ATTN NOOBIES! - New to ArmA II or OA - Here's the place for your questions

[walker 0]

Hi bummer

1) Tell them to go up to a weapon source, such as:

i) a dead soldiers body

ii) an ammo box

iii) a vehicle with ammo in its cargo

iv) a weapon dumped on the ground

2) Then with that specific unit selected; press the unit environment interaction key, the Default key is the [6] above the querty section of your keyboard.

3) You will then have various options for the unit to interact with the weapon source, rearm, take weapon, and Gear.

a) Gear works exactly like your gear window except in this case it is that AI units Gear.

There is additional information on controlling your AI Team Mates here:

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA_II_AI_Squad_Command

Kind Regards walker

Edited April 18, 2010 by walker

[Xen0tech 10]

Hi all, I have not had arma2 for long but managed to clock up quite a few hours because its really fun. However there are a few issues that annoy me and i'm hoping its just because I don't understand it fully.

1. I found bringing up your rifle just blocks vision with no accuracy bonus. The little green crosshair is just as accurate. So is there any point to using aimpoints/default sights?

2. I hardly get a chance to go prone vs ai because it does more harm than good, I can't see them but they can see me through grass. Turning my terrain settings to very low removes grass so I can see enemies easier, is this why grass provides no concealment? To make it fair for ai vs low settings?

3. I was playing a game at night, it was very dark and I was in a bush not doing anything to draw attention but enemies (without nvg) were still seeing me. Does night time or silencers provide a stealth bonus vs ai?

[walker 0]

Hi Xen0tech

1. I found bringing up your rifle just blocks vision with no accuracy bonus. The little green crosshair is just as accurate. So is there any point to using aimpoints/default sights?

Many ArmA players play the game at the higher dificulty levels, which do not allow cross hairs, this is particularly so in MP.

If you do not learn how to use the iron sights mode you will be at disadvantage.

Unlike in FPS games where the laser bullet comes out from between the entities/players eyes or chest, ArmA is a Military simulation which means the bullet, which follows a balistic arc, comes out of guns barrel. So while cross-hairs are OK for CQB at the long ranges many battles take place at in ArmA, say 200m to 300m plus range then the Cross-hairs are not so accurate due to parallax effects and lack of the mils indicators that are on iron sights, to account for the zeroing of the weapon and bullet drop.

2. I hardly get a chance to go prone vs ai because it does more harm than good, I can't see them but they can see me through grass. Turning my terrain settings to very low removes grass so I can see enemies easier, is this why grass provides no concealment? To make it fair for ai vs low settings?

This AI can see through grass topic has been discussed many times in ArmA; most recently here:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=97157

As I point out in actual fact the AI in every game that has ever been made does not "See" anything, period. But read what it says there and follow the link to the earlier threads on the subject and please feel free to participate in the debate and to try the test mission by NeMeSiS or create your own to put your point of view.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=81935

There is a long tradition in this forum of testing scientifically. You may wish to use scientific methods to test your hypothesis and support your theory.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=74090&highlight=plea

3. I was playing a game at night, it was very dark and I was in a bush not doing anything to draw attention but enemies (without nvg) were still seeing me. Does night time or silencers provide a stealth bonus vs ai?

The major indicators for the AI at night are the same as for people, that is:

1) Movement

2) Sound

3) The AI can and does use NV goggles and it affects the AI spotting algorithm

4) The the degree of Moonlight affects the AI spotting algorithm

5) Please remember the peekaboo blanki game you played as a kiddie, running behind a bush does not make the enemy forget you ran behind it and hiding your face behind the bush does not mean you ass is not hanging out in the wind for all and sundry to see it.

6) The suppressor (note it is not a silencer) on a rifle reduces the enemies ability to audio locate you by your muzzle sound, flash and smoke and is accounted for in the ArmA spotting algorithm.

