Dont worry Captain Sniper has been working hard on a good product for SAS members, so that we can enjoy great tactical realism that we have deployed on RVS and SWAT for the last decade +.
The skins for the membership will be completely custom and something that will only be available to our members.
CLafghan is a great map but a large one. What i like about it, is the vast area in which you can conduct patrolling missions aswell as S&D, and recon missions. Perfect for MSO and SAS is currently creating its own MSO mission for the large maps like CLA and Fallujahv1.2.
Hey guys I just found out a previously unmentioned tweak for A2 and A2 OA.
It appears that in ArmA 2 texture settings if combined with careful tweaking of memory (Default) anisotropic setting, post processing, brightness and custom bit depth (in cfg files) brings A LOT more natural coloring and shading to the game to a point where A2 OA can look as if it is A3 (In lights and color palettes)
The tweak is complex and it is different for every video card/system, thus it is impossible to give exact instructions, instead I can say only the basics about it.
For A2 and A2 Free:
>Lowest texture settings doesn't only affect texture complexity but also determines texture depth, color grading and other things, thus using this setting is not recommended as it washes out A2 colors almost completely to a dull grey-yellow tint, instead, using Normal or higher texture setting improves colors greatly specially if combined with cfg bit depth tweak of 16 bits and 32 for textures. This setting is more evident in A2 Free, and even though A2 Free textures are compressed to lowest, the game engine retains original "settings" for larger textures, so amping the texture settings up will greatly improve your visuals as well as your performance even.
>Using brightness of 1.1 and gamma of 1.1 with textures Normal or higher, post processing Normal or higher and resolution greater than 800x600 will increase the colors and overall appeal of the game, these settings earn even more value if 16 bit depth tweak is used in cfg files to a point where A2 engine can look like A2 OA engine.
>Night vision is GREATLY improved in quality with A2 and the tweaks above to a point it looks very much real specially on highest settings, in addition, with those tweaks NVG gains new colors - white, yellow, lime, dark green, sharp black. Compared to stock green and black it is a big improvement.
>FOV tweaks are different for different resolutions and texture settings as well as UI size, so for example for Normal or higher and Medium UI your GPS will be smaller and cleaner than for lower settings, in addition, GPS textures gain new color grading and look more sharply (vector-vise)
For A2 OA (Beta recommended):
>The above tweaks apply, with an exception that A2 OA beta memory allocators are able to further improve visual appeal as well as 24 bit depth tweak (availavle from Settings menu unlike in A2 and A2F).
>Using antialiasing (FSAA, SMAA, etc) can further force color grading in certain ways.
>NVG, thermals gain new colors, so for example the Brittish thermal scope gains yellow, orange, dark blue, dark red and black compared to just dark red and red while WHOT and BHOT gain grey, white and a level of 10% overlay magneta and blur compared to just black and grey.
If you find a "sweet spot" with the settings you can make A2 and even A2Free appeal as if it is with OA engine (Bluer sky, greener grass, more colors on buildings and vehicles, camouflage, etc) and you can make OA thermals and visuals look as accurate as those of A3 and VBS2 (which is surreal) So give these a try, but before you try anything make backups, report back with your results
P.S. I would have captured some screenshots, but, screenshot apps are unable to capture exact colors and color grading for 2 reasons - A2 engine permits it, and image compression in screengrabs removes the visual appeal, so I skipped this.
After long search, I finally managed to create specific firewall filters that enable me as a game host for ArmA 2 after I contacted my firewalls vendor for some special patches.
Long story short. I can now host some missions which I will be doing periodically for ArmA 2 (Vanilla 1.11). Unfortunately I can't host big missions as I don't have a true gaming rig, instead only small CO-OP will be predominant until I buy a gaming rig that is.
Since I am still exploring the settings for A2 hosting I decided to make a mission for testing, it turns out I actually made a decent sandbox for PvP/TvT with Weather, Time, Civilians, Traffic, Objects, Visuals and Spawns fully dynamic. It is a heavy CQB Team VS Team mission thus it's perfect for practicing teamplay and CQB.
The missions name is Stealth Ops: Спецназ ГРУ vs Delta Force and is being hosted on my server. Once it goes past the testing stages I will finalize it and create other versions, and once I am done with this I will create a sandbox Insurgency style mission for A2 vanilla, also to be hosted on my server.
My servers default name should usually be MAVEN'S OLD-SCHOOL TACTICAL and does not use batleye as of yet. If the server is up, feel free to join. Had a great fun last night with other players
Congrats. But if you ask me the game becomes much more immersive with mods like ACE, ACRE and JSRS. Besides that CQB feels pretty clumsy in A2.
!! Especially this one modification for better movement inside/around buildings..
Stmovement called?
Great... And ACE and ACRE is just amazing. Also the whole army modifications, weapons et cetera.
