ArmA 3 - The Bear and Badger

metagonzo

So, the alpha approaches. (thanks to @Rossi for the headsup)

Extremely excited about this, and before the beta hits will be the time to buy. 25 euro for alpha and beta access and then the full game when it's done. If that's not a bargain then I don't know what is.
Prices will be ramping up past beta and the final release so I shall be jumping on it asap.

As you see, there are various tiers to the preordering but they all come with 3 alpha-lite invites. The lite has all the alpha features with the notable exceptions of multiplayer and modding. Also, the editor is "limited" in the lite.

I'll be banging out my invites to those that want it and I'm sure any other Bohemia diehards here (and I know there's some) will be buying on the 5th and doing the same.

Anyone else excited for the first public steps of what willÂ inevitably be a messy, clunky ball of fantasticness?

GooberTheHat

I couldn't get on with ArmA II. Â I really wanted to but I felt like I was controlling a drunk after an all night session. I found it impossible to do even the simplest thing quickly.

metagonzo

Very true. I still loved it and it'sÂ predecessors. I rationalised it by imagining what it would be like trying to get a claymore out of my backpack and place it whilst under heavy fire. (for example)

Bollockoff

I'll give pre-purchasing a rest till I find out how bug ridden/unoptimized it is.

vicinity_of_pie

Was going to post about it earlier but decided i'd do it tomorrow if noone had by then. Needless to say i'll be all over it as soon as possible.

Gotta say, I hope it keeps some of its clunky-ness and doesn't go too far to try and attract the COD crowd. I've heard they might be getting rid of the free moving crosshair, for example. The main thing is they've added better animations and ragdoll physics so should be a lot better than previous iterations.

GooberTheHat

metagonzo wrote:

Very true. I still loved it and it'sÂ predecessors. I rationalised it by imagining what it would be like trying to get a claymore out of my backpack and place it whilst under heavy fire. (for example)

Its not as hard as the game makes it.

GooberTheHat

vicinity_of_pie wrote:

Was going to post about it earlier but decided i'd do it tomorrow if noone had by then. Needless to say i'll be all over it as soon as possible. Gotta say, I hope it keeps some of its clunky-ness and doesn't go too far to try and attract the COD crowd. I've heard they might be getting rid of the free moving crosshair, for example. The main thing is they've added better animations and ragdoll physics so should be a lot better than previous iterations.

I think it was the free moving cross hair that killed it for me. Â I much prefer it when an aiming reticule is wider when your moving and then calms down when you go static. Just make it less accurate when not aiming rather than have the cross hair wobbling around my screen like a fly in treacle.

vicinity_of_pie

You can turn it off, game options > aiming deadzone.

I turn it down low, it feels much better when you get use to it because it makes you feel like you're not controlling a robot. I know the controls/feel of the game is weird at first but once you get used to it, it's completely fine.

I can see how it put people off, but definitely not worth missing what that game had to offer! Hope Arma III can get a good mix of accessibility without making it too arcade-y.

humantarget

Will Day-Z still be as part of this game, or are they just making it standalone now?

vicinity_of_pie

It's standalone and will use its own version of the engine.

GooberTheHat

I might try and give 2 another bash after fiddling with the settings. Might get day z to. Anyone here still playing that?

Mod74

I've been meaning to have another look at DayZ. The changes made since I last did sound like good decisions. You can install (and I presume update) the mod directly from Steam now as well.

humantarget

Mod74 wrote:

I've been meaning to have another look at DayZ. The changes made since I last did sound like good decisions. You can install (and I presume update) the mod directly from Steam now as well.

I believe a lot of the servers use versions available from Day Z Commander, which are newer than the Steam ones so you get a lot of 'wrong version' errors.

Mod74

I got a shit load of wrong version errors using that Six Launcher as well.

vicinity_of_pie

Can't wait to try it tomorrow, definitely looks a lot smoother.

Mod74

mmmm

GooberTheHat

That looks exactly how I would like ArmA II to play. As soon as I have a pc capable of playing that I will be all over it.

vicinity_of_pie

AVAILABLE NOW!!!

...or at least it should be, guessing their servers will be hammered for a bit.

metagonzo

Yep; going to have to leave it for a bit I reckon. Their site's all over the shop.

vicinity_of_pie

Why didn't I at least register with their store before now?

Kinda makes me wish DayZ never happened (yep, I am now one of those i-liked-it-before-it-was-cool snobs). I WANT IT NOW.

vicinity_of_pie

Ah nevermind, no need for their store.

Direct Steam Link

metagonzo

Great; I finally got through and it declined my bloody card!

Must have spent a little more on holiday than I thought. Oh well, cash tomorrow; only one more day. *mumble, groan etc.)

vicinity_of_pie

Did you try and buy direct off Steam?

edit: Nevermind, didn't see it was a cash flow issue.

vicinity_of_pie

I'm 30% downlaoded. I bet my PC will not run this very well though.

PC gamer preview

vicinity_of_pie

Just played the (infantry) showcase for the first time, wow the lighting is amazing and my settings aren't even close to maximum. The atmosphere is great. Yeah, they've definately upped their game, this is awesome. I'm off to play more.

Who's on for some multiplayer tonight/this week?

metagonzo

I might be around for tomorrow night, 8ish. Might be able to get Rossi along too.

metagonzo

Hurrah! Must have been a glitch; DLing as we speak. Does anyone know where the 3 Lites are? I see no steam gifts to dish out.

vicinity_of_pie

The lite version doesn't come out 'til the 12th so I assume they will appear then.

Also, I think I need a new graphics card/PC.

metagonzo

Ah ha; didn't clock that.

I'm a bit scared about how it's going to pan out on mine. A great piece of kit for the money spent but it's no spring chicken.

Just let me have my draw distance!

vicinity_of_pie

The main issue i'm having is I can't seem to set my resolution below my monitors native resolution of 1920x1080 and have it stretch to fullscreen. I don't mind playing at a lower resolution, so long as it will stretch! This game will look amazing on a PC that can handle it.

Everything about this is better! Just tried out the helicopters, loving the improved handling and working displays. (edit: also forgot to mention lovely sounds and moving ~~yokes~~ ~~joystick~~ cyclic).

Also the new system for shooting from cover is genius, so many possibilities.

metagonzo

Yeah; it's giving my rig a bit of a hard time. Auto detect is rather unrealistic.Â

However; even significant reductions in settings are still leaving it a bit clunky. The one thing I haven't reduced (in fact I increased it) is draw distance as that's essential in my book. I hope that's not the (only) solution to the problems; I shall investigate next time.

It's still very pretty at medium-ish settings and I'd be rid of motion blur even if I'd just spent 5k on a silly-rig.

On a more game related note.... it's kicking my arse! I was never any good at the series (despite my love for it) but I can't complete any of the scenarios; first and second times around.

To the editor! That's always what it was all about for me.

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