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Has Potential, but Does Not Follow Propper Military METT-TC or Simulate Real Combat
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Description

I hope that this is my chance to finally influence a game that has great potential to surpass it's competitors in the market today. I've played only once and have already made a list of countless things to improve on. I have been in the modding community for a long while now, and I understand how easy it is to give constructive criticism, but I promise you that this is unlike any advice you will get from a normal Joe. I have experience in the Military and am currently serving in the United States Army Infantry. I will start listing things and you can respond to each one specifically to get more information about them. This will be a very broad message about the way things work in-game, and how they work in real life.

Your squad is moving to an objective. I would assume that they are a form of special forces due to their element size and objective. Each man in a team has a purpose and is very powerful on his own and when placed at the right place on the battlefield. Spreading out to where the marksman/sniper and the machine gunner is on higher ground allows their strengths to be used to its full capacity. An M240B machine gun can cover a squad sized element up to 1,000m away. A sniper's primary mission is to deliver long range precision fire, but its primary mission is to conduct and report battlefield reconnaissance. More times than not, they will perform their second mission. Observation is key when taking down an objective. Unless you have no knowledge of enemy presence, recon is your first mission. Obviously they are AI so I understand if that's a problem.

When moving to an objective where you know there is a high likelyhood of contact, you use a movement technique called bounding overwatch. You can also use traveling overwatch if you are short on time but still need more security.

If an enemy is in an ambush position, they will not leave their cover and run towards you. They will sit tight and fire at you consistently.

As a special forces unit, they have the capability of buying their own equipment and ammo accredited from the governments funding. They will have access to match grade ammunition which increases the MOA grouping, allowing your weapon to shoot more accurately at longer ranges. They also have much better training and experience, allowing them to be able to out shoot any militia opposition. Learning to fire on single shot rather than burst or full auto increases accuracy as well.

If the enemy has weapons, like the AK, that only allow them to fire on full auto, or don't have experience, training, and access to good equipment and ammunition, their accuracy will decrease significantly and their TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures) will change. Such as, where they place their ambushes. I think it would also be great for gameplay because it will allow for realistic combat while using real life variables.

When painting a target on screen, it really takes away from scanning your sector. I think you can allow a "point" system for players who are trying to direct fire for their team mates, but nothing more. It would create an environment that is more team work friendly.

The use of real life first aid can be implemented into this game. It has the potential of being a training aid. Care under fire. What tool to apply to a certain situation. All basics of first aid every infantryman and first responder should know.

Every squad should have a base of fire element to cover their team mates into an objective.

The Aim Dead Zone was lacking in this game. When you put it to the end of its threshold, it stops being smooth and jerks your screen around. The recoil of the rifle should be half camera shift, half dead zone. There should be a button to press that causes your aim dead zone to maximum for the purpose of multiple enemy take downs and room clearing.

When calling in artillery, danger close is anything less than 600m. It is highly suggested to forward observers not to call any less than that. The first round of incoming hit approximately 20m away from me while I was in the town. It is very possible to give a good grid on the first shot, but if the first shot is good, fire for effect will follow and the town will be leveled. Depending on who you are fighting against and weather they are native to the land will determine how good their spotters are. If they are shooting mortars at you, they have a kill radius of 15m. A 155 round has a kill radius of 50m.

Regards,

Alexander Whatmore
United States Infantry
2-8 Cav, 1 CD, 1 BCT
Ft Hood, Tx 76544

Details

Legacy ID
874484872
Severity
Major
Resolution
Not Fixable
Reproducibility
Always
Category
Gameplay
Additional Information

I have more knowledge that I would like to add to this game, it all depends on how far you would like to take it. I promise you that if you take this as serious as I do, you will gain the appreciation from the men fighting overseas and will have the respect from service members and civilians alike for being the best military simulator ever created. Arma II was lacking because it failed to bridge the wonderful simulation aspect with the arcade like gameplay which has been perfected by the meat grinders like call of duty and people are slowly starting to get sick of it.

You can add a game type as a sniper, which allows you to take the place of an experienced sniper and travel the freeworld with nothing but a pack on your back and a mission. Call in artillery fire as we do in real life, deliver long range precision fire and implement the proper ballistics based on real life charts, have a multiplayer feature which allows you to have a spotter who can pull security, scan, and calculate the shot. All you need is data on your rifle, a laser range finder.

I am eager to get into the gaming community and influence what could be the game of the year. I am fed up with Call of Duty being all everyone talks about. Give them something better.

Event Timeline

Stalker1 edited Steps To Reproduce. (Show Details)Mar 18 2013, 4:04 AM
Stalker1 edited Additional Information. (Show Details)
Stalker1 set Category to Gameplay.
Stalker1 set Reproducibility to Always.
Stalker1 set Severity to Major.
Stalker1 set Resolution to Not Fixable.
Stalker1 set Legacy ID to 874484872.May 7 2016, 12:51 PM
Bohemia added a subscriber: Maxyz.Mar 18 2013, 4:04 AM
Oinky added a subscriber: Oinky.May 7 2016, 12:51 PM
Oinky added a comment.Mar 18 2013, 4:17 AM

Mr. Whatmore you are a brilliant man, I hope Bohemia takes this into deep consideration.

