" I downloaded the demo of this game, and the AI really sucks. The enemy AI shoots you from miles away with Ak's. Then you can spawn as a spectator bird and see where they shot you from, and you can't even see where you were. It would have been impossible for them to shoot you. I have max video settings too, max draw distance. I doubt stupid AI is a bug, it's just stupid AI and they won't fix it with a patch. "

Video Games are serious business! 

Futures so bright I gotta wear a cap with tracking equipment on it.

" Futures so bright I gotta wear a cap with tracking equipment on it. "

i want a game where you just fly a jet plane upside down and look up at the ground....

See, the problem with this is, while I'm turning my head to make my character look left or right, the monitor is getting closer and closer to the extremes of my own view. I can't see how this is practical.

as told/shown, it's much like mouse movements are dependant on the sensitivity, so you only move your mouse a little yet can turn a circle around yourself in a game. Similarly, turning your head a little turns the view further so you don't have to strain yourself to look left/right.

" @LtColJaxson said:

" I downloaded the demo of this game, and the AI really sucks. The enemy AI shoots you from miles away with Ak's. Then you can spawn as a spectator bird and see where they shot you from, and you can't even see where you were. It would have been impossible for them to shoot you. I have max video settings too, max draw distance. I doubt stupid AI is a bug, it's just stupid AI and they won't fix it with a patch. "

Standard enemy rifleman have set engagement range of 500m in the game, meaning they wont shoot at you until they get within that range unless shot upon first. Thats assuming they even see you. And Im guessing they shot you at around 200-300m, which is the normal range you would engage an enemy in (with the intent to actually score a hit) in real life as usually all Assualt Rifles sights are clocked in at 300m's.  So no the AI doesnt have miracle aim. "

They were just waiting to get shot, yet they owned you? And as said before, you don't shoot ppl 5ft in front of you here. Most of the time you'll be shooting at what appears to be dots (if you're shooting at all actually, directing your units and calling air or artillery strikes can be more important)... Don't forget to aim while calculating your bullet drop as well, especially if you're using a sniper rifle for longer distances. Distances are more realistic than in other games too, which is why your 500m appeared like "miles" >_>

And cover isn't always the priority, concealment is as well, heck you said you didn't see them before they shot you, so they acted pretty effectively.

If only I had a TV which wrapped around my head.

It's a know issue of ArmA 2, that the AI doesn't handle complex situations well. The more goes on at the same time, the more confused the AI gets. It works well for smaller scale mission, like the 7 'hop-in-and-play' maps. ArmA 2 has a very ambitious AI, which is all about realtime responses to your actions. It's not scripted, like in most other games. Bohemia didn't achieve their lofty goal... yet.

I am sure, Bohemia, as well as the modder community, are working on this issue. But for now, the AI is broken for large scale simulations. So either you stick with smaller scale simulations, or you have to live with the AI failing regulary and breaking the immersion. I don't know how good or bad the AI works for multiplayer modes like 'Warfare', but there are multiplayer modes available, that don't rely on AI, which should be very enjoyable. So the best way, to play this game, is to stick with what works and hope that the broken stuff gets fixed by a future patch.

For who is into mil-sims, there is good fun to be had with ArmA 2. There seems to be quite a hardcore following of players and modders. So it sure has a future. But as of now, various elements of the game don't work properly. That's a fact, you will have to deal with, if you want to enjoy this game.

You've got it to work now then?  Or is this more hearsay passed off as 'fact'?

@ Jimbo

I feel confident of my knowledge about ArmA 2. I will keep an eye on this game, as I have for quite some time now. I have spent several hours of research on this game, since it would require me to upgrade my gfx-card, to play it at my native resolution and high quality settings.

So that's the consensus I gathered from the many reviews and user impressions about the AI in ArmA 2 thus far. You might think, a giantbomb user would appreciate my sharing the info.

dude thats awesome!!

Ive been using head tracking software to play IL-2 Sturmovik with my logitech web cam and a mini flashlight attached to my hat for about 2 years now. It allows me to have a horizontal and vertical pan and tilt with just one track point. Adding more points of light would be as simple as attaching more lights or LEDs (LEDs work better.) More lights means you can add more complex twist, lean movements.

The key to all this, is that I haven't paid for a thing (besides the web cam and game.) The software I am using is FreeTrack.
This allows for the same amount of precision as the pay to have version, works exactly the same, but you don't have to worry about paying.
Link to the FreeTrack website:
http://www.free-track.net/english/


Reading the comments, I see people don't get how it works. Trying it for yourself would be the easiest way of seeing what this does, but a quick rundown follows:

Your web cam must be set to see only infrared light. This isn't hard, you just have to set the contrast all the way up so that all you can see is the single dot from your light (or all the dots if you are using multiple track points) As a side note, this is how the Wii tracks your curson on screen as well, but its reversed. You are holding the camera in the wiimote, and the sensor bar on your TV are the infared lights.

I then bent a metal coathanger into shape to make a clip, and stuck the mini-flashlight under the clip.) This clip is on the front of a ballcap, and now does not move unless I move my head.
When I look to the left, the dot moves left on screen, and moves the head of your character to the left. The effect is amplified so you dont have to turn your head very much to look all the way around behind you.

Using FreeTrack (or TrackIR if you are a sucker and like paying big bucks for no reason) really does improve games that have this feature but its definitely a bit of work getting it set up and adjusted for your liking. Everything about it is adjustable and customizable. If you dont like the sensitivity, turn it up or down. The reason this is better than mouselook is that it allows you to keep one hand on the throttle(or flaps or other functions) and the other hand on the flightstick and still maintain your ability to see around you like you normally would.

