New video
http://www.arma2.com/russian-armed-forces_en.html
Mmm this one has been a bit more average. Funny how they hide the moment some soldiers come out of an Hind, as surely the still use the method used in Opf/Arma: they teleport in front of the door
I suspect this will be true as well. I’m a fan of Bohemia’s work, but the learning curve is outrageous. It doesn’t help that the enemy force is apparently filled with uber-snipers.
I think you can turn down the uber snipers in AA in the editor (not that you should have to do that mind you).
I honestly hope that the Warfare mod that came with ArmA’s 1.14 patch somehow carries over into ArmA2. That mod was a life saver for my multiplayer group.
in ArmA you can lower both the AI accuracy and skill. I usually left the skill more or less at a decent level, but lower the accuracy.
I know you can, but it bugs me that the default is so crazy high. I mean people can snipe you with a pistol from 100 yards away behind concealment.
Oh damn it. Please don’t make flying a damn jet part of the campaign. I quit the original ArmA over the helicopter mission. If I wanted to play a damn flight sim I would have bought a damn flight sim. And a joystick. And a TrackIR.
The helicopters aren’t so bad, with a bit of practice you can be pretty decent, the real problem are the planes. Ugh.
That’s not the point. If the game is trying to be realistic, it should do away with unrealistic vehicles. Just leave that to the AI.
And if I wanted to play a damn war simulation I would join the Army. I quit!
I think there are some kids on your lawn!
Man, know thyself. Analogies are clearly not one of your strengths, avoid them.
I’m looking forward to this, but will refrain from a purchase until OFP2 comes out I can see some comparisons. I played the original OFP to death, and ArmA much less so although I do tinker with it from time to time even today. The campaign is largely rubbish, and I’ve yet to find any decent missions to download although there are a ton available.
What I tend to do is just open up the editor and just make a slap dash engagement then click preview and have at it. The other night I put myself in a town as a civillian (friendly to all). Way out to the west of town I set up a group of 64 BlueFor soldiers, 16 M1A1 tanks and four helicopers giving each of them a waypoint in the center of town. I then set up a like number of OpFor soldiers, tanks and helos to the east and gave them a waypoint in the middle of town too.
Takes about 5 min to set up, then click preview and just see what happens. It’s rather cool seeing the helos come in followed by the tanks and troops. The best thing about it being that it never plays out the same way twice. Sometimes OpFor will clean out the other sides helos right away, other times BlueFor armor will score some hits from way out early. You get random helo shoot downs, sometimes into the center of town nearby and including the occasional air to air crash. Yes, sometimes I take a stray bullet.
It’s also good to do the same with large formations of troops, tanks and aircraft a the bottom of a big valley with yourself situated as a sniper up on top watching the battle below and taking potshots as you feel like it. Until the helos notice you anyway.
So long as ArmA2 and/or OFP2 allow for this kind of mucking about via the editor I’ll be happy.
Not a lot this week, only two new images
This is an instant buy for me, even if it sucks, because I want more open-terrain games like this to be made in the future.
Other insta-buy games for me include submarine sims and JA/XCOM-alikes.
Love these games. Can’t wait for this one to hit the stores.
So, a bit of everything.
The Aprils Fools, FarmA II. Farm simulator!
[imghttp://www.arma2.com/farma/FARMA2_ingame1.jpg[/img]
Weapons section opened and completed
http://www.arma2.com/weaponry_en.html
Vehicles section, they are still updating it. Tracked vehicles shown for now.
http://www.arma2.com/vehicles_en.html
September 08 video with english subs, done by a fan. Some new things i didn’t see in detail before, like the healing/taking wounded soldiers.
November 08 video with english subs, done by a fan. Mostly it’s the known trailer, but i saw some new scenes at the end, (SPOILERS) it seems you are kidnaped in the game.
I hope FarmA2 has better AI than the original. The cows were insanely stupid in FarmA.
I have hopes for a better easier UI, to give platoon orders on a team and individual level without killing myself in the process.
Ah the battles I’ve had with the UI…
The feature list from the [b]OFP2 wiki entry[/b] sounds impressive.
Features
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a tactical shooter designed to simulate modern combat. The following features have been confirmed:
The gameplay in Operation Flashpoint is completely open and objectives are assigned as they would be in real life. For each mission you will have a defined objective and will be able to choose from available equipment and personnel to allow you to complete the objective however you choose. This choice includes not only what tactics you use at the objective but where you land and how you approach your goal. The only limitation for completion of objectives is based on time, because you are part of a cohesive invasion force and your command needs objectives completed because they affect the ability of the entire force to proceed. This said, it does not appear that time limits will be designed to make players race to complete tasks, but to add to the realism. While you can lead your squad far afield from your objectives, it is important to realize that your mission is not occurring in a vacuum, there are enemy patrols as well as other battles which you may encounter when leaving your direct mission area.
AI is key to Operation Flashpoint’s unscripted gameplay. In order to avoid scripting the AI, for both your enemy and your squad mates, must be very self sufficient. Developers create missions only by specifying what the enemy forces are composed of and what their objectives are. The AI must decide how it fulfills those orders based on the information it has available (it is not omniscient). To accomplish this the developers have taught the AI tactics out of US training manuals so that it can respond intelligently to tactics you use and changing circumstances. The AI value their lives and will not just hold their ground if retreat is the best tactical option. Killing enemy officers, who help coordinate the enemy AI will often lead the enemy forces acting in a slower and less cohesive manner. Additionally both the enemy and your squad have morale systems meaning that they are affected by the perceived quality of their leadership so your squad may complain and eventually abandon you if you persist in, for example, running across open fields at machine gun emplacements.
