Alright gents, since the guy in the original thread obviously never made it to BIS I quickly collected the question last morning. Sorted them on the train to cologne and finally talked Jennik into answering them.

You will notice that not all of the questions asked has been answered. This is either because they made no sense anymore (after I quickly grabbed and formatted them on the train) or Jennik wasn't able to answer them yet.

Let's go:

Will this be a completely new game? As in, will it add loads of new features to Arma 2, or will it just be a new campaign with a few weapons, but we still get charged for it?
Jennik: It's more than just a new campaign. Arrowehead contains a completely new environment, US army units, weapons and vehicles and a lot more. At least, there will be some very new features introduced in Arrowheadt too.


Will Arrowhead incude western forces besides the US?
Jennik: There will be some more than just US Army Units, yes.


Is there going to be a functional FLIR system out of the box (everything has heat based textures)
Jennik: Yes, there will be a FLIR system. We have one of the most sophisticated FLIR simulation systems already done for VBS2 and we will bring it in Arrowhead to fans of ARMA2 too.


Will the game have Functional IR lasers (PEQ units) like in vbs2? Or Flashlights?
Jennik: I'm glad to say: Yes, and yes.


Is the terrain based on Afghanistan? Or is it more of a desert?
Jennik: Kind of, it will include dense urban areas and the countryside too.


Who (among BIS and other Devs at IDEA games) has been/will be working on it?
Jennik: It's fully under the team of ARMA2 makers at Bohemia Interactive.


Who is doing the campaign and what experience are they aiming for as opposed to the free flow Harvest Red format?
Jennik: Ivan Buchta proved his skills in ARMA2 Operation Harvest Red campaign already and he's is the Lead Designer again for Arrowhead. The campaign will be a bit different this time, we want the players to enjoy wider experience, so the campaign will contain parts being played for regular US Army units, pilots and tank commander too. A bit like original OFP was, even if I wouldn't compare it.


How large is Takistan? Can we count on arrid surroundings to be more system friendly?
Jennik: There are two maps of Takistan in Arrowhead, one presenting the countryside and mountains with villages and small urban areas and the second map of large urban area with the city of Zargabad.


Release date
W0lle: When it's done
Jennik: Exactly


Will they somehow automate the inlcusion of ArmA II content for those that have it to encourage people who own it that Arrowhead will be just a huge expansion pack for them?
Jennik: This is difficult to say now, as Arrowhead will feature a newer and enhanced version of ARMA 2 engine.


How performance will be compared to ArmA 2 and if the system requirements will stay the same? Also maybe ask if they have plans to further optimize ArmA 2?
Jennik: Don't worry that we would throw it away because of making the datadisk. Thanks to the Arrowhead making I believe we will have a better chance too keep an eye on ARMA2 too. We plan to bring new patches and continue the support of the game as we did to the present day. The requirements should definitely stay the same for Arrowhead.


Will the future patches/expansions include other parts of Chernarus?
Jennik: Interesting question, I don't know honestly


Will OA include serious engine changes: ex. armor hit system, flares/ECM?
Jennik: Yes, some of them will be included.


If the "west" side will be represented by US Army, what it would be: "Stryker" brigades or some infantry divisions on Bradleys/M113?
Jennik: There will be a variety of roles to play for US Army in AO

Who is the enemy? typical Taliban look alikes or a (fictional) regular Army like SLA in ArmA 1?
Jennik: AO will rather be unsymetrical kind of war even if it could happen you can face a very tough and well equipped enemy.


Will there be russians?
Jennik: Who knows?


What will the really new features be in OA?
Jennik: As I meantioned: Completely new story line, new factions, units, vehicles and weapons. New and completely different environment, new simulation features like FLIR, mounted flashlights, HUDs for airplanes and helicopter and even more.


Will the ammo/mag bug for weapons with dual sights be fixed?
Jennik: Honestly, I don't know anything about this particular issue mentioned. Anyway I believe anything considered as bug being brought corrected.


Will it have proper physics implementation for units/corpses (ragdoll) and/or vehicles?
Will walking in and shooting from cargo positions be possible?
Will the hitpoint system for tanks be changed for some real penetration values?!
Jennik: I wouldn't expect such huge changes in the game engine without making completely new game instead of the datadisk, though so complex and huge.