I agree. Two things however. 1, I uninstalled my CO in order to keep myself as much away from playing arma as possible so I can work more and 2, I don't have a proper gaming rig to host a server with ACE, should I have more free time and a gaming system that can host an ACE server I would have let it 24/7 on as my workstation (connectivity host) is running all the time.
Also, I managed to set up my own fully set server with batleye and some anti-cheats but I discovered a minor flaw that renders it unplayable for me. A2 server executable (also A2 and A2 OA with -server switch) seem to run and emulate server twice on same system, once when I host the server and once when I join. This unfortunately kills the performance for me and causes others to have desync. Is there a way to force A2 executable to use pre-defined server hosting files, -server switch and join the server at once with the same executable session as to reduce payload? If not, I'm afraid I will have to abandon BE server for now and use the BE-less version instead (which surprisingly doesn't lag at all)
!! Especially this one modification for better movement inside/around buildings..
Stmovement called?
Just tried out ST_Movement a few hours ago and man, it makes movement really slick inside buildings, combine that with the SMK animations feature 'combat jog' and you can really clear buildings with speed. I'll get a video up of it soon, makes cqb a lotta fun in A2.
—
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
Slightly less clunky fast movement inside buildings, but when it comes to engaging targets, it's quite annoying unable to slicky go through a doorway and clear. Not to mention the fact that the frag went *through* the wall, and don't get me started about flashbangs, heh, can't get them to work at all.
I'll need more practice at it sure, but I'll be sticking with SWAT 4 or RVS for my CQB fix, methinks, and leave ARMA to where it shines best: Freaking awesome open area combat on a massive scale.
—
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
Just tried it. Very neat addon however I have to say that no matter how hard we try arma series were never originally designed for CQC. ArmA 3 changed this and is finally CQC worthy.
I have to note that we are talking about two different types of CQ here. What I meant by CQB (Close Quarters Battle as compared to ICQC(Indoor Close Quarter Combat) is that in my mission two special forces teams (each with 5 members) spawn in two different spots respectively and on the opposite ends of a scenery (town in this case) the following teams have to use all the cover and environment to find their opponents and neutralize them by two means which is either gravely injure all members beyond capability of proper operation and execute them brutally or kill them in fire exchange. The mission I made has traffic, civilians, wildlife time and date, weather and interactivity randomly generated and because these make their full impact in towns that's a setting I choose for the two teams to fight in. It is sort of like a mix between GRAW, Counter Strike and good old ArmA 2-packed-realism except that here you get vehicles you can use, vehicles that can run you over, civilians that can give away your position or shoot you in the face if you freak them out, chicken that try to cross roads and distract you from your real objective, house lights that civilians switch and can give away your position randomly, etc. In addition I enhanced the AI a bit so it's even harder now and it does indeed surprise players with its actions.
What you took for CQB in this one is indoor combat, which is something of a myth in ArmA 2 as we all know A2 indoor combat is next to impossible. Also, a small but still worthy difference between CQB and CQC is that CQB takes place outdoors usually between teams while CQC is mostly indoors and takes place between individuals (IE, SWAT team clearing building of unknown number of suspects)
I agree about A2 CO and mods. Wouldn't it be for these ArmA series would have gone extinct long ago, however there are still many vanilla supporters out there and one thing is for sure, nothing beats the vanilla releases just like ArmA 1 beats ArmA 2 in functionality or VBS beats ArmA series any day, even OFP despite its utter ugliness has more important features than ArmA 1 and 2 combined. Having A2 CO with ACE, JSRS, WarFX and several other mods may indeed emulate a realistic looking combat experience for you to participate in, I had those on and I tried playing on Tushino servers not so long ago (Tushino Serious Games, unified gaming from range of clans wordlwide, most realistic in A2 community so I recommend you try if you seek realism) and it was not only fun to experience something new but made me feel like I'm among true professionals doing something very meaningful, but sometimes, or should I say most of the times, you may want to have some fun and peace of mind without strict rules or orders because at the end of the day even A2 CO with best mods it is still a game and we play games to have entertainment in 1st place. If you want realism to extremes, sure you can emulate it but the only place where you get the real deal is right on the battlefield and in the real army. I won't judge and speak in your name but after the recent experiences I had IRL I firmly say YES to simulators and NO to real warfare.
I know there are different opinions about this (and it's probably off-topic here), but still for me CQB and CQC are synonyms. And both describe fighting in tight spaces, mainly buidlings (other examples are vehicles or the jungle).
A town or village is urban terrain, it easily allows fighting distances above 100 meters. Only the clearing of the buildings itself (by entering them) is CQB in my eyes.
