More ArmA 2 for me... Good mods for older stuff?

[+streakeagle 871]

I now have 3 copies of ArmA 2 (compared to 10 copies of OFP+Resistance/OFPGOTY), but I still need to buy 1 more video card to have a 3rd PC that can run it. I just got my first copy of Operation Arrowhead. Lightning damage to computer/controls/networking equipment just got me the money I needed to get a video card and I also finally bought Steel Beass Pro PE in preparation for the upcoming 2.5x release that will include M60A3 tanks. While I don't think the M60A3s will be internally crewable, their very existence will allow me to play out scenarios that interest me the most. Unfortunately, ArmA 2 does not have M60A3s :( I haven't been involved with any OFP mods for years much less any ArmA/ArmA 2 mods. Are there any decent high quaility packages for older equipment? I particularly loved the Vietnam mod for OFP: Hueys galore! I would also like to have any M48A3 and M60A1/A3 variants that might be available.

 

It appears the one M60A1/A3 mod available was for ArmA, I don't see anything for Arma 2 yet :(

Edited July 31, 2010 by streakeagle

[SFP1Ace 33]

OF...oh that brings memories...I've fiinished the main campaign several times, it was THAT good, and RESISTANCE too. Did you know that there was 3rd campaign available (as a download I think) where you took on the role of Soviet commando (I think it was called Red Hammer, but I might be wrong on this). It was half as long as the main campaign. Sorry for the OT, can't help you with mods for ARMA series, my ARMA gold is collecting dust, there's just so many other good games that occupy my time, (HL2 Orange Box, SotSE and of course SF2 series to name few ;) ).

[+streakeagle 871]

Red Hammer was an addon for red campaign that came out prior to Resistance. I bought OFP x 3, Red Hammer x 3, and Resistance x 3 off the retail shelf as they were released so that I could have friends come over to play. Then I bought OFP GOTY x 5 at retail for $15 each - a great deal since it contained everything from the previous three releases that were about $30 each. Then I got a couple more of GOTY from GoG.com for $10 each. This was by far the best package since it consists of a single setup exe that installs everything in the right order including all the patches to have OFP 1.46 / Restistance 1.96. I learned I could save my registry keys from the other installs so that I can quickly install GOTY seven times using the single setup exe. This has been convenient because every now and then I still have all my friends over for an OFP LAN party. Any license conflicts are quickly resolved by reissuing the reg files so that no two PCs have the same license instead of having to track what PCs have which licenses and resinstalling to eliminate accidental duplicates. OFP is by far my favorite non-flight sim game of all-time. I consider ArmA and ArmA 2 to simply be expansions/patches of OFP. I just haven't played them as much since the hardware requirements greatly limit which PCs I can play them on.

Edited July 31, 2010 by streakeagle

[SFP1Ace 33]

I tried to play ARMA some time ago and while the graphics were 10x better than OFP, the campaign was quite the opposite :( (I'm more of a single player guy). I also bought OFP 2 on steam and while many folks consider it !^&* I kinda liked it (only played it for couple of hours, like so many other games it awaits in a loong line of games I intend play through). Funny thing about me is that I almost never buy games when they're released. Usually I would wait a year or so till the game is fully patched, costs a fraction of release date price, and my PC hardware catches up with the recommended requirements.

Edited August 1, 2010 by SFP1Ace

[JediMaster 451]

Of all the campaigns, I think Op Arrowhead's is the best since the original OFPs. Arma and Arma2 campaigns were just meh. I haven't played the free add-on AH-64 campaign that came out for Arma2 with the 1.05 patch yet, though. As for mods of older tanks, I don't know. Unlike OFP's 1985 timeframe, Arma is current and the M60 just isn't really relevant now. That doesn't mean someone hasn't made one, though.

[+Dave 2,322]

I broke down and got it yesterday. So far I am liking it. Any good mods I should be looking at? I got it through Steam, I heard I cant use the 1.05 patch. Is that true?

 

 

[JediMaster 451]

No, you can DL and use the patch just fine. When OA came out there was some SNAFU where it re-DL'd the entire game (it didn't just DL the changed files, it did EVERY ONE) that took a couple of hours, but that was it.

I thought Steam had the 1.05 version now anyway, what does it say in the corner of the main menu when you start ?

