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Arma3

Landini.T

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I am interested in knowing more about arma 3 gameplay from members of the cav.. pros/cons...


Thanks,
PFC. Landini
 

Burton.P

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There's definitely a lot of pros and cons...honestly, the advice I can give you is check out the videos by Black or any of the other 1st Battalion media recorders. That'll probably give you a far better idea than words can.


If you're on the fence about whether or not to pick up the game and give it a shot, or whether or not it's worth it, I can only respond with a resounding 'yes'. The replay value alone of Arma 3, due to it being a sandbox MILSIM that lets you do pretty much whatever your imagination can muster up makes it priceless. And that also enables mission makers to make just about any type of operation you can think of.
 
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Ronnings.P

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If you want to see some footage from ARMA 3 operations you can see some here:

 

Gates.A

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Whaddya wanna know precisely?

Wall of text incoming

As someone with over a 1000 hours (I know, amateur) in Arma 3 I'd have to take a while to explain it. And there's problably folks here who can correct me or have different opinions. To me, and like Burton said, Arma 3 is a sandbox for everything military related. Some people call it an FPS, but there are times that I play for 2-3 hours and never shoot my rifle so there is room for debate there ;).

Arma shines through it's editor and multiplayer. But I wouldn't be able to tell you much about mission making. I just show up and pick a slot when it's time to play.

This is also why it's a hard game to explain because there are very different ways of playing Arma. There's a single player campaign, although I couldn't tell you anything about it because I've never wanted to touch it. There's a ton of different game types you'll find online. King of the Hill, Altis Live and other random crap. Arma also spawned DayZ and then pretty much the whole battle royale genre afaik.

And then there's Milsim communities like us. For me, I think Arma 3 would be a very unremarkable, barely played game if I hadn't found the Cav.

What we do are typically self contained missions designed as realistic military scenarios and objectives for platoon to company sized forces. Usually as a US Army (Mechanized) infantry force vs larger AI controlled Opfor elements. It involves some actual planning, briefing and gearing up beforehand and then we try to tackle them using the same realistic real-life inspired combined arms tactics that we also train on during our SPs.

For me, that's a big draw in what makes Arma 3 and the 7th Cavalry fun. In Arma 3 you need to learn how to read maps to get anything done. You need to actually learn a few things about radios in order to communicate well. And if you get into a firefight, most of us will have been drilled into knowing how to react and will do so like a well oiled machine. I recall an FTX where everyone did their jobs, communicated well, killed a bunch of enemies and at the end said to each other. "Kinda easy and uneventful operation, right?" Meanwhile, I was a tired but happy fireteam leader just laughing at that statement. Seriously, I could write a few essays on why this feels so amazing, although it's hard to put into words.

The big cons of Arma are that it is old and terribly unoptimized, count on 30-40 fps even with a great CPU and 3080.

And for me Arma is still not an easy game to get into or play casually, my fun is entirely dependent on who I'm playing with and what we are doing. I can't play for a few hours when I feel like it. I need the structure and planning that the Cav puts into it.

There are also games that do certain things better. Some have better gunplay, sound or visuals. Squad comes to mind for example. But none offer the same freedom or overall experience that Arma gives us.

Hah, I had fun writing this. Hope my ramblings give you an idea :)

And definitely check out Black's videos!
 
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Landini.T

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I guess I should have been more precise.. How is it compared to HLL? I am still new to the whole MIL Sim. I want one that keeps me interested.HLL seems like its a harder one to learn . I like it just seeing if maybe arma might suit me better.
 

Gates.A

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Can't compare with HLL since I've never played that with the Cav or know what their training is like.

In my very biased opinion, I think Arma is the most milsim you can get. Largely due to the amount of mods we use for it. But would also say that it is harder to learn because of that.

What specifically do you mean by learning?
 

Ronnings.P

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I guess I should have been more precise.. How is it compared to HLL? I am still new to the whole MIL Sim. I want one that keeps me interested.HLL seems like its a harder one to learn . I like it just seeing if maybe arma might suit me better.

Sadly I would say that if you belive HLL is harder to learn, you might be in for a surprise! We do have alot of people with knowledge that are always there to help though. So getting in to the game should not be a problem.
 

Burton.P

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The number of helpful players combined with the official instructional content for Arma 3 turns a pretty steep learning curve into a pretty easily-obtainable one. it just takes time and practice. I'd recommend attending a few SPs and/or operations to make sure it's your jam.

As far as comparing it to HLL, it's like comparing apples to oranges. Having played HLL, I can tell you Arma 3 relies FAR more on a trooper's ability to work as a team with their squad as opposed to an individual trooper's abilities. Getting into combat is slower paced but the combat itself can be rapidly changing and evolving since everything is operated by a mission controller. The AI in Arma 3 will flank, out-flank, maneuver to contact...hell, they'll shoot you through a wall if they 'hear' you talking on the other side. Transferring because you believe Arma 3 will be easier would be a mistake. Transferring because it would be a challenge that you can master with time and commitment and the tools our battalion training staff have provided would be a far better mentality.
 

