ArmA 2: Combined Operations - We have our own server

[Wolfenswan]

Thought i'd make a list of the addons i'm using for the new blood and as a general orientation.

Essential
CBA - some other addons need it. Read the instructions.

SThud - improves your awareness, reduces friendly fire "accidents" etc

STmovement - good to have

NoBlur - gone are the times you had to puke every 5 minutes when playing arma (removes motion blur)

Nifty Stuff
RNV Compass - flattens the compass model to prevent it being unreadable because of sunglare/bloom; also makes it possible to use the compass to measure distances on the map

Digital Compass - displays your bearing in the upper left corner, useful as you don't have to bring up the compass every time. Make sure to copy the userconfig folder too.

TrueMods - Improves the hud by a degree but also comes with some stuff i really dislike. I'd remove the crosshairs and the FOV correction (just a matter of drag&drop and replacing files).

Map Plus - improves the ingame map

Goodies

Blastcore - makes smoke & tracers pretty, other stuff too; heavy hit on FPS

JSRS (sound mod) - I have no idea how guns sound in real life, but JSRS makes the arma guns sound good; make sure to get all the patches/hot fixes


Tweaks

Low Vegetation (use guest/guest as login or create a new account) - changes the way vegetation on Chernarus (and Utes?) is displayed in the distance, improving perfomance and making Cherna (and Utes?) prettier at the same time.

Check the PROPER project for more perfomance enhancing tweaks.



# If you're using the steam command line to run Arma with those addons you'll probably need to shorten some of the @foldernames as the amount of characters allowed in the command line is limited.

# If running Combined Ops all the @folders can (and should) be placed in the OA root folder, otherwise you'd have to point to them with the full path instead of a simple -mod=@foldername;@folder2;...

[metalangel]

Something I've noticed (probably long after everyone else) for PTT is to set up one key to make yourself talk in Mumble/TS and another for ArmA2's own voice chat.

That way you can talk to JUST your squadmates and other players, and another for 'official' comms.

Another way of looking at it is that TS is your radio, and ArmA2 is just you talking aloud.

[kataras]

Nice one wolfenswan, I ll be installing the digital compass I think. Sthud, Blastcore and JSRS are highly recommended!

[fer]

Something I've noticed (probably long after everyone else) for PTT is to set up one key to make yourself talk in Mumble/TS and another for ArmA2's own voice chat.

That way you can talk to JUST your squadmates and other players, and another for 'official' comms.

Another way of looking at it is that TS is your radio, and ArmA2 is just you talking aloud.

That's the way we recommend using TS3 and VON during the Folk sessions.

Low Vegetation - changes the way vegetation on Chernarus (and Utes?) is displayed in the distance, increasing perfomance

One thing to consider when loading this type of addon is whether or not you'll be using it in an adversarial mission - within ARPS and Folk sessions I don't think anyone minds, but in joint events such as the one planned for 25th September it's safer not to make that assumption.

[Wolfenswan]

One thing to consider when loading this type of addon is whether or not you'll be using it in an adversarial mission - within ARPS and Folk sessions I don't think anyone minds, but in joint events such as the one planned for 25th September it's safer not to make that assumption.

Low Vegetation doesn't remove anything as the name might imply; it merely changes the way plants in the distance are displayed and improves on ARMA's LoD system both improving perfomance and graphics.

I haven't included instant view distance for the reasons you mentioned as i was too tired to write a proper disclaimer. Might do so later though.

[Harlander]

What do people think about JSRS vs. VOPSound?

[Liqourish]

I believe JSRS is considered superior.

[Bodge]

I certainly believe that to be the case.

[Anthile]

Random thought of the day: how about some Fallujah action in the near future? I'd even play domi there.

[harakka]

New people, attention!
Are you interested in ArmA2 multiplayer but feel discouraged by whatever reason? Read this encourago-post, and be encouraged.
I started playing ArmA2 a few months ago thanks to the RPS Arma people, and wrote about my newbie experiences elsewhere. Imma copypaste some of it here, to encourage you to join us.