Great stuff, and thank you for your service. I would love to hear about some of your other ideas. We need to get this a ton of votes so more see it...

PS: Signing your details at the bottom just adds to the bad-ass factor of this feedback.

Thanks for your service, man. Upvote.

fbiss added a subscriber: fbiss.May 7 2016, 12:51 PM
fbiss added a comment.Mar 18 2013, 4:58 AM

I don't think they should take the realism too far, after all it's part game as well as part simulation. For example I certainly wouldn't want to play this game as a sniper if all I did most of the time was creep around in the bushes like a stalker, while everyone else gets to go in guns blazing.

That said, I'm sure there are some things they could tidy up and I hope they take your kind offer of sharing real world experience on this stuff.

Reminds me of americas army...

Maxyz added a comment.Mar 18 2013, 5:17 AM

Didn't get it. OP wants it to be real-life uber-realistic simulator with super smart human-like AI? Won't happen.

@Shellite
That might be one of the few games that surpasses ArmA in realistic infantry engagements and tactics. Literally every button on the keyboard is used in that game and it's just for infantry movements and actions.

I think to say it surpasses is a little rash, given the scope of ARMA. The level of realism the OP is seeking would be better found in VBSII.

The ARMA franchise is a great military "game". If you want a full blown simulator you should be looking at BI's flagship product, the "simulator" called VBS. (The very product this game is derived from).

http://products.bisimulations.com/

Regardless, the OP's ticket made for an interesting insight.

There is a balance between realism and arcade. A sniper team has a completely different mission on the battlefield and is separated from the rest of the battalion in a line unit. Ballistics effect every gun, not just snipers. The great thing about Arma is that it opens up the playing field for long range shooting. Someone who is running and gunning won't get far from a high powered rifle firing from 800m away. By using real world data so that it is effective in the right hands, but can't be done by anyone who picks up a rifle and can shoot over a mile away just like in Battelfield 3???

America's Army is a great game. For being free, it is one of my most played games because of how close it resembles my job. Where AA lacks, Arma thrives. But for actual gameplay, America's Army has perfected their balance of realism and arcade. What they don't do is allow the player multiple choices on how the mission is conducted. The scale is its fault and does not give the range necessary for the addition for ballistics, sniper rifles, call for fire, call for rotary/winged support, casevac/medivac, UXO, reconnaissance, gear load out, types of ammunition, care under fire, METT-T, standard operating procedures, TTPs, movement techniques, team squad platoon company formations, battle drills, ambushes, convoys, miling targets, classes of fire, land navigation, radio etiquette, air assault, path finding, UAVs, ORPs etc. All the things that make an infantryman who he is, is not demonstrated in America's Army.

Vibration and recoil is a big thing also. If you are running and gunning, especially with a machinegun, there are many factors that influence where those rounds will impact the target. Recoil is determined by the size of the bullet, type of weapon, and how much training you have. Vibration from the previous round(s) fired will change the ballistics on a bullet as it leaves the rifle/gun. All machineguns have a non-freefloated barrel, which effects vibration. Each time a round is fired, the vibration is not consistent and will alter the trajectory of a bullet. Machineguns generally shoot a 6-9 minute of angle grouping at 100m, which is close to 6-9". After the first bullet is fired and as another follows, the vibrations create yet another inconstant variable. In order to counter this, we teach soldiers to fire 3-5 round bursts. When I play video games where the machineguns are more accurate than the rifles, it makes me sick. And if you can shoulder fire an M240B while running and jumping, please post the video because I don't think it's possible. When a machinegun is mounted, it turns into a 3 MOA gun, which is extremely devastating.

An assault rifle, specifically the M4 when used on a line unit while using a CCO is generally a 3 MOA gun. A sniper rifle can achieve a .5 MOA grouping! I don't think anyone needs help with that math problem.

An infantryman has a job that is far more versatile than any other. It uses level 1 of almost every job in the army, and yet they make games that sum it up in about 15 minutes. Sure, you can make Arma into a 15 minute game and still have fun while giving it all of these realistic parameters that it seems to permit. Arma is a simulator. It doesn't mean it can't be fun and interactive both at the same time. If Arma has the potential to simulate combat, and it doesn't, why put forth the effort in creating it and the time to play it?

Creating AI that are intelligent enough to choose a position that has key terrain advantage and hold it is too intelligent? I don't mind having fire fights with the AI, I think it's rather fun. I just don't like AI that shoot through trees, know that I'm behind them, or run aimlessly through the battlefield and then turn around and shoot me once in the head. There's nothing wrong with the AI in this game except that they run all over the place.

Please read the "How to guide" (red button, top right) before posting here. You need to limit yourself to one specific issue or feature request per report.

Closing.