Comments on: Operation Flashpoint 2 Delayed, Trailer

By: KP

KP — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:44:43 +0000

The actual game engine looks like Battlefield 2 with filters.

By: jackflash

jackflash — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:36:58 +0000

I’m putting my money on ArmA II, personally (with TrackIR, mmmmmm). But $10 says that won’t make a June release, either.

By: ACESandElGHTS

ACESandElGHTS — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:35:09 +0000

I’d also like to add, in the least sucking-up way possible, that RPS is king among gaming sites due to its prolific output, conciseness, brevity, and let’s not forget humor. I don’t know if the RPS guys even own a 360/PS3, yet I feel that, here, I am among fellow gamers regardless of platform. Yea. BTW, I didn’t want to post this in forums ’cause I’m completely over forums. Peace.

By: ACESandElGHTS

ACESandElGHTS — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:28:05 +0000

The wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flashpoint_2:_Dragon_Rising), if it’s to be believed, has some stuff that makes me very hopeful. like including realistic firing sequences (raise, shoulder, aim, fire) and penalizing reloading weapons that aren’t empty, by eventually cycling the half-full magazines back into the weapon.
Anyway, as PC users, some of you may have experienced all this before in OFP and ArmA, but for an Xboxer like me, this stuff brings back memories of Ghost Recon and how the first squad-based version of that game incorporated tactics, a little bit of realism (health didn’t regenerate and injuries slowed you down) and how this game might be twice as fun.
What’s that mean? I’m hopeful about Arma2 and OFP and I want both to be excellent and unprecedented among console games.

By: Plopsworth

Plopsworth — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:14:03 +0000

One aspect of realism that often gets neglected is moving away from a purely cumulative hitpoint based system. This is something that Bushido Blade on the PSX did so very very well. Fights went on until you managed the killing blow of hitting the braincase/throat/spine/diaphragm. Everything else just disabled the affected limb/extremity.

While I’m not claiming that it’s realistic per se, it is a good bit more authentic than the standard fighting game’s “90 seconds to drain your opponent’s health-bar”. Cue pathetic fights with both opponents crawling and rolling along the ground, trying to get that final coup de grace.

Yes. I realise that I’m talking fighting games in an OFP thread. My point is that there are other features needed too. One-shot kills and material penetration are not always equal to instant realism (see counter-strike), especially when you’re still using a cumulative damage-model.

Now add ballistic trajectory + surface material and impact-angle based ricochets and material penetration + non-cumulative damage model + non-regenerating health + retaining chambered rounds, nor having to charge the weapon when reloading from a weapon that isn’t empty + the now compulsory iron-sights… and you’re getting a bit closer and an impressive feature creep list.

By: Gap Gen

Gap Gen — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:01:52 +0000

“A post that just says, a friend of mine is a developer and he said don’t get your hopes up but I can’t tell you any more is not something I can take seriously.”

Also, he doesn’t exactly defend the information to the death, saying that he can’t tell people any more before doing exactly that when questioned once.

By: teo

teo — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:13:33 +0000

“@teo, there will be on the higher difficulty setting with one-shot kills, Clive Lindop has said. Whether it’s true or not, though….”

I suspect as much myself, but a higher difficulty is not the same as having it in the core game design. If you look at the original Flashpoint it did lots of new things, and it had a pretty grand scope, but I feel that the way you could die so easily was a huge part of what made the game work. Even though you were a ‘hero’ in the game, you were just a soldier on a battlefield and kind of insignificant.

When you were up on a ridge, using your binoculars to look at stuff, you really wanted to keep your head down. When you went down into a valley you had to constantly keep checking the horizon, and every bush you encountered. You had to be cautious as hell, and I found it really immersive.

Maybe Codemasters can make a fun game where you get to do all the things you did in Flashpoint, but if they ease up on players I don’t think it will be the same game. I DON’T think it could ever work as a console game. I don’t really care either, they can make the game they want, I’m just pointing it out.

By: Slippery Jim

Slippery Jim — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:23:00 +0000

I’m glad they took the decision to delay it so they have more time to improve the game. I await more info :)

By: Larington

Larington — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:45:38 +0000

Those links mean nothing to me, for all I know there could be some disagreement within the team about element x, y, or z that results in one disgruntled developer having a little moan about whatever it is, and suddenly one grievance becomes some kind of wierd controversy or proof that a game is gonna suck. A post that just says, a friend of mine is a developer and he said don’t get your hopes up but I can’t tell you any more is not something I can take seriously.

I’ll judge them on the reviews, thanks.

Also, often times I’d rather see a game delayed than not, I tend to interpret it as a good sign these days, partly because release dates tend to be set by publishers and my faith lies more with development than publishing, truth be told.

By: Gap Gen

Gap Gen — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:09:17 +0000

Either way it has slipped, so that’s a sign it needs fixing. That said, slipping back to the pre-Christmas launch window is no bad thing commercially (for them).

By: EBass

EBass — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:06:14 +0000

Thats hardly compelling evidence.

The jury is out on this for me. After BiS totally screwed up ArmA (even with it fully patched up and working the core mechanics of the game including AI aren’t any improvement on the original OFP), I put my support behind the Codies effort.

However Codemasters total lack of any information release other than re-hashes of press briefings are starting to make me lean back towards BiS. I’ll see what the community reaction is before making a purchase.

By: Gap Gen

Gap Gen — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:05:26 +0000

“The worst was when I got sniped whilst flying a chopper in ArmA.”

We played co-op on a mission someone made where you had to escape from Saharani, escaping patrols and finding transport to an island evacuation point. Flying a Blackhawk or Little Bird, looking for fellow evacuees to rescue, was quite difficult at times, as the enemy are rather good at hitting choppers with small-arms fire.

Robmuzz: True, but I’m not sure whether the hardcore crowd is the main target audience for OpFapDR. It’s possible they’ve modelled the weapons obsessively, but like I said, I suspect that ArmA2 will be more likely to supply this, or the mod community necessary to make it happen (given that a very similar thing already happened for ArmA).