Arma 3: how pissed off are you? (vent)

[Tolya]

Okay, maybe I haven't been following the news lately or just didn't care, but recently I learned that Armed Assault 3 is coming this year.

So off I go to watch the game footage.

And Im sorry, but I see absolutely no progress from Arma 2, which was a boring broken game in itself. The only thing they improved is graphics... supposedly, because I can't fucking see any difference on youtube videos.

They also added ragdoll physics. And they actually brag about it. Yes, they brag about something that everyone else has done 5 years ago.

Oh, don't forget about a physics system in which you can crash your vehicle into another vehicle and move that vehicle. You can also move barrels and containers. I wonder if they make a separate mission in SP campaign?

Yes, there's also gonna be underwater stuff, like insertions from a submarine.

It would be funny if it weren't so sad and boring, but in the demo they showed to the public none of that stuff were even implemented correctly. The cars bounced upwards when crashing into barrels, there is no physical force applied to a ragdoll when a character gets hit by a bullet (so if you kill someone they just let go of their leg muscles and fold down).

At this point Im convinced that they are doing Arma 3 for one reason: to squeeze money off the militaries which will HAVE TO upgrade their VBS's.

It STILL relies on the stupid animation cycling which makes your controlled character behave like an Exxon tanker. They still use the totally redundant scripting system which makes all RPG'able elements look like taken straight out of a MUD. They still use the totally fucked up action/inventory system which makes you scroll through lists... for fucks sake...

Oh, another "cool" feature is in-game weapon customization. Like you can change your ACOG to a red dot on the fly! Wow, isn't that something any decent modder can do nowadays with Arma 2?

The only good thing you can say about it is that it looks good. But it also looks like a texture replacement pack bundled with some assorted mods than a real game. Don't you guys at Bohemia ever learn?

I fucking LOVE military simulation games and Arma's formula is something taken out of a dream. But I will wait for them to actually address the problems that the original Operation Flashpoint had before I buy something from them.

[CaptHawkeye]

They're never going to address those problems because they're so deep in tradition and taking in so much jizz from the milsim crowd that change of any kind would be sacrilegious. They focus so much on scope that they can't see the forest for the trees and as a result, they're forever going to release games that look like they're from 2030 but play like they're from 2001.

[Sarevok]

Whats the enemy and friendly AI like in this installment ? The second game was a big improvement from what I hear. So any big leaps this time too ?

[Stark]

Why would anyone care the sequel to the sequel of a shit game is shit? That there are still problems form years ago unaddressed just tells you that 'simulationist' just means 'clunky and horrible'.

I remember when they thought DDOF was a selling point for people, without realising their game sucks shit and only eight people in the world would ever play it anyways.

[Skgoa]

DDOF?

[Stark]

Dynamic depth of field; the visual effect whereby things distant from the focus are blurry (ie things in front of, or behind, whatever you're looking at). If you aimed at a tank, they guys behind it would blur a bit to show that they are not in focus.

THRILLING.

[weemadando]

I would give half a shit about a new ArmA if there was even a hint that they were fixing the same fucking issues that have existed since OFP (vehicle crewing, shitty interface, terrible slidy control, buildings being totally unusable, terrible broken scripting).

I mean, they still haven't got multiple crew/passenger positions fully functional in ArmA2 and that was a big criticism of OFP which fucking DICE of all people had a working system for two years earlier (Codename Eagle).

BI need to take time away from the product and start from scratch, not just recycle their broken shit if they want us to care.

[CaptHawkeye]

They don't care about "us". They care about their fanatically loyal base of spineless fanboys who will lap up anything they give them. Minimum effort production is totally an option for these guys, and they'll take it every time.

It's been a long time since the years when I dumped days worth of my life into Cold War Crisis. The split between Codemasters and Bohemia destroyed Operation Flashpoint as we know it. Codemasters tried to make a soulless spinoff that contained none of the ambition and attention to scope that Bohemia put in. Bohemia Interactive is now totally self absorbed, and has no one to push them or guide them to improve their products and the delivery of all their talents. Instead wasting away on self satisfaction and complacency.

