Automatic Mod Downloading

[xeno 234]

Gnat;2097872']

But' date=' I must say, the community (all 10 years of it) will likely never be the same.[/b']

Hopefully it will never be the same again as I have the feeling that some people are still stuck in romantic OFP times

and don't want more fresh blood in the series. They try to defend their territory, strangers are not welcome.

Just take a look at the server stats for OA (dedicated servers only).

While writing this there are

808 dedicated servers with 672 players and 26497 available slots.

Those are numbers which aren't cool or nice, they are scary. And it is the same for years now (with slightly higher numbers at weekend evenings).

More players = most likely a higher chance that you find a server with a game mode you want to play.

Whatever can improve the player numbers is welcome and automatic addon download is a major part of it. It's all part of the whole MP experience.

Like in other games where you simply click on "Follow Friend" and a minute later you are playing on the same server without worrying if you have the correct addons, etc.

You simply play.

Gnat;2097872']

But with a game thats simulates RL' date=' i.e. one shot = kill ...... some of that demographic won't stay long :p LOL

[/quote']

Luckily the game can be modded easily and most of those 672 players are already playing with turned down damage handling values.

Amazing, isn't it ?

Xeno

[iratus 71]

More players = most likely a higher chance that you find a server with a game mode you want to play.

Exactly.

And even if 95% of the new people are what some of us may call "CoD kiddies", the remaining 5% will be worth it. (Don't worry those "CoD kiddies" will not stay long anyways because there are no kill streaks and if you play ArmA like CoD you get ypur butt kicked repeadetly :D). Additionally those 95% would still need to buy ArmA3 wich means more money for BIS that can be invested in addons and DLCs.

So anything that encourages new people to play Arma3 without alienating the core Arma gameplay should be considered a good thing by the community.

[NoRailgunner 0]

More players = most likely a higher chance that you find a server with a cheat mode you don't want to play with.

fixed it ;)

Guess we all would like to see + use a userfriendly ingame addon/mod management where one have a choice to download required/recommended stuff. Sure it would be still good to have the download options from newssites or other community sites.

[[aps]gnat 28]

(IMHO) JIP did pretty much destroy public co-op and replace it with some mini-rpg game with endless respawns. So that's really the perfect example on how an improvement can have a large negative impact. The whining has only stopped because there just isn't any point in it after the damage has been done.

Sorry, I think thats an example of "living the good old OFP days".

Waiting 30mins to 60mins for a game was a F^%$&@# HUGE pain in the arse.

JIP I feel did help the community.

[Pulverizer 1]

Yeah, I know. When I'm old I will tell stories about them days to my grandchildren with a tear in my eye. The game was so exciting and fun back then, I didn't even mind the waiting.

[BobcatBob 10]

Wait...is JIP something that cannot be disabled on Public Servers? Cause that is what it is sure sounding like (yeah I only played 20min of multi so im a total noob in that regard). Allowing a public serever admin to disable JIP when it is deemed appropriate would totally fix all the problems you guys have with it...in MY mind anyways.

[PuFu 4600]

Wait...is JIP something that cannot be disabled on Public Servers? Cause that is what it is sure sounding like (yeah I only played 20min of multi so im a total noob in that regard). Allowing a public serever admin to disable JIP when it is deemed appropriate would totally fix all the problems you guys have with it...in MY mind anyways.

no, JIP cannot be set by the server admin, on dedicated or local servers, private or public. The server can be locked on the fly though, denying anyone from joining until unlocked

[BobcatBob 10]

That IS pretty damn foolsih.

[gammadust 12]

That IS pretty damn foolsih.

JIP = Join in Progress, to allow a player join in a running mission... How can that be foolish?

Locking a running server from allowing late-to-briefing-when-this-is-important-players to join... How can that be foolish, specially if serving as a counter to the appearance of above facility?

How can trolling be foolish?

[Tonci87 163]

Imagine what happens if a player looses connection. With JIP he is able to immediately jump back in. JIP is great!

