New old islands

[gvse]

Guys,

Heads up! Today i have successfully installed A1 islands Sahrani, Porto and Rahmadi, and if you feel like heading to Mediterranean/North African region for a change then this is it! I am smitten by how good everything looks, but hell, check it out yourselves here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQXIs-Ob4wc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyZnopUg8-4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4gg_xO89Ww
I mean, wow!
Now, to install everything follow the instructions on this site:
http://dev-heaven.net/wiki/cbp-caa1/HowToDownloadReleases
I did not use the Yoma tool but headed to their ftp server, downloaded everything and put it in directories as listed on the page. It works.
Now, what ya waiting for?

[RedRaven]

you absolute star :-X

was looking at the "airfield_baucautimor" island files this morning but couldnt get it to w@&k at all. followed all instructions of changing file names etc and it was not gonna let me play.

  but there was this exciting news on ARMAHOLIC front page today

"Doolittle informed us (ARMAHOLIC) that on Aug 4 Maruk added entries for BI Tools 2 in the BI wiki.    Quote Doolittle : Can you say Visitor 3, Oxygen 2, etc.? My fav.: FSM Editor  Quote Maruk : Complete editing tool suite for Bohemia Interactive's game engine used in ARMA II (requires version 1.03).
This installer will overwrite previously released BI Editing Tools for Arma I (user made data are intact) and it can not be possible to pack and finalize content for Arma I using the newer tools. Despite it may be possible to configure your system in a way it will support creation for both Arma I and Arma II, it is not recommended.

The tool suite is consisting from:
Oxygen 2 Personal Edition for Arma II - model editing and animation package
Visitor 3 Personal Edition for Arma II - terrain and map editing
TexView 2 - texture convertor and viewer
BinPBO Personal Edition - packer
Sound Tools - sound and lipsync utilities
FSM Editor - tool to edit and compile fsms used in Arma 2
BinMake - conversion tool
Tools Drive - main working directory for tools with mandatory data files     Written on 2009-08-05 by doolittle   "
       


  so looks like real soon we can get terraforming and creating the best/worst islands to fight on ;D [/]

[PZ]

Fantastic finds you two - now I can't wait to get back home to try out the new maps, especially the African one  ;)

EDIT: All I can say is that this game gets better every day - looked at the Sahrani map form ArmA1 in a desert battle.  It reminded me of the Oasis parts of the desert in FC2 except now you command a squad of fellow mercs and have armored support.  That battle looked really cool - can't wait to make an FC2 style ARMA2 world.  It's too bad I'm not proficient at building things in ARMA2 yet or I'd build something that looks and sounds like FC2, complete with the music.

Man, this is going to be great.

[JRD]

Hehehe PZ is enjoying his bachelor week  :-X

I too thought about creating a FC2-ish map using the editor... too bad I'm a complete noob as well and with little time to create missions... better off playing in my free time... but will give a try someday.

I was checking those vids... man, that pilot in the 3rd vid, Porto Island, is an ace... can fly that chopper a few meters above ground in full speed... when I fly I must look like a flying old lady  :-[ ... and am very happy I don't crash too often  ???
The island seem beautyful... clear water, great blue, sunny sky... perfect for shooting foes  ;)

[gvse]

I have just played a mission on Porto and it was a real blast! You can have some very intense close quarters skirmishes in the town in the middle of the island; reminded me just a bit of reportages featuring soldiers moving through towns and villages in the Middle East. Apparently the islands do not use all the features of A2 engine and there may occur some issues with shadows but what i have seen so far looks very good. The grass isn't as tall and dense as in Chernarus but still believable, and the textures are not of insanely high resolution but nothing that would be an eyesore.
Once they release the development kit I'm gonna have to quit my job and dump the little lady ;). There's already too much to explore! I should be doing so many other things but I keep playing this damn game. :o
Tell you what, now I would like to see a winter map, something set in Siberia, somewhere in Canada, Alaska, Greenland, or even wintry Chernarus, with snowstorms, howling wind, polar bears, deer, snowmobiles and so on.

