WCG

I sent you a PM, MadDog515. That sounds good. I haven't been playing much on weekday evenings (I'm busier now than when I first posted this), but I can always make the time. Or you can join a handful of us on the weekends. Either way, we can work something out. Bill

Crimsxnn, I sent you a PM awhile back. Maybe you missed it? Or maybe you just changed your mind. No problem. Note that I've been playing Saturday and Sunday nights with a few older gamers (in their 40's, 50's,... 60's), so I've got less time than I had. There's more information here, for anyone interested in joining us. So far, we've had four players on peak nights. Heh, heh. (And we don't restrict people by age, if you don't mind playing games with your grandparents. :p ) However, my original post still stands. If you're a complete newbie and just want to try co-op (North American timezones), I can always make time on weekday evenings. I know how lost I was at first! Make no mistake, I'm still very much a newbie (not having played Arma 2), and I'm definitely not very good. But I'm more comfortable with being not-very-good in co-op play now, I guess. :) Otherwise, I probably have all the Arma 3 play I can handle, given that I play other games, too. I need a few more days in a week (or hours in a day), I think. Bill

Not me, no. Bill

It's this "should" part that bothered me. I'm not trying to be disagreeable, it's just that... I'm not sure why you'd tell someone else how they had to play a game. Now, if the rifles are overpowered, if you think they should have disadvantages to offset their advantages, that's a legitimate criticism, I'd think. But that's just me. I've only used the sniper rifles twice, I think, but both times, you couldn't even see a kilometer in the game - too much fog or haze. I wouldn't have chosen the sniper character going in, if I'd known that in the first mission. (The setting wasn't suited to it, either.) But in the second mission, at the airport, it worked great. It helped conceal me, as long as I targeted enemy soldiers I could just barely see through the fog (500-600 meters, I suppose - I didn't have a rangefinder in that one). Any closer, and I'd be toast. I thought it was fun. And that happens to be why I play these games. :) Bill

I've been using a sniper rifle, because they're fun. I like stealth, I like to take my time getting a shot, and I like the boom when I pull the trigger. What's not to like? :) But the people I play with aren't overly serious about it. It's just a game, after all. And no doubt, when they release new weapons in the game, I'll want to try them, too. Is there a reason why we shouldn't be using sniper rifles? I'm not sure I understand the point of the original comment. Bill

We played this again last night. Well, we had four people at the start, and three for most of it, and this was just too much fun to resist playing again. I had a particularly good night (unusual for me), mostly because I used one of those new sniper rifles, which is just perfect for this mission. So that was especially fun. We used the mortar this time, too - which was less effective than I expected, maybe because we're all newbies and there wasn't much ammo. There are a lot of enemies at the airport, but this mission still isn't as difficult as many we try. I mean that in a good way, because it's still quite challenging. (And, of course, I left enemy skill levels on 'recruit.') I still wish we were all on the same team, because it's very difficult to keep track of each other this way (especially for us newbies). We have difficulty with coordination anyway, and that certainly doesn't help! :) Also, I'd love to see a revive option, because I'd rather revive fallen comrades (if we can), rather than just have them respawn. But those are really the only criticisms I could make, and they're very minor ones. (As I said before, I loved the vehicles available and I loved the teleport option.) Oh, the mission didn't finish for us. Clearing the airport was recognized, but not the destruction of the communications tower (maybe because we did that before we'd finished clearing the airport?). Thanks, Bill

You indicate that "Sniperland" is at the air base, but when we tried that setting, I thought it looked remarkably like the first. Heh, heh. Yeah, "air base" wasn't the one I wanted, huh? So when I finally found out which game I should have loaded, I saw how much different it really was. These are all lots of fun, but I've got to say I really like the variety. All three settings are very different from each other. The gameplay is quite different in each. That's great. And these are the perfect games to play while waiting for other people to show up, or to wind down after another mission. Thanks! Bill

Yup. Sorry. I tried it with two other guys tonight. All of us had the CBA mod installed, but only I could get into the game (my computer was the game server). Their characters showed up on the screen (from my point of view), but they never saw anything but the map. And one of them had to close down Arma 3 in order to get out of it again. (I think that happened last time we tried this mission, too.) This is the only mission we've had a problem with, and we've tried it three different times. I don't know what the issue is, but it just won't work for us. Bill

