Most realistic modern FPS simulation?

[Chad Harrison]

Hi all

Question is simple enough: In your opinion, what is the most realistic modern FPS simulation available to the general public? By realistic, I mean as far as weapon handling and balistics, equipment loadouts, vehicle use and so on. Visuals are nice, but are not what defines a realistic FPS.

From what I can tell, it is ARMA II. But, I have not played either of the ARMA's. I know that Operation Flashpoint 2 was a flop - atleast from what I have heard.

So whats the best bet?

Thanks

Chad

[hcrof]

Well ARMA 1 in my experience had very realistic bits such as small arms bullet drop etc but then they decided to balance it for multiplayer so equipment like AT weapons were horribly badly done in some cases and I never found any mods to correct it.

As for armour... The tanks have hitpoints.

I had fun for a while but for me it sat uncomfortably between ultra realism and standard gaming conventions and the more I played it the more obvious the errors became. Apparently coop multiplayer is awesome though so I think the best bet would be to download the demo and see for yourself.

[MeatEtr]

Yep, it's Arma II hands down. OFP 2 was developed completely separately from the dev(Bohemia Interactive) behind the original and the Arma series. There's tons of user made campaigns/missions/mods available here armaholic.com. Not to mention the ability to quickly and easily make your own in the editor.

I haven't in awhile, at least not since Arma, but some amazing tactical FPS gaming nirvana can be had online. Get on comms(Teamspeak or Ventrilo) with organized players online, I did with the SimHQ folks and had a blast. Well worth the effort.

If you do decide to buy, make sure you get the bundle pack that is Arma II and the just released expansion pack Op Arrowhead.

Here's a video of the new FLIR optics using a drone to laz a target for the Apache's Hellfire missile.

There's tons of other videos out there, take a look for yourself, some great eye candy in Arma II.

[Pak40]

ARMA II and Op Arrowhead, hands down. A great customizing community also with new (and more realistic) weapons, new maps, new scenarios, and all sorts of other mods.

[Antig3n]

Pretty meager system requirements too, the original runs like a champ on my single core 3.2 Ghz + GT240. Correct me if I'm wrong but these games scale well from low end machines to more powerful rigs.

+1, Great game. Although, hard to believe the armor damage system is based on hit-points... it wasn't like that in OPFP, was it? Can't remember. Seems just silly considering the rest of the game.

[Guest Panzer Boxb]

Arma 2 with the ACE 2 (Advanced Combat Environment) mod is hands down the most detailed and realistic FPS you can get. In fact, it is classified as a milsim rather than an FPS. The biggest drawback is the hitpoint based vehicles but the mods do a good job of minimizing that.

[Secondbrooks]

ArmA2 might be okay to others, but it's just so alienating experience that i really feel "disattachment from body"-thing.

I really dislike the way weapon handling is done. Character animations ruins movement. Equipment doesn't do a damn to movement or stamina.

Personally i look for immersion and on that scale ArmA2 is worse than any typical shooter out there. It has few things right, but then again those things aren't very important for me.

There's no one shooter-game which would cross the line of being realistic in my books, it can have nuts and bolts right but still it's boring and unappealing. So i go for immersion, gameplay and mission design.

Things which go against this in ArmA2:

-Character doesnt' react to my keypresses enough smoothly and fast. Animation model are most problem here.

-I'm fighting against the game, and also fighting to understand it. This happens with weapon sway, weapon handling, stamina, movement.

-Campaign and overall missions are flop. Utilizing this warfare-thing, which is dead at birth for single player use.

-AI in single player is poor.

-Nature feels too artificial. I'm in middle of forest and i feel exposed and unhidden!

-Plenty lot more.

This as OFP and ArmA player and (tiny-miny-small)modder. I quite simply got fed up whole game and towards direction it's heading. Infact i enjoy OFP more than ArmA or ArmA2, because it's enough simplistic and fluid.

[Lt Belenko]

here's some realism

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid50062332001?bclid=0&bctid=85579948001

[Guest Panzer Boxb]

Belenko, that is pretty wild.

Secondbrooks. Many of your criticisms are valid but several, like stamina not being affected by gear, have been addressed in a variety of mods. Unfortunately, until Bohemia get around to revamping the engine entirely to allow for better animations that aspect will not improve.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Realistic shooters do trend towards awkward controls.

They really should take a look at the Battlefield series, or the Call of Duty series where the controls are so much easier and responsive, resulting in a more natural feel while operating your alter ego.

