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[MickeyKnox]

umm, tried going thru the firing range and it fails before I even take a shot!! lol

No matter what I do, he coments how shitty I am...LOL I didnt even fire the fucking weapon!!

Do I have to patch the steam version?

are you standing in the designated spot? if you look along the short wall on the right there's a sand pit, that's where you have to stand before you start shooting.

 

[Cat in the Hat]

umm, tried going thru the firing range and it fails before I even take a shot!! lol

No matter what I do, he coments how shitty I am...LOL I didnt even fire the fucking weapon!!

Do I have to patch the steam version?

He only comments like that if you miss or you take to long to hit the targets. Don't know what to tell ya. and no steam patches your games automatically so its the latest version of the demo.

 

[cameltoe]

yeah Im in the right spot. He says take some shots then we will continue to training...so I fire some rounds...he then says ok, ready? A target pops up and before I have a chance tp fire....hes all "WOO HOO, you need to practice buddy, wanna try again"? And before I can select retry, he launches into the same shit...over and over again!!!!

Wheres the benchmark? Its not under singleplayer.....

 

[MickeyKnox]

yeah Im in the right spot. He says take some shots then we will continue to training...so I fire some rounds...he then says ok, ready? A target pops up and before I have a chance tp fire....hes all "WOO HOO, you need to practice buddy, wanna try again"? And before I can select retry, he launches into the same shit...over and over again!!!!

Wheres the benchmark? Its not under singleplayer.....

In the demo it's under single player, missions, last on the list.

 

[cameltoe]

its nowhere under SP in the steam version

 

[Enron]

wow. Everything running on normal, not even on high on my Q6600/2gb ram/radeon 4670 system, 27fps benchmark. Nice job! -_-

 

[BravoSuperStar]

its nowhere under SP in the steam version

Are you playing the full version? Cause I think it's only in the demo, under scenarios, final one.

 

[Cat in the Hat]

its nowhere under SP in the steam version

In singler player mission list it will say

BLAH
BLAH
BLAH
Benchmark.

Its the 4th option when you choose a mission.

 

[Slayer-33]

oh my god.


Thank you OP for bringing this game to my attention! It's everything that I wanted in a war sim, I will worship your E-COCK for LIFE!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HByUZ2paVOg


LOOKS real when he's near the run way omfg.

 

[Slayer-33]

Arma2: 15€

cant get better than that
http://www.g2play.net/store/Arma-2-Armed-Assault-2-CD-Key.html

i paid 45€ 3 days ago ...

Should that be ok for US retail? lol

 

[fistfulofmetal]

i downloaded the demo off of steam

and it won't launch


great game

 

[MickeyKnox]

i downloaded the demo off of steam

and it won't launch


great game

Try deleting all your stalker pictures.

Spoiler

or update your directX

 

[MGHA]

I still cant get the heli to come pick me up. I keep pressing

Communication>Transport(Active) but nothing ever comes.

 

[fistfulofmetal]

or update your directX

my directx is up to date. but steam does that "First time setup" thing where it goes to install directx, runs for a minute or so and then just disappears.

 

[Burger]

I still cant get the heli to come pick me up. I keep pressing

Communication>Transport(Active) but nothing ever comes.

You have to then hit ENTER or Middle Mouse over the patch of land where you want do designate the LZ, either in 1st/3rd person mode, or when you are in the map. You will then get a confirmation from the pilot.

Do the same thing to designate a drop off LZ when you are in the chopper.

 

[Templar Wizard]

Should that be ok for US retail? lol

yes, no problems

 

[Anton Sugar]

i downloaded the demo off of steam

and it won't launch


great game

Must be the game's fault, didn't work on any of our machines.

Oh wait.

I still cant get the heli to come pick me up. I keep pressing

Communication>Transport(Active) but nothing ever comes.

If it says "Active"...then it has already been called and is waiting somewhere for you to board it.

 

[EviLore]

i downloaded the demo off of steam

and it won't launch


great game

The demo didn't load for me until I updated to the latest (june 18th) nvidia drivers.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Man, this game is something else. I played it all weekend, and I'm still not sure how to do everything I'd like to in-game, but boy am I having a blast. I've mostly been doing the SpecOps random missions where they drop you in via chopper and you walk around getting random missions.

The best one from yesterday saw me getting dropped in near a few empty barns/other buildings. I quickly got word that a squad of my buddies were needing escorted out of the enemy infested area nearby. I could hear a bit of small arms fire over in the distance, and sure enough that's the direction I had to go, so off we went.