Arma II was originally announced to be released for a console, but we've heard little news since then. Have those plans moved to the expansion? Is a console version planned at all?
Jennik: Sadly, I can't confirm anything about console version of ARMA 2 neither can I do for AO.


What are the reasons to release it as a stand alone game instead of an Arma 2 addon?
Jennik: At least two reasons there are, which one of these is our wish to make it easier to get the game for players who didn't buy ARMA2 previously. The second is that we expect better sales ofcourse.


Will there be Co-op in Arrowhead's campaign? If so, will saves in Coop work better and be far more stable by then compared to our experience in Red Harvert's Coop saves?
Jennik: Most probably yes, as we considered cooperative MP being one of the very favourite features people enjoy in our games, but I can't confirm this 100% yet.


Will the campaign be free roaming open world like Red Harvest?
Jennik: What would you expect? The corridor and level based maps as in other FPS?


How will Arrowhead's open world experience be different than in Red Harvest?
Jennik: It will be different experience in the meaning of the environment and the role player will take.


It will be more like Resistance (or you buy, or you´re "out" from the REAL game) or is more like Queens Gambit (some nice additions,mainly in the SP part, but not mandatory) ?
Jennik: Yes, I would rather compare it to Resistance too.


What is the price for the expansion?
Jennik: A medium rangeed price, not a full price for regular new game.


Distribution around the world? Digital only? Full box? Any "Gold" Edition?
Jennik: Yes, not only, yes, most probably


Will there be functional tank interiors? Like Optics, windows, doors
Jennik: Might depend on time left.


Will the 3D Editor be further worked on / finished?
Jennik: We have some intentions with 3D editor, can't confirm anything yet.


Can we expect more modules for the editor? If so, what?
Jennik: There are already some of new, I would expect more of them, or enhanced versions of those already known from ArmA2


Can the AI still aim/Target through trees ,bushes,houses,mountains...
Jennik: Nonsense


Will any of the multiplayer systems be drastically changed? like netcode? browser? mission setup gui? admin tools? anti-cheat?
Jennik: I wouldn't expect anything to be changed "drastically"


To what degree do original ArmA 2 and OA interact? For example, can OA units be used in ArmA2 and can Arma 2 mods be loaded in OA with copying them all to a new directory?
W0lle: As said by Ohara: ArmA2 content can be used in Arrowhead with no problems.


Will the terrain resolution be higher, feature micro terrain details?
Jennik: There were instects and mushrooms in A2, so what would you consider to be more "micro"?


Will the movement system feature "vertical leaning?
Jennik: I wouldn't expect the whole movement system to be modified very much as it would require so much time to implement this. Anyway, there are many tweaks we would like to make on the present system, but it depends on the time gived and it's priority is still to be decided.


Will AI be conscious of their role and act differently depending on it (e.g. machinegunner acts differently than rifleman)?
Jennik: The AI already acts differently depending on the weapon they carry in ARMA2, so, what would you expect?


Will the mission editor get updated to be more user friendly? Like drop down menu for scripts/actions rather than scripting.
Jennik: I wouldn't say the mission editor is unfriendly for users, in fact we consider our mission editor being one of the most user friendly and easy to use mission editors you can get across all present games. You don't really need to use a single line of script to design even a very complex scenario...


Are there any plans to make a final patch for ArmA1? If so, what will be patched and when can we expect it?
Jennik: I would say ARMA1 is in very good shape now and doesn't really need any further patches. However, if there appear any serious issues in the future like HW/drivers related problems, I would expect something possible. Otherwise not.


Is this actually some sort of top secret release thats going to be as groundbreaking as flashpoint 1, and Arma 2 was simply a distraction?
W0lle: LOL


I made some pictures from the screen but haven't copied them yet nor do I know if they are in a quality worth releaseing them at all. Later we will see.

I want to thank especially Jennik for his time answering all these questions.
Thanks as well to the two Idea guys for another pleasant exhibition date with some interesting discussions and insight views.