Just picked this up

[FOTF]

I broke down and picked this one up today.

 

I wasn't a big fan of OFP (The original GR blew my mind), but I have been jonesing for some good combat....GRAWF just didn't do it for me....

 

So...any "Must have" downloads? Also, I have heard tons of people talk about the MP mode....how is offline play? I got BF2, CS and DoD Source, so my online is covered....

[JediMaster]

So far I don't think there are any "must have"s for ArmA other than the 1.08 patch. Lots of stuff in development, though.

 

MP is the highlight of the game because the friendly AI can be real frustratingly stupid at times.

The SP missions that came with ArmA aren't the best, but you can go to sites like armaholic.com and grab many more that will work SP or MP as well as SP-only missions that put the stock ones to shame. The size of the islands and the terrain diversity and detailed towns makes for some great gaming.

 

Games like DoD, CS, and BF are more about team v team adversarial, but ArmA/OFP is all about coop. A small human force vs a large AI force plus numerous vehicles. It's not BF type vehicles, though.

[FOTF]

I'm going to be offline for about a week while I move into my new house....perhaps I will study some and try my hand at the mission editor....

 

Seems like a fun game, I am still searching for the right balance of performance versus eye candy....my system is pretty close to the recommended specs (over in many cases), the Geforce 6600 being the exception and it runs like poo.

[JediMaster]

Yeah, the 6600 will be a weak spot for you. However, each patch so far has improved performance. I started at 1.05 and it's just been getting better...word is the old 1.01 and such were REAL bad.

[TX3RN0BILL]

I must admit I'm a major OFP/ArmA fan, been playing it since 2001 (ever since the demos came out) and I must say ArmA is still in its baby steps compared to how OFP matured over the times... But once the official modding tools come out you'll see the community cranking out great stuff... actually, they're already churning out great stuff converted from the addons they made for OFP... As a "battlefield" game I think it rules supreme because just like OFP it gives you complete freedom to do anything...

 

Currently with the 1.08 patch one of the worst downsides is the plane flight model, it just sucks compared even to the OFP one, though the helicopters are acceptable, except for the fact that you lose rudder control at way lower speeds than you normally do IRL...

Edited June 29, 2007 by TX3RN0BILL

[FOTF]

Yeah, the 6600 will be a weak spot for you. However, each patch so far has improved performance. I started at 1.05 and it's just been getting better...word is the old 1.01 and such were REAL bad.

 

 

Well, I decided it was time for a total all around make over.

 

I am rolling a Athlon64 3800 with a GeForce 8800GTX now.

 

ArmA runs great now!

[JediMaster]

Yeah, I'd think it would.

My CPU is better than yours (FX-57), but your vid card is better than mine (X1950 Pro) so we're likely getting equivalent performance.

[FOTF]

In fact, with the new system I have been forced to re-evaluate my opinion of GRAW.

 

It is actually quite good as well. It will never replace the original Ghosts, but still pretty good.

 

Looking forward to really delving into ArmA though....The depth of the game is amazing. I read a blurb from one of the game mags that was nearly spot on..."Think Battlefield 2 on a MUCH MUCH larger scale"....You can pretty much do anything.

[+streakeagle]

Other than graphics, I don't find ArmA to be that much better than OFP.

However, I still think OFP is by far the most realistic and fun tactical fps ever made and ArmA corrects one of its major limitations: dated graphics.

 

There are still quirks with the physics of the vehicles, especially aircraft/helos, but I don't know of a more flexible and immersive shooter sim.

Given that OFP runs well on all the PCs at my house and ArmA barely runs acceptably on only two of the 6 PCs, guess which one I still play when I have friends over?

[TX3RN0BILL]

I admit I also keep coming back more to OFP than I visit ArmA, especially because of the bugged plane flight model, which seems to be based on the helicopter flight model, which isn't that noticeable in OFP as is in ArmA, with the current 1.08 patch this is FUBAR... Also, there's lots more community-made contents for OFP than there is for ArmA atm, but that is of course only temporary... Though I must admit I definitely hope that the Wanzer addons etc are brought into ArmA...

[JediMaster]

They're sure to modify the FMs again with later patches, but this is still primarily an infantry sim with other elements of the total battlefield included. This in no way qualifies as a helo or jet sim!

 

Actually, the genesis of OFP WAS to be BF with a much larger map. As they were developing it, though, BIS got the idea to make the infantry more realistic. They left the vehicles as is.

[TX3RN0BILL]

The problem is, whilst in OFP the FM was good enough to be useful and not drawing too many criticisms, in ArmA, BIS decided to change the flight model, and IMHO they fixed something that wasn't broken, which was the worst they could do. Since this is a complete battlefield game trying to simulate everything at the same but excelling at none, I think they should have kept OFP's FM which at least was still useful... I refuse to fly planes in ArmA 1.08 as-is!

[JediMaster]

I agree, they should've let it be. The A-10 has some odd characteristics I've noticed, which the Harrier does not. Specifically, everyone knows you pull back on the stick to tighten a turn...but the A-10 won't. In turns exceeding about 30 degrees of bank, the elevators seem to stop working. I'll have full back stick and get no response. Roll a bit level and WHAM! Up goes the nose.

 

If the A-10 in ArmA flew like the one in LOMAC I'd clean up.