Coming over the rise, I could see down into a valley. 3 or 4 of my fellow soldiers were being pinned down by a few insurgents, who had a jeep with a mounted gun. I ordered my men to fan out, and they all started shooting at the same time. The gunner toppled backwards off the jeep, and I shot the driver through the windshield. A few other insurgents later and we met up with our brothers.

The extraction point was quite a few clicks away, so we headed out. After running through some fields, I brought everyone to a halt. What's that noise? Suddenly, coming down a small dirt road we had just crossed, was an enemy APC! It started opening up on us! We were caught out in an open field, with only bushes to hide behind. Two of my guys were down already, so I dove into the dirt. I switched my firing over to the grenade launcher under my weapon.

Coming up into a crouch position, I launched... the grenade went high, over the APC, exploding behind it. In anger, I reloaded, and suddenly the APC went up in a giant explosion! I looked behind me, and coming up over the ridge was a group of 3 tanks! It was smooth sailing from there to the LZ.

This game rocks!

 

[Anton Sugar]

Diseased,
Are these assigned missions later in the game, or one of the SP missions? I'm only on Manhattan right now.

Armory is awesome. I love the challenges they give you. They're actually pretty damned hard.

 

[Zeliard]

Anyone have any tips on spotting enemies more easily? I'm terrible at it. They really blend in with the environment, as they should, but the aliasing makes that more of an issue for me that it would normally be (especially in wooded areas). My teammates will often take enemies out before I've even seen them, especially Sykes and his sniper rifle.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Diseased,
Are these assigned missions later in the game, or one of the SP missions? I'm only on Manhattan right now.

Armory is awesome. I love the challenges they give you. They're actually pretty damned hard.

You can do the SpecOps at anytime, just pick (i can't remember exactly) New Mission -> My Missions or something like that, then Combat or SpecOps, I forget. Anyway, it's buried in there somewhere, and it's awesome. Always drops you off by helicopter (or, at least I haven't had it be different yet) and then by radio gives you random missions to play.

For those who are just now getting into the game, here's something that took me a bit to figure out: When someone radios you with a mission, or whatever, and wants acknowledgment, hit the 0 key, then 8 for "Communication" to respond. Took me forever to figure out why I couldn't accept missions.

 

[BravoSuperStar]

Anyone have any tips on spotting enemies more easily? I'm terrible at it. They really blend in with the environment, as they should, but the aliasing makes that more of an issue for me that it would normally be (especially in wooded areas). My teammates will often take enemies out before I've even seen them, especially Sykes and his sniper rifle.

Disabling post-processing seems to help a bit. Overall I think it makes the game look better since it removes the motion blur as well. Playing at your highest resolution possible also helps, makes it easier to spot moving targets, but I assume you have that set already.

 

[Zenith]

Must be the game's fault, didn't work on any of our machines.

Oh wait.

but unless his comp is super-bug ridden and this happens with other games then it is the game's fault. Games are expected to be able to work with almost all configs. Buggy games typically throw a wobbly when encountering something not present in most computer configs. Incompatibility, software conflicts and lack of backwards compatability are symptoms of games with low polish and QA.

Anyone have any tips on spotting enemies more easily? I'm terrible at it. They really blend in with the environment, as they should, but the aliasing makes that more of an issue for me that it would normally be (especially in wooded areas). My teammates will often take enemies out before I've even seen them, especially Sykes and his sniper rifle.

true. I usually only spot Chedaki from the grey in their uniforms. If you hit map it'll show you detected enemy positions relative to yours. I also like to cede command as the AI will assign targets to you with a big red crosshair over them.

You can do the SpecOps at anytime, just pick (i can't remember exactly) New Mission -> My Missions or something like that, then Combat or SpecOps, I forget. Anyway, it's buried in there somewhere, and it's awesome. Always drops you off by helicopter (or, at least I haven't had it be different yet) and then by radio gives you random missions to play.

wow, really? I just assumed that's where the game exported missions you created with the editor.

 

[Zeliard]

Disabling post-processing seems to help a bit. Overall I think it makes the game look better since it removes the motion blur as well. Playing at your highest resolution possible also helps, makes it easier to spot moving targets, but I assume you have that set already.

I have post-processing set to low already, but not totally off since I think the motion blur is pretty cool. Resolution is also set to my native. If I mess with the fillrate, it kills my frames. I've pretty much come to accept the fact that I likely to won't be able to manage any AA with this game, at least not at the expense of other important graphical settings.

true. I usually only spot Chedaki from the grey in their uniforms. If you hit map it'll show you detected enemy positions relative to yours. I also like to cede command as the AI will assign targets to you with a big red crosshair over them.

