Arma 3 (current state) discussion

Party-approved discussion of ArmA 3
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Thirith
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Arma 3 (current state) discussion

Post by Thirith »

I haven't found any up-to-date discussion here of Arma 3, which I expect many of you are interested in. I'm by no means an Arma pro - I've played the series since the days of Operation Flashpoint, but I've always been more of an occasional enthusiast than a pro. I've seen some comments on the state of the game in a couple of threads and in other places, but I was curious what people thought of the game's current state.

In a weird way, I have to say it currently feels more like the first Arma than like Arma 2. I'd put this down to two things: visuals and physics/movement/overall feel. From what I've seen and read, the engine is much improved, especially when it comes to lighting, but I'm finding the look of the game too clean. It's lacking in dust and dirt, in randomness. I understand that the Mediterranean has a different look and feel especially from the Eastern European hills and forests of Chernogorsk, but right now the 'sterile' look of Stratis make me want to go back to Arma 2.

The other thing is that movement and physics feel off to me. Things don't seem to have any weight, they don't have the inertia that I'd expect. I haven't done much flying in Arma 3, but right now I'd much rather fly helicopters in Arma 2. Some of this may be that I'm not used to the changes, but it contributes to the feeling that things don't have weight or solidity (and the graphics' cleanness add to this).

There are things I like, for instance the way you can fine-tune your stance. The game obviously has potential. It's just that right now I'd have little reason to start it instead of Arma 2.

But I'm probably missing a lot of things, both good and bad. What are people's general impressions? What do you like, what do you dislike? Is there anything that you didn't like to begin with but have come to prefer to the earlier games? (And does anyone else have this weird feeling that Arma 3 is closer to Arma 1 and can explain to me what causes this? :-) )
"Until now we scraped along the ground like rats, but from now on, we soar. Like eagles. Yeah. LIKE EAGLES... ON... POGO STICKS." - Grim Fandango

Medic Eugene Roe
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Re: Arma 3 (current state) discussion

Post by Medic Eugene Roe »

I'm not sure anyone's truly a pro... I mean, except the party leaders!

Yeah, Stratis is pretty, but it seems too pretty for a war torn military island. As for helicopters, they seem plenty heavy enough. Arma 2 controls just felt slower, not heavier. Arma 3 has divers though, as well as already implemented parachutes (though steering them still feels messy), which are a fair mark ahead Arma 2 no? Plus we have new editor modules which makes it easier to make missions, Steam workshop now for fast and easy publishing. Yeah, Arma 3 has it's errors. So does every game. But it still has a good enough number of improvements over Arma 2 to make me like it.

Also, I never played the first Arma, either Cold War Crisis or Combat Operations. Should I?

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Mojo
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Re: Arma 3 (current state) discussion

Post by Mojo »

Arma 3 has improved imensly today as "all" release vehicles have been given to the DEV branch users. To be honest, it never felt like arma without some proper armor and vehicles to put bullets in and static weapons for defensive positions. Since arma 3 jumped into a new modern setting it has lost its carismatic old feel, what I mean by that is that modern combat focuses heavily on small squads with more firepower than rambos pinkyfinger and not by a larger 12 man squad fighting with sticks and stones. I might be oldfashioned, but I quite enjoyed the older feel of arma 2.

But BI have done a really good job on a lot of parts in this game. For one, the terrain is extremly detailed and bumpy, rather than flat and covered in everyones favorite grass. There is alot of natural cover wich is awsomesauce and I thank BI for putting so much care into the terrain of altis. Next to that is the shooting, no more magic green marker and a lot of natural recoil. There is a lot of arguing about the shooting mechanics but it forces the player to think in other ways than in arma 2. The natural response to fire greater than 50m is to lay down and seek cover where possible and laying down gives you the most stable platform to return fire. People may feel it is too much but it makes shooting a greater challenge and makes firefights last longer as you cant empty a clip on a 5cm dot anymore.
I am also pleased with the way that scopes are presented in the game. It is a bit weird at first but is really close to the real thing.

The sounds of arma 3 have also massively improved over arma 2. Nothing says :fry: than a 120mm cannon blasting near you. The Sonic bang of regular bullets is also really close to the real deal and is much more noticeable than in arma 2 but as always, it is only close, and not nearly as a spectacle as in JSRS. Sadly rifle sounds are rather meh and would need some care by a designer, be it modder or official.

Next to that, I am really in love with the 155mm mobile howitzer. Finally you can engage targets without the artillery computer and you are not locked to HE shells only. The ability to deploy minefields in someones back yard is absolutely destructive, and that is the feel I get from arma 3. Things have moved on and gotten a lot more deadly wich is the same road that warfare these days is going. Less people, more boom.

Mojo out.

(Why AAF and CSAT share some of the same vehicles, and why BI blindly copied russias trucks into arma 3 is beyond me. 2030s High tech soldiers driving in trucks from the 80ties. :|)
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Thirith
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Re: Arma 3 (current state) discussion

Post by Thirith »

Glad to see that others have come away with more positive opinions! As I've said, I haven't yet spent much time on Stratis and am happy to hear that people aren't roundly saying it's better to stick with Arma 2. These games, like few others, have never been about instant like/dislike for me - I think to some extent I was nonplussed by each of them at the beginning and had to learn how to appreciate what they were offering.

@Medic Eugene Roe: Operation Flashpoint is likely to look ancient to anyone playing it these days, but in terms of the single-player campaign it's still great. Much less free-form than Arma 2, but it's much more substantial than anything the other games have offered. If you can get it cheap, it's definitely worth trying out.
"Until now we scraped along the ground like rats, but from now on, we soar. Like eagles. Yeah. LIKE EAGLES... ON... POGO STICKS." - Grim Fandango

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harakka
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Re: Arma 3 (current state) discussion

Post by harakka »

There's also the Cold War Rearmed^2 mod that ports the Cold War Crisis and Resistance campaigns to A2CO. Highly recommended.
Me and him, we're from different ancient tribes. Now we're both almost extinct. Sometimes you gotta stick with the ancient ways, the old school ways. I know you understand me.

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Kefirz
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Re: Arma 3 (current state) discussion

Post by Kefirz »

Yeah and they have Everon, Malden... all the good nostalgic places, which were visited back in the day, when tracers were greener and legs hurt more from shrapnel.
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Crocuta
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Re: Arma 3 (current state) discussion

Post by Crocuta »

Thirith wrote:(And does anyone else have this weird feeling that Arma 3 is closer to Arma 1 and can explain to me what causes this? :-) )
The first thing that comes to mind is how similar Altis/Stratis is to Sahrani, at least in comparison to Chernarus/Takistan. I've been to a few Greek islands before and they've really nailed the authenticity, although visually, one thing that I don't like is how flat the shading on the trees looks.

I don't know how I feel about the game yet. I've been ambivalent, but I think that's because I haven't had a proper multiplayer game or played a fully produced campaign (besides the game not even being finished yet).

As much as I don't mind the near future tech, I'd still like to see their first expansion feature at least an ak74, and a few other modernish bits and bobs like that.

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