How to fix Arma 2 in 11 easy steps...

[Redfist]

Hi all,

Let me preface my rant by saying that, I am a hardcore Arma fan. However, I like many people with whom I have spoken find Arma 2 to be frustrating and disappointing due to the number of bugs and omissions. I think the game could be radically improved by fixing or introducing the following things:

1) A default revive module which is easy to configure and allows for players to be injured for a longer period of time before dying - they should just pay norrin for his excellent script and incorporate it into the game. I feel as though a lot of coop missions are ruined by the lack of this gameplay element. I would even like to suggest a default respawn module to be added to the editor also. Why do players, who pay for the game, have to rely on the skills and work of a community? A lot of people who want to make maps, but lack time or skill, find the idea of using 3rd-party scripts daunting. Surely the game makers know that respawn and revive are essential parts of the game. Why can't they include them in the editor as an easy to use module? Grrrr - so annoying! The idea of sequential respawn is a really nice one, a module which allowed for dead players to be respawned when an objective is achieved or a certain level of progress is made.
(Also, this module should cater for PvP user-made missions).

2) Fix the AI and the grass/vegetation problem. It is insanely frustrating to be shot by AI who can see you when you cannot see them. It seems as though hiding in the grass does nothing to hide you from them. Same goes for the smoke.

3) Aircraft countermeasures and lock-on warnings. The use of aircraft and helicopters without some form of countermeasure is totally nuts.

4) Why can't squad leaders see the targets that they set for their team? I have failed to understand this since Arma 1. If they are setting the targets, surely they should know where they are; hence, they should be able to see their own targets.

5) The voice acting - it's awful. Anyone with half an ear can tell that many of the voice actors are not native speakers of English - 'ahh my leg' comes to mind (why is it always his leg? Is that the only part of a soldiers body susceptible to damage or inury?). Also, the ones who are native speakers sound terrible, you can almost hear them changing the sheets of paper in the background as they read from the hastily written notes in a recording studio.

6) Custom Aircraft Loadouts - surely the game would be better is a mission-maker could choose the loadout of an aircraft's weapons without giving himself a stroke by using scripting language.

7) The UAVs - they look amazing, but they are totally wasted. Nobody uses them in their maps and the AI pilots fly in a frustrating grid pattern. Why can't they be remotely piloted by using the UAV module? Who doesn't think that would be an improvement? Who wouldn't like to fly a UAV around blowing stuff up?

8) Fighting inside buildings and kicking-in doors. Blurghh - ohh how the game trailers deceived me there. That would also be an amazing improvement in the game. At the moment, fighting in a building feels as clunky as a Soviet tractor.

9) In-built game templates in the editor (coop and PvP) which allow laymen a chance to make their own missions without having to read 6 billion posts on the BI forums.

10) An artillery module which is not tied to the Secops thing. Why can't you put some cannons on the ground, away from the action area, and then have the players be able to call in an artillery strike? Why can't the editor and the game have a more simple module which is easily configurable for a noob? Furthermore, can they do something about the Artillery targetting module when a player is using a cannon or arty piece? That small map with the eye-straining target lines in pretty amateur, why do we have to wait for a community member to make something better? (but then nobody will use it on a server as it will be an add-on!) Grrrrh!

11) Performance.

Don't think I am down on this game, it's pretty much the only game I play. However, I know that many of my friends and clan-mates are waiting for OFP2 to be released as they believe it will offer a much better gaming experience than Arma 2. This saddens me, as I believe that with a few small but significant changes, Arma 2 should be the best military sim out there.

However, I have a suspicion that BI is not going to do anything significant to Arma 2 (maybe they will change rainbow visibility like in the last patch) and that we will be left with a broken game of squandered potential. BI - please don't let us down. I convinced all of my friends to buy this game!

[NeMeSiS]

2) Fix the AI and the grass/vegetation problem. It is insanely frustrating to be shot by AI who can see you when you cannot see them. It seems as though hiding in the grass does nothing to hide you from them. Same goes for the smoke.

You know i succesfully ignored these comments for a while, but now i just cry again everytime i read this.