ArmA2 can appear a scary game for new people. It's portrayed as a simulator, and it has so much stuff! Tens of weapons with various attachments, tons of vehicles, aircraft, terminology, abbreviations... All seemingly different, all with their own quirks, not to mention all the quirks in the engine and the various gamemodes and missions.
Enemies are often just a few, hard-to-distinguish pixels on the screen, and you can die after getting shot once. I still remember how confusing and unapproachable it all felt from a distance when I started.

Hot tip: You don't need to know most of this stuff to enjoy the game.

The necessary skills to play ArmA2 online with us goes something like this:

• Walking
• Shooting
• Listening to and trying to do what your fireteam leader (FTL) tells you
• Asking questions

That's it. Seriously, if you have done the infantry tutorials, you're golden. Everything else you can learn as you go, just by the magical power of asking questions and trying things. The missions we play always have a place for bog-standard riflemen, who don't need to know how to do anything special. You have an FTL and teammates who know the game and can help with any problems.

This also applies to Tactical Tuesdays (every Tuesday around 19:30 UK time) and Folk Sunday sessions (look for posts by comrade Fer). I heartily recommend both events to new people, as all you're expected to do, is to try to do as you're told. In return you get a glimpse of what ArmA2 can be at its best.

You may also feel that your skill / experience level is not adequate, and fear that you can potentially ruin other peoples' fun by sucking at the game. Good news: that's not how it works. ArmA2 is not a frag contest, and we are not a serious group of milsimmers. This is not Serious Business. We don't expect you to make ArmA2 your second day job. We don't play to win, we play to have fun. And sometimes the best fun is to die horribly.

Any questions? Read the first post of this thread, and if questions persist post here, or ask in the RPS Steam chat.

[Nullkigan]

Remind me to put that into the first post, it is good :)

[fer]

All good comrades are invited to the Folk session today (Sunday 18 September) at 19:30 UK (details in the thread's OP). As a reminder: some things change and others stay the same:

• Changed: Client-side addons are now permitted!
• Stays the same: Nobody expects anyone to be able to shoot straight; the ability to die is all you require for the Folk sessions.

[fer]

As is traditional, cross-posting from the Folk forums:

Missions:

• Technicality
• Technicality
• Internicine II
• Internicine II
• River Assault
• Finale SE

It took me about 90 minutes to write Technicality. I pictured our platoon of brave fighters speeding across the desert sand in a fleet of technicals, like a cavalry charge from Lawrence of Arabia (only with fewer camels). First time round, I think we managed that for the first 90 seconds. Afterwards it all went a bit wrong. So wrong that we tried it again, and that didn't end too well either. So we played a few rounds of Internicine II; although this guarantees a lot of death, it has the saving grace of being an adversarial, so at least some people win. Finally, we ended up with an epic run at River Assault, which started okay ... then went horribly badly (hello enemy BMP-2) ... then went better (burn, enemy BMP-2, burn!) ... then seemed to be genuinly epic as our surviving comrades crossed the dam ... and then Martin Konopnik happened.

Martin Konopnik: stone cold killer.

:colbert:

There was an after-party with Finale SE, in which I particularly enjoyed watching the almost simultaneous muzzle flashes of three distant tanks. It took just less than the flight-time of the shells to realise they were all pointing at my BMP-2.

:siiigh:

One final aspect to highlight - and to thank all comrades for - was the great playercount we enjoyed all the way through the session's official 2 hours (and beyond). Having more comrades makes so many more missions playable, so I (and I'm sure others too) really appreciate it when folks show up. Good show, comrades. We might just get that socialist agrarian utopia. Maybe.

[kataras]

Technicality: what a clusterfuck! (not the mission itself, but the overall performance) We could not advance 500 meters without getting blown up.... I think we need something more powerful on those vehicles... I loved Joe leading one of the two groups into battle, only to get shot and die in the first 15 seconds, and then anarchy and death prevailed. I think I survived another 5 seconds after that.

I liked Internicine II, it was also one of the few times in adversarial when I did not die in the first 5 seconds. It made me want to try more!

[Joseph-Sulphur]

Technicality: what a clusterfuck! (not the mission itself, but the overall performance) We could not advance 500 meters without getting blown up.... I think we need something more powerful on those vehicles... I loved Joe leading one of the two groups into battle, only to get shot and die in the first 15 seconds, and then anarchy and death prevailed. I think I survived another 5 seconds after that.

