I got in, and after staring at the menues and the MANY customization options, I decided to run the prologue first, called boot camp. I got some basic training instructions; walking, shooting, aiming, using and navigating with compass and map, and of course after a short moment of practising we were called in for investigating a shooting. That seems to be the start of an escalation between various 'peace-keeping forces' in the area. On a first combat mission, they send me out to investigate an emergency call from a friendly convoy, and as we move in, we discover hostiles. My fellow crew members manage to shoot all enemies before I even get them in my scope, :D but we survive and rescue the convoy. When we return to the city we come from, a massacre took place. That's the prologue, now on to some real missions. So far, everything has been quite scripted, but that's normal with a prologue I think. I'd like to operate without a crew, so that I can practice my own shooting and way of approaching, but that will come. The amount of missions to pick seems quite large, and the world looks terrific. At certain moments, like in nightfall, I seem to suffer a bit of frapdrop, but so far the graphics are stunning.
Here's my two first screenshots:
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I drove over a fellow soldier :-D
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Flying back to Kavala, the city that is under attack, right after we took over control at the convoy site.
that was my biggest problem in ArmAII, not being able to see the enemy. My team was shooting and getting shot while I was wondering what the heck was going on and where everyone was. I sometimes even didn't see my own team but got shot at all the time.
Nice, Binn :-X +1 for posting the first ArmA III pics! I can't wait to see what you think of the game.
You hit the nail on the head, JRD, ArmA III seems so clean and precise, which for me is quite a refreshing break from the games like FC4. One thing - did you watch the video on YouTube? When watching in a larger window or full screen, you can see most of the enemy unlike ArmA II.
Like you, I also like the way the weapon systems w@&k, sound, and appear on the screen. Because it is a simulation, everything is much more realistic.
I think the convoy mission in the video was just the kind of thing I would like to do - thinking about the attack point, planning the squad positions, and then flawless execution.
The mods and missions available makes the play value of the game unparallelled in my opinion.
I'm going to need a new gaming rig.
Quote from: PZ on December 19, 2014, 01:08:31 AM
The mods and missions available makes the play value of the game unparallelled in my opinion.
I'm going to need a new gaming rig.
Oh, yes... check this (http://forums.bistudio.com/forumdisplay.php?112-ARMA-3)out! Custom missions, Official missions, ADDONS and MODS - Discussion and tons of content available!
>:D >:D >:D >:D
Binn... this game seems to take off like the first game of the series (Operation Flashpoint - Cold War Crisis from 2001). You satart as a soldier in boot camp and soon you find yourself in a squad, getting orders from the squad leader and going on missions. It is all meant for you to see how a platoon or squad works. As the story evolves, you will find yourself alone at some point before joining some sort of guerilla and start fighting off an "unknown" military force. The game gets less and less scripted as you gain control of your own squad. A few events will always be scripted but it is necessary in order to keep a campaign on but, just like in FC2, you can play the same mission over and over and it will never be the same. :-X
You are right JRD, I gave it another go today and now I was out on a mission with one other guy, called the squad leader. He told me what to do, warned me when enemies were near and asked to take down certain guys. They are marked red, so maybe he has some sort of 'pointing device', dunno. Anyway, now I was able to kill some soldiers and got killed a couple of times too. That's where I had to find out how to save; was hoping for a quick save button, to not have to get back to the auto save every time, but I couldn't find it. IT was a little disappointment, but later I found out in the main popup menu you can save, as it looks on any given moment of your choice ;)
I am really shocked by the graphics potential of this game. It made me even use my GPU clock and mem booster for the first time. I experienced quite some annoying framedrops but didn't want to loose the magnificent graphics quality, so I pushed the needle forward. The GPU clock is currently running at 1107 Mhz while mem is set on 7033 Mhz. GPU temp only got til 60ºC once, but arounf 50ºC everage. It's funny to finally test the ability of the GTX780 Direct CU II (custom asus cooler) and see the Framerate win. Great 8)
Here's some screenies to give you an impression of the ingame graphics:
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One of the most amazing parts of the graphics in this game are the almost true 3D models for trees and plants. Every brench is a 2D object, with even different leaves composed to them in various angles, so the impression of a 'real tree' is nearly there. Really cool :-X
PZ, if you plan to get this game, which I figured you are, make sure you get a good graphics card. It's worth it ;)
Nice pics Binn. :-X The game looks fantastic. I hope I can run it on my rig. I plan to buy it this weekend and seize the 35% price drop. >:D
In the OFP-CWC you got to play with different characters. One private, which is your main character, one tank commander, one special ops and one pilot. Throughout the campaign you got to drive all sorts of land vehicles and use many diffrent weapons, command a tank squad, fly an Apache helo and an A10 fighter and do all sort of stealth missions with the spec ops guy. It doesn't seem to be the case in AIII though but you have custom missions you can download so I hope we can enjoy those.
