Arma 3: Totally Not a Zombie Simulator

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Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

DISCLAIMER: This thread is years out of date, feel free to start a new thread if you'd like, or submit text blocks to me and I'll add them to the OP. Arma Reforger is out, which is essentially a tech demo and sandbox for BIS to work on the new engine for Arma 4.

Cheers to the 10 years of memories, tomfoolery and goofiness that this game has provided :cheers:

Table of Contents

General

Advice

Missions

Communities

Zeus

Mods

Links

(Credit to Keket for all the awesome headers)

Arma 3 vanilla game - http://store.steampowered.com/app/107410/
Arma 3 DLC 3-pack (Karts, Heli’s, Marksmen) - http://store.steampowered.com/app/304400/
Arma 3 Game+DLC pack - http://store.steampowered.com/sub/60639/
As is usually the case with Steam games, if you’re patient, wait for the Winter and Summer Steam sales, because you’ll get this game significantly cheaper(%40-%70 cheaper if you’re lucky)

What is Arma?

Arma 3 is the latest game in Bohemia Interactive's Arma series, a franchise known best for it's quasi-realistic FPS mechanics, non-linear tactical gameplay, large and varied communities, and the ambitious modding and mission-making scene. Some of the improvements from Arma 2 include vastly improved mouse controls, much better graphics, a whole new stance system, Zeus, a weapons attachment system, and much more. The game is set in the near future on their version of the real-life island of Limnos in the Mediterranean, dubbed Altis. It is pretty huge as games go, at approximately 300 km² of detailed and variegated terrain. The communities in Arma vary from small groups of friends who play on public servers, to huge milsim groups with hundreds of members who play on highly modified versions of the game with their own private rules, missions, and servers. The modding scene is very active, with work ranging from radio simulators, to even more realistic overhauls, useful tools like a squad 'minimap' of sorts, and even ridiculous stuff like Halo universe mods. With Arma you get to pick and choose who you play with, what maps and weapons are available, how missions are designed, and how you want to approach any given situation. This freedom is what has given Arma the longevity and popularity it has today.

I keep on dying, how the gently caress do you people play this game?

Before we get started with the :spergin:

, here's a quick glimpse of the Arma Experience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig9z_hDSjuU

At it's heart, Arma is a tactical first person shooter with an emphasis on slower paced gameplay, which is naturally induced through it's realism. A round from a rifle to an unarmoured torso, as in real life, will lay your virtual rear end out flat, and everything scales up from there in lethality when you add in the possibility to be attacked by and operate ( :getin:

) planes, tanks, artillery, and many other modern angels of death. One of Arma's strongest points is the way it allows for large groups of people to play with and against each other. Although a tank may be an intimidating threat to a squad of infantry in terms of raw firepower, that same squad can use tactics and clever positioning to draw the tank into disadvantageous terrain and hit it’s more vulnerable rear with RPG’s.

The key to surviving and doing well in Arma is to take things slower then you’re probably used to. Pay close attention to what’s around you, the terrain that you or the enemy may be occupying, and don’t fall victim to tunnel vision. It’s really easy to miss a squad of enemy infantry when they’re all taking cover in the edge of a forest, but if you think from your enemy’s perspective and pay attention to the areas you would likely hide in, ambush from, etc., you’ll be well on your way to noticing them first and shooting some mans.

If you're interested in a extremely well put together guide to this game that covers everything from infantry play, combined arms, group play, tactics, etc. the Arma Digital Deluxe upgrade (available on the main Steam page) has the official tactical guide written by Shacktac’s Dslyecxi. It is essentially the latest installment of his fantastic TTP guides he wrote for Arma 1 and Arma 2, and it is a veritable gold mine of advice that is beyond the scope of this thread.

Media;Out of date, being worked on

Videos from Dslyecxi

Arma 3 Movement & Shooting Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8vrbzNYEwM
Arma 3 Gear & Weapons Customization Overview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLIPW0oIvm8

Screenshots;Out of date, being worked on

(Credit to LSD)

So there's all this talk about missions, but how do I find and play them?
When you play Arma 3, you will passively download the currently running mission as you connect to servers. Sometimes, though, you may want to play a mission on your own or perhaps check out something that someone else made in the Editor. There are many ways to do this.

By subscribing to their content on the Steam Workshop. After clicking the subscribe button and restarting the game, you will see it listed under the Single Player->Scenarios section in the game’s Main Menu (usually at the bottom of the missions list).
By manually downloading the mission’s .pbo file and placing it into your Steam\SteamApps\Arma 3\MPMissions folder (or \Missions folder, assuming it is a Single Player mission).

There are many communities across the internet where you can find missions that other people have made with the Editor so that you can try them out or play them for yourself. Some of the most common places where people post their creations are: Armaholic, the Official Arma 3 Forums, and PlayWithSix (albeit only in certain cases).

USERNAMEHERE wrote a pretty thorough and well received review of many of the popular Single Player Campaigns that people have created over the years, so if you’re interested in trying out some things on your own for whatever reason, then it’d be a good idea to check out his recommendations to get yourself started. He provided links for downloading each one in his posts.(pending response)
Also, part of the big Make Arma Not War contest in 2014 that Bohemia held resulted in a truckload of great Single Player missions bring made by the community. You can check out the best of them by browsing the finalists of the Single Player category here: link
Lastly, you can also browse the Steam Workshop’s Single Player category to see what’s currently popular and trending in Arma 3’s modding community.

