ArmA2 Media Blowout Twitter Q&A

I decided to make it easier to find the info from twitter by displaying the Q&A in this thread...I left out names as it is easier to read - I also left out some which I though Irrelevant e.g ones which are a conversation. I also made amalgamations of some.. is that a word? :P

(They are in order of where I saw them on the page)

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Q: Will there be a demo before release?

A: We will hit GM next week, plan is to release demo before launch.

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Q: Is this a new "preview" version or something that is near the "v 1.0" ? Do we get some pics of the event (guys, screenshot, etc)?

A: The code we are showing today is GM. Preview code is with the press and review code will be sent next week. GM = Gold Master. Ready to be boxed... :)

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Q: Do the scopes have MILDOT ?

A: For heavy armour we have something similar.

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Q: Is there any difference between the way ARMA1 handles "tags" & the way ARMA2 handles them?

A: (finding it)

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Q: Will there be a demo before release? Regarding the demo, will it be before 505 games release, or the one for German and Czech Republic?

A: We will hit GM next week, plan is to release demo before launch. Demo will be released day and date for all markets, watch this space.

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Q: When you say "playable animals" do you mean we can play with animals ? Or it's the "seagul like" of the BIS previsous games ?

A: Using the mission editing tools you can play as a rabbit or dog - if you really want :)

Yes you can play AS animals by placing them in player-made missions. Boar hunting (your mate as the boar) is a lot of fun...

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Q: Do they tell you/show you about gameplay parts (bullet penetration, balistic, etc.. ) ?

A: All the weapons and effects have been modeled using real world data and information gathered from our military advisors.

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Q: Do enemies heal their wounded comrades as well ? Is the reviving & healing restricted to medics?

A: Enemies do heal their wounded too! Non medics can provide basic first aid and can also carry injured comrades from the battlefield to safety.

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Q: What are the specs of the pcs at the event?

A: Pretty high spec! PCs were supplied by nVIDIA... but the game will run on a mid-range PC. (I suspect this to be answered by the tacticalgamer.com report)

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Q: Will you be able to save the game while playing coop campaign with friends?

A: Yes you can

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Q: How's the weapon handling?

A: All the weapon handling uses real world physics from ballistics to bullet trajectories - its like firing a real weapon!

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Q: Will you do a summary of all questions/answers asked on twitter later ? So we can understand all the answers ;)

A: Speaking to 505 Games, will try to get something up on the official website in the next few days.

----lol

Q: Can you confirm the presence of the "helicopter carrier"? Is this a "static vehicle" or it moves,uses some "weapons" for support ?

A: It's a static vehicle

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Q: Do they tell you/show you about gameplay parts (bullet penetration, balistic, etc.. ) ?

A: All the weapons and effects have been modeled using real world data and information gathered from our military advisors

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Q: Do you plan to add more (from what have been announced for now) freely by future update ? (and probably expansion(s) later ?)

A: There will be loads more info released in the coming weeks and the usual community updates post-launch.

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Q: Is there any multiplayer playing there (at the event) or is it just single player?

A: just single players today

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Q: Is the tank combat improved in terms of FCS and stuff?

A: Tank combat has been overhauled, we're sure you'll see a vast improvement.

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Q: Will multiple peripherals/controllers be supported e.g pedals/joystick/rudders?

A: yes, joystick and pedal support as well as TrackIR5.

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Q: Can you confirm that we will have a 3D editor in ArmA2?

A: Confimed!

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Q: Just wondering if BIS had had any discusions on releasing a multiplayer beta as may companies do this now to hammer their games?

A: From 505 Games "given that the game world is so vast it would be a challenge to release a multiplayer beta"

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Q: Are the speech/commands improved over arma1 - do they still sound unnatural/robotic?

A: Yes, there is a HUGE improvement and we also have the dynamic conversation system this time around

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Q: Is the 505 release going to have differences in gameplay compared to the german morphicon release ?

