Arma 2 Vs Operation Flashpoint : Dragon Rising, which would you choose and why?

Enmity

As the name suggests, which would you buy and why?

Reason why I ask is i did some research on Dragon Rising and went to EB games with the intention of buying this game due to the realism and tactics involved with this kind of simulator but they didn't have it in stock. So i went out on a limb and grabbed Arma 2 which is supposedly similar. I know nothing of this game but it looks pretty cool. Id say the graphics are better than dragon rising too.

What do you reckon? do you own one or both of these games and how do they compare? Is arma 2's AI superior?

Thanks in advance.

maikai · **Memory**: 16GB DDR3 1600 8-9-8-24

yes they are both codemaster games. operation flashpoint suffered many delays during production. i do own both and if i had to pick only one i would also pick arma 2. the ai in arma 2 does seem to be superior if you are looking for a simulator type.
the original operation flashpoint imo is the best simulator ever, so i was very dissapointed when part 2 finally came out and you couldnt even switch to 3rd person. when i went through tech school for artillery the simulator we used was flashpoint mission editor (although i never made them confirm it since they probably wouldnt have know either way) dragon risin is still pretty fun and the graphics are great. just not as great if u were a fan of the original. so ok if ur looking for a slight emulator type with fps dragon rising. if u want more simulator type go arma 2

Enmity · 04-26-2010, 05:40 | posts: 1,091 | Location: New Zealand

What about in terms of difficulty? which game is considered harder? and graphics wise which is best.

cheesebeard- · 04-26-2010, 05:42 | posts: 3,403 | Location: New England - M@ss

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enmity

What about in terms of difficulty? which game is considered harder? and graphics wise which is best.

In my opinion Arma2 for both. Arma2 is definitely harder though, graphically I suppose one could favor either.

roguesn1per · 04-26-2010, 06:11 | posts: 9,514 | Location: Aussie Perth WA

Dragon Rising is Awfull.

maikai · **Memory**: 16GB DDR3 1600 8-9-8-24

graphically the are pretty similar, but i would still say arma 2 is better because it seems more detailed, especially on the uniforms. i actually compare arma 2 to the original flashpoint, but not dragon rising. so i think you will be happy to know u made the better decision. i played flashpoint for like 8 years and it was always fun, the modding section was enormous, so hopefully arma 2 will be there someday. man now im going to reinstall arma 2, maybe even original flashpoint : )

Xendance · 04-26-2010, 09:36 | posts: 5,288 | Location: Funland aka Happycamp aka Finland

Infantry aspect in ArmA is a lot inferior if you compare it to Dragon Rising. That's mainly because the world in ArmA is so huge that there aren't enough ditches in the terrain so that you could take cover there. Same goes for forests, large and undetailed which in turn means no cover for you.

Of course I'm just comparing it to the time I spent in the finnish army (one year), our forests had all sorts of ditches, rocks etc behind which you could take cover

Stone Gargoyle · 04-26-2010, 09:46 | posts: 3,368

Quote:

Originally Posted by maikai

graphically the are pretty similar

Say what now?

])rStrangelove · *Last edited by ])rStrangelove; 04-26-2010 at 10:00.*

Only OpF: DR is published by Codemasters btw.

Personally i found the DragonRising gameplay was quite good, but it's focussed on infantry, sometimes you get into ground vehicles.

ArmA2 offers all vehicles. Best thing about A2 is the editor and the open game structure so it's completely moddable. A massive community is behind all this and can help whereever possible. Only thing is that A2 needs a powerful machine to run smoothly. Best results can be archieved by using Ramdisks and SSDs. Also, CM has given up support of OpF: DR already whereas Bohemia will constantly offer patches until the next title is released (some years i guess).