Hm, how do you set it so that you follow orders? I know how to switch to other characters, but whenever I do, Cooper doesn't seem to be governed by any A.I. and just sits there.

It's sad, I know, but I do miss that red enemy crosshair you were hooked up with early in the campaign.

 

[Anton Sugar]

but unless his comp is super-bug ridden and this happens with other games then it is the game's fault. Games are expected to be able to work with almost all configs. Buggy games typically throw a wobbly when encountering something not present in most computer configs. Incompatibility, software conflicts and lack of backwards compatability are symptoms of games with low polish and QA.

I mean, I know there are issues with the game. That much is evident. Demo worked like a charm for me, though. But you can't just pin it to the game, its usually a mix of both.

I have post-processing set to low already, but not totally off since I think the motion blur is pretty cool. Resolution is also set to my native. If I mess with the fillrate, it kills my frames. I've pretty much come to accept the fact that I likely to won't be able to manage any AA with this game, at least not at the expense of other important graphical settings.

I'm going back and forth between playing at 1920x1080 with no AA or 1280x768 with 2x AA. Can't decide which looks better. There is so much detail on screen, that without AA at a high res, the screen is just so active, its almost distracting. Right now I'm on 1280 w/AA, gonna see how I like this.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Great review from Rock, Paper, Shotgun. He basically trashes it, but says its brilliant, which seems to be the truth: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/29/wot-i-think-arma-ii/

In some ways, it was like being sent back to school. An illogical school, where they teach lessons inside out.

“Welcome to Arma II High, where you’re going to have to learn gaming from scratch, starting with the first person shooter, and building up toward the… PAY ATTENTION, ROSSIGNOL!”

Bluuh!

I’ve still barely got to grips with the commander stuff, and I’m a kind of flailing sadface when playing online, despite having browsed Dslyecxi’s dizzyingly large “tactics, techniques & procedures” guide.

And yet I’m now hooked.

The main campaign of Arma II, which unfolds piece by piece, sometimes beautifully, sometimes incoherently, is arguably one of the most interesting gaming experiences on the PC. Running battles through woodlands, interrogating locals, co-ordinating UAV drone strikes, riding mountain bikes, messing about with bombs, helicopters, and stolen Eastern European tractors: the open world military sim begins to cohere, like a formidably layered cake in the Gas Mark 5 oven of your imagination. The sheer variety of what you get up to is enthralling, and it’s little more than a sampler of what Arma II as a system, as a wargaming platform, is capable of. Yes, it’s messy and ill-judged at times, and recipe is ludicrous, but it is also bold and often brilliant.

This part, to me, is very telling of the game's style and speaks a lot about it. Unless you like the original OFP/milsim style games, this is probably going to be true of most players:

Occasionally with a frustrating or difficult game it’s a single experience that makes it click, and makes me know why I like it, or why I hate it and must castigate it unto destruction. But not so with Arma II. Instead it was a gradual, sedimentary build up of smaller happenings that vindicated the entire thing. During the campaign this included the introduction of support elements and the escalation of the war, the slow realisation of the enormity of the thing, winning a battle against a much smaller force with just Razor team, seeing my first tank battle, watching attack helicopters in action, seeing the strategic elements build into the game and take advantage of them, delivering an artillery strike correctly, using targeting toys for friendly aircraft, and so on, and on.

All this starts to make you realise – as the gun battles slowly become more and more transparent – that sticky-to-wall cover systems in other games might be more fun, but they are as ludicrously artificial as Mario’s ability to jump five times his own height.

Yet all this is preface, and almost irrelevant to the main engine of long term enjoyment. It takes multiplayer to really explain what the appeal of this game is about. From playing with a friend in the co-op campaign, right through to embarking massive 30-man operations, this is a game where multiplayer is king. I’ve had just a small taste of this so far, but it instantly banishes any idea that the huge and wide-ranging single player campaign is really a useful focus for any review of the game.