A: Yes, the 505 Games release will be a more advanced version/complete version.

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Q: Since it's a simulation, do you know how many hitzones enemies will have and if they react on a hit to the leg for example ?

A: Wound detection is better than ever. Rather than being killed outright, injury encourages teamwork, dragging/carry the injured etc.

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Q: Could you please detail/confirm some of the 'Major AI Improvements'? And the 'Pilot uses some weapons'? Thank you.

A: Many AI improvements. cm vs meter detection resolves a lot! Can confirm pilot/weapon issue too :)

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Q: Is there an improved lobby system, ie favourate servers, friends list etc?

A: there will be an update on this in the next few weeks - keep your eyes peeled...

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Q: Hoping this is the right spot for questions: What about multiplayer? is the thing with "warping" of the AI solved? Thx

A: Warping is usually caused by server config settings. It's important to balance a server's load/spec and the missions you play.

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Q: Is it possible to use lasertargets? eg. for planes and stuff...

A: Yes. It's essential in many situations...

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Q: Are all weapons now held properly and without any visible hand clipping?

A: There's a definite improvement over earlier games thanks to better IK (inverse kinematics).

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Q: Will there still be rain inside buildings?

A: NO! No rain inside or under shelter (like big trees etc). Call off the plumbers.

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Q: Will there be body armor in Arma2? If not will it be possible to make as a user addon as it was not possible before i think.

A: There's no 'wearable/take-offable' armour but penetration is calculated to take standard armour into account on units.

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Q: How is suppressive fire implemented? Does the AI use it against you?

A: AI use supressive fire against you and OTHER AI. It effects things like aim (weapon sway etc).

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Q: What the destructible environnment ? Everything could be destroy ? (we see a dam structure on the pic released.. destrucible too ?)

A: Anything smaller than the dam and the harbour can be blown up!

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Q: Will there be different reload animations for each weapons or are they all the same like in ArmA1?

A: There are a number of different reload animations for different weapons including anims for mounted weapons being reloaded

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Q: A question about swimming ? Still loose equipment when swimming ? Environnement -> lots of "open" building to hide in town/city ?

A: Yes lose heavy equipment and re enviroment: more enterable even diff internals for partially destroyed buildings.

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Q: Simulation is a little bit harder or easier compared to armed assault? (behavior of the ArmA 2 flying model compared to ArmA?)

A: Difficulty remains scalable by player, flight model improved since ArmA 1, including proper VTOL

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Q: I'm assuming the 'more advanced 505 games version' will also be a patch for the German version? (Just need a warm and fuzzy)- Is the 505 release going to have differences in gameplay compared to the german morphicon release ?

A: Yes this version is closer to the release version than previously seen builds (Almost gold!) -yes, the 505 Games release will be a more advanced version/complete version.

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If I missed or duplicated any just say.// lol

If the layout is bad or unclear just say. :P

Edited May 20, 2009 by _Cappa

Thanks a lot for this, Cappa. Much easier to read than Twitter.

I just realised something similar is on this page http://www.tacticalgamer.com/armed-assault-armed-assault-2-discussion/139134-arma2-announcements.html

I swear I did not copy this :S I wish I did lol

Liking...nay loving what I've read so far, no more rain inside buildings (nice to see since I first spotted this in OFP:E but didn't see it occur in buildings, rather baffled me) , improved tank combat (I'm sure chernarus helps greatly with this being that its less flat) 3D editor, improved flight model, lotsa stuff to destroy and plenty more...

I can't wait to see the 3D editor in action, sure to make mission making much easier and more streamlined. Eee.... *little schoolgirl squee moment over*

If everything checks out correctly with the demo I'm sure Arma II will succeed Arma I's sales easily.

Edited May 20, 2009 by NodUnit

Thanks, Cappa. Good job collecting them in to one pot :)

Can't wait! :D

All I want is a refined less buggy arma with extra features and better performance...