(not the best source, but wikipedia is basically on my side: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_quarters_combat )
Enclosed distance engagements including within and around buildings. CQC versus CQB is defined differently not only dependent on source but unit--British Army for example in some units teach weapons, weapon ranges, numbers of opponents, so on, to be the differences between a battle and combat. To me, it's the tacticool industry gone haywire--as usual. CQF vs CQB is simple; fighting versus projectile weaponry.
I disagree Maven that "CQB in ARMA2 is next to impossible" and that's with 5 years of ARMA behind me.
Ryan, sorry about misrepresenting, I didn't mean CQB but indoor combat as A2 lacks sufficient amount of garrisonable buildings and it is very hard to move within those that are garrisonable. The other thing is the AI goes straight through the walls and if on 2nd or upper floor they commit suicide (an exception are shacks in OA takistan where AI is properly given waypoints so they in fact take proper positions and cover) so the only option is to script them to stay in one spot which kills the realism. That's what I meant by the CQB being next to impossible in A2. As for open outdoor combat, ArmA 2 shines there. I used to play covert missions a lot back in the day, would organize sessions with some old-school a2 players and we would sneak on enemy positions and take them out with our suppressed m4's, loads of fun there. Nowadays I don't play A2 as much so whenever I do get a chance I usually join a TvT server (Team vs Team, usually domination on Veteran or above) and do lone wolf sabotage and hunting, blow MHQ's, mine their roads, mine their escape vehicles, report their positions etc, and I swapped M4 Aim Point SD for Витяэь (A2 name AKSU74 UN Cobra) as my favorite weapon in A2 as it sure packs more punch when used properly.
As for off-topicness. As long A2 is in the topic you are free to discuss. This thread is originally started in order to organize some A2 session games but since we don't have other threads where we can discuss anything ArmA related we can do it here
This are some old news, but did you know that Bohemia Interactive (maker of arma series) released two lite and fully free versions of their award winning real military simulator VBS2?
The one I want to ask you about is called VBS 2 JCOVE.
So what is it? It's an ArmA 1 based free download sim game that packs some of the VBS features which make it way more realistic than ArmA 2 or 3. Sadly though the lite versions are limited to UK vs Taliban only, 2 terrains, no server browser, 2 islands and multiplayer is over direct IP (best secure option as well) for up to 8 players maximum. The good news is it runs better than A2, is more realistic, more stable and has broader equipment and vehicles for a single faction bundled in the game. It also has unique features not present in any ArmA game.
I wonder, does anyone here play this or want to give it a try?
To me it looks like A2:BAF on steroids with a lot more realism. I liked BAF so that got me interested in this.
Surprisingly I found out about this game on flashpoint.ru (12 year old Russian community dedicated to OFP, ArmA series, World Of Tanks and other sims) There some OFP-day veterans discussed it and gave an overall positive review, some even used VBS2 as a tutor for making Russian Army mods for A2 which turned out to be a great thing.
Speaking of that, I hear some news from the Russian communities that there won't be ACE 3, for ArmA 2 in particular. One of the guys I played with on Tushino servers yesterday told me that instead the community managed to develop a far better and broader mod called VNP or something, I couldn't remember so I couldn't find the thread burried in flashpoint.ru forums. They plan to release it for A3 and after A3 enters a final release stages. The mod is set to support army and special force factions and take full advantage of A3 features.
In other news. After an extreme pressure from the community, BI renewed its contract with Bastian (batleye developer) He told me back year ago that there won't be BE for A3 because BI wants to tamper cheating severely due to a rise of DayZ-like gamemodes (thus an influx of cheaters) however the community grew tired and got dissatisfied with BI's idea to use Steam VAC and PunkBuster as both are neither that great nor are favored among gamers. It's a good news BI opted for BE again hey, Bastian will develop BE for A3 with new tech he acquired recently.
So, are you guys into trying VBS2 JCOVE and possibly organizing a session? I could make quick missions for it as well.
Sounds interesting Maven, I might give it a try this weekend.
Edit: Got a root server with a static IP, in case we need one
Excellent! We do need a static IP since the only way to host a server for VBS2 JCOVE is a direct-IP one, a static IP server would eliminate any possible dynamic IP issues. So that's great news.
Just to make sure. Who is interested in trying out and organizing a VBS2 JCOVE session? Leave your comments. Need to know.
I am yet to try VBS2 JCOVE in order to see if it's boring or not, but from the past experiences with VBS1 I can say VBS is in my opinion more realistic and fun.
When it comes to realism, graphics don't really matter. It is the functionality that makes a great product last. Take for example OFP, or ArmA 1, both are played still today. Or GTA San Andreas that has hundreds of thousands of players but compared to todays standards very crappy graphics.
And then you have games like Battlefield 4, Crysis 3, The Last Of Us, etc games with superb graphics but boring repetitive gameplay and mindless plot in their campaigns.