You tend to have two completely different sides of the game when it comes to multiplayer content: the public communities and the private communities. Both of them are very different beasts and as a result you have a huge variation in content and quality.

For the public side of the community, you most often tend to see missions that work with the vanilla game, sans mod dependencies. Popular examples of this include: King of the Hill, Invade & Annex, Patrol Ops, Altis Life, and Domination. These kinds of missions are typically considered to be very casual, join-the-server-and-go-shoot-stuff types of missions. As described earlier in the Community section of this post, the public side of Arma 3’s community can easily be characterized in this way because of these sorts of missions as they’re the most common ones that you will be able to play on any given day.

There are, however, quite a few segments of the public community that do use mod dependencies that follow the example of DayZ, which sort of became a kind of total conversion of Arma 2. Popular examples of this in Arma 3 include: Battle Royale, Breaking Point, and Epoch; the latter of which has spawned a rather active Goon sub-community over in the PGS board as of Spring 2015.

As for the private side of the community, things tend to be pretty closed door for many reasons. As described above in the post about the game’s Community in general, the private side of the Arma 3 Community tends to be rather decentralized and segregated. As a result of this, most multiplayer missions tend to be kept in-house, so to speak. Usually it’s a byproduct of mod dependencies, though, but more often than not it’s because people tend to want to keep things “in the family.”

On the other hand, multiplayer missions in the private side of the Arma 3 community are usually higher quality and have a lot more variation, albeit less replayability. Want to play a Jurassic Park mission where you’re a Raptor hunting other players in a jungle in the pitch black dead of night? Well, those kinds of missions definitely exist, but you’ll either have to find the private Arma communities that have them and find a way to join their groups as well as download their modpack or else you’ll have to make them yourself and find other people to play it with you. As described above in the Community section of the post, this is one of the current problems with the Arma community.

So you want to make some missions (Credit to LSD)

I used to make missions in Arma 2, how much of that carries over to Arma 3?

The skills, scripting, and processes you learned to make missions in Arma 2 are still relevant in Arma 3 because almost all of the same procedures carry over. One change worth noting is that Bohemia has given the new Editor’s interface a complete makeover, though you can still revert it back to the old way if you prefer. They have also changed the file structure of the game for scripting by introducing things such as initServer.sqf and initPlayerLocal.sqf (though you can still do it the old way, via init.sqf, if you prefer).

So how do I get started learning this?
There are a lot of Youtube video guides explaining how to use the Editor and whatnot, however most of them are the usual “copy paste what I wrote and you’re done!” The most reputable place to start for learning how to use the Editor from scratch, though, is Jester814’s video series on Youtube (link).

After learning the basics of how to use the Editor, you will eventually feel forced to learn the game’s scripting language. Ever since this game’s predecessor, Arma 2, Bohemia has maintained a special scripting language built for their games called “SQF.” Whereas in most languages, for example in Java, you would say something like this:

code:

addWeapon(player,&#8221;m16&#8221;)

In Bohemia’s SQF language, the syntax and grammar are very unique compared to what most computer languages would do. The above example in SQF would look like this:

code:

player addWeapon &#8220;m16&#8221;

To learn more about the SQF languages, here are a list of references that every mission maker keeps open in various browser tabs while they are working in the Editor:

link to the Arma 3 Scripting Commands page in the BIKI: http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Category:Scripting_Commands_Arma_3
link to the Arma 3 BIS fnc command list(pending)
link to the Arma 3 Scripting Optimization guide(pending)
link to the other useful scripting links (pending)

(Credit to LSD)

So who do I play this game with goons?

The Something Awful forums is home to several active Goon communities. Most of them, as well as their modpacks and their group’s contact information, can be found in the PGS board. There is a lot of overlap between the Goon communities, so you will often see many of the same faces in each group listed below.

The Epoch Goons thread grew out of a previous sub-community’s server for the Epoch mod called FOB Neckbeard and is currently the most active Goon group in the Arma 3 community. They have players from all over the world working together to collectively grief pubbies. Lately, they have been playing on the Donkey Punch server, although they have been known to change servers every few months to spice things up.
AGM Goons is an Arma 3 group organized by Cooked Auto and is the place to go if you are interested in more tactical play with many of the people that you often see in this thread.
Special Needs Forces is the oldest Arma 3 Goon group in the PGS board. They prefer to play simple, casual missions without any mod dependencies so that it’s easy to hop in and play. They have been really inactive lately, but every month or so Kilonum will bump the thread and host an event, and they always have a good time.

Apart from the goon communities listed above, very often you will find small groups of friends in the CTS Mumble’s Arma 3 channel, the Goonswarm Mumble’s Arma 3 Channel, or the Goonrathi Mumble channel. Typically they play any of the popular multiplayer games, King of the Hill and Breaking Point being the most common ones. If you’re lucky enough to catch these elusive goons who play from time to time, they’ll always be happy to let you join in on their fun.

IRC

#Armagoons on synirc

Camping the Stairs Mumble

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3521554

Linked thread in PGS has all the details

Steam

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/a3goons This is a public group, figure out how to get in yourself :colbert:

(Credit to LSD)

So what is Zeus?