I liked Internicine II, it was also one of the few times in adversarial when I did not die in the first 5 seconds. It made me want to try more!

Oh man, that was stupid of me. Murdered before my awesome plan could come to fruition! Still it ended very quickly after that. I think some .50 cals need to be added, we had 4 PKM techies duking it out with one M2 and they all got murdered.

[ShowMeTheMonkey]

Great session tonight guys! Very much liking Fer taking command!

Also meet glitch guy:





Also this mission was done with the squad looking entirely like this:

[Bodge]

Well that sure is interesting.

[fer]

Firstly, kudos to comrade Bodge for a great mission concept nicely executed. I would very much like to see a non-respawn version adapted for the a Folk sessions, perhaps with the addition of more wide-ranging (and random) enemy foot patrols.

Within East squad we fell into a nice level of organisation and co-operation, which is a credit to all involved and particularly to comrade Jo, who did a great job acting as point and leader of the 'assault' section. Our tactics were very simple but (mostly) effective: the 'support' section of scoped weapons and an MG would engage and fix the enemy from high ground, whilst the 'assault' section would move in to finish the job from a nearby position of concealment (to which they had infiltrated whilst the 'support' section set up and agreed targets, priority etc.). Our destruction of the AAA assets was conducted this way and without any losses, and I think if 'glitch guy' hadn't appeared at the second objective the story would have been much the same.

Thanks to the comrades in my squad for listening and being patient. I hope to see all of the new faces again in a Folk session soon.

:)

[harakka]

For some reason I ended up both commanding and leading a fireteam for the first time ever yesterday on Midnight Riders. Thanks for having me. An AAR follows:

I had never played Midnight Riders before, so all I knew of the mission was in the mission notes. The job seemed simple enough: 1) destroy a comms facility in Yarum and 2) search for intel on the location of a certain colonel in the villa NE of Zargabad. My cunning plan was thus: I send Bravo (led by Draakon) to take out the comms stuff in Yarum and draw the attention of whatever mobile reinforcements the opposition has, while Alpha (bossed around by me) inserts Be Stealth-style on the dry riverbed north of the villa and clears it of defenders and intel.

Once Alpha was in position we waited until Bravo was properly engaged, and then proceeded to clear out the villa's tiny defences. We had the benefit of NV gear and silenced weapons, and took no casualties. By this point Bravo too had done their job, so they RTB'd to resupply.

According to the intel found in the villa by Alpha, the colonel was somewhere in the vicinity of the mosque in Zargabad. I ordered Bravo to land ~100m south of the mosque, and we did the same on the eastern side, since in case of heavy fighting I didn't want the teams to be firing toward one another. Advancing building by building toward the mosque both squads cleared out what little resistance there was to be found. After clearing the mosque proper, the Colonel was found in one of the nearby buildings, and promptly executed. Hooray, I thought, but a bit too early.

We now got tasked with stopping a convoy that was heading north to south through Zargabad in 10 minutes. Since Bravo had thoughtfully brought explosives with them, I ordered them to set the satchels and whatnot in an intersection directly NE of the mosque, and take positions in the buildings nearest to the intersection. Alpha took positions down the street to get eyes on any stragglers. In retrospect I didn't make sure we had enough AT capability, which proved an issue later on.

Ten boring minutes later the convoy was still leisurely strolling down from the north with drivers turned out etc. People were getting a bit antsy, but patiently fooled around and reported a variety of vehicular sightings until the convoy entered the town and our ambush spot. First up was a BMP-1, then a few Urals and finally a BDRM. The BMP managed to sneak past the otherwise spectacular explosions with one Ural in tow, and started causing havoc with its MG. I took a bullet and lost any sense of what was happening, until a helpful medic cleaned the debilitating strawberry jam off my uniform.

At this point the only vehicle still up and about was the BMP, and Alpha pilot Joseph helpfully crashed our transport chopper into it, since we were out of AT stuff. Whether this did the BMP in or all the small arms plinking I don't know, but a few moments afterwards the mission ended in success.

[President Weasel]

Harakka: best akka.

Oh yeah: Martin Kopotnik was a stone cold killer.