Fuse

FAQ sez: Content will be released in batches. BIS seems to be sticking to the more traditional definitions of alpha and beta, so we'll see most or all of the vehicles and weapons added before beta.

It's the future, man! With global climate change, who knows what kind of sharks will live there! :)

History begs to differ. Mods made Half-Life and Valve what they are today, but we all were only too eager to get our hands on more content (Blue Shift, anyone?). Sure, back then they weren't "DLC", but that's just because we were still on dial-up. Even the Battlefield series wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for mods. Modern Combat mod for BF1942 didn't stop people from buying Road to Rome or Secret Weapons of WWII, but it did so well that DICE acquired the team for work on Battlefield 2. Mods are only a threat to companies that are trying to bleed their customers. If you put out quality content people will buy it, and the mod community's work can help you deliver that content. Never look at something EA does and assume it's the only (or right) way to do things.

I'm not super susceptible, but more extreme headbob for extended periods can make me nauseous. I haven't used IR tracking yet, but I have used FaceTrackNoIR for a couple of days and didn't have any problems. The first time you use it it's a bit disorienting, but you set a dead-zone and bind a pause key so your view doesn't move around unless you want it to. Once you get it set up properly and get comfortable with it the movement is very fluid and intuitive, so I don't think it would make you nauseous unless you started to head-bang. :) If you have a webcam I'd suggest trying out FaceTrackNoIR to see if it makes you sick. I could never get it working satisfactorily, but I got it pretty close and was able to use it (in test flights and such, never combat) to get a good feel for head tracking in games. It convinced me I had to get an IR-based set up, but I can't afford TrackIR right now so I'm trying the free alternatives first.

Tip for you guys hating on 3rd person: Make your own server! Then you can play exactly how you want, they can play how they want, and we can all learn that options are a good thing. :) If you play on 3rd person servers and get killed because you don't use it you are the only person to blame. Find a server that doesn't cater to newbies.

Not only was Arma on the list 3 times, but it was (at least every time I looked) beating out the new Tomb Raider. One of the longest running IPs in modern gaming, developed and published by huge names, female main character in tight clothes who somehow always has her makeup fresh, lots of hype and positive press... And the alpha for an Arma game was beating it on launch day. Suck it, "The Man"! If it weren't for the huge number of Wasteland servers in the list it would almost give me hope for gamers. :p (J/K. The servers may be full of newbies, but mods are what make PC gaming great. More power to em.)

IIRC less than 10 people a year die from shark attack while diving. I don't think I want them aggroing in a milsim. (Well, actually I don't want any random environmental hazards like that. Weather and terrain is one thing, bear attacks are another.) As a larger and rarer bit of fauna? Sure, that would be cool. The only deeply psychological thing about sharks is how we've all been programmed by Shark Week in to thinking they're actually a threat. I saw plenty diving, none ever seemed very interested in me. :)

Not everyone wants to or can wear the Oculus Rift, especially for extended sessions. It will probably be unsafe for use by children under 7 (maybe not a lot of them playing Arma, but flight and racing sims is a different story). It will also cost about twice as much.

So? No one's going to put a gun to your head and make you download it. Overclock your 2600 (you did buy the k, after all). Will make a big difference.

I really can't believe people are complaining about friend invites to an alpha test. Are the free bonus invites useless for you? Then don't use them! You got the game at a big discount, you get to start testing in ALPHA, and they let your friends try out single player as a little perk. How is this not enough? Talk about ungrateful.

Thank you, BIS. Arma is what PC gaming is supposed to be. Don't ever change.

Thanks for mentioning this! I tried FaceTrackNoIR just to get a feel for head tracking, and have just gotten parts together for an IR set up, but I didn't even realize FaceTrackNoIR could use it. I'll be sure to try both now.

It would be cool to see the pressure wave from explosions realistically modeled under water, because it really will tear your organs apart. Since the human body is mostly water the pressure wave will transfer directly from the water, through your body, and in to your squishy bits. This is why welding underwater is so dangerous, trapped gasses can explode and it really doesn't take much of an explosion to cause serious internal injury. Equalizing pressure isn't as big a deal as you seem to think. When you go down a bar or so of pressure you pinch your nose and try to blow through it. Unless you have sinus issues this will "pop" your ears every time, and you do it without even noticing. You never hold your breath while diving so your lungs don't rupture. The only real considerations are the bends and nitrogen narcosis. These are dependent on your depth, gas mix, and time spent at depth. I don't know a lot about military divers, but I'd imagine they dive on nitrox and stay at relatively shallow depths, because having to do a safety stop in hostile territory sounds like a bad plan. Disclaimer: It's been years since I last dove, so apologies if I've mixed something up.

This! I guess I'm just old, but I enjoy digging through all the options, controls included, when I first get my hands on a game. It's kind of like when I get a new gadget, all I want to do is dig through the menus and read the manual when I'm on the john. I never liked G in Arma 2 anyways.

Congrats! I'm about to build a Freetrack set up because of Arma 3 and am totally stoked. One big advantage that I don't think anyone mentioned (sorry if I just missed it): Since your look is no longer bound on your mouse, looking around does not lock your weapon in place. In other words you can adjust your aim or easily maneuver around obstacles while still keeping your head on a swivel. Once you've experienced this there really is no going back (if you're playing Arma properly, hehe).

Just FYI, I think "Future Soldier" is the name of a Ghost Recon game, and what you're thinking of is the "Land Warrior System". Whether or not Land Warrior will actually see wide spread use by the time Arma 3 is set is a question for a professional. Battery tech is still the big limiting factor, and the program has been cancelled and restarted multiple times. EDIT: Nevermind, I should have googled first. I was thinking of "Future Soldiers". My apologies. Still not convinced these types of system will be very common out side of mounted units, though systems like Big Dog could make it more viable.

http://www.arma3.com/alpha/faq

Seeing all the people complaining on the forums about the quality of an alpha build, I don't see why BIS would be in a hurry to get more of these ignoramuses involved. Who knows, we may see some other trial options when the game is closer to release (although, frankly, it's far from necessary). This Alpha build is primarily for testing purposes, not demoing the game.

Now I'm just confused. 20 > 10.0

No one can tell you how it will run as the game is far from optimized. If you want to try the single player alpha you can look at the link below, but performance there is not representative of performance online or in beta/release. http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?147430-Looking-for-Arma-3-Free-Alpha-invites-Look-here!

We're calling it "improved vault" because it's not what the average gamer thinks of as a video game jump and because we want it to be incorporated in to the current vault system.

"Suddenly"? The game takes place in the future.

Agreed. Especially when you're switching from your rifle to sidearm in a hurry as you're basically just dropping your rifle and letting it hang. Pistol to Rifle should take a second longer since you have to holster your pistol first.

I see this fix mentioned at least once per new game. I have yet to see it actually do anything (though I hear it may actually help if you've got a laptop with all the power-saving crap on?).

Wow, this thread may have the highest proportion of "knee-jerk, didn't read the whole post" to legit responses of any thread I've read yet (apart from maybe the Women Soldiers thread). The OP said he was talking about the full game, not alpha. If a user wants to set time aside to after launch to try to improve the textures why shouldn't they? Just because your PC can't handle it is a piss poor reason.