Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Comments by John Walker

First, bitches!

I believe that's the traditional etiquette assosciated with such posts.

Really looking forward to OFP2 - hope it's as flexible in terms of scripting and map editing as the original and the ARMAs.

loved the original game when it came out, hopefully its a decent game from codemasters.

The bit about jumping at the end makes me all happy.

I'm actually having higher hopes for this than ArmA 2. I mean, ArmA was so unpolished, unfairly difficult and buggy that ArmA 2 really has to prove to me that they've done better this time. At least this is a new team trying the genre. Let's hope they're both good!

cover system? weapon customisation?

Just can't help getting really really really excited about this one.
Yea tried arma but it was so incredibly buggy+unpolished.

PC Gaming requires less skill confirmed in that!

well i'm damn excited about this - have been for ages, and was wondering why we've heard so little about it.
graphically it looks to be in a different class to ArmA

Sounding great and the reason I bought an Xbox, since my PC wouldn't be able to run it. Been waiting for this since I completed the first one.

Sorry , I just don't trust Codemasters to continue this franchise. I'm expecting half naked chick's and a TOTALLY RAD DUDE! crappy american voice over

JUST

CAN'T

WAIT

/love

My only dilemma with this game is deciding what system to buy it on.

BRING IT OOONNNNNN

EffinJamie

Trust me, won't be none of that business in Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Yep, absolutely can't wait for this. Everything that the developers are saying seems to tick all the boxes. I agree with the whole 'bunnyhopping has no place in a military game', and the diving to the ground in one quick movement is absolutely right. I love that the AI is supposed to be clever enough that if you choose to stand back and with a realistic and sensible strategy could get the AI to complete a mission. Personally I'm looking forward to playing this alongside some long-standing and very proficient co-op loving friends.

There are only two issues so far I'm not sure about. The first is this attitude about bringing the soldier's experience to the gamer. The majority of the time a soldier isn't actually in the thick of battle, and as explained by the developer, does sit back while a target is bombed, or attempt to engage the enemy from afar. While I'm happy to see this depicted in the game, it's not exciting for me to sit back and snipe or order a bomb on a building. I've always found clearing buildings and rooms the most enjoyable and exciting aspect of military based games because it's so perilous and atmospheric. I'm not judging this game, as I've never experienced the original, I'll save critism until I've actually played this co-op.

The other issue, is more a question and a wish for the game. The developer mentioned helicopters. I love helicopters and a couple of years ago I had lessons. I have to say learning to fly one of those things is the hardest thing I've ever done. Helicopter pilots are incredibly skilled.

So I'm wondering how the experience will play out in-game. A helicopter has only four controls. Left and right foot controls which conteract the spin of the aircraft as the main rotorblades attempt to swivel when you move the flightstick - which of course control the blade angles effectively giving you forward, backward and side motion. The collective (the handbrake looking stick on your left) controls climb and descend. All the controls are dynamic, meaning you always have hands and feet on them and depending on what you're having the helicopter do are usually constantly being adjusted. Each of these controls would easily translate to a game pad.

It would be amazing if the game handles helicopters in a realistic way. It could be more forgiving than in real-life, especially as hoovering is an extremely difficult task to master, but ignoring the foot controls would make the controls far too arcadey for such a realistic game. It perhaps makes sense that only on the hardest difficulty do you have these full controls, and the helicopter reacts as one would in reality. On an easy difficulty, sure, give the gamer the far less rewarding arcade style control. Having said all that, I'm not sure other than as an automated means of transport there's any room for being able to fly a helicopter yourself in a first person shooter!

Can someone explain this please:

The only thing that restricts draw distance is resolution. At about 500m a human on a 1080i is one pixel high. On a 1600x1200 screen he might be five or six pixels high.

Not really sure that's a true statement but I may be missing the point...

JensenJet

As well as the campaign that puts you in the role of a marine infantryman, there is also a spec-ops campaign that will allow you plenty of opportunity to get some CQB action.

So this is a preview? But I guess not 'hands on' as there are no impressions of how it plays? Or am I not reading that right?

can't wait already pre ordered for the PC. this and mafia 2, arma 2 i am a happy bunny

JensonJet - I think you are going to be very pleased with the helicopter controls : )

little worried that theres never any mention of the game being FUN to play..

Can we have some indication as to how it compares to the original Operation Flashpoint and by extension Armed Assault? I'll end up playing both but I'd like to know where they stand in relation to one another.

