Windows Arma 2 and 3

[Huntn]

Years ago I played a combat game with Official severs, where one map was an island and your team came in from the beach and had to take control of several control points to win the match. Can't remember the name of that one.

After Arma 3 was recommended to me, I decided I'd try Arma2 for $12 on Steam and check it out, before splurging on Arma 3 for about $50. Anyone playing either one?

​

Questions:
*20 minute battles (or something like that)?
*Can you pair up on Steam to be on same team?
*Is their a decent coop campaign (single player style) that can be played with a friend over the net?
*I saw tanks. As a big Worls of Tanks fan, wondering how frequently you see tanks in a typical battle?
*I did not get a chance to play, but selected multiplayer, and so no games online. I'll have to verify my firewall settings.
*Are all the servers privately hosted or are there official servers?
*Can you host or join with out any modem port adjustments?

Thanks!

 

[shadowmatt]

Yeah got Arma 2 and Arma 3 on my Mac Mini using Windows 8.1 and an external GPU over thunderbolt.

I bought Arma 2 to play the DayZ mod, which is an excellent game in itself.

Arma 3 also has a good few mods such as Breaking Point and Battle Royal.

You can check youtube channels such as https://www.youtube.com/user/PsiSyndicate/videos for a good breakdown on all the different stuff.

Basically though both games are awesome, have a lot of online support and are still supported / being expanded by the community.

----------

Questions:
*20 minute battles (or something like that)?
Yeah that happens, the mods can go for hours.

*Can you pair up on Steam to be on same team?
Not too sure about that, I just tend to have friends join the server, you can pick a side but its limited to the available places.

*Is their a decent coop campaign (single player style) that can be played with a friend over the net?
Again the mods offer all sorts, you can work as a ambulance driver in some modes

*I saw tanks. As a big Worls of Tanks fan, wondering how frequently you see tanks in a typical battle?
Never seen a tank in the ones I have played, lots of vehicles and choppers though

*I did not get a chance to play, but selected multiplayer, and so no games online. I'll have to verify my firewall settings.
There are usually tons of people on line and lots of servers

*Are all the servers privately hosted or are there official servers?
A lot of servers seem privately hosted but are open

*Can you host or join with out any modem port adjustments?
Never had any issues

 

[Huntn]

Yeah got Arma 2 and Arma 3 on my Mac Mini using Windows 8.1 and an external GPU over thunderbolt.

I bought Arma 2 to play the DayZ mod, which is an excellent game in itself.

Arma 3 also has a good few mods such as Breaking Point and Battle Royal.

You can check youtube channels such as https://www.youtube.com/user/PsiSyndicate/videos for a good breakdown on all the different stuff.

Basically though both games are awesome, have a lot of online support and are still supported / being expanded by the community.

----------

Questions:
*20 minute battles (or something like that)?
Yeah that happens, the mods can go for hours.

*Can you pair up on Steam to be on same team?
Not too sure about that, I just tend to have friends join the server, you can pick a side but its limited to the available places.

*Is their a decent coop campaign (single player style) that can be played with a friend over the net?
Again the mods offer all sorts, you can work as a ambulance driver in some modes

*I saw tanks. As a big Worls of Tanks fan, wondering how frequently you see tanks in a typical battle?
Never seen a tank in the ones I have played, lots of vehicles and choppers though

*I did not get a chance to play, but selected multiplayer, and so no games online. I'll have to verify my firewall settings.
There are usually tons of people on line and lots of servers

*Are all the servers privately hosted or are there official servers?
A lot of servers seem privately hosted but are open

*Can you host or join with out any modem port adjustments?
Never had any issues

Thanks! I asked the modem question because for UTseems like you have to make those changes to host a match. Ultimately I have to get my feet wet with the game and check it out.

 

[Huntn]

So far I've not located any Arma 2 servers. My nephew told me the thought all of the servers had been closed. Any possibility of this? If so, I wonder why I was able to buy it on Steam. Working on an inquiry to Steam Support.

 

[garnerx]

Play Arma 3, it's much better.

A lot of multiplayer servers run variations of the 'Life' RPG mod, which is inexplicably popular and completely boring. Avoid those if you actually want to play soldiers and shoot things, rather than walk around aimlessly in beach shorts.

Some servers take things very seriously. I got kicked off one because the commander kept giving me orders but I couldn't find the button to switch to his channel. We weren't even in a battle - this was just assembling at the base for a briefing.

Had reasonable success as a chopper pilot, ferrying people to the warzone. Nobody seems to want to do it because of the risk of crashing and wiping out your squad (and getting kicked) so there's often a pilot slot available.

In short, it's a great game. Excellent single player campaign too.

 

[Huntn]

Play Arma 3, it's much better.

A lot of multiplayer servers run variations of the 'Life' RPG mod, which is inexplicably popular and completely boring. Avoid those if you actually want to play soldiers and shoot things, rather than walk around aimlessly in beach shorts.

Some servers take things very seriously. I got kicked off one because the commander kept giving me orders but I couldn't find the button to switch to his channel. We weren't even in a battle - this was just assembling at the base for a briefing.

