- Changing Arma 3′s helicopters is Bohemia’s first step toward a deeper simulation - 14 August 2014
Arma 3 is good at many things. Bohemia Interactive s military sim is a huge, open-world playground where action dramas unfold, but its greatest strengths show when it dwarfs you with scale. Being a lone sniper in three miles of sprawling mountain wilderness or driving with a vanguard of advancing tanks will strike awe into the heart of the most jaded gamer. Whatever it s doing, Arma paints these experiences in broad strokes you can t find anywhere else in gaming. On the other hand, Take On Helicopters, Bohemia s 2011 helicopter simulator, was great at a single, specific thing: modeling helicopter flight physics. Beyond the high-definition cockpit, its world was a blocky and lifeless version of Seattle. Seattle wasn t the point, though: the inside of that cockpit was the point. All the love in that game went straight into those dials. It s kind of wonderful, then, that Arma s next update…
- Arma 2 Free closes down, Bohemia puts Arma 2 series on sale - 8 April 2014
Nearly three years after it was first announced, Bohemia Interactive is shutting down the Arma 2 Free servers, the free-to-play version of the military simulation game. If you were one of its dedicated players, there's good news: Bohemia is trying to soften the blow with a sale on the Arma 2 franchise. All editions of Arma 2 and its expansion are currently discounted by 75 percent. You can buy them on Bohemia s official website, but all games are also conveniently supported by Steam. The sale will last until May 4. Sadly, even if you do buy Arma 2, its online functionality will be limited due to the impending shutdown of online matchmaking service GameSpy on May 31. Bohemia said that Arma 3 and Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead will eventually use an alternative solution, but Take On Helicopters, Arma, Arma 2, and other games will lose the server browser and other features. You can find Bohem…
- Arma 3 video teaches you how to helicopter better - 7 February 2014
A new Arma 3 community guide has landed in a hot LZ: this time, the subject is air assaults. Shack Tactical founder Dslyexci returns to narrate the first episode of season 3 of Arma s community guides. The video gives an overview of the coordination and planning required to bring infantry into a mission zone in the best military sim around. Helicopters fly fast, low, and can land pretty much anywhere you can fit the rotors into, Dslyexci says. With sufficient helicopters or multiple flights, you can transport a large number of infantry practically anywhere you need to in a short period of time It s a welcome option, considering the massive terrain sizes of the Altis and Stratis islands. Ferrying infantry to missions might sound like gruntwork to you, but it s one of the most interesting and rewarding parts of the Arma universe. Anyone who volunteers to pilot in Arma is a few bad seconds…
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance first-look: “Dungeons and no dragons” in Warhorse’s open-world RPG - 22 January 2014
Under its leafy canopy, the wooded clearing has an earthy glow and a still, oppressive quiet. It s a scene fit for motivational posters and pre-packaged Windows wallpapers, and it would be picturesque if it wasn t for the dirty, angry man with the broadsword. He stands up, hefts the weapon, and charges straight at me, looking for blood. My sword is already out, and my steel rises to meet his. I m watching a demo of Kingdom Come: Deliverance as played by developer Daniel V vra, and the game already looks impressive. The open-world, medieval RPG is ambitious, creating a live slice of medieval Europe full of sprawling cities, harried townspeople, and refugees fleeing civil unrest. Quests will be open-ended with multiple paths to completion, including non-violence, and Kingdom will be the rare medieval setting without even a hint of dragons, magic, or elves. Books and movies have changed, V…
- Humble Weekly Sale takes a Bohemian turn - 17 January 2014
The Humble Weekly Sale's latest pay-what-you-want package is shining a light on Bohemia Interactive's catalog of war games, sci-fi, and zombie mayhem. With its inclusion of the first two entries in the Arma series, the Humble sale puts you in the hot seat for some of the most amazingly complex military simulations of recent years. Any contribution over $1 gets you Steam keys for the following games from Bohemia's library: Arma II Arma: Gold Edition Arma Tactics UFO: Afterlight Alpha Prime Take On Helicopters If you pay $6 or more you'll also get your hands on two more titles: ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead Carrier Command: Gaea Mission Although free on Steam already, Humble is also throwing in a game key for the Arma II: DayZ Mod, the forerunner to the white-hot, post-apocalyptic survival sim DayZ: Standalone. Creator Dean Hall's original DayZ Mod requires both Arma II and the Arma II: Op…
- Arma 3 guide now online from Shack Tactical founder - 15 November 2013
All summer, we enjoyed the community guides published in the run-up to Arma 3's fall release. They were not only informative, but they offered a nice look at the systems and graphics that the open-world military sim offer. Now that Arma 3 is out, community guide narrator Andrew Gluck (aka Dslyecxi) has compiled a wealth of information in his official guide. And while the full guide is bundled with the deluxe edition of Arma 3, a ton of it is now available for free. Gluck is the founder of Shack Tactical, the most devoted bunch of military sim roleplayers on the internet. In addition to diving into Arma 3's various systems, the guide explores how to function within Shack Tactical by roleplaying a set of near-military rules and procedures. "In our eyes, hardcore milsim is chock-full of 'tactical fluff' that is irrelevant to the games at hand," Gluck writes. "This hardcore milsim typically…
