Arma 2 patched with 158 tweaks
Realistic military sim ARMA 2 has been updated to version 1.60 by developers Bohemia. The patch covers Operation Arrowhead, the British Armed Forces and Private Military Contractors DLC, the original Arma 2 and Arma 2: Free. Among the whopping 158 changes are a new anti-aliasing mode, new scripting commands, smoother multiplayer, netcode fixes and improved AI. More important fixes include, “AI no longer considering a car horn as a threat,” and “Dead body temperature was not saved.”
The Bohemians have also created a Christmas message for all their fans, which is so incredibly festive we’re about to explode in a shower of tinsel and fake snow.
Changelog highlights after the break.
Interview: Bohemia Interactive’s CEO on fighting piracy, creative DRM
DRM is among the worst things ever to happen to gaming. In many cases it’s intrusive, infuriating, and the worst DRM can even stop your legitimately purchased game dead in its tracks. But hey, at least DRM finally made piracy walk the plank and cackled maniacally as our team of trained sharks devoured it forever, right? Oh wait – piracy’s still alive and kicking, and pirates can now rationalize their actions by saying “I want to get the version that works.” So what’s the gaming industry to do?
Many developers and publishers are stumped, and some flailing wildly by locking down games even harder. All hope, however, isn’t lost: a few studios have begun to experiment with copy protection, and results have run the gamut from hilariously amusing to, well… mostly that first thing, so far. But are they really cutting down on piracy? That in mind, I decided to quiz Bohemia Interactive CEO Marek Španěl about all things DRM. His company, of course, has been turning heads with its DEGRADE (often erroneously referred to as “FADE”) tech, which slowly renders pirated copies of games like Take on Helicopters unplayable. Check out the full interview for his thoughts on just how bad piracy really is, ending the trend of intrusive DRM, “always on” schemes like Battle.net and UbiDRM, and much, much more.
Take on Helicopters lifts-off today
It may not be Longbow 3, but rotary-wing aircraft enthusiasts should be interested in Bohemia Interactive’s Take on Helicopters, a civil aviation flight sim that tells the story of the Larkins, a down-on-their luck family of pilots who have just one more chance to keep their business alive. It’s available to day via Steam, Gamersgate, and many other distributors.
Take on Helicopters launch trailer takes off
Helicopters are brilliant. Unlike boring old planes, they’re not confined to just going forwards and tilting a bit. That makes them perfect for plopping SWAT teams on rooftops, sneaking through thick jungles, rescuing people from listing boats and all that other exciting stuff that planes miss out on because they’re going too damn fast.
Complete all the tasks mentioned above and more in Bohemia Interactive’s Take On Helicopters, out today. The launch trailer not only shows off the wide variety of missions, but also the enormous cityscapes Bohemia’s excellent Arma tech generates so well. Find out more in our Take On Helicopters interview with Bohemia Interactive creative lead, Jay Crowe. You’ll find a list of physical and digital retailers at which to purchase Take On Helicopters on the Take On Helicopters site.
Media regulator investigating ITV Arma 2 blunder
Remember the ITV documentary that claimed ARMA 2 footage to be a secret IRA film? The Guardian report that the slip is getting the broadcaster into trouble with the british media regulator, Ofcom, who today announced that they will be launching an investigation into the incident to see if the mis-labelling of the documentary footage constitutes a breach of its broadcasting codes.
The scene showed a helicopter being shot down by a soldier taking cover near an armoured vehicle, and was instantly recognised by Arma fans on the Bohemia Interactive forums. The documentary was the first in ITV’s new Exposure series, which hoped to expose links between Muammar Gadaffi and arms supplied to the IRA. ITV ended up issuing an apology instead.
ITV documentary can’t tell the difference between gaming and reality; mistakes Arma 2 for secret IRA film
Here’s an upload of a video from a recent ITV documentary into Colonel Gaddhafi’s support of the IRA. It contains shocking footage of a helicopter being shot down using weapons allegedly supplied by that baddie.
Except. Umm. It’s actually ArmA 2.
Words. Fail. What. How. For goodness sake. UK media, can you stop being shit please.
If you’re looking for the footage in the documentary in the ITV player – it’s online here. The footage is in place from 28 minutes, 20 seconds.
Update: Here’s a youtube video that appears to be the same footage. I think we can start to understand how this happened.
(via the Bohemia forums)
Update 2:
We’ve been in touch with Bohemia Interactive’s CEO, Marek Spanel. He tells us that Bohemia weren’t approached by ITV for permission to use the footage, and had no idea that Arma 2 was appearing in a war documentary on British TV. Understandably, they’re quite surprised. “We are going to try to get some explanation from ITV how this could have happenned,” says Spanel.
“Sometimes creativity and realism in our games lead into crazy results and this is one of such example. I just briefly watched the entire documentary and I still can not believe it as it is overall very serious and lenghtly feature,” he adds.