If for one, I'd rather see more complex games with lower graphics than pumped up graphics-only trialware released today. DCS World, ArmA 3, Flight Sim X, and several kickstarters are sadly the only real good sims out there.
Crysis 1 blew the gaming world with its stunning graphics on its release. 5 years on, and there's a mod, very simple mod, that uses Crysis 1's adaprive optimization to make the game way better looking even than Crysis 3.
If you find VBS2 JCOVE ugly, try ENB Series with it
Master mentioned GR1 in the music thread and several other players asked me to join them in a GR1 sessions before.
I've lost my GR1 cds (expansions as well) long time ago.
Long story short. The mission I've been working on and hosting on my A2 server is heavily PvP oriented, what I did notice is that it is very much similar to how GR1 multiplayer pvp modes work.
That being said, I could easily port this mission and make it 90% accurate replica to the original GR1 multiplayer game modes. I reviewed the GR1 wikia and A2 already has all the units and weapons used in the GR1.
So, if I am to port my Modern Combat dynamic mission to be GR1-like for a2, it would feature this:
-Default class slots.
-Default original gear (accordingly from GR1 wikia).
-Proper PvP spawns and markings, several custom areas to be as maps.
-Ability to customize your loadout before round start (Units Gear setting, accurate amount of weaponry and ammo.
-Ability to win/lose the round.
-Extra features if necessary.
-Advanced AI support. By default A2 has a decent AI, combined with some scripts and modules as well as proper team balancing and waypointing the ArmA 2 AI is extremely intelligent and may even surprise you. I can make it do dynamic search, target spotting, flanking, mining, satcheling, interactivity with environment.
-Custom sounds (I would design these for this mission)
-Proper environment structures.
-Dynamic weather, time, date, wildlife.
So, would anyone play this? If so, please let me know.
In addition, I would need to know more about MP gamemodes and some equipment basics as well as maps. It's been a long time since I last played this game. I remember the campaign was an overblown propaganda which I didn't like, but the multiplayer was a great fun on the lan parties. I will ask for more details once I see if there is a sufficient number of us who would play this.
Also, what's the status on VBS2 JCOVE, have you tried it yet?
Perhaps the following will get your attention then
BI just announced that ArmA 3 final release will go on September 12th!
And not only will they release the full game, but they split the MP content from campaigns, and turned campaigns into free DLC's, which means you can now install only ArmA 3 multiplayer if you aren't interested in the campaigns.
On top of that, they released a bunch of information about the game. lots of screens, info, new details and features.
Enjoy - http://www.arma3.com/news/arma-3-releases-on-september-12#.UgP-zn9RXn4
And more - http://www.arma3.com/launch-countdown
I can't wait for this release. After the A3 goes in the wild, it will take modders only a month to release the best mods for A3 and the fun begins
P.S. Corrected the date. A3 website seems to be down due to huge traffic I guess. Should be back any time soon.
One of my few favorite missions for A2 just got ported to A3 by its author.
You may or may not know the ultimate combat sandbox called Advancing Power by a very talented Chinese guy Dragon Zen. He ported this mission for ArmA 3 under name BlackHole.
If there is a way to explore in-game content and enjoy full dynamic and advanced combat with ai, then this is it.
Don't have Arma 3? No biggie, download the original Advancing Power mission here - http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=11463&highlight=ADVANCING%2BPOWER
I've had countless hours of fun with this mission and I strongly recommend it.
P.S. Here's a setting you may want to try out. Use JSRS, WarFX and Aliabad terrain, select US delta force vs Taliban, set it to just about sunset, allow only 1 helo per 120 seconds, make the field at 200m wide, under 800m far, faction settings to 3-4 squads (5 men) each and disable artillery, jets, helos, tanks, smoke, etc. Enjoy your CQB insurgency warfare.
P.S. 2 I expanded the thread title and added an update so that we can use this thread for general ArmA series discussion (All 3 ArmA releases including expansions)
Dont worry Captain Sniper has been working hard on a good product for SAS members, so that we can enjoy great tactical realism that we have deployed on RVS and SWAT for the last decade +.
The skins for the membership will be completely custom and something that will only be available to our members.
CLafghan is a great map but a large one. What i like about it, is the vast area in which you can conduct patrolling missions aswell as S&D, and recon missions. Perfect for MSO and SAS is currently creating its own MSO mission for the large maps like CLA and Fallujahv1.2.
SAS_Capt_Sniper
Head of Recruitment & Tactical Training
GCHQ - 22nd SAS Elite Virtual Regiment
Well, you'd have to ask Keller for it when he returns.
Hey guys I just found out a previously unmentioned tweak for A2 and A2 OA.