Thanks for the link, JRD - that looks like it has lots of potential. You guys remember the old Armaholic site? That was the one where I got most of my ArmA II mods, and they also do ArmA III - tons of missions and mods there too.
Graphics are impressive, Binn - thanks for posting. Yes, you are correct, I'm setting the stage to get a new gaming rig with a contemporary graphics card mostly to play this game. From all that I have seen and read, this simulation is just the refreshing breath of fresh air I need from the increasingly restrictive Ubi games. Don't get me wrong, I still love AC:Unity - one of the best in the series, but am seriously disappointed in the outrageous main mission line in FC4. Ubi has totally ruined the Far Cry series for me because they increasingly cater toward the mindless gamer.
I'm now willing to invest the time and energy in ArmA III to reinstate my confidence in the gaming world.
From what I've read, ArmA III will require complete dedication because there are so many key presses and combinations possible. But, the weapon sounds, the 100% open nature in most of the missions, and ability to mod will give me countless hours of gaming fun.
Quote from: PZ on December 19, 2014, 01:08:31 AM
...I'm going to need a new gaming rig.
Funny update - my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas and I told her a new PC (I mentioned this in another topic), but that I wanted to wait until the after Christmas sales.
Then she said "
Can we get you a game or something for under the tree?" I told her that I am not interested in anything except ArmA III and explained that you needed to get it through Steam, etc. I then told her that she could simply put a card under the tree for the PC and she replied: "
Okay, a card that says a PC of your choice" ????
Wow, I have a great gal ^-^
Excellent ^-^ :-X
I'm looking forward to share the experience with you guys! And I think there's lots to learn too. I'm particularly inexperienced in the whole ArmA branch and the simulation type of games. :-D ;)
It will be a challenge, Binn, and to get good in the game, from what I recall, you need to immerse yourself fully because of what many call over complicated controls. However, if that voice activated application works, then that might solve many issues.
I still remember modding ArmA II, and like many games, that was the most fun for me because you could code to your heart's content to get what you wanted out of the game.
It will be fun sharing stories and experiences with you guys :-X
However, it will likely be a while unless newegg has a blockbuster sale.
Downloading... it will take about 2hrs at my current internet speed! :)
Great! Hope you can run it without trouble. I made it to camp maxwell. It's an extremely difficult game. I have difficulty settings on normal, but keep getting killed. And it seems the game only allows you one single save-moment in the entire mission. Once used, it grays out. Even when it turns out to be worthless. So you got to use it wisely. There are a couple of autosaves though, throughout the mission. :)
I really enjoying myself, but I have to get used to this military thinking. I keep fucking up, because I expose myself or because I start a fight with too many opponents. And the different ways of aiming ar still confusing me as well. But, I'll get a hang of it sooner or later ;)
Yeah, it's a steep learning curve. I do have some experience with ArmAII and The original FlashPoint but I'm sure I gonna need some time to get used with all commands.
***********************EDIT***********************
All right. First few minutes of gameplay! :)
Just did the basic boot camp where you learn basic movements, navigation with compass and map, how to shoot and interact with ammo crates and objects and driving land vehicles
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The game looks great. I left the settings in auto detect and got a HIGH with 45-50 FPS so I'm happy with the performance of my rig. It runs smooth. :) The area are prettier than in ArmA 2 and overall models (soldiers, vehicles, houses etc) are detail rich. Texture and colors are also very nice. Didn't experience much of a day/night cycle yet to see any light effects on my monitor but so far it is great. No abnormal voice over as the patched lines in ArmA 2
I got the basic instructions from my team leader but was able to free roam the area without nothing but a warning from him saying I should be firing from the shooting area but as I was running around, nothing stopped me from doing what I wanted so it shows some freedom.
The commands so far are basically the same so I'm already familiar with switching from 1st person to 3rd person and the different ways of aiming. The rest of the basic commands will come back as I use them I hope.
I'll get some sleep now but will give it another try this weekend and get back here for more impressions.
Glad you guys got it going rather smoothly, it seems.