Word on AI: Bohemia started with OperationFlashpoint back then which was basically an open landscape with big vehicle battles simulator. AI group issues like formation, crouching and flanking was more important than inhouse fighting, therefore the AI code back then almost ignored buildings and other structures. The AI was then ported into ArmA1, with slightly updated building navigating code. AI was finally able to hide in buildings and shoot through windows, but nothing more.
Today the AI in ArmA2 still suffers from the lack of realtime close combat code other games have (HL2, Swat4, CoD, BadCompany2 etc), but it's getting better patch by patch.

Year · 04-26-2010, 09:54 | posts: 11,657 | Location: ♫

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enmity

As the name suggests, which would you buy and why?

Reason why I ask is i did some research on Dragon Rising and went to EB games with the intention of buying this game due to the realism and tactics involved with this kind of simulator but they didn't have it in stock. So i went out on a limb and grabbed Arma 2 which is supposedly similar. I know nothing of this game but it looks pretty cool. Id say the graphics are better than dragon rising too.

What do you reckon? do you own one or both of these games and how do they compare? Is arma 2's AI superior?

Thanks in advance.

i like OFP, but i prefer Arma 2.

John8Ball · **Memory**: G.Skill 7-7-7-21 C7-1600

I Prefer Operation Flash Point for the following reasons.
- Screen doesn't jump around when you sprint so you can at least see things. Its just more playable and doesn't make you boat sick.
- Game 3D Engine seems to run better with alot less bugs.

I do agree that Arma 2 is more authentic simulation but when it boils down to it the main camera component is bad. Also i like first person view and don't want to have to switch to 3rd person just so i can run.

I suggest buy Bad Company 2 its very nice game.
Only buy Operation Flash Point if you know alot of people that play it and make use of the Game Editor which is quite fun. I just play with me and my Bro on custom game against a masses of enemy. But the game editor does make the AI look pretty bad though as you have to program everything about their attitude and objectives.

The online multiplayer of OFP match making is really annoying just to get started in a game you can be wait 5 to 10 minutes and the game may only last 3 to 4 minutes for the objective to fall.

Xendance · 04-26-2010, 11:08 | posts: 5,288 | Location: Funland aka Happycamp aka Finland

Quote:

Originally Posted by John8Ball

I Prefer Operation Flash Point for the following reasons.
- Screen doesn't jump around when you sprint so you can at least see things. Its just more playable and doesn't make you boat sick.
- Game 3D Engine seems to run better with alot less bugs.

I do agree that Arma 2 is more authentic simulation but when it boils down to it the main camera component is bad. Also i like first person view and don't want to have to switch to 3rd person just so i can run.

I suggest buy Bad Company 2 its very nice game.
Only buy Operation Flash Point if you know alot of people that play it and make use of the Game Editor which is quite fun. I just play with me and my Bro on custom game against a masses of enemy. But the game editor does make the AI look pretty bad though as you have to program everything about their attitude and objectives.

The online multiplayer of OFP match making is really annoying just to get started in a game you can be wait 5 to 10 minutes and the game may only last 3 to 4 minutes for the objective to fall.

That also applies to ArmA. There isn't any great universal AI that magically knows what to do, it's all about programming them.

Jonnyboy · 04-26-2010, 11:41 | posts: 3,366 | Location: Florida

I own Operation Flashpoint cold war crisis and Dragon rising I think both are good but imo opfp cwc is far better then dragon rising imo.Dragon rising is good but it very hard and lacks cover and AI that actually fights back and does a good job giving you a hand with combat and objectives.I still play both once in a while when I want to change my pace for games.

Deathspank · 04-26-2010, 13:29 | posts: 1,293 | Location: Wolverhampton/England

op flash runs better, but arma2 is way better. i only completed the missions on OFDR because i'd bought the game and couldnt let just sit there uncompleted, and the multiplayer is just terrible. ive only stop playing arma2 because i bought bfbc2. bvut once im board of that i'll be back on arma2.

plus the mods you can get for arma2 is endless, check out armaholics.com.