“We are surprised our games apparently may look real enough to some users already that they can not tell it is not real life footage.”
We’ve reached out to ITV for comment. Check out the videos of ArmA below for a sense of exactly how realistic the military shooter really is.
Take on Helicopters screenshots take on the military
The latest update to the Take on Helicopters site brings us seven new screenshots, which have been organised into a series of slides narrated by US Army soldier Joe Larkin, who talks about his time on duty in South Asia in the video above. Take on Helicopters is primarily about setting up a civilian chopper business, but its developers, creators of Arma, couldn’t resist putting some military missions in there as well.
The question is, will we be able to take these military choppers into the world of civilian commerce and dominate the market using nothing but rockets? Modders, you know what must be done. See the seven new screens below. Take on Helicopters is out later this year.
Arma 3 website goes live with Gamescom presentation videos
One week ago I got a press release telling me that in one week’s time, ARMA 3 would get a brand new website. Excited, I set my WAR CLOCK OF DOOM to T-minus 7 days, turned all the lights off and lay in wait. Now, that time has come. The Arma 3 site is live, with eight new videos of the Gamescom presentation. You don’t even have to go to the new Arma 3 website to watch them, because I’ve nabbed them and hidden them under the camo net below. Don’t tell anyone.
Arma 3 screenshots show heavy vehicles and spectacular views
Thirteen new Arma 3 images have show an entire alphabet worth of war machines, from Artillery to Zubmarines. There are some bloody good views as well, including a shot positioned so high that you can see the very curvature of the Earth. There’s also a shot of a man in jeans and sunglasses chatting with some insurgent soldiers. We’ve no idea what they’re saying, of course, but it’s probably something like MAN IN JEANS: “Enemy. Man. Front. Three metres?” MAN WITH GUN: “Enemy. Man. Front. Three metres!” Click on each screenshot to see it full size.
Arma 3 screenshots show tank column and stratospheric jet
Four new Arma 3 screenshots have appeared on the Bohemia Interactive forums, spotted by VG247. They show some more of Arma 3′s vehicles, including a column of tanks and a jet flying so high we swear it’s possible to spot PC Gamer towers somewhere below.
For more Arma 3, check out the E3 screenshots, the recent tech demo video showing the improved physics engine, and make a note of the system requirements. The new Arma will need a beast of a machine to run when it comes out next year.
Arma 3 will have sandbox singleplayer with side quests
Arma 3 was announced at E3 this year with talk of an “open-ended” single player campaign and “sandbox-oriented combat gameplay.” In a recent interview with Everyeye, spotted by Blues News, Bohemia designer Ivan Buchta expanded on this, revealing that Arma 3 single player will let you take quests form NPCs in an open-ended environment, and even pursue side missions to get hold of better equipment, support or new vehicles.
Operation Flashpoint to be re-released as Arma: Cold War Assault
Following the release of Arma 2: Free earlier today, Bohemia Interactive drops another surprise. Operation Flashpoint, the landmark military-sim originally developed by Bohemia a decade ago, has been rebranded as Arma: Cold War Assault, and will be re-released with the Operation Flashpoint: Resistance expansion thrown in as a bonus.
If you already own Operation Flashpoint, you’ll be able to download the new version for free. The rest of us will be able to buy the pack when it’s released “through various online stores in the near future.” There’s no news on a precise date or pricing details just yet. Bohemia are re-releasing the classic to celebrate ten years of making military shooters, and promise that “more exciting releases will be made in the coming days and weeks ahead.” Head over to the Bohemia Interactive site for more.
Arma 2: Free is free to download and play right now
One of the biggest surprise announcements of E3 this year was that Arma 2 would be going free to play. Just a few weeks after that announcement, Arma 2 is now free to play. You can grab the 960MB download right here. Thanks to RPS for the heads up.
The free version will let you play the full game, including multiplayer, but locks off the highest graphics settings and cuts out mod support and the single player campaigns. Full map editing tools are present in the free version. If you’ve always been tempted to try a hyper-realistic war sim, this is one you have to try. We’ll see you on the battlefield.
E3 2011: Carrier Command: Gaea Mission gets E3 trailer
Carrier command is back! Arma creators Bohemia Interactive are handling the remake of the strategy classic, which puts you in control of a really awesome boat, packed full of jet planes, bombers and land units. The aim is to use these units to take control of an archipelago of islands. Judging from some of the first-person footage in the flying shots, you might well be able to take direct control of more units than the carrier itself. The ship is well armed, too. We get to see its energy turrets, and it’s long range artillery capabilities. We can’t wait to hear more about this one.
E3 2011: ARMA 2: Free announced. Multiplayer, completely free, and released in June
Bohemia Interactive have just announced a free-to-play version of their outstanding war sim, Arma 2. It’s going to be totally free, but 100% Arma. Click through for the details.