7) The silencer on a pistol reduces the chance of enemies hearing the shot but not from seeing or hearing its effects eg.

i) The ouchy! pain of being shot but not killed by the numpty who missed the Medulla Oblongata. (base of skull, top of neck area)

ii) The yelpy shout from said ouchy pain person

iii) The person in a unit being seen as dead, or failing to report after receiving an order.

iv) The thump sound of rounds missing the target but landing close (ever notice them say "... Under Fire")

Follow this link and read the section about the difference between cover and concealment and follow the links for more information and debate on the subject.

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA_II_Hints_and_Tips

Kind Regards walker

Edited April 19, 2010 by walker

[Xen0tech 10]

Thanks very much Walker i'll check those links now :)

[DrEvilNL 10]

Fast question.

Is it possible to have more edit points? want to place enemy soldiers in every village in that large map but can only fill 40% with 2-3 rifleman.

EDIT:

Sometimes im making video's and stuff, and i saw a Dance script, google did not help.. Does anyone knows where i can find a dance script?

Edited April 21, 2010 by DrEvilNL

[myshaak 0]

Fast question.

Is it possible to have more edit points? want to place enemy soldiers in every village in that large map but can only fill 40% with 2-3 rifleman.

EDIT:

Sometimes im making video's and stuff, and i saw a Dance script, google did not help.. Does anyone knows where i can find a dance script?

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but it sounds to me like you are using the editor wizard/template to design a mission... well, the simpliest solution would be - not using it. Fire up the editor from the main menu, not from Scenarios -> My Mission -> New...

[DrEvilNL 10]

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but it sounds to me like you are using the editor wizard/template to design a mission... well, the simpliest solution would be - not using it. Fire up the editor from the main menu, not from Scenarios -> My Mission -> New...

thanks, will try it

[bummer 10]

wht do i only get a rickety old lady with no weapons from the armory now?

ps thanks walker , looks like you are the official question answerer! nice!

[FalornHope 10]

OK, so I'm new, I haven't bought the game yet (Got the demo - Will be playing it for a week or two, but will definitely get the game soon)

I think the Demo is great, it exceeded my expectation thoroughly and I'm looking forward to more time on it.

Can anyone suggest some stuff that I should try out, items, etc. Available in the demo?

Are there more weapons/(Unlocks?) in the full game?

When I play the demo, there are (I think) 6 classes for the player. Anymore in the full game?

Is the community big, is it easy to find some good matches with team working players in the full game?

Mods - Do you have to organize to play with other people on mods, do modded units transfer with the map data, how easy is it to find other modded players?

Thanks :D

[instagoat 133]

OK, so I'm new, I haven't bought the game yet (Got the demo - Will be playing it for a week or two, but will definitely get the game soon)

I think the Demo is great, it exceeded my expectation thoroughly and I'm looking forward to more time on it.

Can anyone suggest some stuff that I should try out, items, etc. Available in the demo?

Are there more weapons/(Unlocks?) in the full game?

When I play the demo, there are (I think) 6 classes for the player. Anymore in the full game?

Is the community big, is it easy to find some good matches with team working players in the full game?

Mods - Do you have to organize to play with other people on mods, do modded units transfer with the map data, how easy is it to find other modded players?

Thanks :D

Hi!

For the weapons, all guns are available in the Editor by default, however, they have to be unlocked in the armoury to be tested out there. Same goes for most Units/Vehicles. (Again, those are all available in the Editor without unlocks.).

For class/vehicles, there are between 10 - 30 individual vehicles available per faction, in six factions. (USMC, CDF, Russian Army, ChDKZ, NAPA and Civilians.) For individual soldier classes, the USMC faction has 22 different ones, from Officers over Riflemen, Sharpshooters to AT gunners and Corpsmen. Each faction has about the same amount of individual Units.

On top of that, of course, tons of mods. My total of Units right now has got to be in the range of 400 ish (Bound to keep increasing over time.) As nice as the addons are, though, they can prove to be a bit troublesome in multiplayer. Can´t say a lot about that though, I´m not an MP person.

For SP, though, the mods are all very fantastic.

Hope this is a bit enlightening.