[Redfist]

You know i succesfully ignored these comments for a while, but now i just cry again everytime i read this.

What does that mean exactly, Nemesis?

[SS9]

I don't think they see through trees any more. I will say this: BIS needs to proof-read more. A lot of these bugs probably come from typos, like all the not found errors from 1.03. What if these vicious hitching and receiving bugs were just a typo in the c++ with the wrong directory mentioned or something?

[randir14]

I don't think voice acting will ever be changed (maybe in a mod) but yeah it's annoying when your guy says "fuck that hurts" with a eastern European accent and gay lisp.

[Fenrir]

Hi all,

4) Why can't squad leaders see the targets that they set for their team? I have failed to understand this since Arma 1. If they are setting the targets, surely they should know where they are; hence, they should be able to see their own targets.

Well.....its normally best to call out targets if you can actually see them with your eyes, so do you really need a marker ?

[nyran125]

to be honest . The Ai will only start shooting at you when they KNOW where you are. IN real life, if an enemy knows where you are and has spotted you, regardless of grass being there or not, sorry to say it , but yeah, they WILL shoot to kill you or WONT let you leave. Or they'll just spray bullets at your general direction. And youll most likley to get hit. The real rule of thumb is dont be left out in the open. If your out in an open field you are going to be shot. There is NO grass in this world that is going to help you. PERIOD.
Do you think grass provides good cover in real life? Only a large wall, fence a large friggin tank or something can provide substantial cover for you. Grass has never throughout history ever been considered as good cover, Unless you are prone and scouting the area to plan an engagement tactic to know what your up against, but if the enemy spots you scouting then you either need to get the hell out of there or hope for the best.
DIPS in terrain have been known to provide good cover. Alexander the great, would have a map of the area the attack was in, and he would not just pin point, natural rock formations as cover he would also make sure he knew where the land dips were. Without them its just an open field and you die , and if you have a gun instead of a sword your even MORE likely to die.
So rule of thumb is you shouldnt be using plain grass for cover when you have started an engagement. Direct your troops into stealth mode before engagement and hold fire, when you have spotted the enemy wait for a sec, then open up rpovided you have SOMETHING to cover yourelf, the Ai most, or some of the time, find some kind of reasonable cover.
But if your in an open field then where the hell do you expect them to hide under fire? a tree? lol. A fern? a blade of grass?
You can get quite close to the enemy sometimes in this game without the enemy even knowing your there.
I agree that the Ai is a little more knowing than they should be, but its a fine linebetween making them completely stupid, and not shooting you at all, or making them shoot at you when they think they know where you are. I would definately prefer them shoooting at me if they know where i am, than not doing anything.

Another thing the Developers gave you 3rd person perspective for a reason, to give you a realistic approach to peripheal vision, thats what 3rd person mode is there for. So if your finding a situation where you cant see over the grass, swap to 3rd person mode.

[Flash Thunder]

Preformance, Lag and Engine Optimization should be first on your list.

If BIS can do this they can make the game more accessible ala more sales.

Here's mine (some of these additions will be added via OA.

1. Preformance, Lag and Engine Optimization improvements.

2. AI improvements and tuning.

3. Mod Section in Main Menu to Enable and Disable Mods from the game.

4. Realtime, Special Effects multi frame effects.

5. Redone Voice Overs, fixes to ingame commands and radio chat.

6. More Video options, Able to change detailed LOD distances, (Sphere of Detail??) Water quality, Shader quality, Motion Blur, Depth of Field, (not all under post processing)

7. Fixed Graphical glitches and gameplay mechanics such as fast reloads, smoke not lasting long enough.

8. Lighting system redone, like light posts and stuff they give off a really fake light, Night vision googles sometimes glicthes where the screen is completely black when disabled.

9. Pictures in the Editor of Units, vehicles, weapon loadouts etc etc, make the editor improved, and a help button inside which shows you the basics and shortcuts would help alot too.

10. Add more diversity into the character models, more faces, more customization, more Uniform textures etc on top of the more voices.

11. Flashlights, FLIR Scopes, More silenced weapons, Fire effects, Improved first person actor model maybe being able to see yourself take out a magazine when your reload, able to change the third person camera (zoom in or out closer to your shoulder)

ARMA 2 would be perfect in my eyes if these were add sometime down the line.