One of the most popular player-made mods in Arma 2 was MCC, which had a special function where you transform yourself into an omnipresent spectator camera that can fly around and place objects or enemy units anywhere you wanted in the game world. In 2014, Bohemia released an official, built-into-the-game version of this concept for Arma 3 and called it Zeus.

Zeus effectively turns Arma 3 into a game of Dungeons & Dragons, where the Zeus player is the Dungeon Master and all of the other players are the heroes of the story. Almost anything that can be done in the Editor as a pre-made mission can also be done in Zeus with a few key exceptions, such as the lack of locality control for scripters. For this reason, many people nowadays will forgo ever learning how to use the Mission Editor and instead just learn how to do Zeus. In fact, there are actually mods (for example, the Ares mod) which allow you to save a current Zeus setup so that you can load it again later, similar to saving and re-opening a mission file in the Editor. This allows you to have mission templates to cut down on the setup time for making the mission.

Furthermore, the entire Zeus concept makes it possible to transform Arma 3 into a giant RTS game with Bohemia’s inclusion of a resource system that can be enabled or disabled in the editor by a mission maker. Unfortunately, though, this idea has not gained much popularity or attention from the mainstream community.

There are many Youtube video guides that explain how to use the Zeus interface and the controls for it can be found in the game’s Configure->Controls->Zeus menu. Again, as with the Mission Editor guides, a good starting place is with Jester814’s video (link).

Out of date, being worked on

Here's an old list of good mods and a short guide on how to install them.

Community Base Addons - This is the mod that most other mods rely on. It's basically a script extension library with all sorts of neat stuff. If you plan to use cool mods in Arma games, this will be a staple in your modline.
Shacktac HUD - A mod that adds a little 'radar'-esque HUD on the bottom of your screen that shows the positions of the people in your group within 45m. Very handy, highly recommended https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaCw_tu8U-4
~~Compass Fix - This mod makes the compass and watch actually readable by making them much bigger. ACE mod from Arma 2 did this as well. Highly recommended~~
~~NoBlur - This mod removes the motion blur effect from the post processing graphics setting, making it so you can have your ambient occlusion and bloom cake and eat it too~~
~~Tao's Folding Map - This mod adds a map that takes up about a quarter of your screen when you press 'Shift+M'. Highly Recommended.~~
Stance Indicators - There is two different stance indicators out there, HMM stance indicator and FA Stance. Personally I'd recommend the HMM stance indicator, I find it doesn't clutter up the HUD as much.
~~FA_gps - This mod moves the GPS display from being right in the middle of your screen to being underneath the ammo count section of your HUD. A nice usability change.~~
~~Xbox Controller No Rumble mod - Simple mod that removes the rumble from the Xbox remote(some like it to fly) so that it's not aggravating to use.~~

How to install mods;Out of date, being worked on

Installing mods is pretty simple. The basic gist of it is that you have to have the modfolder in the root directory of your Arma 3 install(should be something like 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3'), with the '@' character as the first character of the modfolder's name, for example '@CBA_A3'. Once you have the folder in there, you go into your Steam library and find the Arma 3 link and right click it, selecting 'Properties'. A new window should come up, and on the first tab, select the 'Set Launch Options' button. Another pop up will appear, with a blank textbox. In this textbox, you're going to add '-mod=' followed by the name of the folder of the mod you'd like to load in. So, following the earlier example, you'd add in '-mod=@CBA_A3;' to load CBA. If you're loading more then one mod, you add the '-mod=', followed by the name of the mod you'd like to load first, then add a ';', then type in the name of the folder of the next mod. So, my modline looks like this: ' -mod=@CBA_A3;@compassfix;@FA_gpstr_watermark;@tao_foldmap_a3;@sthud;@FA_stance;'. Most mods come pre-packaged properly, so all you have to do when you download the archive is drag the folder with '@' in it to your Arma directory and call it through steam, however, some addon makers will be lazy and only package the .pbo file(the actual mod itself). If this is the case, in your Arma directory create a new folder. For the name of the folder, call it '@______', filling in the underscores with a name that is relevant to the mod so it's easy to remember. Open this folder, and create another folder inside of it called 'addons'. Now, all you have to do is drop the .pbo file into the addons folder, and add the modfolder into your Arma's launch parameters and you're good to go. :siren:

DO NOT DRAG THE .pbo DIRECTLY INTO THE 'ADDONS' FOLDER IN YOUR ARMA 3 DIRECTORY :siren:

. This will only cause problems down the road and it's not a path you want to take.

BIWiki (mainly scripting documentation, etc.) https://community.bistudio.com/
Armaholic (Mods, missions, campaigns, etc.) http://www.armaholic.com/list.php?c=arma3_files
Official Arma 3 page http://arma3.com/
Official Arma 3 forums (All ye who enter, beware ) http://forums.bistudio.com/
Dslyecxi’s youtube (Shacktac is the best large scale group around, and Dsly makes some fantastic videos of their missions) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtIBkKQD1u7asfuRsqSLvYQ
Arma 3 on Facebook
Arma 3 on Twitter
Arma 3 on Youtube

If you're about to play with goons, DON'T USE THE DEVELOPMENT BUILD, it is not compatible with the stable version :siren:

*If you have any suggestions or material to add to the OP, feel free to post it and I'll do my best to keep the OP updated*
*Thanks to Love Stole the Day for significant contributions to the OP's contents

Mederlock fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Sep 11, 2023

# ? Nov 14, 2012 10:48

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 18:49

TomWaitsForNoMan: May 28, 2003; By Any Means Necessary

Have Bohemia said anything about whether or not the SP campaign will be more fleshed out this time?