Two of us (both newbies) played this last night. It was lots of fun. I especially liked the extra touches which you don't find in many missions - for example, the many different vehicles available for use. And since there were just two of us - and hordes of enemies - the respawn system was really important, too, and I think you got that just right. (I want death to have some consequences, even if it's inevitable, but I don't want to get completely annoyed at it.) In this case, being able to save a loadout at the ammobox, plus the ability to teleport back to the airport, after clearing an area, worked great (for, as I say, just two newbies taking on an army). And I liked being able to set parameters, too (though we left them pretty much as they were). We didn't finish this, because we simply had to stop playing, but we were close to finishing, I think. It's definitely one I'll want to play again sometime. Thanks! Bill PS. One thing I didn't like was that we weren't in the same team (and there wasn't even an option to choose a team leader). Note that I enjoyed the fact that we didn't have AI help with us, but this was harder to coordinate than it should have been, because we couldn't tell where the other guy was. But maybe that's a parameter I missed?

You say you recommend the CBA mod, but that this mission doesn't require it? I'm wondering if that's true. Two of us have been trying to play this mission. I can get into it fine, but my co-op partner can't. He just hangs at the map. And the only difference I can think of (except for the fact that I'm running the mission on my computer) is that I've got the CBA mod installed and he doesn't. Well, he'll probably install CBA and we'll try it again sometime. Just thought I'd mention it. Bill

I remember hearing about that problem, caused by one of the updates to Arma 3 alpha. Unfortunately, this mission isn't being updated right now, so that probably won't get fixed (until fall?). Bill

Try CO_02 Skirmish at Marina Bay. If you play it SP, you'll have one AI with you, but it's not a mission. The enemies just keep respawning and so do you. Or try Death Match 4 as an SP game. There are two different locations, but they're both the same kind of thing. Kill everything that moves until someone gets 15 points and wins. Note that, in this game, you can pick whatever weapon you want at the start. They're both a lot of fun when you just want to kill something. :) Bill

I agree. They're usually harder than hell for just two players, which is how I usually play them, but they're still great. (And eventually, I'll start playing with more people, no doubt.) Keep up the good work! Bill

Skirmish at Marina Bay isn't really a mission. I mean, it's fine practice, and I can see why it's been downloaded so often. But this one really is a mission, and it's great fun. Of course, there have been a lot of missions set in Agia Marina. But as I've said previously, I think this is the only one with enemies in the houses there. No, we missed that - probably because we bypassed most of those houses, since they seemed to be too far from the target to cause a problem, even if they did have enemies inside. I'm anxious to try it again, now. :) In fact, I might try it single-player, since I don't think I've done that. Thanks! Bill

No problem. I normally prefer games set during the day, with good visibility. But in this case, I've mostly been playing Night Owl, partly because there weren't any scopes for our rifles (which really hurts in daytime missions) and partly because I liked being able to see enemies through the windows (which is easier at night - and as a newbie, I needed that advantage). Oh, and can I say again how much I enjoyed finding enemies inside the buildings at Agia Marina? In every other mission I've played, I think, the houses are always empty, so we just ignore them. I really like having enemies everywhere, so we have to search a house before turning our backs on it. Nice job! But don't bother changing things just for me. I was just wondering. Bill

Is it just Morning Owl which has been updated, or can you set the time in the parameters now? I see there's only one file.

OK, thanks, Ceh.

After a search of the forum, I've found similar posts about Arma and Arma 2, but nothing here yet. And even as a newbie, this is starting to drive me nuts. I've been downloading a lot of co-op games, but it's getting harder and harder to find what I want when I'm playing, because there are no naming conventions. Many use some version of "COOP 06" or "CO_06" - or something like that - at the start, which helps (although, note that those two versions sort differently), but others aren't even close. I've been renaming the files I download (in my case, I've been putting "CO_06," etc., at the start of the file name), so at least they sort alphabetically in the MPMissions folder. But unfortunately, that's not how they show up in the game. Normally, I want to find missions for a particular number of players, so it would really help if they sorted in-game like that. Those other posts on naming conventions get much more complicated than that - and, of course, not all missions are co-op missions - but it doesn't have to be complicated. But without a strict naming convention, these missions won't sort conveniently - and even in alpha, even when I'm just beginning to accumulate missions, I can see what a pain this will be. Of course, I don't know what to do about it. :) Bill

