accepted by consumers, the key parts of its model will be used by all digital distributors of games. You can delude yourselves that there will "always be choice" and that you'll always be able to purchase your favourite games from other electronic distributors with "fairer EULAs" but that is simply naivety and a lack of understanding. Your "choice" to accept Steam's EULA is indeed your choice and I cannot deny that right. But on the other hand, your choice is helpng shape a standard of software distribution for us ALL. You can already clearly see an increase in Steam's popularity - as people gradually get over their initial dislike of Steam's restrictive EULA, or just bite their tongue with bitter resent as they play a $60+ game which they do not truly own (remember that ownership is the right to re/sell and that a recent EU court ruling states that it is our RIGHT to resell our purchased software licenses). There are an increasing number of titles which are exclusive Steam titles which you have no choice but to register with Steam. Note that this is an increasing trend. But, I have no intention of continuing this conversation with people who appear to have the foresite of a goldfish. As I say, your typical Average Joes - easily guided along any path as long as you can offer them quick and instant (gratification) access to their games, automatic updates and "convenience". I would urge you to be careful what you are prepared to sacrifice in the name of convenience but it would clearly fall on deaf ears.

What your average Total War player will tolerate, just so that he can play TW and not have to make a principled stand against Steam's illegal practices is no justification for what Steam do. What Steam are doing is clearly wrong, whether you look at it in terms of the consumer laws of most Western countries or simply in terms of common sense principle. It has nothing to do with "fearing the unknown". In fact, it's having a clear understanding of exactly what Steam are doing which makes some of us dislike their business practices so much. Quite the opposite to fearing the unknown, my friend - the exact opposite in fact. I agree that digital download, with a decent, fair and legal EULA, *IS* the future. And I personally welcome that. The problem is, Steam's EULA is not decent, fair and will more than likely be proven illegal in the not too distant future. But all that doesn't concern you, eh? You're happy, as long as you have a fast download connection. Typical self-centered and shortsighted response of today's Average Joe.

Echo: Yep, its largely a matter of taste. The sim experience of flying a DCS's Warthog vs that of and BMS's F16 are quiet different. I own them both but just prefer the F16 and, in particular, Falcon 4's dynamic campaign. But they are both great sims and you should definitely give Falcon 4/BMS a spin sometime, it's improved quite a lot in recent years.

Yep, very good news indeed. So the EU court has established the legality of reselling our own licences (which, really, is just common sense) but it says nothing of the legality of "services" such as Steam, which systematically prevent it users from reselling licences. I suspect they will continue to get away with it as Steam users willingly accept Steams EULA. But it's definetely a step in the right direction.

Echo: Yes, "my modders" possess the source code and rewrote an entire dynamic physics based flight model for the F16, using NASA studies, F16 aerodynamic data and equations. All information is in the link I provided, if you care to at least scan it, before disputing facts. Falcon 4/BMS is not a simple mod hack, a large portion of the code has been rewritten and the code recompiled.

DM: Recent online licence authorization systems (like Steam) make it easier than EVER to ensure only a single user has a "copy" of each license. Steam themselves have openly admitted that it would be extremely easy and simple for them to enable the transfer/sell of game licences between accounts. So, obviously, Steam are not using this system to prevent piracy. They're using the system to restrict our clear right to sell. And by doing that, create a false economy where people who've unwittingly purchased a crap, over-hyped game (90% all games made today) are lumbered with their dud $70 purchase and have no "right" to sell their own worthless property. Which means the next unsuspecting victim of that BS game will be forced to purchase the game full price rather than finding an unwanted copy. All good for Steam and greedy game publishers, not so good for gamers and our consumer rights.

HKFlash: I think you've already made it clear which you prefer when you made your rather ignorant claim that one of the greatest flight sims ever made (Falcon 4) "sucked". Not sure what purpose there is in reiterating that opinion, other then to be a fanboi troll. Or do you honestly think that your ill-informed opinion counts?

Nope, will not be upgrading my entire rig for a single game. My current system (which is a 1.5 years old) is able to play Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, DCS and all other recent games on ultra settings at 50-60 fps with little difficulty. I expect ArmA 3 to be playable at reasonably high settings with my current system. If not, I will hold out purchasing/playing it until a new rig becomes a necessity for 90% of other future games I plan to purchase. Basically, I'm expecting much better optimization of ArmA 3 than we saw with ArmA 2, as this was one of ArmA 2 biggest downfalls and something BIS should prioritize if their aim is to improve ArmA.

Echo38: I think you might just be a little behind on the progression of Falcon 4's flight model (note this link is also very dated and doesn't contain the more recent improvements), since the release of BMS. Many consider its flight model to be better than DCS, but that's largely a matter of opinion I guess as most of us are not qualified aerodynamics experts. However, those few who are and have played both DCS and BMS say it is very accurate indeed. I've noticed that most people who consider DCS to be "better" tend to make that judgement based on visual graphics. Falcon 4/BMS is still the best flight sim, imo.

Foxhound: Geee, and my post was so thought provoking and relevant to the topic at hand and now it has been banished to electronic internet memory-hole. The internet is truly becoming a wonderful free form of communication :D But message received loud and clear, sir. No more debating the matter.

seconded!

i don't care how "realistic" sounds are, i only care about being able to accurately identify the azimuth, elevation and distance of each sounds. this better be the focus of ArmA 3's updated sounds system....or heads will roll! And I mean it.