# ? Nov 14, 2012 10:50

Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

TomWaitsForNoMan posted:

Have Bohemia said anything about whether or not the SP campaign will be more fleshed out this time?

Oh, yes, I forgot to add that. There's supposedly going to be a more dynamic and interesting SP campaign. Will add info regarding that to the OP

# ? Nov 14, 2012 10:52

8lbsofanalsex: Jun 3, 2011

Has there been any info released recently? I haven't been able to find anything on their forums other than a potential alpha around the end of the year.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 01:53

KennyLoggins: Dec 3, 2004; Welcome to the Danger Zone

8lbsofanalsex posted:

Has there been any info released recently? I haven't been able to find anything on their forums other than a potential alpha around the end of the year.

I remember reading that the Aplha was planned for around September but then DayZ craze happened so maybe it got pushed back.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 03:21

Mr. Clark2: Sep 17, 2003; Rocco sez: Oh man, what a bummer. Woof.

Any word on if you'll be forced into flying missions as a part of the SP campaign? I hate that poo poo

# ? Nov 17, 2012 03:35

8lbsofanalsex: Jun 3, 2011

Mr. Clark2 posted:

Any word on if you'll be forced into flying missions as a part of the SP campaign? I hate that poo poo

http://www.arma3.com/arma-3-overview/personnel/

On the personnel page it lists a US helo pilot so I'm assuming they will have flying missions. Even worse, he is listed as a transport pilot. So you'll probably have to do some missions just flying stuff around until out of necessity of course he will start flying comanches, gunships, A-10s, F-35s, and the space shuttle.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 04:20

Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

8lbsofanalsex posted:

Has there been any info released recently? I haven't been able to find anything on their forums other than a potential alpha around the end of the year.

Sadly, no. I've been keeping an eye on Arma 3 dot com and haven't seen an update for a couple months, but from what I've heard from people who are "In the know", the alpha build is at a playable state, and my guess is it'll be out within a month or so, and the full game within 1-3 months. It's hard to tell with Bohemia being so quiet about it.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 07:38

Buck Turgidson: Feb 6, 2011; 𓀬𓀠𓀟𓀡𓀢𓀣𓀤𓀥𓀞𓀬

I know this isn't about the game (which looks awesome), but has there been any news of the two devs detained in Greece? Apart from what little there is posted on the BI website I can't really find anything.

As for the game, I hope that the SP campaign actually does a decent job of easing you into positions of command. The games so far have had a bad habit of putting you in the role of a squaddie for a couple of missions and then suddenly dumping the commmand of an entire armoured column on you. Give me a fireteam or something so I can actually get used to the command interface, drat it!

# ? Nov 17, 2012 07:47

VarXX: Oct 31, 2009

Buck Turgidson posted:

I know this isn't about the game (which looks awesome), but has there been any news of the two devs detained in Greece? Apart from what little there is posted on the BI website I can't really find anything.

There was some news today actually https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-16-after-70-days-awaiting-trial-jailed-arma-3-devs-refused-bail

# ? Nov 17, 2012 07:49

Faffel: Dec 31, 2008; A bouncy little mouse!

I'm so majorly stoked for this, but I dread the kind of PC I'll need to run it for large-scale multiplayer.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 07:53

Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

KennyLoggins posted:

I remember reading that the Aplha was planned for around September but then DayZ craze happened so maybe it got pushed back.

It was pushed back, yes, but not because of Dayz. Dayz actually hit it's peak around the April-July timeframe, and has had little to no bearing on the actual development of Arma 3, afaik. The detainment of the 2 Arma devs and just development schedule issues is far more likely to be the causes that pushed the dates back.

Edit: ^^^ I'm pretty stoked too, and as a member of Shacktac, large multiplayer experiences is all I really do, and we're all hoping Arma 3 doesn't make our computers beg for mercy on big co-ops like it does for a lot of us in Arma 2. :negative:

Mederlock fucked around with this message at 08:03 on Nov 17, 2012

# ? Nov 17, 2012 07:58

Buck Turgidson: Feb 6, 2011; 𓀬𓀠𓀟𓀡𓀢𓀣𓀤𓀥𓀞𓀬

^^^ Dude if this game doesn't ride my pc into the dirt I'll be amazed. Disappointed even.

VarXX posted:

There was some news today actually https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-16-after-70-days-awaiting-trial-jailed-arma-3-devs-refused-bail

drat, that sucks. I hope the trial goes their way, twenty years in a Greek slammer is no holiday.

Buck Turgidson fucked around with this message at 08:12 on Nov 17, 2012

# ? Nov 17, 2012 08:09

Faffel: Dec 31, 2008; A bouncy little mouse!

Mederlock posted:

Edit: ^^^ I'm pretty stoked too, and as a member of Shacktac, large multiplayer experiences is all I really do, and we're all hoping Arma 3 doesn't make our computers beg for mercy on big co-ops like it does for a lot of us in Arma 2.