I hope to be joining you guys soon ^-^
EDIT: just created a new ArmA3 board and split the rather long topic into several to keep things organized a bit better
nice w@&k PZ, also the mod topics and so on +1 :-X :)
Thank you, AB ^-^
Cool that you did that, PZ! Yesterday night, before going to bed but after I shut down my rig, I thought; I have to ask for a gameboard for ArmA III. Then I thought, I can do that tomorrow. Or maybe it will already be created. Now look ^-^ :-X
I think it is already tome to create a directory called ArmA games, and I think the DayZ topics fit well in there too. :-D
Great that you can run it JRD! Looking forward to more of your end! I had to w@&k today, but tonight I will definitely go on ;)
I'm about to go to a crash site with my squad, and sweep the area for survivors of a helo crash ;)
Good idea - when we have three related works, it is time to create a new category :-X
I'm doing my first mission where you have to drive a truck then you realise you are under attack and have to get back to your base... I dide three or four times before I could see where the enemy was coming from. ;D . That's how I remember those games. Once I got through the first encounter the remaining ones were a bit easier. I managed to heal myself and use a couple first aid kits found in dead bodies, which helped me get through the mission. Looting dead enemies is vital as you will run out of ammo pretty fast.
Great fun! >:D
So far, no crashes, no bugs, no glitches and HIGH settings with smooth gameplay and nice graphics. Oh boy I'm glad we had this discussion about this game right on time for the sales. ;)
Quote from: JRD on December 20, 2014, 11:25:09 AM
...So far, no crashes, no bugs, no glitches and HIGH settings with smooth gameplay and nice graphics...
???? am I in the Twilight Zone? ???
I said so far................ don't jinx it! :-()
:laugh: :-X
Good idea to have plenty of first aid kits. Urrm, JRD, my character kept complaining after I got shot a few times. I couldn't run anymore, couldn't focus, and couldn't heal myself. I guess that's when you need a medic? Is it caused by blood loss or is it just an open wound that isn't curable with a simple FAK?
I experienced only one tiny glitch, once: The buttons in the overlay menu started to flicker. Quite annoying, but not too bad. The next time I played, didn't occur. Hope it's just a one timer. ;)
For some reason this reminds me of Dogon Sediko
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I'm not quite sure about the healing process in this game yet but it seems you can approach a dead body and point your cursor to it and check the icon that will pop up. Either a rifle icon will show up or a medic icon (like those you see on the side of ambulances). You just have to press space bar and you will use a medkit. I also realized this very same icon will show up if you are shot but only if you have a medkit with you.
My biggest problem right now is that once I am hit, a whole train of bullets is on my way and I don't even know where they are coming from. ????
^-^
You can patch yourself with med-kits when you are shot, when the medical symbol cross is shown. You can also apply it to an ally when he's hurt. I don't think you can apply a med-kit to a dead body.
I found out that with mouse wheel you can scroll through the various actions you can perform at that given moment, like reloading your riffle, using med-kit, or planting explosives. I learnt that in DayZ, there's quite a lot of commands the same.
Still, it happens that after a firefight and after using a mid-kit, I am still exhausted and weak. I hope I will find out what that is, and what to do against it. I assume the solution is in the hands of the medic.
What I figured is that if you are hurt and approach a dead body, who happens to have a medkit, the heal icon will pop up and you can use it straight away.
As for the many commands, you have several menus you can eccess through keys 1 to 0 above your regular QWERTY keys. Each will present a menu with many options in it. For instace, if you press 5 in game you will see options like STATUS, WHERE ARE YOU, I'M HIT etc. So if you are in a squad and get shot and you don't have a medkit with you, press %-$ and you willcall for help. The medic or someone with a medkit will come to you (if you have one AI with you that can do it, of course) and patch you up. At this point of the game, most of the menus are not available yet but at some point each number key will have its own menu... then things start to get complicated because that's when you realize you need to memorize most of the useful combinations
Indeed, that's going to get complicated, lol
Thanx for the advice how to call a medic. Will try next time my character starts acting like he's in pain ;)
Here's some more screencaps:
Our cammanding officer:
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Scuba diving to get in position and prepare an attack on a group of enemies with two opposite fronts:
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Some details in the village we just raided:
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A dead soldier. You can choose whether you want to see blood or not:
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Here I am busy trying to deploy an AUV (a quadrocopter in this case). It took me more than an hour digging through menus and field manuals to find out how to bloody get the thing to w@&k:
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Then it took me another hour learning to fly the darn thing and be able to pinpoint the location of some 'spotter' that were ordering mortar fire on our units. I found out how to spot them in a youtube playthrough. Found ou I can change the view in many ways and night vision helped me out:
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In both screenies you see the copter in 3rd person view. Later I switched back to 1st person, because it's somewhat easier to manage and finally use the laser pointer to lock the target position:
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Here we are on our way to the main comms tower of the island Stratis. A tactical position that should allow us to re-establish a link with the NATO headquarters:
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After using artillery to get the main defences down, we raided the base and I am exploring it inside in this view:
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Here's the results: 3 casualties, I killed 5 soldiers and I only 'reverted' once. Some results to be proud of, for a beginner :-D
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Nice pics and story, Binn :-X
The graphic detail is excellent, and I can't wait to get the game.