And It sounds very promising :D

Somehow ArmA reminds me of PES and Dragon Rising is the FiFa before it copied PES...

PES = Pro Evolution Soccer btw

The upgrade cycle of pes reminds me somehow of ofp/arma too...

Edited May 20, 2009 by _Cappa

DEMO will be nice with Morpicon release

Thanks for summarising all that Cappa. It was a bit difficult to follow the rss feed at times.

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Q: Are all weapons now held properly and without any visible hand clipping?

A: There's a definite improvement over earlier games thanks to better IK (inverse kinematics).

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I'm fairly interested in the inverse kinematics system. The improvement with the stock ArmA 2 weapons is great; I've seen that we can use the vertical grip on the Mk.48, and hands don't pass through the M203s. I'm really hoping we can apply it to new weapon addons to give weapons like bullpups (L85, FAMAS etc) and short PDWs (MP7s, P90s L22s) some proper holding anims.

I asked Rock from RKSL if he could inquire about it a little bit for me while he was at the event: Hopefully he got some good info.

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Q: Will there still be rain inside buildings?

A: NO! No rain inside or under shelter (like big trees etc). Call off the plumbers.

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Glad this has finally been sorted from OFP.

Good job Cappa, thanks.

And thanks to whoever asked the question about suppressive fire too

1) From the Q/A, I wouldn't want to reside in Germany :D

2)

Anything smaller than the dam and the harbour can be blown up!

Muahaha

Using the mission editing tools you can play as a rabbit or dog - if you really want

Yes you can play AS animals by placing them in player-made missions. Boar hunting (your mate as the boar) is a lot of fun...

Nice. This kind of little things are a good addition, it shows the diversity, credibility and richness of the Arma2's world. Dragon Rising's world (for example) will look sterile in comparison.

Tank combat has been overhauled, we're sure you'll see a vast improvement.

Interesting, I hope we will get some details soon.

I am very excited for Arma2, the wait will be hard. It has a big potential imho.

I asked about suppressive fire and quite a few others - my twitter is @laurencelaycock

:P I did help quite a few ask their questions by doing it for them - probably couldnt be bothered with twitter...

1) From the Q/A, I wouldn't want to reside in Germany :D

guess germans get a less polished version for less than a month then patched up to same level as 505 release. like arma did.

Well, if they do more sessions like this I may have to create an account there:p

Thx Cappa! Much easier to read the twitter thing...

Q: Hoping this is the right spot for questions: What about multiplayer? is the thing with "warping" of the AI solved? Thx

A: Warping is usually caused by server config settings. It's important to balance a server's load/spec and the missions you play.

Either the guy is lying or has no clue at all...

Even when you set "minerrortosend" and MaxSizeNonguaranteed to the lowest values you can think about, you STILL have beamings in Arma!!!

Once other players, server - or other clients controlled AIs reach a certain distance to you, they start beaming/lagging around - even in LAN (on a dedicated server only though)!

This is a well known bug even in the old community bugtracker and IIRC was even there "confirmed" by a BIS dev..... when this "bug" is not fixed in Arma2 it would be kind of bad.

Edited May 20, 2009 by mr.g-c

I asked Rock from RKSL if he could inquire about it a little bit for me while he was at the event: Hopefully he got some good info.

Oh bugger i knew i forgot something!

I'll make a point of asking in an email. Sorry about that but some of what we saw today was a bit... well overwhelming in some ways.

RE the Twitter answers. I think there was some confusion about the answers at the time. Especially over the terms for example:

Q: Do the scopes have MILDOT ?

A: For heavy armour we have something similar.

You can see the answer isnt exactly what you would expect. I supposed the proper answer is yeah some scopes have MILDOT scales. Are they properly calibrated? I honestly dont know.

Q: Can you confirm that we will have a 3D editor in ArmA2?

A: Confimed!

Again this caused a little bit of confusion at the time. What 505/BIS termed a 3D editor isnt quite what was meant by the person asking the question. I presume they mean does it have the VBS2 style 3D Real Time Editor. The answer - I'm sorry - is No!