I've been thinking of applying for ShackTac or playing w/ UO but I know 90% of the mission will take me to 10fps and poo poo.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 09:16

Chortles: Dec 29, 2008

Have my favorite ARMA 3 moment yet :black101:

Switch this to 1080p for the closest I've seen yet to the so-far default ARMA 3 keyboard layout

Here and here you've got a good animation showoff; for the second one, at 15:03 he shows off the "campaign hub" Camp Maxwell, at 16 minutes he shows off infantry combat, at about 19:50 there's a bit of "sidestep" instead of leaning, and at 21 minutes he shows off the hint system!

If you take endorsements, the best sign that the animations are better is a BI forums :spergin:

complaining that they were "too smooth, too fast" and another raging at the idea that a guerrilla (I guess he was thinking "guy in a dishdasha with Kalashnikov") could go into "Last Stand"...

KennyLoggins posted:

I remember reading that the Aplha was planned for around September but then DayZ craze happened so maybe it got pushed back.

The original plan was a post-E3 release, but then they decided to go from PhysX 2 to PhysX 3 so it became "some time after Gamescom" (mid-to-late August)... then either something's going on under the hood, priorities got shifted to the DayZ standalone (where the "need" to get it out the door before the end of the year seems to be forced by The War Z, or so Rocket would have people believe) and frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the jailing of the ARMA 3 creative director and map designer has to do with why there's no community alpha talk since Gamescom.

As for the campaign... apparently the "taking uniforms off of enemies" is SP-only, since the devs supposedly ran into issues when trying to implement it for co-op/versus.

The heresy of game balance? Sounds like it... later, some campaign talk from Karel "Gaia" Moricky, i.e. scavenging weapons and sometimes being separated from 7th Infantry Division, and at about 9:30 of this he compares it to Operation Flashpoint: Resistance; the "story" of 7ID is told in part through the "ORBAT", shown off at this point and here. (More infantry small arms action here, then at about 6:30 sniping, and at 11:55 doffing gear in realtime, and watch him take a KRISS Vector but not the ammo.)

A bunch of my notes on the state of ARMA 3 as of Gamescom are cribbed from BI forums users InstaGoat:

InstaGoat posted:

When I talked to him he said that in terms of mission scope and campaign design, they want to do something that will be similar to OFP:R and OFP:CWC, in terms of story twists and such. I think it�s likely we�ll see a progression from reconaissance, to invasion, to some sort of SNAFU and people being scattered into the woods, guerillia fighting, and counter invasion towards the climax of the campaign.

I was also told that they were more interested in gameplay driven missions, rather than story driven missions, so everything they�ve set up basically is intentionally geared towards allowing the mission designers to work free of constraints. In a sense, they�re going pretty much tactilol � la Call of Duty, except they�re actually trying to get people to feel how warfare in such a setting would actually feel. That kind of "justifies" choices like giving the Iranians a cool operator style rifle with the tavor, or the use of the merkava as MBT.

OFP:R had a system where you had to carry over weapons, ammunition, vehicles and men from one mission to the next. I would expect something similar to occur again in Arma 3.

Chortles posted:

I'm not sure how exactly this would work considering what was said that sometimes the player will be cut off from 7th Infantry Division, but I've seen it at moments in COD4/MW2 -- depending on the mission, if you were playing the Campaign sequentially (i.e. one mission into the next) you'd carry over the same weapons, since that mission would be an immediate continuation of the scenario that you had just concluded (i.e. break into a base, next mission starts you inside the base), but you'd have a default weapons set if you instead selected the mission manually from the Mission Select menu screen instead of seguing into that mission; I wonder if ARMA 3 will do the same?

InstaGoat posted:

I imagine it�s something like that, but not just carrying over the weapon, but carrying over -everything-. Ammo, individual magazine roundcounts, vest, clothes, helmet, eyepro, attachments, as well as teammates and all the gear on them. I doubt you�ll be completely alone at any point, unless there�s some sort of "after montignac" style mission in there.

Arma 3 has a rather complicated gear system, much more thorough and realistic than any other game I�ve seen so far. Most games reduce themselves to gun mods, or at best different suits plus kit like NV goggles. At GC I�ve seen the following specifically: three slots for gear on your weapon, two slots on the secondary (maybe three, but I think pistols can only take muzzle attachments + underbarrel attachment like laser/flashlight), eyepro (functional as protection.), vest, backpack, suit and helmet. All of these things will affect you differently, for example civilian clothes will probably lower your camo value and have less slots for gear, while advanced military suits will be heavier but also provide some degree of IR camouflage for example. Vests will have a carrying capacity as well as body protection. I don�t know how this works, and I can�t imagine it either because there�s so many possibillities, but Gaia assured me that bodyprotection will be modelled this time, and it will be affected by vest, helmet and goggles.

Obviously there�s also specialty gear like rebreathers and stuff like that, all working properly. Without a rebreather, you dive, you drown. Without swimming glasses, saltwater will burn your eyes. ACE2 style sunglasses should also be easy to implement.

As far as the campaign goes, I could imagine that you�d need to do gear management for yourself and your squad, especially in a situation where your force is hard pressed and without resupply/reinforcements, so you�ll have to scavenge weapons and gear. I don�t think they�ll implement gear degradation, but that would certainly add another fun level of kit management.