[Moon]

One of the most realistic FPS I ever played was a Vietnam FPS a few years ago. I forget what the title was unfortunately. It may have been just 'Vietnam".

[MeatEtr]

Realistic shooters do trend towards awkward controls.

They really should take a look at the Battlefield series, or the Call of Duty series where the controls are so much easier and responsive, resulting in a more natural feel while operating your alter ego.

I don't think they should at all. It all depends on what your use to. People come from playing the Arma series for awhile and then switch to CoD or the BF series. But it feels laughable, like Quake or Unreal with modern weaponry. Then vice-versa and people say Arma feels too sluggish or unintuitive. Some said the same crap about Red Orchestra too. It's designed that way on purpose.

[MeatEtr]

One of the most realistic FPS I ever played was a Vietnam FPS a few years ago. I forget what the title was unfortunately. It may have been just 'Vietnam".

Ahh yes, I think your referring to Vietcong. This is a triple-A dev IMO, they made the Hidden & Dangerous series, Mafia, and the soon to be released Mafia II.

Great game with a solid MP community. I even had the x-pack Fist Alpha. They did make a sequel but it wasn't as good as the first.

[hoolaman]

This as OFP and ArmA player and (tiny-miny-small)modder. I quite simply got fed up whole game and towards direction it's heading. Infact i enjoy OFP more than ArmA or ArmA2, because it's enough simplistic and fluid.

I think even the infantry fighting is pretty poor in ArmAII. Supression is not modelled, using a MG is very unsatisfying because the enemy doesn't really pay any attention to the rounds flying until one hits him. It is very difficult to find concealment and cover, especially from the AI which sees and kills you even when you are behind 10m of bush.

The vehicle simulation is unspeakably bad, from the helicopter flight model to the armour penetration systems.

I actually rated OFPII high than ArmAII. OFP2 has a supression system and an immersion factor that is pretty good. The squad controls are also very easy and intuitive, although you only control 3 or 4 men I think. Its still a console FPS but pretty fun.

[huhr]

Armed Assault 2 is most realistic and this group actually has a campaign going each week and enjoys new players who are able to use teamspeak as well. They will help you along if you need anything. let me know if you need help.

http://www.armedglobalwarfare.com/

[Secondbrooks]

I actually rated OFPII high than ArmAII. OFP2 has a supression system and an immersion factor that is pretty good. The squad controls are also very easy and intuitive, although you only control 3 or 4 men I think. Its still a console FPS but pretty fun.

Yup. I agree with you there. There is possibility to lead atleast platoon sized element in OFP2 (or OFDR as i call it). PL commands squads while SL leads teams and of course TL leads his team... Maybe even bigger elements but game doesn't handle more than 60 entities, which basically is like lead pipe is to knee: Breaking things pretty wildly. And forcing it to focus on small sized action.

Infact OFDR took the steps which ArmA should have taken long ago, in my mind. Focus on small unit tactics and infantry combat "rules". AI utilizes pretty advanced drills (on game-scale). They do use suppressive fire, and bounding overwatch and do it as unit and under commands of their leader. It's pretty cool, but sadly rest of the product wasn't as good.

Elmar Bijlsma: Problem with ArmA-series is their animation system. They model body into game, which has it's own drawbacks in controls as well. It's not only game which does this and there are better examples how to make this work, but i'm not pro in this so i just shut my hole. In COD alter-ego is basically just floating point in game world, which is much more easier to make user friendly. There are no need for animations which should be finished before character moves to another animation, which is main problem in ArmA... Or that is how i understood ArmA developers to explain it.

Moon: Probably Vietcong, which overall has been considered to be best Vietnam shooter ever made. I agree with you (if it's Vietcong what you are after) it's probably best shooter i've ever played. Sadly it doesnt' work on my Vista and support has been dropped. I hate my Vista!

[lanceunderkeep]

I have used many firearms in my life and they are not anywhere near as technical or scary to use. As far as games are concerned, a realistic shooter just needs the weapon physics to be accurate. When firing a gun at a target running sideways make sure you have to lead them a little bit. One thing that gets really annoying is bullet drop. I use a .22 Rifle apart from air rifles it is like the lowest caliber. It has an effective range of 200 yards usable at 500 yards and can go about 1.5 miles. These games have military grade weapons and they drop after 60 yards. Developers need to use real guns while creating games.

[lanceunderkeep]

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R games have a .conf file that can be edited. After adjusting, I found it to be the closest thing to real firearms physics. (Warning: Its a real pain to do it).