Americas Army Releases Special Forces 2.1 Update

Phil John writes "As announced on the America's Army site, version 2.1 of America's Army: Special Forces is now available for free download, either as a full install or an update from 2.0.0a. There's a BitTorrent version of the update patch and a full standalone Windows version available from 3D Gamers to ease the load on the download mirrors. New goodies available: 2 new maps, brand new physics engine, new weapons and even an armoured vehicle with 50mm gun turret. Go forth, download and continue fighting the 'global war on terrorism'."

Re:I wonder if this is considered propaganda?

[wibs]

Parent was the very first comment posted, and it's moderated redundant. Heh.

Re:I wonder if this is considered propaganda?

[Anonymous Coward]

Notice that this is not the first America's Army story. People post that garbage every single time there is a story on it, and it eventually gets seriously REDUNDANT. The Army specifically states that it is a recruitment tool, we don't need some idiot pointing it out to us every time there's a story posted on it. Hope that clears things up for you. Heh.

a word of caution

[fireduck]

installing 2.1 over your previous 2.0.0a resets all your settings--including graphics, audio, and most importantly binds. so back up your binds if you've got anything of note to save.

unfortunately i updated at midnight last night and haven't had time to try it out, other than discovering that everything had been reset...

Re:a word of caution

[masterQba]

the game is really, really good. it's a whole lot faster on my box than version 2.0, the karma physics engine is a great addition.

FYI: 763mb... sorry to the poor bastards w/ dialup

[Delta-9]

At least there will be a couple days where we can play with little or no people with crappy pings.

Re:FYI: 763mb... sorry to the poor bastards w/ dia

[Phil John]

Not if you've already got 2.0.0a, it's simply a 178 MB (IIRC) upgrade file, which I downloaded in a little over 15 minutes on my connection here.

If you are in the states however you can pick up a copy at most army recruitment centres (or so I have been led to believe, I'm a brit myself so wouldn't be able to check that out.)

Re:FYI: 763mb... sorry to the poor bastards w/ dia

[g-san]

and how again is a 178MB "upgrade" gonna help us poor dialup bastards?!?!?

i'll be the long hair at the recruiting centre this afternoon.

Simple....

[Delta-9]

It'll only take you 4 days instead of 12 to ddwnload.

Re:FYI: 763mb... sorry to the poor bastards w/ dia

[Zarks]

I gave up getting the updates around about v1.5 . I'm all for updates but not when you have to download a couple of hundred meg every couple of weeks just to be able to play the game.

Give it a try

[eviljolly]

I have played this game for nearly 2 years, and it's getting even better. I find it to be the most realistic games out there. You can check out my clan's website at www.combatlifesavers.us [combatlifesavers.us]. Try this game out and see how you like it

Re:America's army, eh?

[BTWR]

Yeah, but here's the catch...
You have to play the game a quarter million (250,000) times, and then you get to take pictures of naked Iraqis six times. That pretty much puts the 6 or so assholes in perspective out of the 250,000 men and women serving overseas. (flamebait asshole...)

Re:America's army, eh?

[JonMartin]

You have to play the game a quarter million (250,000) times, and then you get to take pictures of naked Iraqis six times. That pretty much puts the 6 or so assholes in perspective out of the 250,000 men and women serving overseas.

You make it sound like the entire problem is just a few assholes. Guess again. The problem is systemic [newyorker.com] and goes all the way to the top (or at least near the top).

Re:America's army, eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Without stopping all interrogations (which would logically end all prison 'abuses') what other methods are there that you can expect to work on a terrorist? For crying out loud we have murders in jail who spend over 50 years rotting away in a prison cell and still refuse to admit they commited the crime. Hell just watch the TV show 'Cops' and you see drunk people denying that they're drunk when you can't even understand their speech. Do you really expect a trained, battle-hardened, fanatical, 'kill-me-now-f

Re:America's army, eh?

[Pxtl]

Right. Because every person they detained and tortured was a confirmed terrorist. Read a real newspaper you numpty.

Re:America's army, eh?

[RobertB-DC]

Foo: You have to play the game a quarter million (250,000) times, and then you get to take pictures of naked Iraqis six times. That pretty much puts the 6 or so assholes in perspective out of the 250,000 men and women serving overseas.
Bar: You make it sound like the entire problem is just a few assholes. Guess again. The problem is systemic and goes all the way to the top (or at least near the top).

Oh, I get it now.

After you play a quarter-million times, a systems admin comes in and takes pictures of n

Re:America's army, eh?

[BTWR]

no, the media doesn't lie.

Unless, of course, it's a news organization that has a different politcal slant than yours. Then they're lying through their teeth...

Vehicle is stationary

[br0ck]

The post says

even an armoured vehicle with 50mm gun turret

which leaves out an important point mentioned in the article

New Stryker Armored Vehicle:
This version of America's Army introduces the Army's new Interim Armored Vehicle, a.k.a. the Stryker. The Stryker vehicle is currently implemented as a stationary vehicle with a fully functioning .50 cal turret usable by the player.

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[FoolishBose]

No actually the vehicle in the game IS stationary. As in it doesn't move. All you get to do is control the turret, which is still fun IMHO.

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[fireduck]

Eventually the plan is to have an actual moving vehicle with realistic physics, as the most recent SITREP indicates [americasarmy.com] (midway down the page, near the graphic).

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[nacturation]

stationary
adj.
1. a. Not moving.
1. b. Not capable of being moved; fixed.

2. Unchanging: a stationary sound.

What usage of stationary are you aware of where it's a better choice of word than "deployment" would be?

