Arma 3

[Luftwaffles]

So, Arma III's alpha is releasing on Tuesday (march 5th 2013), and I am absolutely fucking stoked. 

 

 

I figure this is one of those games where I'm the only one on here who's really interested in it, but for those unfamiliar with the game, Arma is an incredibly detailed military simulator and bug testbed developed by Bohemia Interactive (devs of previous Arma games, Take on Helicopters, and the older Operation Flashpoint games before Codemasters took over and turned them into flaming piles of crap). I'm a super big fan. The level of detail is ridiculous, the maps are gigantic, and if you play with a good group (I won't pimp my own here unless folks are interested in playing), it's the most unique multiplayer experience I've ever been a part of. For me, it's the quintessential PC game, for better or worse: impossible to run sometimes, but comes with a ridiculous editor, gigantic maps, and buttloads of vehicles. Eventually it all comes together in an amazing sandbox, but you do definitely have to work a bit to get that working. 

 

That said, it's also janky as hell, has a steep learning curve (which most communities are more than happy to help you with), and brings even the most powerful PCs to their knees sometimes. So needless to say, I'm excited to see what A3 brings to the table in improving on some of the most common complaints about Arma 2. 

 

So. Discuss. Excited about A3? Disappointed in A2? Just looking forward to the DayZ standalone instead? 

[Luftwaffles]

 

Tomorrow! 

[Mal]

I haven't kept up on this but... its out and I am not ready financially. So I guess I have until June 18th to get the game while its on Alpha pricing (If it is following that model)?

 

While I don't play much but the series is great because of the potential.

[Luftwaffles]

I haven't kept up on this but... its out and I am not ready financially. So I guess I have until June 18th to get the game while its on Alpha pricing (If it is following that model)?

 

While I don't play much but the series is great because of the potential.

 

Yeah, it's kind of following the minecraft model in that way. 

 

It's surprising, though. I've put about 5 hours into it already, and it's everything I wanted. All the same gameplay of A2 without a lot of the bullshit controls. Rather than writing out all of my thoughts again here, though, I'm going to link to where I already wrote about it, provided that's alright with Dean. (It could be kinda blogspammy)

[deanb]

 

Ahh, alpha games. I actually own ARMA II...I think from being free on GMG. I couldn't sort of get into it, seemed very control heavy.

 

Maritan has posted up two screenshots of game on (presumably) high and low. Quite a wide range.

[Luftwaffles]

I like the Arma series, but yeah, they are pretty complex in the way of controls. 3 helps that along by making the controls a lot more snappy, but there's still a lot there (and they've actually added slightly more in 3 with the new stance system). 

[deanb]

So given the ARMA 3 Alpha Lite a spin.

 

Only a very small spin, but was enough to find out it doesn't like playing below the recommended (which is kind of naf, cos I'm above the minimum too). Lot of very basic looking models and textures that randomly pop into slightly higher detail when you're a couple feet away from them. So I figure that's probably part of what the "Alpha" tag is for.

 

Gameplay is...still certainly different to most other shooters. Though I gotta ask if zooming is broken or not? It doesn't look down the sights on your gun, just slightly zoom in the whole screen.

[Luftwaffles]

The way zooming works is twofold. 

 

Basically tapping your mouse is a toggle, and holding it zooms. So I could tap my mouse once to sight in, then hold it to zoom even more if I'd like. Or I could just hold it to zoom in (what you're probably talking about). 

[Mal]

Aww man... I dun goof'd by not getting the game way earlier. I suppose I'll have to get my fill with Red Orchestra 2 and Rising Storm... or I can stay with Arma 2.