It appears that in ArmA 2 texture settings if combined with careful tweaking of memory (Default) anisotropic setting, post processing, brightness and custom bit depth (in cfg files) brings A LOT more natural coloring and shading to the game to a point where A2 OA can look as if it is A3 (In lights and color palettes)
The tweak is complex and it is different for every video card/system, thus it is impossible to give exact instructions, instead I can say only the basics about it.
For A2 and A2 Free:
>Lowest texture settings doesn't only affect texture complexity but also determines texture depth, color grading and other things, thus using this setting is not recommended as it washes out A2 colors almost completely to a dull grey-yellow tint, instead, using Normal or higher texture setting improves colors greatly specially if combined with cfg bit depth tweak of 16 bits and 32 for textures. This setting is more evident in A2 Free, and even though A2 Free textures are compressed to lowest, the game engine retains original "settings" for larger textures, so amping the texture settings up will greatly improve your visuals as well as your performance even.
>Using brightness of 1.1 and gamma of 1.1 with textures Normal or higher, post processing Normal or higher and resolution greater than 800x600 will increase the colors and overall appeal of the game, these settings earn even more value if 16 bit depth tweak is used in cfg files to a point where A2 engine can look like A2 OA engine.
>Night vision is GREATLY improved in quality with A2 and the tweaks above to a point it looks very much real specially on highest settings, in addition, with those tweaks NVG gains new colors - white, yellow, lime, dark green, sharp black. Compared to stock green and black it is a big improvement.
>FOV tweaks are different for different resolutions and texture settings as well as UI size, so for example for Normal or higher and Medium UI your GPS will be smaller and cleaner than for lower settings, in addition, GPS textures gain new color grading and look more sharply (vector-vise)
For A2 OA (Beta recommended):
>The above tweaks apply, with an exception that A2 OA beta memory allocators are able to further improve visual appeal as well as 24 bit depth tweak (availavle from Settings menu unlike in A2 and A2F).
>Using antialiasing (FSAA, SMAA, etc) can further force color grading in certain ways.
>NVG, thermals gain new colors, so for example the Brittish thermal scope gains yellow, orange, dark blue, dark red and black compared to just dark red and red while WHOT and BHOT gain grey, white and a level of 10% overlay magneta and blur compared to just black and grey.
If you find a "sweet spot" with the settings you can make A2 and even A2Free appeal as if it is with OA engine (Bluer sky, greener grass, more colors on buildings and vehicles, camouflage, etc) and you can make OA thermals and visuals look as accurate as those of A3 and VBS2 (which is surreal) So give these a try, but before you try anything make backups, report back with your results
P.S. I would have captured some screenshots, but, screenshot apps are unable to capture exact colors and color grading for 2 reasons - A2 engine permits it, and image compression in screengrabs removes the visual appeal, so I skipped this.
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Got some good news guys
After long search, I finally managed to create specific firewall filters that enable me as a game host for ArmA 2 after I contacted my firewalls vendor for some special patches.
Long story short. I can now host some missions which I will be doing periodically for ArmA 2 (Vanilla 1.11). Unfortunately I can't host big missions as I don't have a true gaming rig, instead only small CO-OP will be predominant until I buy a gaming rig that is.
Since I am still exploring the settings for A2 hosting I decided to make a mission for testing, it turns out I actually made a decent sandbox for PvP/TvT with Weather, Time, Civilians, Traffic, Objects, Visuals and Spawns fully dynamic. It is a heavy CQB Team VS Team mission thus it's perfect for practicing teamplay and CQB.
The missions name is Stealth Ops: Спецназ ГРУ vs Delta Force and is being hosted on my server. Once it goes past the testing stages I will finalize it and create other versions, and once I am done with this I will create a sandbox Insurgency style mission for A2 vanilla, also to be hosted on my server.
My servers default name should usually be MAVEN'S OLD-SCHOOL TACTICAL and does not use batleye as of yet. If the server is up, feel free to join. Had a great fun last night with other players
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Congrats. But if you ask me the game becomes much more immersive with mods like ACE, ACRE and JSRS. Besides that CQB feels pretty clumsy in A2.
!! Especially this one modification for better movement inside/around buildings..
Stmovement called?
Great... And ACE and ACRE is just amazing. Also the whole army modifications, weapons et cetera.
I agree. Two things however. 1, I uninstalled my CO in order to keep myself as much away from playing arma as possible so I can work more and 2, I don't have a proper gaming rig to host a server with ACE, should I have more free time and a gaming system that can host an ACE server I would have let it 24/7 on as my workstation (connectivity host) is running all the time.
