Weapon transition (THIS IS IMPORTANT)

[Provac]

Only reason I say its important is because I think it is. I don't know if a plan is in motion to change this at 505 release (doubtfully) but weapon transition in ARMA 2 is horrible!

When in a active combat situation does a soldier take the time to put the rifle on his back then draw his sidearm. Some may say why use sidearm, tactically its used to draw when you don't have time to change a mag in your rifle. Say your team mate is also out of bullets you have to have a quick access backup. That's why a soldier every considering carrying a sidearm.

As it stands now its faster to reload than do a quick pull of your sidearm.
Now a quick fix to this is possible mainly because the transition animations needed are already in the game. Me and my buddy noticed the transition between main weapon and binoculars where the soldier drops his rifle leaving it hanging at the chest then pulling his binos. THAT'S IT! we were so flabbergasted that you didn't just use that system for weapon transition in the first place.

1. Step one, change the transition animation for rifle to gun with the same animation from rifle to binos.

2. Cut the animation speed of the transition by alot. A skilled soldier should be able to draw his sidearm in about 1 second. 2-3 frames on the drop and whatever frames on the sidearm pull to make it a total of 1 second.

problem solved, realism heightened and everyone is happy.


Thanks for reading and make it happen


edit!

oh yeah, make it possible to do while moving as well... thanks again. Now get to it

[SaBrE_UK]

Good ideas. I also think that reload times are far too quick, at least for machine-guns.

[Helmut_AUT]

Well...

I think 1 sec. for drawing a sidearm up to "ready to fire" is too little. Maybe correct for Spec Ops, certainly not for your average Squad Leader.

Second, as far as I know sidearms are mostly used for indoor searches, traffic stops and for being "less confronting" to the civilian population. I don't know any Army that teaches it's regular soldiers (not spec ops) to revert to side arm when they can't change the mag quick enough. At the usual engagement ranges of 50+ meters it wouldn't make much sense either.

Last, if you were to use the sidearm for room clearing or in other restricted spaces, you don't want the rifle to hang from it's sling in front of you, you want it packed away cleanly. So that's actually two very different ideas on how to use a sidearm, and what to do with the rifle meanwhile - the quick backup, or the prepared use of a weapon that's easier to carry.

I don't think your idea is a bad one, but it's not a "one size fits all" thing. And for average soldiers, you'd need longer time to draw, AND make the reload times realistic on the rifles.

[11aTony]

I agree. However, being able to switch to sidearm and AT while moving (like reloading now) is a must. There have been descussions about this in the past before a2 was released and I am really surprised that they only made it possible for reloading while moving and not switching while moving. Not necessary while running but atleast walking.

[Provac]

Second, as far as I know sidearms are mostly used for indoor searches, traffic stops and for being "less confronting" to the civilian population. I don't know any Army that teaches it's regular soldiers (not spec ops) to revert to side arm when they can't change the mag quick enough. At the usual engagement ranges of 50+ meters it wouldn't make much sense either.

Last, if you were to use the sidearm for room clearing or in other restricted spaces, you don't want the rifle to hang from it's sling in front of you, you want it packed away cleanly.

This is true, regular army doesn't carry sidearms (at least none that i know off) because they usually operate in bigger groups and at longer distances from time to time. Clearing towns and rooms is perfectly doable with rifle only. I don't see much use in carrying a sidearm in a long range engagement either as its kind of pointless and you would probably go for changing a mag rather than pull a sidearm at longer ranges.

But since its arma2 and you can choose to carry a sidearm on any soldier they should really make the transition from rifle to sidearm realistic. In a quick transition 1 second might sound fast and sure for most it might be unrealistic. I guess it would be a random 1-2 seconds depending on your situation.

Anyways here are some transition videos on youtube (not the best but it shows how it should be done weapon hanging pull sidearm for those vital shots)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfZGByEuVC8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngBHT...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx-Co...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSfjT...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFn7e...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xPKs...eature=related


And I agree on some of the reload times as well, at least the heavier guns.

[NoRailgunner]

Erm... 1 second transitions comes very close CS gameplay style. Its possible to get the weapon ready 2-3 seconds mostly under ideal conditions - like a peaceful firing range. In combat and under pressure its another story. Same goes to "changing AT weapons during walk" - maybe it looks cool but its not safe.

[DreDay]

Ideally, the sidearm transition speed should be dirrectly proportional to the unit's (soldier's) experience. This should also be the case for the reloading speed.

Honestly though, I see these as very low priority improvements, considerting that they would have minimal impact on the gameplay.

If it was up to me, I would rather have BIS focus on preventing the "on the move" reloads for the MGs and significantly increasing the reload times for the MGs. This would introduce much more realism, and bring more balance to the gameplay.

Peace,
DreDay

[11aTony]

Well smaw or javeling not but switching to m136 could be done like I said. When you go behind cover to switch to sidearm or at and you find yourself just step or two not behind cover enough you would just move a bit. Not for running around and switching weapons all the time and play rambo. Small corrections. In open space areas it doesnt matter anyway but in urban combat it would be very helpful. No CS to be clear.
Lenght of transition is great as it is for me. Reloading even too fast maybe.

[Provac]

Its possible to get the weapon ready 2-3 seconds mostly under ideal conditions - like a peaceful firing range. In combat and under pressure its another story.

I have to disagree with this one.

A soldier utilizing a sidearm in the first place has probably been drilled in the art of transition to the point where drawing his sidearm is second nature. His transition a pure situational reaction, if he hears the click and sees an enemy pop up in front of him within range already calculated by his brain sending signal to his arm to pick up that gun and fire.

Chances him fumbling his draw in anyway so minimal its a cookie cutter reaction. That transition will happen so fast you probably wouldn't believe it. A regular gun nut on the shooting range might mess it up more but a soldier perfected to the art would probably be much more proficient.

Usually symptoms of stress comes after a fight when his adrenaline has gone.


Now im of course talking a little more elite than the regular army grunt who's probably not carrying a sidearm anyways. I rarely draw my sidearm in game if ever, but its a feature that should be simulated correctly to be effective. The only reason you would consider drawing a sidearm now is if your rifle is out of bullets.

[Celery]

Erm... 1 second transitions comes very close CS gameplay style. Its possible to get the weapon ready 2-3 seconds mostly under ideal conditions - like a peaceful firing range. In combat and under pressure its another story. Same goes to "changing AT weapons during walk" - maybe it looks cool but its not safe.

I guess real life is quite arcade then, huh? One second is still an eternity in a fight, it's not the blink of an eye it's usually thought as. It's one second, 1/60 of a minute.

Slow is not realistic if real life is faster.