Thank-you. That will work. Bill

I've played one mission (I think it was Ghost Commander, though I'm not positive) where you could set revive and respawn parameters at the start of the mission (not just on or off, but how many respawns you wanted to allow). I don't know how difficult that is, but it was really nice, because we all have different preferences. I play with Variable sometimes (no respawn ever), but I also play with a guy who wants unlimited, instant respawns. Me, I'm kind of in the middle. I prefer revives, because it still discourages death while you're waiting helplessly for someone to heal you, and a very limited number of respawns (since I often play co-op with just two people, and it's no fun for either of us to go on alone after one person is dead). Of course, I can have fun playing Arma 3 many different ways, but I'm always a big fan of options. Why should my preferences dictate to everyone else? But then, I'm not a mission developer, either. :) Bill

Maybe this has been answered elsewhere, but it's a very small matter which has been bugging me for some time. When I'm driving a vehicle or a boat, I'll often see a horn listed at the top right of the screen. Sometimes, smoke is available, too. But how do I use them? True, I don't have any need to blow the horn - or even to lay smoke. But I've looked through the controls and I simply can't find how to do that. I suppose it's something simple, huh? But can someone let me know, so I can scratch this itch? :) Bill

I just thought I'd add this here, in case it's useful to other newbies. I keep personal notes on the missions I try - mostly just to jog my memory, though I also include a link, so I can check for updates - and I've uploaded them here (SP missions) and here (MP missions). I'll try to keep that updated, but don't expect too much. As I say, they're just my own personal notes, not intended for anyone else. And I'm just a newbie. I haven't played most of the missions more than once, and in the majority of cases, I didn't get to the end. Also, the missions are constantly being updated, with the things I disliked often getting fixed in the next version. (I might point out this mission, which I hated the first time I tried it, but loved after a revision.) Still, if you're a newbie looking for a mission to try, that might help. Bill

Variable won't like that, though I will. :) Unfortunately, I play the 'stable' build, not the developmental version. Then again, most missions end up broken in one way or another, so I might try it anyway. Bill

Heh, heh. I didn't know what the objective was before choosing my character. And I didn't know the AI wouldn't be coming with us (although I much prefer that they don't). If I remember correctly (I might not), there were two medics available, which seemed to imply that they might be particularly important for the mission. But there was an AT guy, too, and I almost picked him. Nothing is more frustrating than to face armored vehicles without a rocket launcher! Well, nothing except needing to blow up a communication tower without explosives, I guess. :) IMHO, it would be nice to have supply dumps we can raid for such things, in cases where there aren't the full complement of players. Thanks, The.D. I've played with the Comrades in Arms group a few times (wrong timezone for me, most of the time). Yeah, it's fun. I still prefer a revive option, I think - making death annoying enough to be avoided, without requiring that you skip the rest of the mission entirely - but different people have different tastes. No problem. Definitely, the game is more fun with more people. And it's more fun when there's proper teamwork, too - which is easier to ignore when there's just two of you, I suspect. Bill

Nice mission, as far as we got. I tried it yesterday, but we were just two players (both newbies), and without revive/respawn, it's no fun for either of us when one is killed. So we just quit. (I wish revive/respawn could be made optional for that reason.) However, we'll probably try it again sometime, especially if we get more players. As I say, with just two newbies, we tend to die occasionally. :) And when that happens, it's just not worth the remaining player continuing. Oh, we had one other problem. My teammate took the role of leader, while I was a medic. However, that was a complete waste, because the medic doesn't have a medic kit (just a first aid kit). And neither one of us had explosives, which might have made the mission a bit difficult. :) We continued, because we hoped to find explosives somewhere on the base, but we hadn't found any when we stopped playing. I really liked the mission - the idea behind it, the setting, the lighting, etc. It didn't work for us, mostly because of the respawn issue, but it really has promise. Thanks! Bill PS. I never change mission parameters. Frankly, I never even think to look at them.