I'm going to map macros to the gaming keys on my gaming keyboard for the most common functions.
Looking forward to those.
On a sidenote: I got the deluxe edition from steam, and while doing first time install I saw it mention the voice command thingy. Maybe I do have access to those. But before making decisions, I am not that far advanced yet, so far I'm only following orders :-()
Nice :-X
i did not see voice commands as part of the deluxe bundle, but you never know. I was under the impression that it was a separate company that was adding value to the game. Keep us posted
You may be right, I have no idea. Anyway, I now try to inform my teammates whenever I kill a target: 5-7 is the combo, lol
Here's a bit of screenwork of the last mission. We were out at night to gather supplies dropped by a local friendly guerrilla group. On our way to the spot we found out that things went a bit wrong, of course. After a first encounter with enemies trying to stop us from reaching the supply spot, we regrouped:
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Only then I found out how handy night vision goggles can be:
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Here you see the southern most part of the island Stratis. With a lighthouse. The light is turning, of course :)
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I also found out about the medic. You have to call for help. ~-8 and the teamleader will send a medic. Here he's patching me up, which makes you as good as new 8)
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After we found the supplies destroyed, we got the task to strike back on our enemy and clear their remaining forces in the south. We entered a group of buildings, with hiding soldiers inside. I knew there was one on the first floor of this building, and tossed a grenade in:
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>:D I did well, only 5 reverts and as you can see I killed plenty of enemies. I'm beginning to get a hang if it.
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Very cool! :-X
Here's some more screenies of my latest adventures:
In my BinnZ's impressions (http://www.openworldgames.org/owg/forums/index.php?topic=3599.msg72188#msg72188) topic I wrote about the mission called Breaking Even. Here you see the outpost under construction shortly after we successfully took it over. I'm moving out with my men to go and eliminate the mortar team in the area. My team is shown as little white hexagrams, and this time they do follow properly :-D
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This happened a little earlier; our supply truck, who had been waiting outside the perimeter, drive in to load the goodies. It's a good example of AI's driving skills. If they hit a wall or a structure, something that does happen quite often, they just revert and hit it again. As if they had figured the first bump should have scared the obstacle away. It also happened to me a couple of times that my own crew roadkills me while I try to make my way to another vehicle ;D
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This picture comes from the next mission. We have to pass a very busy road. Tanks and APC's come by the minute. I ordered my "Rifleman AT" (the one carrying a rocket launcher) to lock on an APC and two other men to lock on two soldiers that were standing close to it; they were something like a control post. This was my first successful attempt to let my team eliminate an enemy without casualties, and the massive column of fire is the result ^-^
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This is my hero; my rifleman AT. We had to pass another road where a single MRAP (Ifris) was patrolling. I thought to be cleaver and planted an explosive charge on the road, like I learned in the supply convoy mission. That worked out fine, but the problem was that the explosion alerted nearby enemies near that other, busy road. So in came an APC. I had saved just before that, and time after time the APC slaughtered us like rats in a cave. On my last attempt, I ordered all my men to stay prone, and hoped he'd not see us. Only my rocketeer refused to go prone. When the APC was closing in, he launched a single rocket, and eliminated the threat seconds before it would discover us: :bow
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Here we are at the factory terrain where was supposed to be a full fuel truck. The truck was there, but Bingo fuel (name of the mission) ::) I ordered my men to take place in some offroad trucks to drive to another location where possibly a fuel truck would be:
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Approaching this new location of interest I was warned by one of my men that there was another APC. I ordered my rifleman AT to take care of it:
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Here we are; we succeeded in stealing the fuel truck after a heavy firefight. I managed to steal a sniper rifle from one of the fallen enemies and we completed the mission using th alternate ending; Sgt. Miller (the one that was already my commander in Stratis) asked me to hand the truck over to him, so that he could kill the highest commanding officer with it, that was about to pass the region. I chose to agree, which resulted in another 'supply failure' :-D
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Here are the results. Unlimited savegames and putting AI strength back to 'regular' greatly enhanced the fun and after 6 intense hours of gaming I managed to bring this intense mission to an end with no casualties: :)
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impressive. Well done :)
And +1 :-X for all your dedication and efforts :)
Thank you :)
Nicely done, BinnZ - +1 from me as well for all the reports and excellent screen capture stories
Some more views on the campaign:
Explosive charge:
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Sometimes saving gives you a weird colourful view on the landscape... almost like the mushroom-infested drug scenes in FC3/4 :-D
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Artillery fire being operated:
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Parking a drone: :-D
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Flying a drone:
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The place where I met Miller:
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Swamp view:
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Swamp sunrise:
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:)
???
The place where you met Miller reminds me of the arena where I killed one of the Pazzi family members in AC2