[JRD]

Hell yeah... snow cammo suits.... blizzards...
... Imperial Stormtroopers... no, wait, that's The Empire Strikes Back...  ::)

Seriously, I'm with you... Russia/Chernarus should have a snowy area, on high mountains at least

[PZ]

You know, it strikes me that this simulation has something for everyone - don't like the look, you can change it.  Experienced shooters like you guys can get a real challenge - as difficult as you want to make it.  On the other hand, players like me that have problems staying alive for more than a single bullet can also have fun experimenting with all kinds of things.  ;)

[RedRaven]

JRD - there is a stormtrooper mod somewhere on net for arma1 :) :)
  but i agree, need some winter warfare too.

PZ - you could even say that its "ARMAZING"   8)

   sorry for cheesiest pun ever put had to share it to get it out of my head !

[JRD]

"ARMAZING"   8)

   sorry for cheesiest pun ever put had to share it to get it out of my head !

;D ;D ;D ;D  :-X

[PZ]

hahaha, cheesy is good, dke, and I know how you feel!  :-X

[gvse]

You may have read it at BI forums, but in case you have not, A1 islands look absolutely beautiful and on top of that I experience no stutter at all! It is unbelievably smooth gameplay. I have had problems with shadows but they were resolved by switching from normal to high. I cannot recommend the addon enough.

[PZ]

Well this is a definite download for me - need to get to a network with quicker download though.  Probably later today.  :-X

EDIT: Completed the download and installation - uncompressed it is 3.8 gb for all the files.  Loaded Southern Sahrani, and I really like the feel - the vegetation is not nearly as dense which leads to near perfect smoothness.

EDIT2:  I found an interesting Sahrani SP mission where you start on the tiny island to the south of Sahrani, and then move to the main island.  Here are the particulars:

Description:
In order to defend the Sahranian people's best interests and the regions vast oil supply, both U.S. and coalition forces have set forth a massive military operation off the coast of Arcadia. Troops have already set up offensive positions on the mainland south of Arcadia and a support post on San Tomas Island. The Sahrani military is trying to put coalition forces under political pressure by attempting to destroy their own oil supplies. The mission is to make your way to the mainland via boat in order to join up with the rest of your squad and seize control of the oil wells. Unfortunately, you and a few troops are the last ones left behind preparing to depart from the island, and due to a surprise attack, must remain there to defend it before joining the main land battle.

• Objective 1 - Hold the Island by eliminating ALL enemy paratroopers.
• Objective 2 - Take RHIB Boat to mainland and join up with the rest of your squad there to clear out the oil wells.
• Objective 3 - EXTRACT in the middle of a HOT LZ via Evac chopper who will come to get you and any remaining friendly troops.

Download Oil Warfare

[RedRaven]

cheers, am getting it down to try now :-X

[gvse]

Will try that mission soon.
If you want more new terrain I recommend getting Avgani and Afghan Village map off Armaholic and giving it a go as it works well too.

[PZ]

Cool - I like the desert-like maps - keep posting your interesting finds if you don't mind.  There are many things from ARMA1 that will w@&k, but many of the missions have other mod dependencies, and may not w@&k properly.  I found one called "Mafia" something that looked really cool.  They had created people that looked much like the mercs in FC2, and vehicles like taxi cabs.  Looked to be a really cool one, but it causes ARMA2 to crash  :'(

[RedRaven]

having trouble getting it down as net keeps droppping out, are there any other HOT TIPS for new Battle Zones ? ? ?  cheers  :-X

[RedRaven]

Hurrah - a winter battlefield at last ;D .

Here it is  -  http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=8633

(snowmen not included)

[PZ]

Looks nice  :-X

I'm still on the lookout for the WWII expansive mod that is being created.  ;D

[RedRaven]

Yeah, me too. There are 2 that look interesting on Armaholic at the moment.Both still w@&k in Progress, Fww2 (got there own site here - http://www.fww2.org/index.php ) & 31st Normandy. Some nice pics but not much in the way of downloads yet. Will keep an eye out though ;)

[JRD]

I can even see stormtroopers fighting there  ;D ;D