Impressions

[deadman1]

Well I have finally been able to sit down and play for a while and my first real impression is OMFG!! This game has, atleast for me, a learning curve that´s as high as Mount Everest. I´ve played for about 5 hours and am still on the first mission  :-[ the only thing left is to take out the antiship missiles and the SAM´s at the lighthouse. This is going to take a loooooong time for me to finish, especially seeing as I´m on what basically is the tutorial  :P still having said that it´s a great game. :-X

[Art Blade]

nice :)

Don't worry, it took me quite some time to figure the stuff out. Great you started a topic with the subject "impressions" because I am going to rename the one I started :)

[Art Blade]

what do you think of the graphics and "feel" so far?

[deadman1]

what do you think of the graphics and "feel" so far?

Well, everything looks really good and I like the "feel". when you equip a heavy weapon you really notice the difference it makes. Driving is a lot different to what I´m used from games like FC2. Mostly because you are not able to look around, you can´even turn your head to the side. The AI is quite good but it does have some glitches, I have discovered that just because I can use a certain route, my teammates may not. Not only are they not able to climb over small obstacles they also have trouble traversing certain slopes.

I was making my way north towards the lighthouse along the eastern shoreline of the island. I had no problem walking over the steep slope but when I turn around to check how my TM´s were doing they were all running back and up the hill to the road, so there´s another thing to keep in mind.

[Art Blade]

I too noticed that. Apparently it has to do with too steep a slope or too high an obstacle (fence, rocks) or too wet a puddle (as in the sea) hehehe. Then they need to find a way around. You can help them using the map view, right-click somewhere near them where they should go and order "move" (to that spot). Then you can call them to follow you again.

It was difficult for me to start using the map view. I was so tense all the time I didn't find the time to open the map, let alone decide what to do with it that made sense. And I was like "OK, I'll give them some orders at once regarding formation, spread, and Rules Of Engagement (RoE)" and then I didn't want to tell them any more because I got myself entangled in a fight and never had a second to spare to reassign them or change their orders. That changed over time, a lot of time :)

[Art Blade]

How's it going, deadman? Any progress, stories, accidents...? :)

[deadman1]

Some progress atleast. The first mission are done thank god  :) I haven´t been able to play any since saturday (it´s monday for me now) because my monitor started to act funny on saturday night. Yesterday I spent the day getting used to my new monitor (21,5" 16/9 format) so I´ll wait until ths coming weekend before getting my teeth into it again. I will be sure to examine your post about the missions before going back to get some useful tips  :-X

[Art Blade]

cool, a widescreen monitor  :-X You'll have lots of fun :)

And thanks for the comment on my tips, glad if you enjoy them  :)

[deadman1]

Btw I have notice that sometimes there is a yellow flag with an arrow attached (there is one in your screenshot for the start of the third mission) do you know what the are for? I can´t find it in the manual.

[Art Blade]

those are markers that point out the safest route (or what they think it is) :) If you approach one, the next will appear. It often leads you to checkpoints.  :)

[deadman1]

Ok thanks mate I´ll try and follow them next time. then maybe it won´t take 6,5 hours to complete a mission  ;D

[Art Blade]

lol  :-X

[PZ]

Cool - I didn't know that about the yellow markers either  :-X

[Art Blade]

:)

Any progress, deadman?

[deadman1]

I managed to get the first objective done last night, but I think that I´ll start over because the more I play the more I realize how I should do things. Or I can just skip doing every mission perfect  :P. The problem is that I don´t have that much time to play during weeknights and I like to take my time so I´ll hopefully be able to do that OFP marathon I mentioned before this weekend instead.

[Art Blade]

looking forward to reading your reports :)  :-X

[deadman1]

Second mission done and 1 objective of third mission taken care of.  :-* I´ll tell you those APgunners are very hard to spot when the lie in the grass, lucky for me I have eyes like an eagle (not!!)  ;D

[Art Blade]

 ;D So you are enjoying it  ;) :)

- Let your team mates go a little ahead of you - use "Vee" formation for that. They will spot the enemy for you. If you use fire at will, you will know when it's time :)

- Once you have an encounter, use "line" with combat spead or "Wedge" with normal spread and fire at will.

- If you want to sneak around, use "column" and tight spread, and return fire or fire on my command.

Should help you get around :)

[PZ]

Unlike the solitary nature of your character in FC2, commanding your squad (rather than going it alone) significantly increases the probability of success in OFP2.  For comparison, I've been playing Brothers in Arms:HH, and while asquad is at your disposal, it really doesn't matter if you use it much.

[Art Blade]

Absolutely. I am more and more into using my unit with purpose, like let them go there while I go elswhere, let them move to a position, let them extend my means of fire etc. Basically that's tactics and sometimes strategy, even, if you have intel about enemy positions. Usually you can't survive without your men, and they usually won't survive without your help. It really works as a team :)  :-X

[PZ]

It does sound like the various tactics you can use with/without your men exactly by your side will allow for much replay value.  The more experience I accumulate in the game, the better I like it.  :-X

[RedRaven]

After it finally arrived in the post (Royal Mail in UK get -50 out of 10 for reliability - and despite recession they are on strike for a pay rise - cheeky sods!) Played 1st mission, lasted a grand total of 21 minutes, and only managed to complete 1st primary objective before All ammo was gone which was very closely followed by a quick death!
Very impressed so far though, now just need to master the controls and team commands.
Its alot more difficult than OFP 1 and A2, but i like a challenge :-X

[Art Blade]

hey, cool you finally got it  :)

Difficult? For me, ArmA2 was a nightmare in comparison, funny how different perception can be :)

I want to add an impression regarding "destructible environment" because I was especially interested in that feature before the game was released. The destruction is not realistic at all. I put a C4 device inside a house and blew it up, there was a bang and a flash, and the house looked a ruin the next moment. No animation of collapsing walls, or parts that fall off... That was a little better in ArmA2, I remember it took three IEDs to fully collapse a building, and it had stages of destruction. Well, what I blew up here was probably made of wood, mostly, yet no debris or chunks of wall flew around. The ruin looks very prefabricated and it doesn't matter if you blow it up from the inside or outside, they look the same.

[smg id=1574 align=center width=400]

[PZ]

I agree about the destruction animations, although it was funny to see destroyed buildings in A2 descend into the ground like they are on an elevator  ;D

[Art Blade]

hehe :)

I've been blowing up more stuff. Funny was this here, my mate apparently has kevlar skin  :)

[smg id=1575 align=center width=400]