Arma 2
ArmA II is a realistic tactical shooter for the PC and is developed by Bohemia Interactive. ArmA II is the spiritual successor to ArmA: Armed Assault (ArmA: Combat Operations in North America). Note: While available as a standalone, the article will be referring to ArmA: Combined Operations.
Windows
Availability
| Source | Activation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Developer Website |  |
Digital download or retail |
| Template:StoreLink | |
Digital download |
| Template:StoreLink | |
Digital download or retail |
| GameFly | |
Digital download |
No Mac version is available or planned. All versions are exactly the same.
Releases
| Name | Date | Type | Media | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arma 2 | 26 June 2009 | Standalone | DVD; Download | |
| Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead | 29 June 2010 | Standalone expansion | DVD; Download | |
| Arma 2: Combined Operations | 29 June 2010 | Standalone expansion | DVD; Download | Arma 2 and Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead |
| Arma 2: British Armed Forces | 26 August 2010 | Expansion | Download | |
| Arma 2: Private Military | 30 November 2010 | Expansion | Download | |
| Arma 2: Reinforcements | 1 April 2011 | Standalone expansion | DVD; Download | Combines British Armed Forces and Private Military Company |
Improvements
Note: Some of this information comes courtesy of this thread on the RPS Forums. Some parts of this section may be lifted word by word from the thread.
Patches
The latest patch 1.60 for ArmA II: Combined Ops is 1.60. The latest patch for vanilla ArmA II is 1.11. For manual updates, these are available on the ArmA II website. Note that while mods do require the latest patch, none require a downgrade.
- ARMA 2: Combined Operations / Operation Arrowhead / Reinforcements Patch 1.60
- ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead & Reinforcements Patch 1.59
- ARMA 2 Patch 1.11
- ARMA 2 Free Patch 1.11
- ARMA 2 Patch 1.10
- ARMA 2 Patch 1.00 to 1.09
Startup Parameters
Startup parameters for the ArmA series are quite complicated, due to the engine being so complicated. An extensive accounting of the available parameters can be found here.
Mods
Installing these mods is quite easy thanks to the Six Updater, though it is being replaced by Play withSIX. Alternatively, Armaholic covers popular mods, scripts and addons.
| Name | Link | Developer |
|---|---|---|
| ACE | http://wiki.ace-mod.net/ | Wagn |
| ACRE | Available within Six Updater | ACRE Team |
| Zeus AI | http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?89970-Zeus-AI-Combat-Skills | Protegimus |
| STHUD and STMovement | http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?96791-ShackTac-Fireteam-HUD-(STHUD) | zx64 |
| WarFX : Blastcore | http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=12975 | Opticalsnare |
| DayZ | http://www.dayzmod.com/ | Dean "Rocket" Hall |
Field Of View (FOV)
The Field of View can be changed in Arma 2 and mods such as Day Z by following the steps below. Thanks to Day Z PvP for the information.
- Open this file in Notepad: "C:\Users\Username\Documents\ArmA 2\Username.ArmA2Profile"
- Search for "fov". There are only 2 lines that contain fov near the bottom. They are:
fovTop=XXXX;
fovLeft=XXXX;
fovTop is vertical FOV
fovLeft is horizontal FOV - Use this calculator to find your FOV values in degrees by entering your screen resolution.
- Convert these values from degrees to radians by entering "XX degrees in radians" in a Google search.
- Change fovTop to the value you have now, rounded to 2 decimal places.
- Divide your topFov number by the second number of your resolution's aspect ratio.
- Take the result of step 6 and multiply it by the first number of your resolution's aspect ratio.
- Change fovLeft to the value you have now, rounded to two decimal places.
- Save the file.
Some suggested FOV values in radians[1] for typical setups are:
| Setup Type | fovTop | fovLeft |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 x 1080 at 90 FOV | 1.03 | 1.83 |
| 1680 x 1050 at 90 FOV | 1.13 | 1.80 |
| 2560×1600 at 90 FOV | 1.13 | 1.76 |
Graphic Tweaks
Set the 3D resolution and the interface resolution to exactly the same value. The value isn't as important, because no matter what, if the numbers don't equal, there will be performance loss. Ideally, both values would be set at 100.
Set Video Memory to "Default". By default (confusing, but keep reading), Arma II will cap the VRAM at an unspecified value. This value is actually lower than the "Default" option in the settings, but will still be named "Default".
Texture Quality is dependent on the amount of RAM in your system, but due to the tweak above, it is safe to set the option to higher values.
Disable VSync.
For a higher frame rate and reduced input latency, turn off the fancy options, like smoothing and head bobbing. To turn off motion blur, either download this mod or set post processing settings to "Very Low". This does speed up camera movement, so experiment to your liking.
For faster rendering, turn on PPAA instead of the normal AA (Anti-Aliasing).
To trick the engine into using all the power that your system has, add these commands to your startup parameters:
-maxmem=[yourmemory] -maxvram=[yourvidcardmemory] -cpuCount=[availableCPUcores] -exThreads=[number] (The number varies. 1 if you have a two cores, 7 if you have a four or more. Feel free to experiment with this setting to see if anything grants you higher performance.)
Disabling the Intro
Add these commands to the startup parameters:
-nosplash -skipintro
Game Data
| Operating System | Location |
|---|---|
| Windows XP | C:\Users\Alessandro\Documents |
| Windows Vista | C:\Users\Alessandro\Documents |
| Windows 7 | C:\Users\Alessandro\Documents |