FilterHN

Bohemia Interactive: Cold War Assault Remastered Source Code on GitHub

105 points

by dewey

2 days ago

| past

| 9 comments

| github.com

| HN

▲

klaussilveira

2 days ago

[-]

Not only Bohemia Interactive released the code, they cleaned it up and ported to Windows x64 and Linux x64. That's amazing.

▲

beaker52

4 hours ago

[-]

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Bohemia Interactive. Their games have always had a charming “designed by a software engineer” feel, which I appreciate.

Also, Operation Flashpoint was the reason I learnt to code and ended up having a career a software engineer, so I owe BI for that. My first real foray into programming was writing scripts, specifically to trigger unguided bomb releases from planes onto moving ground targets using some shoddy trigonometry as a 14 year old kid.

I have a lot of fond memories of that game. I still remember being awed by some of the mods created by this guy: https://kegetys.fi His name has lived rent free in my head for 2 decades now. Legend.

▲

throw2ih020

33 minutes ago

[-]

An Arma mod on my resume helped me eke out the interview for my first full time tech job. As janky as the engine was, I have a soft spot for it. It's a game/platform that _wants_ the user to customize it and have a stake in its technology.

▲

DicIfTEx

3 hours ago

[-]

Same here; I remember playing ARMA 3 during the early-2013 public alpha, which was an eye-opening look at how the gaming sausage is made in real time (and before Early Access was as established a concept as it is now).

I was rather disappointed when I heard that they had been acquired by BAE Systems, but on further inspection it seems like that was only the BI Simulations arm (responsible for VBS), now rebranded as OneArc. My guess is that a release like this wouldn't have happened were they not still independent.

▲

throw2ih020

32 minutes ago

[-]

BISim and Bohemia Interactive were separate companies, there was no ownership relationship between them.

▲

wuschel

3 hours ago

[-]

Seconded. I applaud BI for doing such a clean open source release. So many things to learn from!

I wish other game studios would release their software so many years after release.

▲

fdgfgfvffdv

3 hours ago

[-]

Operation Flashpoint (for anyone who bought it on release back in the day).

It was later turned into the Arma series and re-released with this name to fit the series branding.

I've played them all - this was the best of the lot IMHO.

▲

Maakuth

1 hour ago

[-]

I think Bohemia parted ways with their publisher Codemasters, who retained the Operation Flashpoint trademark.

▲

izacus

2 hours ago

[-]

I'm a bit sad they never managed to make an equally enjoyable campaign in any of the later installments.

Multiplayer is nice for others I guess, but not really for me.

▲

jefc1111

1 hour ago

[-]

Not being a big gamer, I can'comment with much authority. I've played a bunch of Modern Warfare(s) and Battlefields, and Squad. But they all feel pointless to me when ARMA 3 exists.

It's _so_ janky but in my mind way more immersive for reasons I just can't fully explain, though they are something to do with the fact that good comms is the key to fun and success. It's also got a pretty major learning curve...

▲

Tuna-Fish

1 hour ago

[-]

The community makes the game. The actual game is much less important.

The learning curve just acts as a filter that results in more like-minded people sticking with it.

▲

jefc1111

34 minutes ago

[-]

That's kinda scary then considering how toxic some of the chat is! For me I think I simultaneously like the irreverence, but also the fact people take it very seriously. It's a weird combination. But yeah, sometimes the banter is not good.

▲

Stevvo

2 hours ago

[-]

WASM port: https://motionmark.itch.io/poseidonwasm

▲

tombot

2 hours ago

[-]

I believe this game had some interesting anti cheat, it would still let you play if it knew it was cracked but would just make your aim worse and worse until you gave up.

▲

dfox

4 minutes ago

[-]

It had, another thing is that it used somewhat questionable system for CD key validation, which is stubbed out in this release (https://github.com/BohemiaInteractive/CWR/blob/main/engine/P...).

One thing is 120bit RSA (readily broken with a graphing calculator at the time of release), another thing is the provenance of the RSA implementation code in the original binary.

▲

rythmshifter

1 hour ago

[-]

I think that was arma 2. It also turned the player into a pigeon after a while.

▲

dvratil

2 hours ago

[-]

I learned HTML thanks to Operation Flashpoint so that I could write mission briefings in the editor...one thing led to another, and I have a successful career as a software developer. Thanks, Bohemia Interactive.

▲

ch_123

13 minutes ago

[-]

I used to open up mods (I seem to recall them being in "PBO" files) and tweaked around the script code to change things and make my own weapons and such. Also a formative experience on my path to becoming a developer.

▲

romandr

3 hours ago

[-]

This game was on my cousin's dad PC about 20 years ago. There were no name on the icon, it was just titled "war" (assumingly by cousin). Later I got Arma: Armed Assault on Steam, when all my friends played Arma 2/DayZ and I couldn't, because my PC was a potato. Spent hours on sandbox editor making big warfare.

▲

felixg3

4 hours ago

[-]

Ahh, another interesting post… and it’s Dewey again.

▲

junaru

5 hours ago

[-]

This is what stop killing games seek turned up to 11.

From Steam demo description:

> This release is free, and it is two things at once.

> A playable demo

> A self-contained slice of Cold War Assault you can download and play right now - the classic open-world sandbox, vehicles, AI and mission system that defined a genre, running on a clean, modern codebase.

> An official asset pack

> The demo doubles as a sanctioned asset pack for the Arma community. The bundled game data is provided as raw material you are free to study, modify and build new Arma content from. If you have ever wanted to learn how a Bohemia game is put together, or wanted clean reference assets to start a mod, this is for you.