Insta

[DrEvilNL 10]

Fast question, What are Server key's?

i host a server, and me and my friend play on it, but some mods got Server keys but i don't what it is..

[FalornHope 10]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

So, I got a few more questions -

What's a corpsman?

What's the point of the Squad Leader class

Is it impossible to play mods in Multiplayer without the other players all having them? I understand how mods work, however I was perhaps hoping that there may be something in game that allowed you to send the smaller mod (Maps, units) to others quickly.

I'm a multiplayer sorta guy, so what's it like in multiplayer?

I can do the game well on my PC, but what are the minimum requirements - Chances of it working on my brother's mediocore PC? (2.6ghz Pentium 4, ATI Radeon HD3650)

Best place to buy the game? Cheapest I've seen it is £15 at Game.

Thanks man, some great answers there.

PS: Does anyone still have the demo installed and could perhaps introduce me to some of the features of the game from there?

[Maio 293]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

So, I got a few more questions -

What's a corpsman?

What's the point of the Squad Leader class

Is it impossible to play mods in Multiplayer without the other players all having them? I understand how mods work, however I was perhaps hoping that there may be something in game that allowed you to send the smaller mod (Maps, units) to others quickly.

I'm a multiplayer sorta guy, so what's it like in multiplayer?

I can do the game well on my PC, but what are the minimum requirements - Chances of it working on my brother's mediocore PC? (2.6ghz Pentium 4, ATI Radeon HD3650)

Best place to buy the game? Cheapest I've seen it is £15 at Game.

Thanks man, some great answers there.

PS: Does anyone still have the demo installed and could perhaps introduce me to some of the features of the game from there?

The Corpsman is a medic .

If you are hosting a server with mods on the player who joins must have the mods no mater how small. But if you have mods installed you can join a server with no mods .

Multiplayer is great when you play with a tactical clan .( my opinion )

Don't bother installing it on you brothers PC.

[FalornHope 10]

Alright, thanks man. So it's best to clan up and make sure you have the right version together, then? Otherwise play the normal game.

Is there a mod manager in game? You should all know what this is, something that lets you open up any mod that is installed.

[ladlon 10]

Real easy one... That little cracking sound, like pebbles being thrown at a brick wall... That's bullet hits near your, right? I'm 99% sure it is... Just figured I'd ask, in case it's something else... like the sound of gunfire or something.

[instagoat 133]

Real easy one... That little cracking sound, like pebbles being thrown at a brick wall... That's bullet hits near your, right? I'm 99% sure it is... Just figured I'd ask, in case it's something else... like the sound of gunfire or something.

Bullets impacting near you give an earthy thumping noise. The high pitched cracks come from supersonic bullets flying past your head: they´re basically sonic booms.

Cheers

Insta

[ladlon 10]

Ah, it would be the supersonic ones then. Ya, my first instinct was that it was trees being hit, but something just didn't seem to jive, so part of me thought it might be something else... so, I figured I'd ask.

Cool... Thanks.

[ladlon 10]

Here's an odd and potentially stupid question....

I've downloaded a few of the recommended maps, but it seems like a lot of them are giving me errors. I can view the contents using TUGZip fine, but when I try and extract them, I get a 'Can't read from source disk' type of error...

Is this Windows dicking me around with it's overzealous security, or is it possible the file is corrupt... or what? Again, I can view the file fine... just can't seem to extract it.

Any ideas? I'm re-downloading the maps in the meantime...

(One theory... maybe TUGZip has issue with .7z files... even thought it SEEMS to support them.)

---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 PM ----------

For those of you following along... It appears TUGZip has issues with .7z files. I used the Windows extract function (...didn't even see it there! That's a rare moment of convenience!), and it seems to have extracted it fine.

Okay, looks like I'm good.

Thanks for dropping by....

---------- Post added at 08:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 PM ----------

Aw, nuts... Even though the other .7z maps seem to work, I get error messages (and CTD) with the Pantera map... which is actually the one I was really hoping to get, as I need it to play Guerilla War.

