[official poll] TFAR vs. ACRE on AWE (read!)

[Johnson]

PLEASE READ BEFORE VOTING! (poll closes 13:00UTC 20/08/20)

 

It come to staff's attention that the age old discussion regarding the choice of radio mod used on AWE has recently resurfaced. Staff have decided to let the players choose the outcome of this debate through a poll. This post has also been compiled to provide an unbiased comparison of the two options (TFAR or ACRE) for any members who are unclear of their choices. It should be noted that if the server switches to ACRE, staff measures will be made to ease the player transition from TFAR (i.e guides, advice, troubleshooting, etc. etc.).

 

 

 

While the comparisons between the two mods may go much more in depth, we believe these to be the main points of interest:

 

 

TFAR

Pros
- Already known well by everyone on the server
- Simple and easy to use in the sense of practicality
- Less hardcore in the sense of functionality (very clear radio transmissions, more powerful radio ranges, alternative channels, less terrain/weather interference)

Cons
- Creates multiple mod-related issues for several players
- Could be considered to be boring or unengaging due to its simplicity
- Radios could be considered to be too powerful and provoke less engagement with Team Leaders, Squad Leaders, Radio Operators etc. etc.
- Plugin installer could be difficult for new players to locate

 

 

ACRE

Pros
- Known well by several (but not all) AWE and MSO players
- Even more simple than TFAR in the sense of practicality (eg. no frequencies just channels)
- The same features as TFAR + more (vehicle infantry radios, shared radios, antenna directions, weather effects, configurable settings for the server)
- Has an auto-installer making it much easier for new players to join

- More Active Delevopment (ACRE has been updated 2 months ago, TFAR has been updated 2 years ago)

Cons
- Would require players to learn the new mod + key rebinding to replicate TFAR keys
- Could be considered too hardcore (more realistic radios and effects meaning more interference and more for the user to deal with)
- Can still produce mod problems like TFAR (although much less often so far on the MSO)

 

 

 

[Icze]

+1 vote for ACRE

While both work great in my experience I'm leaning towards ACRE for reasons of simplicity. especially regarding new players who may not be familiar with teamspeak plugins.

[Lindi]

I'm going to say either one is fine for me. My very limited experience with ACRE made me feel it is a very solid mod and I believe the range/signal limitations could add a layer of challenge/team play that we've not seen before.

I rather enjoyed the unsung campaign as well where the radios were limited and squads had to stick with their team leaders if they wanted to be part of the action.

[Noah_Hero]

For people who don't know ACRE yet and want to know more about it before voting I can recommend their website as it not only contains basic guides (how to start/how it works) but also guides for all of their radios (with pictures)!

And for anyone already interested in how the new ranges would be:

Spoiler

where the 343 is the basic rifleman radio, the 152 (BLUFOR) or 148 (Independant/OPFOR) is usually the SL radio and the 117F is usually the RTO-LR radio.

Also I could write a rather detailed guide for the different radios as I already read through their documentation, but I don‘t know if that is actually needed considering the quality of said documentation.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Noah_Hero
Added that last paragraph

[RiverWolf]

Hmm, I picture Skull is somewhere making multiple accounts and rigging the vote for this one I voted yes, I'm open to new things plus if people don't like it en mass you folks can always roll it back to just TFAR.

[Minipily]

I can certainly attest that ACRE should leave no room for controversy or concern.

 

It is extremely user friendly, easy to understand and with little to go wrong. Infact, it is as simple as grabbing a radio, changing the channel to the appropriate channel, and voila. Unlike with TFAR, should something go wrong with your radio, you'll have to change frequency, and that can take more time then simply changing channel.

 

Also I should note, that if you do what I did, you can change the keybindings of ACRE to the exact same keybindings as TFAR. This virtually makes the two mods seem exactly the same.

 

In terms of the "backend" style of things. ACRE should have the exact same compatibility of TFAR, and setting it up should allow for automatic changing of channels respective of what squad you picked etc etc.

 

One final thing to note, ACRE is much more indepth and detailed than TFAR. So please note that if you are in an urban setting with a simple infantry radio, there can be such a thing as bad reception and radios are noted to start failing when you are a few city blocks away from your team. This shouldn't be a problem of course, as splitting up more than 400-500m from your team is not really a valid tactic most of the time, but it is something worth noting. It is not a "problem with the mod", it is just a feature that is realistic compared to the real life radios.

 

I'm behind this introduction, I feel ACRE has a lot more to give than TFAR whilst still retaining the same simple recipe, perhaps even a little more watered down for people to understand.

[ParabolicAJB]

I visit the forum after almost 3 years and there is still a debate about TFAR vs. ACRE.... 

[SiegeSix]

3 hours ago, ParabolicAJB said:

I visit the forum after almost 3 years and there is still a debate about TFAR vs. ACRE.... 

Yeah, and ACRE won.

Now we're battling other issues within ACRE 

[Minipily]

Yeah we just decided to move to ACRE.

 

These things can take time as you see.

[ParabolicAJB]

Is the install guide for Liberation still correct as it references TFAR?

[SiegeSix]

6 minutes ago, ParabolicAJB said:

Is the install guide for Liberation still correct as it references TFAR?

Just skip step 4.

When you start the game with ACRE, it will prompt an installer that will install the teamspeak plugin for you