[randir14]

11. Flashlights, FLIR Scopes

Those are coming in Operation Arrowhead according to the Q&A topic.

[{USI}_Zombie]

1) A default revive module which is easy to configure and allows for players to be injured for a longer period of time before dying - they should just pay norrin for his excellent script and incorporate it into the game.

I hope not, the 1st aid modules do a better job, and we aren't forced to use them

I feel as though a lot of coop missions are ruined by the lack of this gameplay element. I would even like to suggest a default respawn module to be added to the editor also.

Respawn is accomplished with 2 lines of code

Why do players, who pay for the game, have to rely on the skills and work of a community? A lot of people who want to make maps, but lack time or skill, find the idea of using 3rd-party scripts daunting.
Surely the game makers know that respawn and revive are essential parts of the game.

Actually, they are not, especially in a coop. You want infinate respawn so you will ALWAYS win? Maybe be more careful and you won't die in the 1st place.

2) Fix the AI and the grass/vegetation problem. It is insanely frustrating to be shot by AI who can see you when you cannot see them. It seems as though hiding in the grass does nothing to hide you from them. Same goes for the smoke.

Try different tactics then

3

) Aircraft countermeasures and lock-on warnings. The use of aircraft and helicopters without some form of countermeasure is totally nuts.

Can you tell me how a passive guidance system on a missle would generate a lock on warning? Heat guidance is passive. Adjust your tactics

4) Why can't squad leaders see the targets that they set for their team? I have failed to understand this since Arma 1. If they are setting the targets, surely they should know where they are; hence, they should be able to see their own targets.

OK, I actually agree with this one.

5) The voice acting - it's awful. Anyone with half an ear can tell that many of the voice actors are not native speakers of English - 'ahh my leg' comes to mind (why is it always his leg? Is that the only part of a soldiers body susceptible to damage or inury?). Also, the ones who are native speakers sound terrible, you can almost hear them changing the sheets of paper in the background as they read from the hastily written notes in a recording studio.

this one too.

6) Custom Aircraft Loadouts - surely the game would be better is a mission-maker could choose the loadout of an aircraft's weapons without giving himself a stroke by using scripting language.

again, this takes very minimal scripting, and about 60 seconds, no stroke for me to do.

7) The UAVs - they look amazing, but they are totally wasted. Nobody uses them in their maps and the AI pilots fly in a frustrating grid pattern. Why can't they be remotely piloted by using the UAV module? Who doesn't think that would be an improvement? Who wouldn't like to fly a UAV around blowing stuff up?

me and me again, I have no issue with the UAV and use it in my missions.

8) Fighting inside buildings and kicking-in doors. Blurghh - ohh how the game trailers deceived me there. That would also be an amazing improvement in the game. At the moment, fighting in a building feels as clunky as a Soviet tractor.

Can't agree completely but I do wish MORE buildings were enterable

9) In-built game templates in the editor (coop and PvP) which allow laymen a chance to make their own missions without having to read 6 billion posts on the BI forums.

There already are, called wizards. Anyone can throw a map together in about 11 seconds with NO scripting

10) An artillery module which is not tied to the Secops thing. Why can't you put some cannons on the ground, away from the action area, and then have the players be able to call in an artillery strike?

You already can, arty will work just fine w/o the "secops thing"

Why can't the editor and the game have a more simple module which is easily configurable for a noob?

It's already extremely simple. 1 module and 1 synchronization line? Is that too hard?

Furthermore, can they do something about the Artillery targetting module when a player is using a cannon or arty piece? That small map with the eye-straining target lines in pretty amateur, why do we have to wait for a community member to make something better? (but then nobody will use it on a server as it will be an add-on!) Grrrrh!

Doesn't seem amateur to me, it's pretty straightforward.

11) Performance.

It works, turn your settings down, don't expect 100 fps all the time.

I hope they don't try to turn this wonderful versatile game in to some bf2/cod clone because people want it nerfed because they can't take the time to learn the game, adjust their tactics, and contribute to the community