- See the Arma 3 beta video during two livestreaming events starting tomorrow - 31 May 2013
One of our most hotly anticipated games of this year, Arma 3, will be showing off in a big way this weekend with a livestreaming event straight from Prague. Though the newest version of everyone’s favorite military sim franchise is still in alpha, the beta build of the game will be on full display on Saturday, June 1, and again next Saturday, June 8. Gearing up for E3, Bohemia Interactive will stream two sessions through the Arma 3 channel on Twitch. The first session will feature mission designer Thomas Ryan giving a basic tutorial in scenario editing. The second stream will show a playthrough of the new Combined Arms missions that will also be released in the beta update. Both streams should last around an hour and begin at 17:00 UTC (or 12:00 EDT). Check out the world time server for a further breakdown of time zones. During the stream, you’ll be able to ask the team questions via th…
- Postcards from Stratis: how to take fancy screenshots in Arma 3 - 11 March 2013
What we've learned from Arma 3's development so far is that Greek islands with a heavy military presence and snap-happy tourists are not a happy combination. Luckily for budding travel photographers, Bohemia Interactive's developers have suffered so you don't have to, and you can still turn the Aegean into picture postcard memories thanks to their sterling efforts to recreate the landscape of Stratis in Arma 3. The 20km slice of Mediterranean that Bohemia created to show off their mil-sim is a gorgeous place. The rolling sun-scorched hills, lapping waves, and hidden delights might easily be lost amid the cordite smog and tracer fire if you simply treat this as the backdrop to a war game. Don't. Take the time to enjoy the world. Grab the editor, place a character, take a stroll and capture the sights for posterity. Here are a few tricks to make the most of your snaps and coordinate locat…
- DayZ 1.7.3 releases, developed in partnership with the DayZ community - 31 October 2012
Still hard at work on the standalone version of DayZ, Bohemia's collaborated with the DayZ community to release an update for the mod version of the game today. Patch 1.7.3 doesn't add new features ("While dogs are "in" there are some mechanics missing so they cannot currently be used," Rocket says on the DayZ forums), but the patch does address the vehicle repair system, zombie death animations, and removes Alt + F4 as an method of escaping from death. Politely: die, cowards. Patch notes below. Client: * Tents can no longer be placed on concrete. * Building checks for tent placement (No longer place tents in buildings). * Tents now are one click place. * Fixed function for checking if in buildings. * Vehicle repair menus now all replaced. * Vehicle menus now list all damaged parts no matter if you have the item or not. * Vehicle repair menus will now let you know the exact item you nee…
- Bohemia Interactive devs arrested for “spying” - 11 September 2012
Greek news sites are reporting that two Czechs have been arrested on Lemnos, after taking photographs and video of military installations. The two claim to be developers working for Bohemia Interactive, out gathering reference material for Arma 3, which takes place on the Greek island. This hasn't yet washed with the Greek authorities who've slapped them with espionage charges. The story has been confirmed by Marek Spanel, CEO and co-founder of Bohemia Interactive, who elected not to discuss the matter any further on the official Bohemia Interactive forums, "at least until we know more specific details about the case." This isn't the first time the Greek authorities have been a bit over-enthusiastic in their counter-espionage policy. In 2001, 12 British plane spotters were held on spying charges for taking photographs at an air-show near Kalamata, in southern Greece. Though they were co…
- ArmA 3 demos show off vehicles, diving and and night ops - 4 July 2012
. Over the last few days, Bohemia have been posting videos to their youtube channel showing off different aspects of their E3 demo for Arma 3. There's three so far, covering vehicles, night fighting and underwater action, and they're all totally gorgeous. The underwater video in particular is incredible. Imagine a version of DayZ working in this engine. You could flee from zombies by hiding under the sea, there's no way they'd get you there! Right Rocket? Are you listening? All three of the videos can be seen below. I've also included their preview video from back in June which contains a little bit of extra footage, along with a few clips of what else we may see in the future. If you want to know what the E3 demo was like in person you can read our Arma 3 preview
- Midweek Madness - All ARMA titles 50% off! - 8 November 2011
All ARMA games are available at 50% off during the Midweek Madness Sale. Click here for details. Offer ends this Thursday at 4pm PDT.
- New Release - ARMA X Anniversary Edition - 15 July 2011
ARMA X: Anniversary Edition is now available on Steam. Receive a 20% discount on ARMA X: Anniversary Edition if you already own the Steam version of ARMA II . Get another 20% off if you already own ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead for a combined total of 40% off! ARMA X: Anniversary Edition brings a unique collection of all Armaversum titles released to date, exclusively wrapped together in one package. The Anniversary Edition bundle includes: - ARMA II - ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead - ARMA II British Armed Forces - ARMA II Private Military Company - ARMA Cold War Assault - ARMA Gold Edition Built on over 10 years experience, Arma X thrusts you into the heart of the most realistic military simulator ever developed, featuring cutting edge technology, vast, detailed environments defined by real geographic data and authentically modeled units and vehicles. Play all of the story-driven campaign…