What’s more, once you’re hooked up on voice comms you’re able to perform far more complex actions that you could hope to do with the AI, as you crudely thumb them around the map. Tactics become real, rather than implied or imagined. Board the helicopter, go in low to avoid anti-aicraft fire, bail out because you’re hit, regroup in woodland, hit the target, cripple enemy AA batteries, get picked up, head to the next waypoint – all splurging, organically, into your game. It’s enthralling stuff, and only possible because of other people. I wholly recommend the co-op missions over the versus type multiplayer too. Co-ordinating with other people to take on huge AI armies is awesome like little else

A "good problem" that ArmA has. You really need to have a group of like-minded people to get the best out of the multiplayer:

That realisation, of course, adds an atmosphere of intimidating inaccessibility for anyone who isn’t being introduced to the game by friends. I think that barrier will remain, no matter how good the single player element of the game is. Making the leap beyond mere paddling in the shallows is going to take some gumption. It won’t be for most of us. I can see the appeal, now, but I am still hesitant.

Conclusion:

Arma II game is already divisive: it was always going to be. It’s impossible to examine this game without seeing it as a kind of exemplar of some of the larger issues about what is good and bad about PC gaming: the unfinished code, the performance issues, the difficulty of breaking into established communities – all these things will push people away. But the sheer scope: the raw materials that BIS have forged for gamers to make their own entertainment, their own stories with. I can’t say that’s a bad thing.

What PC games are is a wide open landscape, and that monstrous, uneven terrain is only getting larger by the day. Thank fuck for this twisted little peninsula of realism, without it gaming would be a whole lot less interesting.

 

[chespace]

I mean, I know there are issues with the game. That much is evident. Demo worked like a charm for me, though. But you can't just pin it to the game, its usually a mix of both.



I'm going back and forth between playing at 1920x1080 with no AA or 1280x768 with 2x AA. Can't decide which looks better. There is so much detail on screen, that without AA at a high res, the screen is just so active, its almost distracting. Right now I'm on 1280 w/AA, gonna see how I like this.

What kind of framerates are you guys getting with your settings?

 

[Anton Sugar]

What kind of framerates are you guys getting with your settings?

Mine are playable, and keep in mind that playable, for ME, is anywhere from 20-40+. I'm at work, so I don't have my config file at hand, but I believe my settings, right now, are:

Screen Res: 1280x768
3d Res: 1280x768
View distance: ~2000
Texture detail: Normal
Video memory: Default
AF: Normal
AA: Normal
Terrain detail: Normal
Object detail: Very low
Shadow detail: Normal (might be low?)
Post processing: High

System:
E5200 OC'ed to 3.33ghz
4GB Ram
HD 4850 512 MB

Again, I can also disable AA and use 1920x1080 and get the same FPS. I'll try and post some screens when I get home.

Occasionally, after playing for a while, the framerate will stutter/screen will freeze every 5 seconds. Restarting the game helps, but you can tell that something is straining, most likely my card. I think this may be my card heating up, gonna play with the fan speed.

 

[chespace]

Ah okay. I'm running 1920x1200 for both rendering and interface, with everything on very high except for shadows (on high), no AA, and draw distance around 3000~.

Currently on mission 5 (the razor team mission where you first have control of your squad and you start in this urban/factory type area.

With the above settings, I'm getting framerates between 20-30, averaging usually around 25.

Not a scientific benchmark but that's what fraps is telling me and I seem to be obsessed with that little number in the corner.

I am also running with the -winxp command line since it's the only way I can enable Crossfire on my 4870x2.

The game runs much faster when I'm in Armoury or the mission editor. Single-player is such a hog though.

I wonder if it's because I'm also using Vista x64 with 8GB of RAM? CPU is Q9550 @ 3.8 GHz.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Ah okay. I'm running 1920x1200 for both rendering and interface, with everything on very high except for shadows (on high), no AA, and draw distance around 3000~.

Currently on mission 5 (the razor team mission where you first have control of your squad and you start in this urban/factory type area.

With the above settings, I'm getting framerates between 20-30, averaging usually around 25.

Not a scientific benchmark but that's what fraps is telling me and I seem to be obsessed with that little number in the corner.

I am also running with the -winxp command line since it's the only way I can enable Crossfire on my 4870x2.

The game runs much faster when I'm in Armoury or the mission editor. Single-player is such a hog though.

I wonder if it's because I'm also using Vista x64 with 8GB of RAM? CPU is Q9550 @ 3.8 GHz.

Apparently someone on the official forums went into some of the mission/.pbo files I think, and found that the missions have a lot more scripting than OFP/ArmA, and thats a reason my the SP missions have bad performance? Not completely sure.

But I'd be damned happy with your settings.

 

[kitch9]

my directx is up to date. but steam does that "First time setup" thing where it goes to install directx, runs for a minute or so and then just disappears.

leave it a while. It took a few mins for me to complete, and it gave the impression it had froze while doing it.