These two have been the prime example of why developers and publishers need each other.

[Stark]

Its an option for a lot of studios with dedicated fanbases, and you see many of them taking it. I'm curious to know if they've done the numbers to see that expanding appeal is too risky, or if they're just copping out and milking the 15 guys who buy anything they sell for every penny they can.

[Edward Yee]

Oh, another "cool" feature is in-game weapon customization. Like you can change your ACOG to a red dot on the fly! Wow, isn't that something any decent modder can do nowadays with Arma 2?

My understanding of how those mods work is that they simply swap the player's weapon+attachment combo with one in the chosen configuration, thanks to the old "every possible weapon+attachment combo is its own weapon as far as the game is concerned," and what BI is advertising/showing off is that ARMA 3 weapon+attachment combos would finally be treated as modular.

[Tolya]

Dynamic depth of field; the visual effect whereby things distant from the focus are blurry (ie things in front of, or behind, whatever you're looking at). If you aimed at a tank, they guys behind it would blur a bit to show that they are not in focus.

THRILLING.

Only thing is, depth of field is the thing you notice when using optical lens. With your eyes, you don't notice it most of the time because the thing you are focusing on is always in focus and the other stuff... well, you're not really looking at them so how can you tell they're blurry?

DDOF, and most blur effects for that matter, are just there to hide ugly textures and objects. It's how the console games (and PC too, sadly) hide their ugly visuals by burying them under a cinematic effect.

My understanding of how those mods work is that they simply swap the player's weapon+attachment combo with one in the chosen configuration, thanks to the old "every possible weapon+attachment combo is its own weapon as far as the game is concerned," and what BI is advertising/showing off is that ARMA 3 weapon+attachment combos would finally be treated as modular.

Yeah, but if a modder can easily make this in an environment which wasn't conceived for modularity, who cares if it's a scripting trick? And mostly important, why show it off as a thrilling feature? I've watched a 15-minute dev commented gameplay video. All they did was show a bunch of meaningless features.

Don't get me wrong, Im not pissed off because they added all that stuff. Good that they did, but the things they are showing off have been present in many games for years now. They should just add it. And keep quiet about it, because they just look ridiculous. And then implement something innovative and brag about that.

"Look, we made the world all shiney and sparkley! It's not a total suckage anymore!"
"But is it good?"
"Of course! We added a mod system to teh wepons! You can change the sights now!"
"Yes, but is the actual gameplay good?"
"Yes it is! You can bump into barrels with your car and they bounce off!"
n+1

Will I get the demo? Probably. Will I like it? I don't think so.

[Stark]

Yeah, it hides the low-tex gun models when you iron up. But it's JUST LIKE A CAMERA LOL, so it must be real soldier simulation stuff.

[Julhelm]

All FPS's put in incredible amounts of time and money into looking like they're shot through a cheap handheld camera.

[Stark]

Thanks for that!

It's funny to me that it might take a while, but they are pushing away their base. Most of the guys in this thread were happy about the first one and optimistic about second one; but now the story is different.

[Sea Skimmer]

I’d never buy another game from them again until they rework the game from the ground up. A logic existed, plus very limited money, for carrying over Arma 1 crap to Aram 2 since the level of modding that existing was absolutely immense, but that’s not a justified reason to carry it over yet again. One can just keep downloading mods for Arma 2.

Whats the enemy and friendly AI like in this installment ? The second game was a big improvement from what I hear. So any big leaps this time too ?

The only improvement in the AI was the AI could follow roads better that I noticed, and even that took multiple patches to implement. It was pretty dumb otherwise, though shear numbers could do a lot to balance that out since its biggest problem was painfully low reaction times and constantly moving to find cover when none existed. At long range it worked okay and did scripted but useful thing like continuing to fire when it lost direct LOS to you. I never though the Operation Flashpoint AI was all that awful though, certainly it wasn't bad for its time and the range of weapons it used.