I’m creating this thread in the hopes I can get people here at Waypoint interested in forming a group to play ARMA. The topic has come up a few times over the last year on Discord and I’m finally willing to put in the effort to try and bring people together and have fun.
What is Arma?
Arma 3 is the latest game in Bohemia Interactive’s Arma series, a franchise known best for mostly-realistic FPS mechanics, non-linear tactical gameplay, tons of modding and an incredible mission-making scene. The base game is set in 2035 on the islands of Altis and Stratis which are modelled after real-life island of Limnos and Agios Efstratios. The APEX expansion brings Tanoa which is loosely modelled after Fiji and other surrounding islands. These massive terrains give every sort of environment one could hope for in a combat simulator. Arma’s singleplayer and multiplayer campaigns are fun and worth playing through. It’s stock multiplayer modes that come with the game are intense. But the real reason ARMA 3 has been in the top 30 most played games on Steam since release five years ago is its incredible freedom to choose how you play it. The game is built on an engine that has 20 years of development on it and has built a massive modding scene across every title in the series. You can turn the near-future military simulator into anything you’d like, provided you know how to create the missions, code the scripts, create mods, or be a good dungeon master for players.
Here are some examples of what gameplay is like in ARMA 3.
Dslyecxi is the most famous ARMA video creator out there. He runs a huge group and regularly uploads videos of their play sessions. Bohemia Interactive contracted him to produce a bunch of videos displaying what ARMA looks like to newcomers. Of those videos, I highly recommend the guides for Defence, Combined Arms, Basic Multiplayer, and Basic Infantry. Though the whole guide series BI had him make is fantastic as a great guide to what you can expect playing ARMA 3 is like. And a ton of Dslyecxi’s videos are worth a watch, even if you never play ARMA as an entertainer he’s the best the game has to showcase.
There are 8000+ mods and 45000+ missions currently on the Steam Workshop. To showcase the potential of mod experience I’ll share some videos of heavily modded sessions. I used to be part of a group where I was allowed to both make mods and occasionally make missions. Here is an example of a HALO ODST mission I made and DM’d years ago using someones’ highlight clip and someone else’s full mission video if you prefer. There was roughly 60 players on this mission and it lasted an hour and change. Though the prep for it took an hour in-game and a few more hours creating the mission itself. I only created the mission and some of the scripts we used in-game, as the rest of the HALO mod comes from Operation: TREBUCHET.
Here is a Star Wars mod which lets you live out large-scale combat fantasies. Stormtroopers assaulting Rebel-held town and The Clone Army fighting Separatist forces.
And here is someone who mixed two mods to create STALKER characters fighting one another…and also Jurassic Park raptors.
Here is a showcase of the Raptors and what they can do in-game, which is a scripting marvel.
ARMA’s gameplay can be molded and changed to take any shape. A common description I hear tossed around is “Dungeons and Dragons FPS Military Simulator” because the appeal comes largely from peoples’ desire to roleplay.
The game is on sale now on Steam. I highly suggest that if you do pick it up you get the APEX edition, as it comes with Tanoa and many assets that most mods nowadays rely on to play. The rest of the DLC is nice to have but definitely not necessary to play with others. Even less necessary if you are using modded assets.
I’m posting all this in the hopes that there are enough people on Waypoint interested in playing together to turn it into a monthly or weekly session. We’d be following the Waypoint Community guidelines and I’d do my best to make sure everyone is having a good time each session. ARMA is a complex simulator with a ton of janky bits to it but I’m happy to help anyone learn to play if it means we can get the numbers to organize really interesting missions. More players means it’s easier to create fun for everyone from a mission creators’ perspective.
To give you an idea of what we would play first I’ll describe some of the most popular user-made missions. All these missions allow for easy drop-in drop-out for players to join mid-way into a mission and go whenever they please.
Escape - probably older than 10 years and still one of the most exciting and challenging missions in ARMA. Up to 10 players break out of a prison with only pistols in the middle of a war you’re on neither side of. Your goal is to scavenge weapons and armor. Figure out where you are on the map (random location every time), find a radio station to call for evac, and get to the evac point to escape off the island. It can take anywhere from 45 min to 3+ hours escape depending on your luck.
Dynamic Recon Ops - A mission that lets you pick your faction, your enemies, randomize your objectives, and let you dress up in any armor/weapons/gear you’d like. You can’t lose but depending on how rough it goes it could be a quick mission or be a heck of a fight.
Antistasi - This is a long-term mission to beat by having multiple playthroughs. You are a guerilla force on an island with two armies who oppose each other and you. Your goal is to slowly gather gear from raids, complete missions to gain influence over the populace, and try to convert more than half the island to support your faction. You start with nothing but once you’ve begun to unlock gear your faction becomes a contender with the two armies on the island.
Insurgency - an old mission where you are an army sent to find information about terrorist ammo caches. You goal is to question the locals, find intel left behind by guerillas, and eventually triangulate where an ammo cache is. Then you go over to it and blow it up. No one ever really tries to finish this mission as it could take days to destroy all the ammo caches but it’s a ton of fun to get one or two.
While these missions are just examples of what we could do I’d love to coordinate with people to try and develop a story-based campaign of sorts or maybe even develop some specific missions of scenarios people would like to playout.
If you’re interested, post and let me know! I can put together a simple modless mission next week after the sale ends. And if we really do have the numbers we can talk as a group about what sort of gameplay experiences we want to create or missions we want to play. And if you have any questions feel free to ask away! Or contact me on Discord too, I’m Perez#0942!