There is a full environmental damage model built into the game. Every building can be partially destroyed or reduced to rubble. Vehicles and other environmental objects like tractors, bulldozers and boats can be similarly destroyed. This destruction is permanent through the campaign so it is possible to “burn your bridges” by destroying buildings unnecessarily and then finding yourself without cover in a following mission. This feature adds to the realism of the game by allowing players to see the cumulative damage that days of modern combat can create. This is particularly noteworthy as the developers have stated that every structure on Skira is actually there in real life.
All buildings on Skira can be entered, both by the player and by the enemy AI. Vehicles that are found on the battlefield can be commandeered and weapons and ammunition can scavenged off of corpses.
According to Game Informer there are over 70 real life weapons in game, all supported by a realistic ballistic system. Weapons can be modified and equipped with scopes, grenade launchers,laser sights and silencers. All firing sequences from lifting the weapon up, to placing it on your shoulder, to turning it on and arming to fire is all faithfully simulated, also reloading is faithfully simulated. Reloading your weapon after partially emptying a clip will, eventually, result in you loading partially full clips of ammunition, which, along with realistic reload sequences and timing, make reload management tactically important.
There are over 50 different land, air and sea vehicles. There are usable helicopters, tanks, boats and APCs along with a few vehicles/weapons which cannot used directly, but which can be called to your aid, such as fighter jets and artillery.
Difficulty levels are primary differentiated not by changes in AI intelligence or weapon damage but by the visual information given to characters. At the easiest level fairly standard FPS information is given to the player about weapons, ammo, squad health, compass direction along with cross hairs for when not looking down the weapon sights. Additionally the location of enemies who have been spotted by your squad is indicated at the lowest level. Higher levels of difficulty remove this information until none is left on screen. Ammunition counts must be remembered as well as the health of your squad. Locations of enemies your squad has spotted must be determined by listening to them and looking where they are firing.
[ul]
[li]There is realistic tactical squad placement gameplay.[/li]> [li]Limb dismemberment has been confirmed to be in the game, as will night vision.[/li]> [/ul]
Multiplayer Gameplay
Multiplayer game types:
[ul]
[li]Team deathmatch - (2 teams compete to acquire the most kills)[/li]> [li]Name Unknown - (A larger scale team with lesser quality equipment fight against a smaller scale team with advanced equipment)[/li]> [li]Name Unknown - (Territory control gameplay)[/li]> [/ul]
PC version will feature:
[ul]
[li]32 player (16 vs 16) in addition to the 256 NPC squad members (8 per squad per player)[/li]> [li]8 player co-op in addition to NPC squad members[/li]> [li]4 player Campaign + single mission co-op[/li]> [/ul]
ArmA2’s feature list from it’s [b]wiki entry[/b] reads as follows:
Features
A lot of new and updated facts and features have been announced for ArmA 2 these include :-
[ul]
[li]The Chernarus landscape is based heavily on the Czech Republic, the home country of developer - Bohemia Interactive Studio[/li]> [li]There will be a ‘micro’ AI which will be able to move more precisely through the environment.[/li]> [li]A New view called High Command will allow the player to command his/her troops in an RTS style.[/li]> [li]There will be 50 vehicles, but different vehicle types (HMMVW, HMMVW M2, HMMVW TOW, etc). In total there are 120 different types of vehicles.[/li]> [li]Six different factions.[/li]> [li]Every building will be destroyable in some way.[/li]> [li]Civilian units.[/li]> [li]The ability to interact with civilians and other units around you.[/li]> [li]Multiple core support.[/li]> [li]Ability to drag and carry wounded men.[/li]> [li]Over 50 weapon types.[/li]> [/ul]
Technology
ArmA 2 will make use of industry standard technology, and will be powered by a much more powerful game engine, unlike its predecessor ArmA 1, which was built on Operation Flashpoint’s game engine.
Some of the new Features in ArmA 2 are as follows:
[ul]
[li]Multicore support[/li]> [li]Bump texture mapping[/li]> [li]Parallax occlusion mapping[/li]> [li]New glass, metal shine and reflections[/li]> [li]Micro AI[/li]> [li]Built in-dynamic conversation system[/li]> [li]Dynamic shadows[/li]> [li]New normalized textures[/li]> [li]New shaders[/li]> [/ul]
“ArmA 2 benefits from a game engine that has been in constant development for 10 years and is used as a basis for training simulators used by armies across the globe.” - Maruk, BIS CEO
ArmA 2 will have full DirectX9 support and is likely to support DirectX10 graphics cards.
Funny thing is the “high command” RTS style thing is available in the original ArmA as of patch 1.14 (ArmA Warfare as mentioned above), and the ability to drag wounded men around is provided in the excellent Advanced Combat Environment mod for ArmA as well. Additional weapons, units and vehicles mean little as the mod community typically takes care of that rather nicely.
I believe the high command RTS view is something more like the Chain of Command mod than Warfare. Basically, making the ability to control multiple squads part of the core game and available to any mission without using a mod. It seemed like there were absolutely no missions that utilized the Command Engine X made for ArmA so I welcome the addition.
The other big feature is probably the ‘micro AI’ which i’ll have to see in action.
If OFP2 uses the AI squads in its core multiplayer game I think it might have some merit but it doesn’t seem nearly as ‘open’ as ArmA with respect to missions.