I've got the game installed now. I played about 10 hours or so of Arma2 single player back in the day, but I've never done Arma3 or coop so might need a bit of advance instruction.
Also there's the time difference for Japan, but if it's early Sat afternoon CET that's going to be a bit after midnight so not so bad assuming my neighbor is ok with chatting late for a Saturday night.
(Yes Japan is that anal sometimes, but this complex has a lot of students so is laxer than most.)
Anyway I'm game to give it a try.
Sounds good! PigLick's joined us a couple of times from Australia; you'd probably be around the same time zone, right? As far as being new to Arma 3 is concerned, we're a friendly bunch and still pretty new to the game ourselves. I'm happy to help you set things up (i.e. mods, Teamspeak 3) if you run into any problems.
We haven't yet set a date for the next Arma session, but I expect it'll be either be Sat 22/7 or Sat 29/7, 4pm UK time. I'll post an update once we've decided.
How difficult is Arma III to pick up and play? My gaming at the moment is limited to quickly playing on study breaks or things which I can pause a lot (TBS are my current go to). If it's not difficult to learn the ropes, I may install it and learn the basics in case I get a spare 20-30m again some time when people are playing.
Arma 3 is reasonably simple as long as you're not piloting choppers. The main thing is to get familiar with stances, zooming vs ironsights, swapping ironsights (when you've got a scope and a red dot sight), using mousewheel for every interaction, and maybe how to fire homing missiles. But everyone regularly forgets keys so we ask the group. Or maybe that's just me.
Yeah, last session I sent two missiles flying off to god-knows-where before someone informed me that there's a lock-on function.
Not that it would've helped, seeing as I was trying to shoot anti-air missiles at a tank.
Last edited by henke; 11th Jul 2017 at 02:19.
If you've played Arma 2 (or indeed Arma or Operation Flashpoint), I think it's relatively easy to get into Arma 3, though some things - Jesh's mentioned a lot of them - are a bit tricky at first. They can be learned on the fly, though. It helps that the game's not fast-paced, by and large.
There are things that I still find difficult: what weapon to use when, which ammo type, that sort of thing. But we've had this one guy from outside TTLG joining the games, and he's an old hand at Arma. He's been very good at helping us with those things.
P.S.: Flying choppers may be difficult at first, but it's great fun once you get into it, and not even all that complicated.
I tried playing Arma 3 for about an hour one day, but didn't like how easily I died.
I guess it's quite realistic, but my last memory was thinking "Oh are those the enemy over th..." DEAD.
Guessing it's a bit more forgiving in multiplayer?
I think that depends on the mission. I'm pretty horrible at it in general and end up being a bullet sponge but lasted reasonably well in Saturday's marathon game (only dying twice is "reasonably well" for me). The game rewards taking things steadily and working as a team - scouting and providing cover for each other. It's definitely not a game where things go well with a gung-ho attitude. Definitely recommend you joining in one of the sessions if you can to see the difference.
I keep trying to play the single player content of Arma 3 and giving up soon after; the missions have their moments, but by and large they still seem unfair to me, or at least they're really bad at teaching you how to play.
Multiplayer can be as deadly, even if it tends to be more forgiving - but for me the big difference is that everything feels more immersive and engaging when you're there with your mates, including the non-combat bits. Walking towards the next waypoint bantering, creeping along the side of a building while the guy behind you says he thinks he can hear a vehicle in the distance, all of this adds up to an experience that is entirely different from the pretty robotic SP content. Doubly so now that we've got Task Force Radio and its positional voice chat.
I'm conscious we're coming towards the end of Satellite Reign, so I reckon we need to add some variety to our Saturday Sessions to keep them spicy.
I would suggest Diablo 3, but I don't think anyone else has drunk the Koolaid. Jesh & Sulphur played it briefly, but I suspect it didn't grab them.
I'm tempted by EDF as lauded by Jesh & Sulphur, but it hasn't been discounted in the sale and is a little too expensive for my liking at the mo.
I'm also interested in other co-op games with more than four people, but am aware there's not that many out there that support that many players outside of ARMA.
Although Zdaemon has quite a few WADs that support more than four. That's if everyone else is still up for more old school Doom.
Any other suggestions?
Of course, all the regulars are soon going to have Rifts (or other VR devices), so Rec Room is probably going to get more regular play. But are there other VR games we could play together?
We liked Diablo 3, but we're sort of distracted by whatever the next shiny game is on the horizon. It goes into rotation every now and then, though I imagine it should be kind of fun with more than 4 players as well? It's the sort of game with much less room for hijinks, of course.
I'm up for Doom WAD weirdness whenever (except for when I've got plans on Saturdays, sorry about that, folks).
What the Chakat sex pillow said.
I'm not too keen on Diablo 3, having played through it twice on PS4. If/when it goes on sale, I'd be willing to buy it, because coop with the TTLG gang is always fun, but especially if we're talking about four-player coop only, I'm happy for anyone else to take that slot.
I'm also okay with fast shooters, but they're not my favourite genre, all in all - though again, if it doesn't cost too much, I'm always up for it, but if it's four-player only, then perhaps others should take that slot.