Also, I managed to set up my own fully set server with batleye and some anti-cheats but I discovered a minor flaw that renders it unplayable for me. A2 server executable (also A2 and A2 OA with -server switch) seem to run and emulate server twice on same system, once when I host the server and once when I join. This unfortunately kills the performance for me and causes others to have desync. Is there a way to force A2 executable to use pre-defined server hosting files, -server switch and join the server at once with the same executable session as to reduce payload? If not, I'm afraid I will have to abandon BE server for now and use the BE-less version instead (which surprisingly doesn't lag at all)
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Just tried out ST_Movement a few hours ago and man, it makes movement really slick inside buildings, combine that with the SMK animations feature 'combat jog' and you can really clear buildings with speed. I'll get a video up of it soon, makes cqb a lotta fun in A2.
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
Very rough A2 CQB with ST_Movement, SMK, ACE and JSRS
http://www.xfire.com/video/605c38
Slightly less clunky fast movement inside buildings, but when it comes to engaging targets, it's quite annoying unable to slicky go through a doorway and clear. Not to mention the fact that the frag went *through* the wall, and don't get me started about flashbangs, heh, can't get them to work at all.
I'll need more practice at it sure, but I'll be sticking with SWAT 4 or RVS for my CQB fix, methinks, and leave ARMA to where it shines best: Freaking awesome open area combat on a massive scale.
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
Just tried it. Very neat addon however I have to say that no matter how hard we try arma series were never originally designed for CQC. ArmA 3 changed this and is finally CQC worthy.
I have to note that we are talking about two different types of CQ here. What I meant by CQB (Close Quarters Battle as compared to ICQC(Indoor Close Quarter Combat) is that in my mission two special forces teams (each with 5 members) spawn in two different spots respectively and on the opposite ends of a scenery (town in this case) the following teams have to use all the cover and environment to find their opponents and neutralize them by two means which is either gravely injure all members beyond capability of proper operation and execute them brutally or kill them in fire exchange. The mission I made has traffic, civilians, wildlife time and date, weather and interactivity randomly generated and because these make their full impact in towns that's a setting I choose for the two teams to fight in. It is sort of like a mix between GRAW, Counter Strike and good old ArmA 2-packed-realism except that here you get vehicles you can use, vehicles that can run you over, civilians that can give away your position or shoot you in the face if you freak them out, chicken that try to cross roads and distract you from your real objective, house lights that civilians switch and can give away your position randomly, etc. In addition I enhanced the AI a bit so it's even harder now and it does indeed surprise players with its actions.
What you took for CQB in this one is indoor combat, which is something of a myth in ArmA 2 as we all know A2 indoor combat is next to impossible. Also, a small but still worthy difference between CQB and CQC is that CQB takes place outdoors usually between teams while CQC is mostly indoors and takes place between individuals (IE, SWAT team clearing building of unknown number of suspects)
I agree about A2 CO and mods. Wouldn't it be for these ArmA series would have gone extinct long ago, however there are still many vanilla supporters out there and one thing is for sure, nothing beats the vanilla releases just like ArmA 1 beats ArmA 2 in functionality or VBS beats ArmA series any day, even OFP despite its utter ugliness has more important features than ArmA 1 and 2 combined. Having A2 CO with ACE, JSRS, WarFX and several other mods may indeed emulate a realistic looking combat experience for you to participate in, I had those on and I tried playing on Tushino servers not so long ago (Tushino Serious Games, unified gaming from range of clans wordlwide, most realistic in A2 community so I recommend you try if you seek realism) and it was not only fun to experience something new but made me feel like I'm among true professionals doing something very meaningful, but sometimes, or should I say most of the times, you may want to have some fun and peace of mind without strict rules or orders because at the end of the day even A2 CO with best mods it is still a game and we play games to have entertainment in 1st place. If you want realism to extremes, sure you can emulate it but the only place where you get the real deal is right on the battlefield and in the real army. I won't judge and speak in your name but after the recent experiences I had IRL I firmly say YES to simulators and NO to real warfare.
P.S. Thanks for the vid!
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
I know there are different opinions about this (and it's probably off-topic here), but still for me CQB and CQC are synonyms. And both describe fighting in tight spaces, mainly buidlings (other examples are vehicles or the jungle).
A town or village is urban terrain, it easily allows fighting distances above 100 meters. Only the clearing of the buildings itself (by entering them) is CQB in my eyes.
(not the best source, but wikipedia is basically on my side: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_quarters_combat )
Enclosed distance engagements including within and around buildings. CQC versus CQB is defined differently not only dependent on source but unit--British Army for example in some units teach weapons, weapon ranges, numbers of opponents, so on, to be the differences between a battle and combat. To me, it's the tacticool industry gone haywire--as usual. CQF vs CQB is simple; fighting versus projectile weaponry.
I disagree Maven that "CQB in ARMA2 is next to impossible" and that's with 5 years of ARMA behind me.
My idea of CQB is running in with a sword.