I've also got more on him on the state of ARMA 3 as of Gamescom if anyone wants me to post that? (Not PMs, but posts that I can link to.)

Oh yeah, have the summary of a BI survey on social networking features of ARMA 3 with 633 responses.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 10:50

Faffel: Dec 31, 2008; A bouncy little mouse!

Chortles posted:

A bunch of my notes on the state of ARMA 3 as of Gamescom are cribbed from BI forums users InstaGoat:

I've also got more on him on the state of ARMA 3 as of Gamescom if anyone wants me to post that? (Not PMs, but posts that I can link to.)

Great post, I have a question that a man of your knowledge may know.

What's the word on difficulty levels and the built-in range finders on scopes? Is that going to be across all difficulties, or will it be like arma 2 where going to veteran removes the nameplate feature? I'm actually concerned at how trivialized long-range engagements could be with that built-in range finger.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 11:52

Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

Chortles posted:

Chortles, you rarely fail to dredge up good tidbits of information about this series. Thanks for all that. I'll try and see if I can work in the sourced bits into the OP

# ? Nov 17, 2012 11:53

GoldenNugget: Mar 27, 2008

Wow the animations look extremely nice. It's really weird to see the recoil being so little. The aiming and movement seems extremely snappy too which is promising. I still feel it's going to be a buggy unoptimized game though...

Oh they're going to find an alternative to the action menu to steamline actions which is a big plus in my head.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 14:11

ToastyPotato: Jun 23, 2005; CONVICTED OF DISPLAYING HIS PEANUTS IN PUBLIC

Any in depth info on the mission editor? Will it be easier than previous installments? Or do we still have to know scripting and crap?

# ? Nov 17, 2012 18:29

Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

In my opinion, without scripting, the mission editor would be useless. Some of the best missions I've played require a basic selection of scripts, such as a spectator script, stuff like Dynamic AI Creator's, and scripted events/actions.

So, to answer your question, to make missions that are really ground breaking, you are going to have to know how to do basic scripting, or at least know how to copy paste scripts into the right places. I do hope they make the mission editor a bit easier, but I think the best thing they could do to make missions easier to make is to make a comprehensive tutorial for it that explains the functions of all the buttons and functions.

They're also adding java scripting, which they introduced first in Take On:Helicoptors, so that should be interesting.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 19:25

8lbsofanalsex: Jun 3, 2011

I wonder what the mix of missions will be between the different characters. It seems like so far it's mainly been the regular infantry guy that has been shown. Wondering where a US Tanker will fall into a guerrilla campaign.

I'm assuming the alpha is gonna be open for everyone?

# ? Nov 17, 2012 21:40

pro starcraft loser: Jan 23, 2006; Stand back, this could get messy.

God I hope the interface and controls are better than ARMAII. I really want to like that game but it just feels so clunky walking around.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 21:47

ToastyPotato: Jun 23, 2005; CONVICTED OF DISPLAYING HIS PEANUTS IN PUBLIC

I feel like a lot of what you are saying was only required because the editor was built in a way that made scripting necessary in the first place. I feel like there are at least a few things that could probably be done through menus and such, while undoubtedly more complex, heavily customized things would probably still need some degree of scripting. I'm not even suggesting scripting be removed, they could leave the script boxes there for all I care, but in 2012 I am sure it's possible to figure out how to assign certain behaviors or basic customizations to an entity without having to copy paste a script or something like that myself.

Like, for example, there should be zero scripting needed to create a basic artillery bombardment or air strike scenario. It should be dropping an entity onto the map, and, through simple menus, assigning the details of the event (duration, whether it is triggered by player proximity or a player action or if its independent of the player, type of ordinance used, area of effect, etc.) There really isn't any reason that kind of stuff can't be straight forward. It's possible to do it through scripting, so there is no reason it can't be done through menus at this point. The same can be said with editing a unit's loadout. Why isn't there simply an "edit inventory" button when I click on a unit?

# ? Nov 17, 2012 21:50

Turin Turambar: Jun 5, 2011

8lbsofanalsex posted:

I'm assuming the alpha is gonna be open for everyone?

I'm assuming you will need to preorder to enter in the alpha. An alpha of a Bohemia game is going to be pretty buggy, so I think they will prefer to have something more closed, controlled, and they have enough hardcore fans that will pay up to enter, no need to do it more open.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 21:51

Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

ToastyPotato posted:

I feel like a lot of what you are saying was only required because the editor was built in a way that made scripting necessary in the first place. I feel like there are at least a few things that could probably be done through menus and such, while undoubtedly more complex, heavily customized things would probably still need some degree of scripting. I'm not even suggesting scripting be removed, they could leave the script boxes there for all I care, but in 2012 I am sure it's possible to figure out how to assign certain behaviors or basic customizations to an entity without having to copy paste a script or something like that myself.

Like, for example, there should be zero scripting needed to create a basic artillery bombardment or air strike scenario. It should be dropping an entity onto the map, and, through simple menus, assigning the details of the event (duration, whether it is triggered by player proximity or a player action or if its independent of the player, type of ordinance used, area of effect, etc.) There really isn't any reason that kind of stuff can't be straight forward. It's possible to do it through scripting, so there is no reason it can't be done through menus at this point. The same can be said with editing a unit's loadout. Why isn't there simply an "edit inventory" button when I click on a unit?