Sypolt.R

S6 1IC
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One big difference nobody has mentioned so far: Arma is COOP vs AI. HLL is player vs player.
 

Burton.P

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One big difference nobody has mentioned so far: Arma is COOP vs AI. HLL is player vs player.
Though we do, on occasion, have TVT events/operations, IE Pride of Charlie. Not sure if there are any plans for that this year though.
 

Landini.T

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I am not even thinking transfer yet , more or less at this moment seeing if I'd like it better. If it's worth me buying it. I wish there was a demo..
 

Kastor.K

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I guess I should have been more precise.. How is it compared to HLL? I am still new to the whole MIL Sim. I want one that keeps me interested.HLL seems like its a harder one to learn . I like it just seeing if maybe arma might suit me better.
Imagine if you could have maps that dwarf the HLL ones in size, by far. A HLL map is about a 2x2 km, with 200m grids like this:
ZXsuRWw.png


Now imagine you can have a map of the size of ten such maps in each direction, 20x20km. That's a fairly basic map for ARMA, like Chernarus or Altis, Tanoa. Some are islands, some are mainland, some are a mixed bag, etc. Some are smaller, 5x5km, 10x10. They are still huge unless specifically made to be "only this tiny island".

Then imagine you get a freeform editor in which you can place units of any factions, on any scale. Squads? Cool. Platoon? Sure. Companies, battalions? Absolutely. Three factions against each other, each of them with playable slots? Go for it! Playable civilians? Yeah! Enemies controlled by a Zeus ("game master") group of players, as if they were in an RTS? YEAH! Taking over single soldiers? YUP!

You get to also build on those maps. You're not limited to the objects placed by the design team, you can erase trees, buildings and build your own.

It's a sandbox you can have large scale combined ops in, because its roots are in actual military training tool (VBS). No other game does this in this fashion, none. Some have the scale, some have the variety, some even have an editor. None of them are ARMA.

Then there's the whole huge modding scene, because the game's modular as all get out.

Because of its roots and age old engine and weird scripting language it uses, there are bugs, issues, stuff that makes S3 rip hair out and us still play mission without radio comms on a large FTX. We still roll with it, because ARMA is just something else.
 

Landini.T

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Sounds like it's hard to get going in but once you do it's awesome. Hmm maybe I'll spend and get the basic edition to see if I like it.. since there is no demo sadly. Thanks!
 

Rosefield.M

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Sounds like it's hard to get going in but once you do it's awesome. Hmm maybe I'll spend and get the basic edition to see if I like it.. since there is no demo sadly. Thanks!

that statement sums it up perfectly. I would suggest just grab it next time the Apex edition goes on sale, which it does fairly often.
 

Knights.Z

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Sounds like it's hard to get going in but once you do it's awesome. Hmm maybe I'll spend and get the basic edition to see if I like it.. since there is no demo sadly. Thanks!
Hit me up if you do get ArmA, I'd be more than happy to get all the mods sorted for you for our TAC2 server, or training servers, then run you through the absolute basics.

If I had to pick the one thing I've learned in my 4008 hours of ArmA 3, it's that capable and competent leaders are what ensure everyone else's experience is a good one. Yes the Zeus or mission maker is the one holding all the cards, but if your 6 knows what he's doing, and so does your SL, then any experience can be fantastic, regardless of outcome.
 

Landini.T

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Maybe I'll pick it up. If someone sees it go on sale before I do mind telling me?
 

Tiddens.M

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If you add it to your wishlist on Steam you should get an email when it goes on sale ;)
 

Knights.Z

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If you add it to your wishlist on Steam you should get an email when it goes on sale ;)
Pretty much this, unfortunately you just missed the Easter sale but with the new creator dlc coming out it might prompt a sale
 

Landini.T

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Okay thanks everyone! I'll let you all know if I get it.
 

Goel.B

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HLL is so easy! Just shoot the enemy and don't get shot. Capture points. Done, that's all you need to understand to play the game.

As a HLL player that just started experiencing Arma 3, what I can say is:
  • It's waaaaay harder to understand than HLL, even basic stuff.
  • You legit need to attend a course just so you know where u at.
  • Tactic wise, it's more challanging and complex.
  • There's little actual shooting and movement skill involved as compared to live fire against real players.
  • Methodical, it feels diferent than HLL. You will walk 30 min to shoot a target once.
  • Kinda cluncky
  • It's really fun, even more playing with 7Cav guys. Everyone has been really helpful and welcoming.
 
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