I spent a good 10-20 mins playing around in the editor with Foxhound and Barmy Army and didnt see any 3D/RTE options. (I have screen shots to prove it too)

I'm writing up an article for Armaholic atm that should answer a lot of questions so if you dont mind waiting for that it might clear up some confusion.

Q: Will the game require on-line activation on steam? What's the copy protection for the game?

A: copy protection is Securom. You will need to activate your account online

This answer is vague as well, it's going to have Securom DRM activations or just disc check? I assume the 'activate your account online' means it's going to have DRM activations, which leads to the question how many will there be and will there be a way for the user to revoke their 'activations'.

Much of the twitter recently was arround the 505 Games release in London today.

Taken from our community pages at AToW.

I'm a scripter so I am challenged journalistically, but here's what we got.

3|Cpl.BarmyArmy;91699']Ok guys I am back.

Depsite being a little under the weather from a nasty cold I had a great day.

Thanks to Dan at New Media and Luke at Bastion and the guys from 505games for inviting us.

We had a great time' date=' a thirty minute presentation by James and Jan from BIS showing some of the new cool things mainly from the Arma SP campaign. James was the script writer for the new campaign he was a flashpoint fan and his enthusiasm for the project showed. Even the new SP campaign will have more advanced hierarchical game play and some RTS style elements to the campaign, and the ability to align with one of many factions allowing much more replayability of the SP game than was possible with ArmaI or QG. The SP campaign will also have a 4 man coop mode.

The AI have been improved which while not so exciting for us PvP freaks is good for the game generally, tho the demo I was suggested that using them for CAS had some interesting "issues" ( an AI flew a cobra into a tree during the demo).

I'll be honest I could have spent 2 hour playing on the machines, but I thought it more important to meet and talk with the guys from 505 and from Bohemia about issues important to us as a tournament ( equipment balance - ie. REDFOR weapons ), map design issues for MP tournament play etc. Also saying nice things about Arma and Arma II to the assembled journalists when they asked what we though.

Fortunately those journalists attending seemed pretty clued up about Arma and its history.

I also spent some time with Foxhound from ArmaHolic and Rock from RKSL studios, always nice to meet fellow community members.

Thanks 505 and Bohemia for a great day and a great game, can't wait to get my grubby mit on it , nice to know its coming out a week sooner.

EU release date has been brought forward one week which is now 19th June.

Read more on the ArmaII twitter feed here.

[url']http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=5677[/url]

Photos somewhere I beleive....

BA

opinions are my own and not those of BIS or 505games.

Edited May 20, 2009 by barmyarmy

AI still fly Choppers into trees.... nice AI improvement!

Can you maybe tell anything else you saw about the AI? Anything, even if its very very small?

Go to bed everybody. You'll get more news tommorow.

AI still fly Choppers into trees.... nice AI improvement!

Well, last i checked, people could do that as well ( even military pilots have done that...)

The accuracy of "self positional awareness" of the AI has been much improved they seem to drive better and follow fences building, find cover much better when on foot.

Also they do seem to check-six and other details which does seem a vast improvement.

BA

Well, last i checked, people could do that as well ( even military pilots have done that...)

QFT. BIS did say they wanted these AI to be failable, imperfect, just like humans... Need to see the frequency of failure though.

Nothing's perfect, nor should it be.

Thanks! Great info, I can't wait for this game. It sounds amazing in those answers.

QFT. BIS did say they wanted these AI to be failable, imperfect, just like humans... Need to see the frequency of failure though.

Nothing's perfect, nor should it be.

I agree, but these imperfections should include the pilot not deploying flares fast enough or causing a lot of collateral damage when engaging the enemy, not flying into a tree. :rolleyes:

I still have a lot of confidence in Arma II though.

Thnks for condensing all of that.

WTF is that twitter crap, was giving me a headache, my life will be happier without that again.