Those asking about what it's like to play: I spent a lovely afternoon at Codies watching the game being played, and chatting with devs, and finding out as much as I could about it, but this wasn't a hands on. The game isn't due until the summer, and EG will bring you juicy hands on details nearer the time.

Another Brian Lara?

So hyped about this title.
By far the game I am focusing on at the minute.

I am hoping for an ultra realistic title, if people want arcadey fps they can play COD/generic FPS.
This is what its about. Hope the co-op brings even more immersion.

Really looking forward to this, fingers so tightly crossed that codies have this nailed.

Killzone 2 is the best, most impressive FPS ever... newcomers have to be fucking epic to rival Guerrilas work of art.

does anyone know if it'll be compatible with mouse and keyboard controls on the ps3?

I'm praying that, in this instance, "summer" means late June rather than mid September. I saw a recent preview on a German website and the journalist suggested the build they were showing looked like it needed alot more dev time. ...Crying out for a decent new FPS, it's been a long time... making do with Bad Company in the meanwhile which has been laggy as hell recently.

FFS, this kind of game leaves KZ2 and COD in its wake. Theyre simply (ironic) wannabes when it comes down to it. Boy cant you just tell Apololie is a console kiddie who doesnt have a clue about proper open map modern warfare.

Im quietly hopeful with this one. Hoping they'll get the right balance between realism and fun, tactics actually making a difference to your survivability (unlike armed assault where no matter how good you were you'd probably still be inexplicably hit between the eyes from someone firing a BB gun from 2 miles away).

I appreciate its a hard thing to get right, but if its done well then the game could be unbelievably good.

Oh, and controls not being completely fucking insane sounds like a good idea too.

I am loving the last paragraph, sounds great!

I really want this. I've not seen much actual gameplay footage though. Just those damn pre-rendered sequences.

All sounds good to me.....been waiting for this for years......you can only trust them as they are saying ALL the right things.....will the general xbox public get it.....don't know.....but hopefully they make enough dosh to keep the franchise going.....if they start the move to a more realistic shooters then brilliant.....THEY HAVE MY SUPPORT.......how the developers put up reading the feedback on their forums without getting totally depressed i dont know....there are people on there getting REALLY stressed about CM not including the ability to clean character's rifles.......its scary reading for those of you who have a sensible commercial mind........anyway we shall see......

Looking forward to this as well. I'll remain very very cautious though, seeing as it's a multiplatform-title. :-P


@degville

Was wondering that too. So if it's running at 1200 pixels vertically on the PC, and 1080 pixels vertically (albeit interlaced) on the 360/PS3, how can anything rendered on the former be five times amount the pixels than on the latter?

Even if that was true, by that logic, it'd be impossible to balance any of the versions internally as well, seeing as some have large, high-res TVs/displays, and some don't. You'd have the largest margins on the consoles, where some are still stuck with SD-TVs. Boy, is this game going to be fun on one of those! ;-)

"Killzone 2 is the best, most impressive FPS ever... newcomers have to be fucking epic to rival Guerrilas work of art."

Crysis...

Helios and Botherer, thanks for the replies.

Ok, seeing as there are people out there that seem to have a fair bit of knowledge about this game, I've got a few more questions;

1. Physics? Can I expect gravity to play a part in the shooting side of this game, or is that a little too much 'realism'?

2. Descructable scenery? Whether in a limited form or full implemented. Can a light bulb or truck tyre be shot out? Will a grenade blow up a car, or blow a hole in the side of a wall or building?

3. Customisable controls? It infuriates me that most game developers don't actually believe we might want to customise the keys. Perhaps I'm an oddity but having controls that suit you are the first step to improving your skills and feeling more comfortable with a game. And by customising controls, I'm not only talking about buttons, but the X and Y speed and acceleration of the view (right thumbstick) control?

4. Please tell me there isn't a radar within this game... it absolutely kills any attempt at realism, when all a gamer has to do is look at top of their screen and an array of red dots pinpoints where the enemy is!

5. Health. How's it handled? Medi-packs, recharging health, or first aid?

6. How's the game going to handle team-killing? It amazes me 99% of the industry hasn't a clue how to resolve this... America's Army had the solutions years ago... the second you team kill you're booted out of the server. If not, two strikes and you're out would suffice.

7. AI... will this be the first game ever where we actually get a sense that the AI's been programmed to have a sense of self-preservation?

8. Will co-op games include 'terrorist-style-hunt' games along with the single player campaign? Can we customise the co-op games, not just in difficulty, but in enemy numbers?