I know people using beta patches with Steam, too, it doesn't care. So far I've seen no "must have" mods, just things that are nice to have. The problem with extra units/weapons/skins type of mods is that you have to make a mission to explicitly use it, they won't just appear. The stock campaigns will only use the stock stuff.

There are other "game changing" mods that alter things like the HUD, recoil, injuries, etc, but that's more preference, there's no obviously superior way. The British forces addon is due out this month or next, I forget.

[+streakeagle 871]

I haven't had any issues with steam lately. They are providing the latest patches as they are supposed to. Whereas not so long ago I had to disble their automatic updates and manually patch to the latest revision. There is a really good M60A3 for ArmA, but wouldn't know the first thing about whether it could be ported to ArmA2. As of August 21st, Steel Beasts Pro PE should be satisfying my desire for Cold War era matchups.

[+Dave 2,322]

My ARMA 2 is fully patched and I am good to go. Spent an hour playing the first mission, loved it. AI wasnt too bad.

[JediMaster 451]

BritFor addon is due out next week. Lynx!

[+76.IAP-Blackbird 3,557]

Do oyu know www.armaholic.com

 

That`s a good site for mods and information about WIP

[+streakeagle 871]

I just got British Armed Forces. Steam has everything all patched up to current revision, so I used the optional "Combined Operations" startup to have everything available in one installation: ArmA2, Operation Arrowhead, and British Armed Forces. The only reason I would want mods is for older time frames. I really like the original game's 1985 time frame and the other mods I focused on were the Vietnam era mods, which were assembled into one awesome package. But out of the box, I get an old UH-1 with a single engine and door guns, which is pretty cool. I can't stand flying the jets. Horrible flight modeling/playability. However, I still thoroughly enjoy all of the helos and the various types of missions that can be flown with them. The ability to have more than one weapon manned per vehicle has been a great thing. That was one of the more annoying parts of OFP. Now, when can we start clubbing people with rifles? Fix bayonets? Or simply come up from behind and slit a throat? I am not talking about custom user scripts, I want out of the box functionality. First aid and dragging troops is pretty cool at this point. Much better than the OFP implementations.

[+streakeagle 871]

I found that there is a semi-finished "Project '85" mod that has unit and vehicle packs covering a lot of what I want. However, they were started in 2007 and have not been fully brought up to ArmA2 standards. The modder has moved on, so it is all "as is". Not sure if I am going to mess with mods at all. I haven't even begun to finish all of the stock missions.

[+Dave 2,322]

I just got British Armed Forces. Steam has everything all patched up to current revision, so I used the optional "Combined Operations" startup to have everything available in one installation: ArmA2, Operation Arrowhead, and British Armed Forces. The only reason I would want mods is for older time frames. I really like the original game's 1985 time frame and the other mods I focused on were the Vietnam era mods, which were assembled into one awesome package. But out of the box, I get an old UH-1 with a single engine and door guns, which is pretty cool. I can't stand flying the jets. Horrible flight modeling/playability. However, I still thoroughly enjoy all of the helos and the various types of missions that can be flown with them. The ability to have more than one weapon manned per vehicle has been a great thing. That was one of the more annoying parts of OFP. Now, when can we start clubbing people with rifles? Fix bayonets? Or simply come up from behind and slit a throat? I am not talking about custom user scripts, I want out of the box functionality. First aid and dragging troops is pretty cool at this point. Much better than the OFP implementations.

 

I got it too. Really love this series, much better than the first ARMA which I hated. I dont even fly the A-10, its terrible. But the choppers are great fun. Love flying the Merlin.

[+streakeagle 871]

The "little bird" with rockets and miniguns is a blast, too. Functionally, it is identical to my favorite UH-1 gunship configuration except that it is more agile. I know the helicopter flight models are as bad as any of the other vehicles in the game, but not having any other combat flight simulator that allows me to fly AH-1s, UH-1s, AH-64s, etc. has forced me to adapt to this implementation. In all other aspects it is immersive enough to make me forget about the flight models. Whereas as with aircraft, there are so many other sims available that do it much better that I can't force myself to become proficient with ArmA 2's flight models. If the DCS series ever decides to model a UH-1 or AH-1, I might finally get a decent alternative, but in the mean time, OFP/ArmA 2 remains my favorite for flying combat helo missions.

[+Dave 2,322]

and AH-1 and a UH-1 gunship ARMA 2 would be great.