Ryan, sorry about misrepresenting, I didn't mean CQB but indoor combat as A2 lacks sufficient amount of garrisonable buildings and it is very hard to move within those that are garrisonable. The other thing is the AI goes straight through the walls and if on 2nd or upper floor they commit suicide (an exception are shacks in OA takistan where AI is properly given waypoints so they in fact take proper positions and cover) so the only option is to script them to stay in one spot which kills the realism. That's what I meant by the CQB being next to impossible in A2. As for open outdoor combat, ArmA 2 shines there. I used to play covert missions a lot back in the day, would organize sessions with some old-school a2 players and we would sneak on enemy positions and take them out with our suppressed m4's, loads of fun there. Nowadays I don't play A2 as much so whenever I do get a chance I usually join a TvT server (Team vs Team, usually domination on Veteran or above) and do lone wolf sabotage and hunting, blow MHQ's, mine their roads, mine their escape vehicles, report their positions etc, and I swapped M4 Aim Point SD for Витяэь (A2 name AKSU74 UN Cobra) as my favorite weapon in A2 as it sure packs more punch when used properly.
As for off-topicness. As long A2 is in the topic you are free to discuss. This thread is originally started in order to organize some A2 session games but since we don't have other threads where we can discuss anything ArmA related we can do it here
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Hey guys.
This are some old news, but did you know that Bohemia Interactive (maker of arma series) released two lite and fully free versions of their award winning real military simulator VBS2?
The one I want to ask you about is called VBS 2 JCOVE.
So what is it? It's an ArmA 1 based free download sim game that packs some of the VBS features which make it way more realistic than ArmA 2 or 3. Sadly though the lite versions are limited to UK vs Taliban only, 2 terrains, no server browser, 2 islands and multiplayer is over direct IP (best secure option as well) for up to 8 players maximum. The good news is it runs better than A2, is more realistic, more stable and has broader equipment and vehicles for a single faction bundled in the game. It also has unique features not present in any ArmA game.
I wonder, does anyone here play this or want to give it a try?
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Link us up m8
Lt_Col WIZ, VC, MiD (Ret)
Lots of mirrors can be found here - http://www.armaholic.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=9555
If you guys do manage to organize a session I'm in!
We do however need someone with a static IP. Also I have no clue what VBS2 JCOVE is like, I did try VBS1 long ago though.
If nothing else, it's a cool sandbox with some realism put into it.
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
I was reading about VBS1 JCOVE on ghostrecon.net yesterday, if you shot a friendly, the game would uninstall itself automatically!
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
You've got to be kidding me, Master. 8O
My mistake, that's actually VBS2 JCOVE Lite.
source: http://www.ghostrecon.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=54142
Watch where you shoot!
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
I doubt the game has such a trigger
To me it looks like A2:BAF on steroids with a lot more realism. I liked BAF so that got me interested in this.
Surprisingly I found out about this game on flashpoint.ru (12 year old Russian community dedicated to OFP, ArmA series, World Of Tanks and other sims) There some OFP-day veterans discussed it and gave an overall positive review, some even used VBS2 as a tutor for making Russian Army mods for A2 which turned out to be a great thing.
Speaking of that, I hear some news from the Russian communities that there won't be ACE 3, for ArmA 2 in particular. One of the guys I played with on Tushino servers yesterday told me that instead the community managed to develop a far better and broader mod called VNP or something, I couldn't remember so I couldn't find the thread burried in flashpoint.ru forums. They plan to release it for A3 and after A3 enters a final release stages. The mod is set to support army and special force factions and take full advantage of A3 features.
In other news. After an extreme pressure from the community, BI renewed its contract with Bastian (batleye developer) He told me back year ago that there won't be BE for A3 because BI wants to tamper cheating severely due to a rise of DayZ-like gamemodes (thus an influx of cheaters) however the community grew tired and got dissatisfied with BI's idea to use Steam VAC and PunkBuster as both are neither that great nor are favored among gamers. It's a good news BI opted for BE again hey, Bastian will develop BE for A3 with new tech he acquired recently.
So, are you guys into trying VBS2 JCOVE and possibly organizing a session? I could make quick missions for it as well.
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Sounds interesting Maven, I might give it a try this weekend.
Edit: Got a root server with a static IP, in case we need one
Excellent! We do need a static IP since the only way to host a server for VBS2 JCOVE is a direct-IP one, a static IP server would eliminate any possible dynamic IP issues. So that's great news.
Just to make sure. Who is interested in trying out and organizing a VBS2 JCOVE session? Leave your comments. Need to know.
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
JCove lite is very boring... the animations, ugh.
My idea of CQB is running in with a sword.
I am yet to try VBS2 JCOVE in order to see if it's boring or not, but from the past experiences with VBS1 I can say VBS is in my opinion more realistic and fun.