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[foidulus]

You forgot the noun version(which is not listed on dictionary.com). Maybe the tank is a sheet of paper with an army header on it(and a turret, even more fun!)
Apologies for the pointless post.

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[nacturation]

I guess it's possible to play war games with stationery that's stationary.

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[MBraynard]

It's the troops within it who are actually 'stationary.' I've seen the thing. It has tracks.

Sometimes military lingo doesn't make total sense but you have to roll with it unless your the Secretary and then you can fix it, but odds are you will have your hands full with more important matters.

obvious bullshit.

[Run4yourlives]

I've seen the thing. It has tracks.

No you haven't, and no it doesn't. The stryker has wheels, since is based on the LAV platform.

See here. [army.mil]

Try to avoid talking out of your ass.

Re:obvious bullshit.

[MBraynard]

Regardless, my point is it is mobile. Perhaps not in the game.

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[MMaestro]

The Stryker vehicle is currently implemented as a stationary vehicle with a fully functioning .50 cal turret usable by the player.

Currently huh? Does this mean we should expect future versions (maybe 3.0) to allow players to drive vehicles? Maybe helicopters as well (though thats a stretch.)

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[Run4yourlives]

why a stretch... the Battlefield franchise does this pretty well, IMO.

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[Minna Kirai]

why a stretch... the Battlefield franchise does this pretty well, IMO.

Yes, but BattleField (1942 or Vietnam) is in a completely different position on the realism spectrum from Americas Army.

In AA, when you get killed, you're dead until the match is finished. BF allows a team of 15 to respawn 100s of times total.

That difference relaxes the negative effect different gamestyles have on each other, making them more compatible. Respawning makes it easier to fit activities on different scales into the same

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[thrash242]

AA is supposed to be a realistic portrayal of US Army infantry. Infantry do not hop in and out of vehicles (not as the driver, anyway). If you're a truck driver or helo pilot, you drive/pilot a vehicle; if you're infantry, you don't.

This is the main reason I don't like BF games. I heard about the game and thought it would be cool, but when I realized that you can just jump on a ship and start driving it around, then jump off and into a jeep, and drive around like an idiot, I deleted the demo immediately

Re:Vehicle is stationary

[bruthasj]

Wonder if they'll move to an Onslaught-type map that ut2k4 uses. The vehicle movement ain't simulation level of complexity, but it sure is fun.

The gov't should get an RS6000 running the Unreal Engine with an "army" of clients connected playing on a huge map from GIS info. Maybe of Mogadishu or Falujah...

Re:Amongst the new features...

[Blakey Rat]

Two-facedness?

Could you show me a press release from the US Army that stated that America's Army is *not* a recruitment tool? Uh, hello! Of course it is, otherwise why would they make it? The Army has never said otherwise.

Two-facedness my ass.

Look, if you don't want to play the game, you can play Tribes 2 or Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, both also free. I'm sure there are good free games I'm missing as well.

Re:Amongst the new features...

[gangien]

I think they've been quite honest about the whole thing. In an interview with some of the officers behind AA, they said nobody expects someone to play the game and then go join the army, this game opens up communication channels with a group that they may have had untaped(of course parphrased). They also said that it helps show the world(with the strong european AA community there is) how great the US Army is. SO they openly admit it's part propaganda and part recruitment tool.

bad patch design/features???

[jocmaff]

I was pissed when my setting were overwritten. Also frame rates dropped slighty with this new patch.

Freely copyable, read this EULA .

[Thinkit4]

Nerds (the future) should be reading this EULA. This is by far the biggest game production to be freely copyable. This is a beer, not speech "free", so it's not all the way there. But information, for once, is truly FREE. Yes, we're mostly libertarian, but even if government is behind it the liberation of information is a great thing. In the future, information will be free!

Re:Freely copyable, read this EULA .

[77Punker]

I know this is offtopic, but what is a transhumanist? I know all about Libertarianism and Secular Humanism, but what is this transhumansm in your sig?

Beyond animals

[Thinkit4]

The ultimate end is to host consciousness on a computer, and thus have control over its inputs and outputs.

Can you get wacked by your own people

[TerryAtWork]

like Tillman?

(Who I totally admire by the way, it is people like him who make American formidiable, not the Bomb)

Re:Can you get wacked by your own people

[johndeerejedi]

Yes you can get killed by friendly fire. The offender is penalized, and you can get blacklisted (your character ends up in prison) if you are a repeat offender.

How 'bout a Mac version

[fmarano]

A Mac version would be cool, anyone know if there are any plans?

Re:How 'bout a Mac version

[Anonymous Coward]

A Mac is not only planned, but it was released with the Windows and Linux versions!

Grab your copy at www.macgamefiles.com!

Re:How 'bout a Mac version

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm... There has *always* been a Mac version.

Look before you ask next time.

About The Game

[EngineeringMarvel]

I have played Americas Army since the first public release came out over a year ago. This has to be one of the most unique games in existence. Its realism is unparallel to any other game. Each patch that the Army has produced for this game has made the game better and more enjoyable to play. If you have not tried out this game, you really should. I warn you though that it does require some patience and the game has a learning curve (learning the maps is extremly important and takes some time). There is also an honor system in place which rewards the veteran players. The more you play, the more likely you are to select your weapon of choice. This helps with reducing TKing and just overall gameplay. Now stop reading this and go download the game if your bored of the same old FPS. Americas Army is defitnely a nice change.

Re:About The Game

[Lord_Dweomer]

*cough*astroturfer*cough*. New account with few posts, another of which is titled "Zelda is one of the best games ever."

Torrent the Linux version

[AigariusDebian]

Get the full Linux from a torrent here [3dgamers.com]