[+streakeagle 871]

Just finished several of the stock single player missions in Operation Arrowhead. They completely capture the best aspects of the original OFP and then add a whole bunch more:

Screaming women and other innocent people that should not be shot. Classic shoot/don't shoot style gameplay.

Goats.

Sniper rifle with thermal imaging scope and selectable zoom.

Almost cinematic quality graphics.

 

I still have some issues due to my weak single core processor, but the ArmA2 series is simply amazing after so many years of playing OFP/Resistance.

[JediMaster 451]

Arma2 does have UH-1Y and AH-1Z.

 

I also haven't spent much time with the planes, but I like the helos. In fact, there's that AH-64 campaign that came out with the 1.05 patch I've yet to try.

 

Oh, if you want to fly Cobras and Apaches in a more sim-like environment, try EECH with the latest mods from arneh. EECH is on gog.com I think pretty cheap, and the mods add a TON of stuff.

[+Dave 2,322]

Thats right, I have been playing no much ARMA 2 Op Arrowhead I forgot about the original one.

 

 

[TeTeT 0]

...

Unfortunately, ArmA 2 does not have M60A3s :(

 

I've just got ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead and found a Vietnam addon that claims to have the Patton. I haven't played the addon yet, still to busy with the core missions and campaign. Anyway, here is the link: Vietnam: The Experience

[+streakeagle 871]

Cold War Rearmed 2 Demo is a blast. This is a project to import everything from OFP/Resistance into ArmA 2. The demo has my all-time favorite warm up mission: Steal the Car as well as several other long time favorites from the original OFP. The rebuilt islands are great! In OFP, I usually beat Steal the Car very quickly using the "Han Solo" approach, i.e. run-n-gun relying on my reflexes and familiarity with the mission to pick them apart before they even get a shot off. Not so in Arma 2 Combined Operations. I don't know the patrol patterns and my pc runs a little slow for quick reaction times, so I finally beat it using the low-n-slow approach. I lay prone on a slope, watched a few patrols go by. Picked off the ones I had identified, then moved in sprinting from cover to cover. Luckily, I spotted the remaining personnel before they spotted me and hastily killed them. Took down 8 guys. In OFP, I would have scored 1 kill for every 1-2 shots fired. In ArmA 2 Combined Arms, I am spending 3 to 5 rounds to drop these guys. In OFP, I played on max difficulty with Super AI, whereas I get my butt kicked by AI in ArmA 2 with just the default Regular difficulty. Pure joy to play this.

 

Project 85 was pretty good, but I didn't feel like scripting missions and didn't see any laying around.

Likewise for Vietnam The Experience, which is the original OFP Vietnam mod with quite a few tweaks to take advantage of the latest ArmA 2 platform.

The UH-1 and AH-1 are much better than OFP, but not fully up to Arma 2 standards.

[JediMaster 451]

My 2 favorite missions in OFP:85 were the "Alone in the Forest" one and the one whose name I forget where you have to escape an enemy camp at night and have nothing but the stars to navigate by (no compass). Once I managed to steal the camp's BMP to escape, running over several enemies on the way out.

[viperBAT32 2]

Man,it's hard to believe that i squeeze 50hrs of work in a week,and still have time to play the best sims on earth!

 

I bought Arma2:CO then purchased Arma2:Reinforcements......and i never looked back!

 

I think i grab everything the ArmA 2 community has to offer.....I have so many expansions and add-ons that my ArmA 2 download folder exceeds 15GB's!

 

I,too play a lot of the CWR2 mod and the VTE mod and also the Unsung mod....while the CWR2 mod gives me the old OFP:RH campaign(I'm kicking myself for sending OFP:RH to my bro in Texas(I know,I know...))....not to mention the "Project'85" stuff i get to play within the editor.The others only offer missions.Would be nice to see a Vietnam campaign with all the available mods out there.

 

I've created several Vietnam missions using VTE and Unsung mods for my own personal use.....I haven't uploaded any due to dail-up limitations(Thank God for flash drives and DSL at work...don't tell on me !).. and most importantly author permissions....after all, we get to play these great mods because they took the time to SHARE.One day I'll be able to contribute to this site and others for the gb's of data i have!

 

In a nutshell......This SIM is endless.....so many possibilities!5 outta 5!!!

 

p.s.....had a lot of sleepless nights trying to get out of "Alone in the Forest"...think it was hard in OFP?......Arma2 was white knuckle madness!