When it comes to realism, graphics don't really matter. It is the functionality that makes a great product last. Take for example OFP, or ArmA 1, both are played still today. Or GTA San Andreas that has hundreds of thousands of players but compared to todays standards very crappy graphics.
And then you have games like Battlefield 4, Crysis 3, The Last Of Us, etc games with superb graphics but boring repetitive gameplay and mindless plot in their campaigns.
If for one, I'd rather see more complex games with lower graphics than pumped up graphics-only trialware released today. DCS World, ArmA 3, Flight Sim X, and several kickstarters are sadly the only real good sims out there.
Crysis 1 blew the gaming world with its stunning graphics on its release. 5 years on, and there's a mod, very simple mod, that uses Crysis 1's adaprive optimization to make the game way better looking even than Crysis 3.
If you find VBS2 JCOVE ugly, try ENB Series with it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mRcomD_FXg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsl-jFOSBXU
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Master mentioned GR1 in the music thread and several other players asked me to join them in a GR1 sessions before.
I've lost my GR1 cds (expansions as well) long time ago.
Long story short. The mission I've been working on and hosting on my A2 server is heavily PvP oriented, what I did notice is that it is very much similar to how GR1 multiplayer pvp modes work.
That being said, I could easily port this mission and make it 90% accurate replica to the original GR1 multiplayer game modes. I reviewed the GR1 wikia and A2 already has all the units and weapons used in the GR1.
So, if I am to port my Modern Combat dynamic mission to be GR1-like for a2, it would feature this:
-Default class slots.
-Default original gear (accordingly from GR1 wikia).
-Proper PvP spawns and markings, several custom areas to be as maps.
-Ability to customize your loadout before round start (Units Gear setting, accurate amount of weaponry and ammo.
-Ability to win/lose the round.
-Extra features if necessary.
-Advanced AI support. By default A2 has a decent AI, combined with some scripts and modules as well as proper team balancing and waypointing the ArmA 2 AI is extremely intelligent and may even surprise you. I can make it do dynamic search, target spotting, flanking, mining, satcheling, interactivity with environment.
-Custom sounds (I would design these for this mission)
-Proper environment structures.
-Dynamic weather, time, date, wildlife.
So, would anyone play this? If so, please let me know.
In addition, I would need to know more about MP gamemodes and some equipment basics as well as maps. It's been a long time since I last played this game. I remember the campaign was an overblown propaganda which I didn't like, but the multiplayer was a great fun on the lan parties. I will ask for more details once I see if there is a sufficient number of us who would play this.
Also, what's the status on VBS2 JCOVE, have you tried it yet?
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
That about summed it up for me loll
SAS_Capt_Fluffy
Captain
"Let's just wing it" -Fluffy on things we should most definitely not wing
Perhaps the following will get your attention then
BI just announced that ArmA 3 final release will go on September 12th!
And not only will they release the full game, but they split the MP content from campaigns, and turned campaigns into free DLC's, which means you can now install only ArmA 3 multiplayer if you aren't interested in the campaigns.
On top of that, they released a bunch of information about the game. lots of screens, info, new details and features.
Enjoy - http://www.arma3.com/news/arma-3-releases-on-september-12#.UgP-zn9RXn4
And more - http://www.arma3.com/launch-countdown
I can't wait for this release. After the A3 goes in the wild, it will take modders only a month to release the best mods for A3 and the fun begins
P.S. Corrected the date. A3 website seems to be down due to huge traffic I guess. Should be back any time soon.
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Maven, you have my attention!
ARMA 3 graphically looks the business. I'll await the reviews to see if the gameplay delivers. Anyone who's played the Alpha care to comment?
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
its amazing......nuff said
SAS_Capt_Sniper
Head of Recruitment & Tactical Training
GCHQ - 22nd SAS Elite Virtual Regiment
One of my few favorite missions for A2 just got ported to A3 by its author.
You may or may not know the ultimate combat sandbox called Advancing Power by a very talented Chinese guy Dragon Zen. He ported this mission for ArmA 3 under name BlackHole.
If there is a way to explore in-game content and enjoy full dynamic and advanced combat with ai, then this is it.
BlackHole (A3) - http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=21874
Don't have Arma 3? No biggie, download the original Advancing Power mission here - http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=11463&highlight=ADVANCING%2BPOWER
I've had countless hours of fun with this mission and I strongly recommend it.
P.S. Here's a setting you may want to try out. Use JSRS, WarFX and Aliabad terrain, select US delta force vs Taliban, set it to just about sunset, allow only 1 helo per 120 seconds, make the field at 200m wide, under 800m far, faction settings to 3-4 squads (5 men) each and disable artillery, jets, helos, tanks, smoke, etc. Enjoy your CQB insurgency warfare.
P.S. 2 I expanded the thread title and added an update so that we can use this thread for general ArmA series discussion (All 3 ArmA releases including expansions)
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
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