ArmA 2 - TTLG Forums

This is one of the few series where going multiplatform may actually make the game better. Hopefully it will result in the controls being tightened up at least, plus it might force them to optimize the engine a little bit.

Wille on 2/3/2009 at 21:03

It certainly looks good however so did ArmA 1 back in 2006. Unless Bohemia has fixed or greatly improved following things it's going to be just a graphical update:

-Bad collision detection
-Bad physics
-Bad player controlling (It's animation based now which results in very unprecise movement a la Thief 3. This makes urban combat frustrating)
-Bad item and player action handling (A clumsy action menu is not very user friendly)
-Engine limits like being unable to shoot from a moving vehicle (This feature is in VBS2 already anyway)
-etc.

I loved OFP and I'm still somewhat sure that only Bohemia can bring us a true sequel to that masterpiece. But to succeed they need to realize the age old problems of their engine and game mechanics first. Hopefully ArmA 2 will feel like OFP did in 2001 and set a new standard once again for this type of games.

Quote:

I fully agree with this.

Ironpants on 3/3/2009 at 00:55

Quote Posted by Jason Moyer

It will probably be OFP 1.75, but I'll get it and enjoy it nonetheless.

Arma is OFP 1.75; the engine still uses oldschool sequential animation fer chrissake! No, Arma2 is effectively OFP2, with a modern animation system which should please those who complain about the clunky movement in Arma.

As an infantry simulator, Arma wins across the board hands down. It's a very basic armor & flight simulation, but is the closest thing to gaming perfection in my book. Sure I could go play IL2, EECH or now Blackshark with their fancy flight and avionics modeling, but there's nothing more immersive than setting down in a hot zone while you're calling out targets to your doorgunner who's covering other real people as they pile in for evac, then getting out in one piece. Particularly with the radius / distance based (with object sound occlusion!) direct chat VOIP and realtime lip syncing(!), it's the closest thing to actually being there.

It's more a framework than a game in the traditional sense - the play experience depends entirely on the mission author (scripts can drastically modify gameplay, add new features, etc) and the players present during the mission. While OFP has a solid singleplayer campaign out of the box, Arma does not. Multiplayer is where the mindblowing experiences happen, but not just on any old public server. You need a group who are serious about working together; lonewolfing doesn't cut it. That's rare outside of the (public) tacticalgamer community.

I'm really looking forward to Arma2. However, I suspect there will be a lag in community transition once it's released unless Arma2 somehow manages to incorporate all the incredible features the recently released Advanced Combat Environment mod does. It was the same with OFP + Wargame Leagues Mod being better than Arma on release. Bohemia's initial offerings are historically rough at the edges, but oh radiant glory once polished.

Scots Taffer on 3/3/2009 at 01:02

Yeah, that tank firing effect really scales back some of the earlier explosion shit we were seeing in screens that looked amazing. I don't mind terribly on the graphical front, right enough, like Fragony says that's sometimes a plus.

EvaUnit02 on 3/3/2009 at 01:51

Quote Posted by Koki

Multiplatform.

In this scenario it's far more likely the was developed for PC and will see a Xbox port down the road, rather being developed for both platforms simultaneously.

OFP2: Dragon Rising by Codemasters would've been the title to suffer obvious consolisation, from being developed for all platforms since its inception.