Yeah, I think we're thinking along the same lines and I just misinterpreted what you were suggesting. It would be cool for pre scripted events like the ability to call in artillery to be easy as that to place, and I 100% agree with the inventory thing. In fact, the lack of an easy to edit inventory screen in the editor is one of my biggest gripes with it.

# ? Nov 18, 2012 03:20

Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

Just The Facts posted:

God I hope the interface and controls are better than ARMAII. I really want to like that game but it just feels so clunky walking around.

Yes, from what I've heard from people I know who have played it, at E3 and gamescon and otherwise, it handles a lot better. Some even ventured to say it was as smooth as BF3, but with a lot more freedom regarding stances and such, but still feeling natural and not arcade-y

# ? Nov 18, 2012 03:22

Chortles: Dec 29, 2008

Mederlock, the "infantry animations and shooting" bit links to the same video you'd already posted, why not use some of my other links/timestamps? My linking to 4:13 was just for that one moment of "OH MY GOD this could never happen in ARMA 2". As for the controls video, I'd use the timestamp so that that video goes straight to 18 minutes in (I recommended 1080p because that was the only way it was visible for me).

Note that the campaign is SP only, no co-op option, but from InstaGoat's initial "back from GC, first impressions" report:

InstaGoat posted:

As far as mission design goes, gameplay will trump screenplay. Contrary to most big games studios (thinking specifically of the COD developer types here), BI are fully aware that they are making games, not movies, so they are trying to create cool missions first, before trying to tell a convoluted story. OFP:R and Arma were mentioned as examples, as well as a handful of other titles from the past that did it right.

This seems to be a summary of what's new compared to ARMA 2 so far as basic gameplay:

InstaGoat posted:

Now, these are things I have seen at gamescom that are implemented right now.

Dynamic stances/additional movement modes.
Weapons modification.
Personal protection gear (Bodyarmour, Helmets, Gasmasks/Glasses, Rebreathers.)
Weight modelling for all equipment, fatigue and encumberance modelling, slot limitations based on type of Loadbearing equipment.
Additional difficulty selections (Hint system, class specific HUD indicators)
New Muzzleflashes and according AI changes (Flash suppressors vs Recoil compensators vs Silencers affect AI visual/audio spotting differently as far as I was told.)
Improved AI (No new features, but completely spring-cleaned build with corrected and improved settings, as well as streamlined AI navigation and world perception. This was mentioned in a devblog too.)
Obviously, vehicle physics. Physics also affect smoke (Rotor downwash, wind, blastwaves) and will probably also be used to implement stuff like fastroping/vehicle towing.
All existing Arma 2/OA features where they have not been replaced with improved/more advanced substitutes.
Improved vehicle damage system, building on the existing one. (No penetration modelling so far, I believe.)
Performance enhancements.
Improved 2D editor with new features (briefing manager, possibly gear manager and other tools.)
New features/improvements regarding mod support.

Chortles fucked around with this message at 14:09 on Nov 18, 2012

# ? Nov 18, 2012 14:06

ToastyPotato: Jun 23, 2005; CONVICTED OF DISPLAYING HIS PEANUTS IN PUBLIC

Honestly the only downer for me about this game so far is that near future setting, just because this game seems to fix 90% of what I disliked about Arma and the old OPFP games. I kind of want a regular modern setting, so I can play with regular weapons and vehicles. With the graphics fidelity taking a nice step up, I worry that it will be difficult for modders to keep up with the quality. I don't want to be stuck with lame pseudo-future stuff, unless it is going to be really downplayed and basically all the normal modern stuff will also still be in the game...

# ? Nov 18, 2012 17:44

Chortles: Dec 29, 2008

ToastyPotato posted:

Honestly the only downer for me about this game so far is that near future setting, just because this game seems to fix 90% of what I disliked about Arma and the old OPFP games. I kind of want a regular modern setting, so I can play with regular weapons and vehicles. With the graphics fidelity taking a nice step up, I worry that it will be difficult for modders to keep up with the quality. I don't want to be stuck with lame pseudo-future stuff, unless it is going to be really downplayed and basically all the normal modern stuff will also still be in the game...

Err, ToastyPotato, the BI forums' "Is Arma 3 authentic?" thread reveals that besides the Mi-48 "Kajman" (or as I believe Ham dubbed it, the "Hamoc") among vehicles plus the MX rifle and the SDAR among small arms... yeah, a lot of ARMA 3's supposed "psuedo-future" stuff is modeled off of stuff that's been produced in real life.

Re: future "notes from InstaGoat", how should I go about putting that information together for the purposes of this thread?

# ? Nov 19, 2012 03:26

Chortles: Dec 29, 2008

Just The Facts posted:

God I hope the interface and controls are better than ARMAII. I really want to like that game but it just feels so clunky walking around.

To address this without directly quoting InstaGoat, which interface are you talking about? If you mean the inventory, instead of one scrolling list with everything both on the ground and on your character (with numbers to left and right to differentiate) and a number of boxes on the right, you've got three large panels; the right and middle panels should be self-explanatory (the blank tab above the middle would be for a backpack) while the left panel is stuff on the ground, and the bar under the middle and right panels represents your character's encumbrance, which effects your character's stamina that was mentioned in the OP.