People that say this is too complicated must have problems walking down the sidewalk and looking to the left or right to see cars in real life, because using head tracking is the most natural way to look around in a game so far.

Sounds like FaceApi except it needs the led(s). I'm sure that doesn't allow the same precision as what's seen here. How can it possibly differentiate a movement to the left from a tilt to the left and a sideways tilt to the left, if all it tracks is a light source's movement? Now if you have two light sources, perhaps it can understand tilts by seeing the relation of the two lights to each other, their distance, etc, but does the software support that? Faceapi seems superior since it tracks the basic facial features but it doesn't seem end-user friendly just yet.

Edit: Checked their website, it does have support for that kind of tracking, but I don't have face-leds for all that :P

" Sounds like FaceApi except it needs the led(s). I'm sure that doesn't allow the same precision as what's seen here. How can it possibly differentiate a movement to the left from a tilt to the left and a sideways tilt to the left, if all it tracks is a light source's movement? Now if you have two light sources, perhaps it can understand tilts by seeing the relation of the two lights to each other, their distance, etc, but does the software support that? Faceapi seems superior since it tracks the basic facial features but it doesn't seem end-user friendly just yet.Edit: Checked their website, it does have support for that kind of tracking, but I don't have face-leds for all that :P "

That's pretty cool. I see ARMA1 worked with it, I imagine someone will make the sequel work too. I'd try it if I had a game with such support I play a lot atm but I don't. Maybe when the Battlefield 2 patch goes out of beta.

this is for people who play games too much

Pretty cool, actually.

" @MrKlorox:  To me it just seems like an expensive piece of hardware that you'd only get benefit out from 1-2 games... "

i love all the comments about having to look away from the screen when using this lol. guys, learn to watch the videos without commenting.

" @Vecta said:

" @LtColJaxson said:

" I downloaded the demo of this game, and the AI really sucks. The enemy AI shoots you from miles away with Ak's. Then you can spawn as a spectator bird and see where they shot you from, and you can't even see where you were. It would have been impossible for them to shoot you. I have max video settings too, max draw distance. I doubt stupid AI is a bug, it's just stupid AI and they won't fix it with a patch. "

Standard enemy rifleman have set engagement range of 500m in the game, meaning they wont shoot at you until they get within that range unless shot upon first. Thats assuming they even see you. And Im guessing they shot you at around 200-300m, which is the normal range you would engage an enemy in (with the intent to actually score a hit) in real life as usually all Assualt Rifles sights are clocked in at 300m's.  So no the AI doesnt have miracle aim. "

Doesn't really matter, if I can't see where I was with max view distance at their viewpoint - they shouldn't be able to see me either. The graphics are barely even able to handle the characters being that far away and still being able to see them properly... so you shouldn't even be able to hit anything at that distance for the game. When I was a spectator after dying, most of the AI was lying down in the middle of the road or running away from the action. Occasionally they would run in circles before going prone. They don't even take cover, they just stand right out in the open waiting to be shot.Say what you will, but the AI is just plain stupid.  "

I don't think I need that

" @LtColJaxson said:

" @Vecta said:

" @LtColJaxson said:

" I downloaded the demo of this game, and the AI really sucks. The enemy AI shoots you from miles away with Ak's. Then you can spawn as a spectator bird and see where they shot you from, and you can't even see where you were. It would have been impossible for them to shoot you. I have max video settings too, max draw distance. I doubt stupid AI is a bug, it's just stupid AI and they won't fix it with a patch. "

Standard enemy rifleman have set engagement range of 500m in the game, meaning they wont shoot at you until they get within that range unless shot upon first. Thats assuming they even see you. And Im guessing they shot you at around 200-300m, which is the normal range you would engage an enemy in (with the intent to actually score a hit) in real life as usually all Assualt Rifles sights are clocked in at 300m's.  So no the AI doesnt have miracle aim. "

Doesn't really matter, if I can't see where I was with max view distance at their viewpoint - they shouldn't be able to see me either. The graphics are barely even able to handle the characters being that far away and still being able to see them properly... so you shouldn't even be able to hit anything at that distance for the game. When I was a spectator after dying, most of the AI was lying down in the middle of the road or running away from the action. Occasionally they would run in circles before going prone. They don't even take cover, they just stand right out in the open waiting to be shot.Say what you will, but the AI is just plain stupid.  "

I told you, the Riflemen unit have a set engagement range of 500m meaning they wont try to shoot and hit you untill they are under 500m away. The default view distance is set at 1600m...  It just sounds like you try to move to fast without bothering to survey your surroundings. "

we need super-wide curvy monitors now... like somebody before me said... once you turn your head, you're not looking at your monitor anymore...
This stuff is all cool... but I think it'd be more useful if there's a full half-circle monitor in development... or maybe even a full 360 degree monitor that you could look around with...

of course, that that point, I'm not sure if we'd even need head tracking...

"

I don't get it. How is this more effective than...well...mouse look? Or Q/E leaning?

But, whatever. Obviously it's meant for the hardcore - the guys all hooked up with the Philips amBX and Novint Falcon. I'm not part of that market.

"
Its best use is when flying because then you dont really have the option to move your viewpoint with the mouse and being able to look around is invaluable.

" we need super-wide curvy monitors now... like somebody before me said... once you turn your head, you're not looking at your monitor anymore...This stuff is all cool... but I think it'd be more useful if there's a full half-circle monitor in development... or maybe even a full 360 degree
monitor that you could look around with...of course, that that point, I'm not sure if we'd even need head tracking... "