There are a couple of four-player VR things that would definitely be fun, from Rec Room to Dead & Buried, and soon Echo Arena.
Another game that allows for up to ten players: SWAT 4. I'd have to figure out how best to play this online, since it's one of the games that depended on Gamespy for MP. Also, perhaps people don't want to tactical shooter-type games in the rotation.
With Arma I'm pretty confident that we can go up to 12-16 players, and I've got tons of missions that should work with that many people.
I'm actually really keen on SWAT 4, since that really requires teamwork and timing and reflexes, and thus allows for more tension/shenanigans. Multiplayer is still possible, apparently.
I'm just gonna throw this out there: MONACO! I'd totally be up for another session of Monaco at some point.
Also not really into the idea of Diablo 3.
I'll expand on Thirith's answer.Originally Posted by Malf
Free stuff:
Rec Room
Echo Arena
Dead & Buried
Toybox (dunno if this is any good)
Once it goes on sale we could all pick up:
Star Trek Bridge Commander
Cloudlands VR Minigolf (was €10 in the last sale, and it's PRETTY GOOD I gotta say. I mean, it's minigolf. Who doesn't like minigolf?)
Only 2 player co-op unfortunately:
Raw Data
Arizona Sunshine (has 4-player Horde mode tho)
And of course there's always:
Minecraft
Elite: Dangerous
Yeah, co-op's one of the only things that could drag me back to Elite, as I find the main gameplay loop to be too tedious for solo play these days.
And I'll agree, without even friendly fire, there's no chance for fun stuff in Diablo 3. I kinda just want people to play with while I'm grinding out gear, in order to raise higher on the ladder in order to grind out more gear, etc.
But how about Magicka or Helldivers? I played a bit of Magicka when it first came out, and it was a fantastic laugh, and I'd imagine Helldivers would be more of the same.
Edit: Oh, and Toybox? Eh, tried it solo, and there wasn't a huge amount to it, just the standard VR props and no structure.
How about Drunkn Bar Fight or Trickster for coop VR?
I'd been playing a lot of Vermintide (technically, "Warhammer: The End Times: Vermintide"), which is basically a fantasy, mélêe-oriented Left 4 Dead clone.
I had been on and off about getting it for a long time, but I finally picked it up in a recent Humble Bundle (and now bought all the DLC in the Steam Sale), and it's rather good.
The gameplay is smooth and feels great - good movement, visceral combat, well-deigned (and often gorgeous) levels, good characters bantering away.
As you'd expect from a game based heavily on Left 4 Dead, it's four-player co-op with four unique characters (out of a pool of five), though unlike in L4D each character is different and has a unique set of weapons, and also weapon loadouts are chosen at the start of the map instead of found in the middle.
There's no versus mode, so you're limited to four players.
I haven't been playing with voice comms myself, but of course they are supported.
I think we've got lots of options - perhaps almost too many, especially since many of them have a maximum of four players, and then there's the VR factor. Perhaps we can discuss the different options and next steps in next Saturday's session?
Shit, I need to finish up my Doom map and have you guys play that.
For those who've been joining the Arma sessions or who would like to join one of them, the next one'll probably be on Saturday 5 August. If anyone's interested in a primer on Arma (and who'd like to check if the mods work), let me know and we can try to arrange a mini-session.
If any of you want to get any Resident Evil 6 going (not just on saturdays), I am certainly down. Yes, it is a truly terrible game, but quite fun to laugh at with friends. And it's featured in the current humble bundle alongside the excellent REmake and endlessly punishing RE0: https://www.humblebundle.com/capcom-rising-bundle
Just be prepared for a completely worthless Prelude that you have to play in one sitting before you can get to a menu. It shoves all the worst parts of the game in your face while also failing to tell you anything about how to play this oddly complicated game. 12hrs in and I still haven't figured it all out...
Last edited by froghawk; 15th Jul 2017 at 14:01.
Quick update: I've added a dedicated thread for the Arma sessions, so people can easily find the relevant information and discuss the latest sessions. You can find the new thread here:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148063
Whenever a new session is announced, I'll post a quick reminder here as well.
Quick update on the idea of playing SWAT 4 coop: direct IP works for some but not for others. Malf suggested using Gameranger, so we might check that one out. If it works and we plan any larger-scale SWAT 4 sessions (the expansions allows for up to 10 players, I think), I'll be sure to post an update.
Being Thirith-less tonight, Jesh, Malf and myself strapped on our VR goggs and jumped into virtual reality to throw virtual frisbees and go on virtual quests.
(recording's not picking up my Rift-mic, hence my silence)
Jesh's terrible disc-throwing reminds me of my own first foray in Rec Room's discgolf mode. I thought then that the controls were wayyy off and that it defenitely did not have as good frisbee-physics as Sports Champions on PS3 Move. But now, after a half-dozen sessions of this, I'm getting and good handle on it and starting to think that, yeah, this is pretty spot-on, isn't it? I just wish there were more courses. Good things the devs are constantly adding more and more stuff to this game.
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