# ? Nov 19, 2012 04:08

ToastyPotato: Jun 23, 2005; CONVICTED OF DISPLAYING HIS PEANUTS IN PUBLIC

Chortles posted:

Err, ToastyPotato, the BI forums' "Is Arma 3 authentic?" thread reveals that besides the Mi-48 "Kajman" (or as I believe Ham dubbed it, the "Hamoc") among vehicles plus the MX rifle and the SDAR among small arms... yeah, a lot of ARMA 3's supposed "psuedo-future" stuff is modeled off of stuff that's been produced in real life.

Re: future "notes from InstaGoat", how should I go about putting that information together for the purposes of this thread?

That's all well and good, but are the things they are modeling off of in wide circulation? Because if they aren't, I would hate to see things that actually are used not be in the game and be left to modders. Unless there was a modern DLC pack, which I would probably buy. :smith:

# ? Nov 19, 2012 04:22

Chortles: Dec 29, 2008

ToastyPotato posted:

That's all well and good, but are the things they are modeling off of in wide circulation? Because if they aren't, I would hate to see things that actually are used not be in the game and be left to modders. Unless there was a modern DLC pack, which I would probably buy.

Wide circulation alright -- just mostly not with the US military :haw:

Out of the small arms, only the Mk 14 has been in what I'd call "wide circulation" (just look at the years of "EBR" appearances in video games such as MGS4) with the US military, and out of the vehicles besides the HEMTT (a cargo truck) there's the Osprey; the AH-6 and SDV are special ops, while the F-35 has yet to really circulate.

# ? Nov 19, 2012 10:23

Mordaedil: Oct 25, 2007; Oh wow, cool. Good job.
So?; Grimey Drawer

Just The Facts posted:

God I hope the interface and controls are better than ARMAII. I really want to like that game but it just feels so clunky walking around.

It's honest to god why I love Arma more than most shooters, honestly. You move around like you actually are a bit burdened by poo poo you carry and things don't just align themselves perfectly to be played like a game, but more as a simulator of sorts.

And it's good for making my friends who say they'd love to be in the military shut up, as they die in one bullet to the head.

# ? Nov 19, 2012 15:15

Mederlock: Jun 23, 2012; You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it; Grimey Drawer

Mordaedil posted:

It's honest to god why I love Arma more than most shooters, honestly. You move around like you actually are a bit burdened by poo poo you carry and things don't just align themselves perfectly to be played like a game, but more as a simulator of sorts.

You can't honestly say you enjoy how clunky (ala Metro 2033) Arma is, it's a subpar system and everyone including Bohemia knows it, which is why it's been fixed in Arma 3. It will have a stamina system, so the heavier you are, the harder it will be to keep up with everyone, and the longer it'll take for you to get your breath back for aimed shooting, which personally I find is the better system.

Mederlock fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Nov 19, 2012

# ? Nov 19, 2012 21:04

Senor Science: Aug 21, 2004; MI DIOS!!! ESTA CIENCIA ES DIABOLICO!!!

I'm sold just on those screenshots.

# ? Nov 19, 2012 21:10

extremebuff: Jun 20, 2010

quote:

That's amazing.

# ? Nov 19, 2012 21:15

XenoCrab: Mar 30, 2012; XenoCrab is the least important character in the Alien movie franchise. He's not even in the top ten characters.

Mederlock posted:

You can't honestly say you enjoy how clunky (ala Metro 2033) Arma is

I honestly like how ARMA2 feels (and Metro 2033, though it's very different). That doesn't mean I wish every game played like ARMA2 or that the problems with going through doors and tight spaces aren't crappy.

But I'm pretty fat, so maybe I just like it 'cause it it feels like a good simulation of me as a soldier (if I could jog for more than 10 feet).

# ? Nov 19, 2012 22:27

Mordaedil: Oct 25, 2007; Oh wow, cool. Good job.
So?; Grimey Drawer

Mederlock posted:

You can't honestly say you enjoy how clunky (ala Metro 2033) Arma is, it's a subpar system and everyone including Bohemia knows it, which is why it's been fixed in Arma 3. It will have a stamina system, so the heavier you are, the harder it will be to keep up with everyone, and the longer it'll take for you to get your breath back for aimed shooting, which personally I find is the better system.

I disagree with your assessment, but that's because I don't really consider Arma "games" to be enjoyed to play, in the same way you enjoy playing Counter-Strike or Quake or Half-Life.

I enjoy it because of it's complexities, and taking it away kinda takes away from what makes Arma different from Operation Flashpoint(current ones).

It's just not meant to be that kind of shooter, I feel.

# ? Nov 19, 2012 22:38

Control Volume: Dec 31, 2008

So will it be possible to create James Bond scenarios where people are shooting at eachother underwater with harpoon guns?

I might have to pick this game up if so.

# ? Nov 19, 2012 22:47

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 18:49

A Sloth: Aug 4, 2010; EVERY TIME I POST I AM REQUIRED TO DISCLOSE THAT I AM A SHITHEAD.

ASK ME MY EXPERT OPINION ON GENDER BASED INSULTS & "ENGLISH ETHNIC GROUPS".

I hope it doesn't run like poo poo, like the other ArmA games. (It will)

# ? Nov 19, 2012 23:05

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Arma 3: Totally Not a Zombie Simulator

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