Anyone else have that map CTD on them? Any advice?.... Anyone just want to mock me while I'm struggling? ;)

[ladlon 10]

UPDATE: The CTD issue is the known conflict with Panthera and Duala... Getting closer, but there's still some issues. Looks like a new version of Duala is coming out today that might fix it.

[update update....]: Got all that fixed. Latest version fixes it, but I also fixed it previous to installing them by putting in the latest version of the foliage file (...the map packs themselves had older versions).

Edited May 2, 2010 by ladlon

[calqluslethal 10]

Hello,

My name is Calqluslethal. I'm 32, from Detroit. I have just gotten the new Arma 2, and have been playing the highly acclaimed A.C.E. mod for arma 2. I am one of the many Project Reality that will soon be here to play with you guys. You can expect an influx around 3000+ more people that will be playing with you guys Starting now to July.

I must say i was blown away by the game and the mod. And feel angry that i didn't have the pleasure of finding it earlier. But better late than never.

I have a few problems in the game:

1. I don't know how to interact with people on a server at a given time. I hit caps lock but no one says anything to me. Voip is vital for a succesful misson. I know many use TeamSpeak, Ventrillo, Mumble etc. But is their anyway you can talk to others ingame without these 3rd party programs.

2. I don't know how to call for artillery, send artillery, lazer designate for bombs, mark contacts last position on the map, etc, etc... Is their a manual for ACE. If so please provide me the link.

You guys here at Bohemia have made a terrific game. The graphics i've seen are second to none. And i have never been a fan of playing bots, but i must say the AI on here is great. Far exceeding my expectations by far. I've heard many Project Reality players complaining that they don't want to play bots. But i think they will be pleasantly surprised when they do arrive.

Please feel free to leave any suggestions you have to a newcomer. I know importance of teamwork and cover. But do not know a great deal about this game. Any help is appreciated.

If i've posted this in wrong area, please forgive me, I searched but didn't find a specific place for introductions.

Thank You

Edited May 2, 2010 by calqluslethal

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

You can expect an influx around 3000+ more people that will be playing with you guys Starting now to July.

Oh no! Not BF2 Players!

(I'm only joking. I played BF2 for several years, and played PR from the very first version. There might be a problem with immature kids, but it's mostly Vanilla servers.)

You have to hit your "," and "." keys to change "radio" channels. You will want to go to either Global (White) or Side (Blue) to speak. Most people don't use the ingame VON, because frankly, it sucks. It's also incredibly hard to hear people on it, because of the volume and breaks up alot.

A.C.E. mod questions go here: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=96371

Finally, This IS completely the wrong section. There is no correct section however, because, If I remember correctly, they do not allow personal introduction threads on here. With 67,099 members it would swamp the forums pretty fast.

[instagoat 133]

2. I don't know how to call for artillery, send artillery, lazer designate for bombs, mark contacts last position on the map, etc, etc... Is their a manual for ACE. If so please provide me the link.

Hi!

Calling in Arty and designating Targets is easy, provided the assets are available in the mission.

To call in AI arty, press 0: Artillery support should be listed in this menu if available. Press the appropriate number key, and your character will send a request to the AI arty, which will check if it is avialable for you, and then respond appropriately. If they are ready to give you fire support, single click on the desired map coordinates.

With player controlled arty, this becomes much more complicated, since then the whole call-for-fire procedure you´d do in real life has to be applied to get accurate fire on target. I don´t have my arty manual on hand right now, but I´m sure there are such manuals available on the internet.

You can of course try out the manually controlled arty for yourself: place an arty piece on the map, and link it with an artillery module from the modules section (F7). Get in, and you will get a command menu entry to active artillery mode.

Laser designators also work easily, but are really only worth anything if the mission has air support or artillery support available with laser guided ammunitions. In ACE2, take the SOFLAM, load the battery, and then aim at your desired target and single click: this will activate the laser. (The red dot should be readily visible.) AI planes with laser guided bombs will see this designator, and throw bombs at it. They usually need two passes to get it right, but they are still fairly effective unless there are a lot of AA threats around.