Had reasonable success as a chopper pilot, ferrying people to the warzone. Nobody seems to want to do it because of the risk of crashing and wiping out your squad (and getting kicked) so there's often a pilot slot available.

In short, it's a great game. Excellent single player campaign too.

I'm thinking about it, but I'll be on the hook for 2 copies of the game and before I invest $120, I want to be sure this is a kick ass game with coop. Is the single player game have coop by chance? Has this ever gone on sale at Steam? Is Steam the only method of purchase? Thanks!

 

[garnerx]

I'm thinking about it, but I'll be on the hook for 2 copies of the game and before I invest $120, I want to be sure this is a kick ass game with coop. Is the single player game have coop by chance? Has this ever gone on sale at Steam? Is Steam the only method of purchase? Thanks!

I think I saw it in a Steam sale recently, and I'm fairly sure it's the only way to buy it.

There's no co-op in the built-in campaign, but there are lots of free mods that offer it. Some of the most popular multiplayer modes are essentially 'massively co-op' - you plus 50 other people versus the AI.

 

[Huntn]

I think I saw it in a Steam sale recently, and I'm fairly sure it's the only way to buy it.

There's no co-op in the built-in campaign, but there are lots of free mods that offer it. Some of the most popular multiplayer modes are essentially 'massively co-op' - you plus 50 other people versus the AI.

Thanks for the info. I'll wait for the next sale.

 

[garnerx]

Thanks for the info. I'll wait for the next sale.

It's currently in the holiday sale, 35% off (in the UK at least)

 

[Huntn]

It's currently in the holiday sale, 35% off (in the UK at least)

Lol, the sale is there now. I tried last night and no joy. Thanks!

 

[Huntn]

Arma 3

Ok, Arma 3, going through bootcamp. The helo is a bitch. I just discovered this video, will be playing with it.

 

[Huntn]

Anyone know how you coop or form a squad in Arma 3 with a friend? This really seems harder than it should be....

 

[garnerx]

User-friendliness isn't this game's strong point. If you join a server then you'll see various squads, so you'd have to find one with free slots in whatever roles you want to play. You need to join a pilot squad if you want to fly, or be squad leader if you want to issue orders.

I can't imagine flying a helicopter with keyboard and mouse - it looks painful. I used an Xbox controller at first, then I got a proper joystick / throttle / pedals setup.

edit: this guide is really worth reading - ttp3.dslyecxi.com/index.php

 

[Huntn]

I purchased this game based on suedo-peer pressure. It may have been a mistake. My desired benchmark is a setup with more concentrated goals. I would hold up World of Tanks, nice tidy 15 minute battles. Arma is more like a MMO such as Planetside on a smaller scale designed to spend hours in a single scenario with lots of standing around or spent hoofing it to the fight. Oh well, can't win them all.

 

[garnerx]

Well, it's about as far from World of Tanks as you can get! It's a hardcore military sim, and you need three people just to drive a tank. There's nothing really like it, in my experience at least.

You do have to make your own fun, to a certain extent, but it's worth persevering. There are so many ways to approach it, whether you want to play it seriously or just mess around and get beautiful photos.

 

[Huntn]

Well, it's about as far from World of Tanks as you can get! It's a hardcore military sim, and you need three people just to drive a tank. There's nothing really like it, in my experience at least.

You do have to make your own fun, to a certain extent, but it's worth persevering. There are so many ways to approach it, whether you want to play it seriously or just mess around and get beautiful photos.

Well, I used to spend hours in Planetside, but even that game had facilities built into the landscape designed to be controlled. I'll run through the solo campaign and see how it goes. Those cant be cooped can they? Thanks!

 

[Eightarmedpet]

Yeah got Arma 2 and Arma 3 on my Mac Mini using Windows 8.1 and an external GPU over thunderbolt.

I bought Arma 2 to play the DayZ mod, which is an excellent game in itself.

Arma 3 also has a good few mods such as Breaking Point and Battle Royal.

You can check youtube channels such as https://www.youtube.com/user/PsiSyndicate/videos for a good breakdown on all the different stuff.

Basically though both games are awesome, have a lot of online support and are still supported / being expanded by the community.

----------

Questions:
*20 minute battles (or something like that)?
Yeah that happens, the mods can go for hours.

*Can you pair up on Steam to be on same team?
Not too sure about that, I just tend to have friends join the server, you can pick a side but its limited to the available places.

*Is their a decent coop campaign (single player style) that can be played with a friend over the net?
Again the mods offer all sorts, you can work as a ambulance driver in some modes

*I saw tanks. As a big Worls of Tanks fan, wondering how frequently you see tanks in a typical battle?
Never seen a tank in the ones I have played, lots of vehicles and choppers though

*I did not get a chance to play, but selected multiplayer, and so no games online. I'll have to verify my firewall settings.
There are usually tons of people on line and lots of servers

*Are all the servers privately hosted or are there official servers?
A lot of servers seem privately hosted but are open

*Can you host or join with out any modem port adjustments?
Never had any issues

Would love to hear more about the external gpu! Apologies if it's explained elsewhere...

 

[Huntn]

Anyone have experience with Arma3 and Day Z mod? Is this coop in a game host mode? Thanks!