Vandrende Pind · 04-26-2010, 14:46 | posts: 1,178 | Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Quote:

Originally Posted by roguesn1per

Dragon Rising is Awfull.

i'll second that, lol

maikai · **Memory**: 16GB DDR3 1600 8-9-8-24

ah ok i didn't realize arma was just bohemia this time and not codemasters. although as mentioned bohemia is great and suopprt their games for a long time. i said they are similar graphically because they both have great graphics, sure they're not the same engine or anything but they both look great and depending on taste you could pick either or. i wouldn't say the ai is inferior to dragon rising in anyway. the ai in dragon rising is just awful. and the lack of cover ect is rather odd to mention. if you've played either of these games you would realize they're not perfect and the play how they should because of the type of engine they use and the type of game play they offer. in dragon rising you can have a guy 3 feet in front of u laying in the grass and you cant hit him sometimes unless he stands up. the gamneplay of these games are very different from each other, you cant compare a fps type (dragon rising) to a sim type (arma). as much as everyone would like to since the original flashpoint was more like arma than dragon rising, its just not the case anymore.

Enmity · 04-26-2010, 22:15 | posts: 1,091 | Location: New Zealand

Well I installed Arma2 last night, man what a cool game but its very taxing on performance! my crossfired 5850's struggle with this game and CPU at 3.6Ghz. I've updated to 1.4 patch. Im still working out controls etc n getting used to it but I really like it , just wish I could get it to run smoother without drastically reducing IQ.

Makalu · 04-26-2010, 23:17 | posts: 4,197 | Location: Eugene, Oregon

I'd chose Arma2 because Codemasters ripped off Bohemia's name in bad faith...well, you asked.

annnnnnnd because once you learn to use the mission editor you may not need a new game for years!

Enmity · 04-26-2010, 23:50 | posts: 1,091 | Location: New Zealand

yeah im really enjoying arma2, what settings do you play at for decent frames?

Enmity · 04-27-2010, 01:12 | posts: 1,091 | Location: New Zealand

im playing at 1680x1050 with everything max getting frames on average in the 30-40's but at times it becomes a slideshow.

even lowering most of the setting to high/medium i'm still getting pretty massive slow downs (25-30fps) but in general above 60FPS.

Is this game cpu intensive morethan gpu intensive? can i force dx9/10/11 at all? Are there any mods available that might improve performance?

does the 1.5 patch add anything usefull over the 1.4 patch?...

proliferazor · 04-27-2010, 01:43 | posts: 684

someone said arma 2 was a codemasters game that is totally incorrect, bohemia interactive made arma 2. Its a nice simulator though it has is't problems. Dragon rising is just down right aweful so much that the multiplayer died just weeks after release and codemasters dropped all support (patches and technical support) for the game within a 2-3 months of release, yes its that bad, some say the singleplayer is alright but i wouldn't know I just bought it for the mutli and i feel i got ripped off severely. Arma 2 tho i defiantly got my monies worth from it.

also Arma 2 has a scripting envirnment that makes pretty much anything possible mod wise, you can code inside the game to create some really cool stuff, theres RPG mods like the cops and robbers mod Chenarus life Revolution. And city life is supposed to be released soon.

volkov956 · 04-27-2010, 02:23 | posts: 5,875 | Location: Soon to be Disclosed

I have both and just so u know I still play Arma 2 so whats that say...

Enmity · 04-27-2010, 02:46 | posts: 1,091 | Location: New Zealand

haha good to know i made the right choice. So what ingame settings do you use to run this game?

proliferazor · 04-27-2010, 04:22 | posts: 684

all low

and i have a decent system

Enmity · 04-27-2010, 04:27 | posts: 1,091 | Location: New Zealand

yeah i can see that a 3.4Ghz quad and gtx295 - maybe its the VMEM holding you back? 768Mb per gpu. It'd be interesting to see a 1gb 5870 vs 2gb 5870 with this game because my 5850's are performing like crap with this game. Every other game is absolutely fine - arma2 is the new benchmark lol

Maybe I'll try going somewhere thats graphically intensive, turn all settings to low and then raise settings one by one untill i find a happy medium.