After two years, ArmA 2 still as terrible as ever

[baronjohn]

So I installed my legit version of (German) ArmA 2, patched it to the latest version and tested it. I thought maybe I'd do an LP of the campaign to show off how fucking retarded it is, but alas the game is still as horribly shitty as when I left it two years ago.

I'll just focus on one point to demonstrate. The AI is completely retarded.They randomly stand, crouch or prone, if they're standing they run 10 meters in a totally random direction and then face a new random direction (usually end up staring into a wall) then they wait a few seconds and do it all over again. Very rarely they run farther, like headless chicken, which I suppose to skyway means they're "flanking". I tested this in the first scenario and the battle was in a village so this is as good as it gets.

I popamole'd them most of them, got wounded by one of the headless chicken and watched as I lay there yelling for help, with two of my teammates just standing there watching me die (ArmA 2 has popamole health regen where any anyone can fix up anyone to full health with some magic hand waving) for a minute. Then the game rebooted my computer. What the fuck?

I did the only thing a reasonable person would do at this point. I clicked uninstall.exe

 

[Admiral jimbob]

I think it's time Bumlordjohn came out and told us just what BIS did to his wife and children.

 

[pipka]

You didn't apply enough LARPing, that's why AI behaved that way.

 

[Jaesun]

So I installed my legit version of (German) ArmA 2

 

[Trash]

No matter how trollish the op is with this, he's right.

 

[villain of the story]

ArmA2 is supposed to be great in huge multiplayer games.

 

[mediocrepoet]

How could this be!? It's the only game Skyway likes!

 

[Metro]

Finally a baronjohn post worth reading.

 

[MapMan]

Too obvious, skyway aint gonna fall for it. Good luck next time (with civ 3 maybe?).

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Too obvious, skyway aint gonna fall for it.

Must...resist...urge...to reply...


















DONGS

 

[MikeJahn]

ARMA 2 probably had one of the shittiest interfaces ever that made dwarf fortress look awesome. Also that stupid robot voice when dudes are spotted got old real fast. I ended up laying in the grass firing at anything that moved and that worked alright until I got bored.

I have the feeling that either it really is shit or I missed something as I like a lot of complicated games and I was sure since I liked Red Orchestra id like this game.

 

[BLOBERT]

BRO SKYWYAY WILL POST HERE AFTER HIS 3RD DA2 PLAYTHROUGH YOU KNOW BIOWARE STUFF IS NICE IF YOU IS BEEING NEEDED ROMANCE

 

[Ermm]

How can this be? Arma thread without Skyway?

 

[Suchy]

ARMA 2 probably had one of the shittiest interfaces ever that made dwarf fortress look awesome.

Indeed, and this is where voice recognition comes in handy.

 

[Raapys]

I think it's a decent game. Sure, interface sucks, the coordinates voice-over thing gets old the first time you hear it and the countless bugs, odd AI behavior and whatnot is certainly annoying. A couple of hours in though, all that stuff blends into the background and it becomes an entertaining experience. You really just need to get used to the whole interface/controls/game mechanics stuff and learn how the AI is likely to respond/react to your orders and such.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Think I'm going to not remove it from an inventory to get a taste for it, if I enjoy the basic gameplay I'll give it a purchase during the summer sales.

 

[baronjohn]

You'll need a helmet to play ArmA 2.

... because of all the bugs. Get it??

 

[Suchy]

I think it's a decent game. Sure, interface sucks, the coordinates voice-over thing gets old the first time you hear it and the countless bugs, odd AI behavior and whatnot is certainly annoying. A couple of hours in though, all that stuff blends into the background and it becomes an entertaining experience. You really just need to get used to the whole interface/controls/game mechanics stuff and learn how the AI is likely to respond/react to your orders and such.

Actually AI behaviour and voice-overs were improved a lot with latest patch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UeoRGj1uow
Interface is crap, but as I wrote before, a speech recognition tool (like VAC) saves most of the problems. Commanding the team becomes fast and natural.

 

[MetalCraze]

Think I'm going to not remove it from an inventory to get a taste for it, if I enjoy the basic gameplay I'll give it a purchase during the summer sales.

There are demos available. So you can avoid FADE fucking up your game (like your grenades will fly in all weird trajectories, bullets won't deal any damage, the screen will tear etc) if you'll use newer patches with pirate serials which are blacklisted.

Demos aren't patched though but you'll spend less time downloading.

 

[baronjohn]

Actually AI behaviour and voice-overs were improved a lot with latest patch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UeoRGj1uow

Uhm, he's using mods:

Game: ArmA2 Combined Operations 1.59.76000

Mods:
ACE2 1.10 RC1 (realistic gameplay and content)
Zeus AI 0.02d1 (improves AI further)
WarFX R1.1 beta (visual effects)
JSRS 1.2 (improved sounds)

Do you really think BIS would improve anything? :D

 

[baronjohn]

Also that AI still looks retarded and glitch-y. Look at 3:36. He goes from binocs to rifle to binocs as fast as the animation allows it. That's not good AI, that's shitty pre-alpha AI.

 

[poocolator]

He didn't receive/give order to open fire.
Also, the Hollywood muzzle flashes hurt my eyes.


Since ArmA 1 ran on my PC at the speed of turtles fucking, I figure this behemoth isn't even worth demoing.

 

[MetalCraze]

Nah. Baronjohn has a problem with reading. It was an ACE mod bug which is what's written in the description.
Muzzle flashes are from WarFX mod. I don't like them myself (ArmA2 doesn't have them at day at all), but WarFX has kewl exploshuns so I stick with it.

 

[DakaSha]

So how does arma compare to flashpoint?



edit: actually i really am interested.. even though i prob cant play arma anyways :-/

 

[MetalCraze]

OFP has better, longer campaigns (CWC, Resistance) OFP is also more "gamey"

ArmA2 has crappy campaign (it's playable in the first half though), OA has a better but short campaign, BAF has very Resistance-ish campaign but it's short too.
But it has a superior gameplay, AI and a better multiplayer.

Basically OFP if you want superior SP campaigns, ArmA2 for everything else