With players, it´s probably best to observe some sort of regulated procedure to minimize the hazards that come with high speed jetfighters throwing a lot of explosives around.

Hope this helps

Insta

Edited May 2, 2010 by InstaGoat

[calqluslethal 10]

Oh no! Not BF2 Players!

You have to hit your "," and "." keys to change "radio" channels. You will want to go to either Global (White) or Side (Blue) to speak. Most people don't use the ingame VON, because frankly, it sucks. It's also incredibly hard to hear people on it, because of the volume and breaks up alot.

.

So let me get this right i have to hit "," or ".", and then caps lock or just "," or "."

---------- Post added at 09:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 AM ----------

Hi!

To call in AI arty, press 0: Artillery support should be listed in this menu if available. Press the appropriate number key, and your character will send a request to the AI arty, which will check if it is avialable for you, and then respond appropriately. If they are ready to give you fire support, single click on the desired map coordinates.

With player controlled arty, this becomes much more complicated, since then the whole call-for-fire procedure you´d do in real life has to be applied to get accurate fire on target. I don´t have my arty manual on hand right now, but I´m sure there are such manuals available on the internet.

You can of course try out the manually controlled arty for yourself: place an arty piece on the map, and link it with an artillery module from the modules section (F7). Get in, and you will get a command menu entry to active artillery mode.

Laser designators also work easily, but are really only worth anything if the mission has air support or artillery support available with laser guided ammunitions. In ACE2, take the SOFLAM, load the battery, and then aim at your desired target and single click: this will activate the laser. (The red dot should be readily visible.) AI planes with laser guided bombs will see this designator, and throw bombs at it. They usually need two passes to get it right, but they are still fairly effective unless there are a lot of AA threats around.

With players, it´s probably best to observe some sort of regulated procedure to minimize the hazards that come with high speed jetfighters throwing a lot of explosives around.

Hope this helps

Insta

What do you mean single click on the desired map coordinates, is that on terrain you mean or on the map or both.

Ill stick with ai artillery for now.

Now about the Soflam, aim at the target then single click. Will there then be some of audio to let pilots know i am laser targeting for them, and will their be an icon on the map to show where it is.

Also does anyone have a link showing a manual for ACE.

Edited May 2, 2010 by calqluslethal

[instagoat 133]

So let me get this right i have to hit "," or ".", and then caps lock or just "," or "."

---------- Post added at 09:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 AM ----------

What do you mean single click on the desired map coordinates, is that on terrain you mean or on the map or both.

Ill stick with ai artillery for now.

Now about the Soflam, aim at the target then single click. Will there then be some of audio to let pilots know i am laser targeting for them, and will their be an icon on the map to show where it is.

Sry, I forgot this: single click on the map screen. The laser will appear as a target like any other, except it cannot be targeted by normal weapons, while laser guided weapons can only be locked on laser targets. There aren´t any special audio or visual cues to there being a laser target: with Human pilots, you´d need to communicate them the location of your target (they will spot it within 2 kilometers of it, usually, depending on their altitude.), while AI pilots with a search and destroy waypoint will circle an area until they find the laser, and then drop their ammunitions on that.

I think the ACE wagn should provide the information you´re looking for: http://ace.dev-heaven.net/wagn/Documentation

Cheers

Insta

Edited May 2, 2010 by InstaGoat

[TG Marksman X 10]

Hey guys,

Haven't played the game yet (pc is still being built).

But I was going through the armaholic listed weapons and equipment, and under the

sniper-rifles tab, if you look at the M4-SBR, it lists a possible magazine as a 100round drum.....

Is that right?

That I could theoretically (sp?) use a 100rnd drum magazine on a DMR?

You could stay in position forever with 100 rounds! Just thought that it was interesting, even if a little realism-breaking (yes you could do it in rl, but would you? doubt it)

Thanks guys.