 

[cameltoe]

In singler player mission list it will say

BLAH
BLAH
BLAH
Benchmark.

Its the 4th option when you choose a mission.

it is not there in the steam version!!

Any way to play this windowed

 

[Zeliard]

That Rock Paper Shotgun review is great. Everything he wrote is pretty much exactly what the game is about - what it demands and what it offers.

 

[Danne-Danger]

it is not there in the steam version!!

Was there for me.

Ran pretty well, 30FPS in all lows... I need a new rig. Still fully playable though.

 

[cameltoe]

Was there for me.

Ran pretty well, 30FPS in all lows... I need a new rig. Still fully playable though.

Under SP Scenarios, benchmark is not listed there. Do I need to select a scenario first?

 

[tempus67]

my directx is up to date. but steam does that "First time setup" thing where it goes to install directx, runs for a minute or so and then just disappears.

This happened to me too - I quit steam, relaunched it, relaunched the ARMA2 demo, and it worked.

I bought it based on the demo. Brilliant anarchy, this game - some really cool MP stuff is already to be found too.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I was definitely getting mid 20's on my framerates on a somewhat weaker system than some of you, so I'm glad that's standard, or at least there's a chance it could become more optimized for me too. Demo that is.

 

[Danne-Danger]

Under SP Scenarios, benchmark is not listed there. Do I need to select a scenario first?

Nope, for me it's listed under scenarios. Number 3.

 

[itsinmyveins]

Man, I can't control the helicopter in the tutorial at all :/

How do you brake?

 

[Ikuu]

Under SP Scenarios, benchmark is not listed there. Do I need to select a scenario first?

Benchmark was only included in the demo, need someone to upload the mission.

 

[Burger]

Man, I can't control the helicopter in the tutorial at all :/

How do you brake?

Brake ? In an Aircraft ?

You can't brake. You have to flare backwards, that is tip your nose into the air so you start to reverse your forward inertia.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

Man, I can't control the helicopter in the tutorial at all :/

How do you brake?

:lol :lol

 

[MrPing1000]

Man, I can't control the helicopter in the tutorial at all :/

How do you brake?

wait until you try and fly a fixed wing aeroplane. It's verging on impossible with mouse and keyboard.

 

[Barso]

What is the best way to control other than K/B and mouse?
Is tha 360 control pad the best?

 

[Joseph Merrick]

wait until you try and fly a fixed wing aeroplane. It's verging on impossible with mouse and keyboard.

because of low fps or? the only problem with the jets I've had is the top or high speed rudder bug http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=75261 which is actually a huge problem if you're trying to aim hehe

apart from this I have no problem with vtol or any plane on either m&kb or joystick

What is the best way to control other than K/B and mouse?
Is tha 360 control pad the best?

I think m&kb is fine for everything in arma2. but for extra good time I hook up joystick and trackir

 

[Zenith]

I just use keyboard for jets. braking in choppers is easy, jst pull back on the mouse. or if you really can't hit S or activate auto-hover. remember to press Z at the same time so you're not miles up.

btw, free-fall bombs that allow you to lock target are actually guided so long as you're within a 100m horizontal of the target when you drop.

 

[itsinmyveins]

Brake ? In an Aircraft ?

You can't brake. You have to flare backwards, that is tip your nose into the air so you start to reverse your forward inertia.

Obviously I'm not talking about friction based braking, but I was hoping people would understand what I meant. I'm having a lot of trouble controlling the damn thing is my point, and I was asking for advice on how to do so. I passed the first mission, transporting troops, but on the second one (attack helicopter) I'm not getting any instructions at all.

:lol :lol

What I just wrote to Burger.

 

[VibratingDonkey]

umm, tried going thru the firing range and it fails before I even take a shot!! lol

No matter what I do, he coments how shitty I am...LOL I didnt even fire the fucking weapon!!

Do I have to patch the steam version?

Had the opposite thing happen to me.

Was supposed to carry a soldier acting like he's hurt to the drill instructor and perform first aid on him. Was fumbling around with the controls and accidentally dropped him. Drill instructor suddenly commented on what a good acting job the guy was doing, twice. I looked down, and the guy was dead. Then I jumped into a HMMWV and sped off.

Then the game crashed... No fault of the game though. My PC does that. Was hoping it wouldn't with this game, but oh well.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

What I just wrote to Burger.

yeah, I know. it still is a fantastic post.

do the heli thing in boot camp