9. Do I ask too many questions?

6. How's the game going to handle team-killing? It amazes me 99% of the industry hasn't a clue how to resolve this... America's Army had the solutions years ago... the second you team kill you're booted out of the server. If not, two strikes and you're out would suffice.

That's a bit harsh. People do make mistakes. There have been times where I've wiped out a few guys on my team because of some large explosion. Not to mention that OFP was notorious for accidental TKing because of the distances you were fighting at and the colour of uniforms being similar.

I'd suggest that if you're TKed the server asks the victim if they want to log a complaint. Three complaints from the same player and you're kicked out.

I'm looking forward to both games, OF2 and ArmA2, if only for the flamewar that will happen between those two highly fanatic communities.

The developers have made a big mistake missing their original summer deadline. They're now going head to head with Modern Warfare 2. That's commercial insanity.

Well all you console fellas wont be getting a mission editor, that will be PC only im afraid.
Also as regards to the helicopter controls, if any of you have seen DCS:Black Shark you will know that trying to fly with a 360 pad just isnt going to work. I appreciate that codies cant include detail for each of the helis meaning that I would theoretically be able to fly the things in real life but I would want it to be at least a little hard to fly the things.

These are my guesswork answers - I recommend a trip to the official forums for accurate info.

1) I didn't ask about gravity's effect on bullets, but I wouldn't be surprised. Currently light and sound are realistically modelled (you'll see the muzzle flash before you hear the shot, etc) and that's the sort of thing they're all obsessed over.

2. Don't know specifics here, but bullets will penetrate objects realistically, and entire buildings disintegrated accurately when blown up, so I'd assume there's going to be a fair bit of damage modelling.

3. No idea, I'm afraid.

4. Only on 'Easy'. Anything above that and no, no radar. You have the Command Map which will mark last known positions of enemies, and this is based on technology currently used by the American army.

5. Neither. You get shot, you bleed. Too much on the outside and you're done for. However, there will be a medic, so there's hope to stem bleeding. But no, no regen, no medkits. A limb gets blown off, you're limbless.

6. You'd have to ask Codies.

7. So they claim. Bear in mind everyone claims that when developing a game.

8. They have released zero information about this at the moment, and the same for multiplayer games.

9. Only in the sense that you'll be disappointed by the amount of "I don't know"s from the confused journo : )

Apologie?

What-the?

I though I'd ignored you ages ago..

Ignore poster

the problem with this game is that it will be just toooo big. Nice having all that scale, but on 16 player matches (on console)? Will require team work, and no offence, but teamwork on consoles just never seems to pan out..

@JensonJet

"Ok, seeing as there are people out there that seem to have a fair bit of knowledge about this game, I've got a few more questions"

I wrote an earlier preview in February which I think might answer some of your questions. It be here: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/operat...

@FWB

There is no point asking the one who was TK'd if he wants to log a complaint because given the choice users always log compaints in my experiance. They had this system in BF2 and it really did not matter how you TK'd as 99% of the time people choose to punish.

I'm looking forward to this way more than Modern Warfare 2. I liked MW alot but I'm now sick of respawning enemies completely destroying the gameplay. The realism and non regenerating health will make a nice change, and things like acurately recreating things like rifle scopes and helicopters cockpits from their realworld counterparts down to the nuts and bolts give me confidence this game will be great. Can't wait.

@JensonJet

"1. Physics? Can I expect gravity to play a part in the shooting side of this game, or is that a little too much 'realism'?"

It's been a while since I last played OpFlash but I'm fairly certain that sniping over distance was effected by gravity. As botherer points out nothing mentioned for OpFlash2 BUT you've got to hope they're adding to, rather than removing from, an already winning formula.

@degville

US bombs crusin' overhead
There goes my love rocket red
Shoot it up
Shoot it up

There is no point asking the one who was TK'd if he wants to log a complaint because given the choice users always log compaints in my experiance. They had this system in BF2 and it really did not matter how you TK'd as 99% of the time people choose to punish.

You're right, some people are just spiteful, but I'm not one of them. They had the system in BF1942 too - had to be set by the server. I never filed a complaint if it was accidental, and I certainly wouldn't have filed it when playing with mates. I'm sure the latter is the case for most people. Auto banning does nothing. You end up punishing the innocent.

Get three complaints from one individual or 10 in total across the team and get chucked out. Not a perfect system, but helps a bit.

You have to be careful here, as the AI is constantly judging your actions, and if it thinks you're a loony, your troops will abandon you.

Worst army in the world.

Damn, no bunny hopping star jumps