[[aps]gnat 28]

And I believe some of the Mod Scripters were even able to give that disconnected player back his role, his weapon and his location ........ very cool stuff.

[BobcatBob 10]

JIP not being able to be able/disabled by server admin is foolish IMO. Not JIP itself.

[rangerpl 13]

Yeah, I know. When I'm old I will tell stories about them days to my grandchildren with a tear in my eye. The game was so exciting and fun back then, I didn't even mind the waiting.

Oh yes, let's alienate everyone! Screw convenience, screw gamers, clearly if someone doesn't want to wait 30 minutes for a multiplayer game they are stupid CoD kiddies who wouldn't know a good game if it bit them in the ass!

In order to continue making games, BIS needs income, and that income needs to come from game sales. Your individual purchase doesn't do jack shit for Maruk's balance sheet, in fact, if everyone on this forum bought a copy of OFP (I couldn't find sales figures for ArmA 2 so I used that), we would still account for only 4% of its total sales. We, the regular forum posters and BIS's most loyal fans, are a small minority.

What does this mean? ArmA's - and by extension, Bohemia's - success depends on the developers' ability to attract new players.

No, I'm not talking about going the way of OFPDR and making an arcade-shooter, but about streamlining the non-gameplay elements of the game such as multiplayer and mod support.

ArmA is a very hardcore game, but that doesn't mean BIS shouldn't make it more accessible to pick up and just play. There's no need to make players jump through hoops to do that.

Edited January 30, 2012 by RangerPL

[Nicholas 5]

Oh yes, let's alienate everyone! Screw convenience, screw gamers, clearly if someone doesn't want to wait 30 minutes for a multiplayer game they are stupid CoD kiddies who don't know what a good game is!

In order to continue making games, BIS needs income, and that income needs to come from game sales. Your individual purchase doesn't do jack shit for Maruk's balance sheet, in fact, if everyone on this forum bought a copy of OFP (I couldn't find sales figures for ArmA 2 so I used that), we would still account for only 4% of its total sales. We, the regular forum posters and BIS's most loyal fans, are a small minority.

What does this mean? ArmA's - and by extension, Bohemia's - success depends on the developers' ability to attract new players.

No, I'm not talking about going the way of OFPDR and making an arcade-shooter, but about streamlining the non-gameplay elements of the game such as multiplayer and mod support.

ArmA is a very hardcore game, but that doesn't mean BIS shouldn't make it more accessible to pick up and just play. There's no need to make them jump through hoops to do that.

I agree with you 100%

[ProfTournesol 956]

ArmA is a very hardcore game, but that doesn't mean BIS shouldn't make it more accessible to pick up and just play. There's no need to make them jump through hoops to do that.

Exactly. I even think that "improving accessibility" should be the whole time job of someone at BIS.

[tyler2 10]

This is a great idea! This will not only attract more players, it will also be installed on the server game more "mini mod" with units of vehicles, weapons, walkie-talkie, maps, regular players will be happy! This is crazy! This must necessarily be Arma3, BIS ask you to do it for Christ's sake!

[rory_pamphilon 16]

Anybody got an update on this? Iv seen it mentioned on the confirmed features that we should be getting 'integrated mod support', does that mean auto download and auto update or simply a gui to click and enable a mod that you have manually downloaded and manually installed? This could have such a big impact on Arma 3 multilayer games and increase longevity ten fold so needs more attention/discussion :-)

[Gunter Severloh 4052]

I would think 6 updater would be on this, ask Sickboy.

I can see for updating and trying to get on a server, but seriously I think people should learn the manual method of installing

mods then do the auto install/update thing if they want.

Auto everything is what makes people dependent and SOL when something goes wrong.

installing is nothing to figure out, an updater would put the mod in the same place as you would if you were to do it manually.

A standard or typical i should say mod consists of 2 general folders an @folder -(has title of course), and an addons folder inside.

@mod then another folder a d d o n s --> that spells addons.

@mod\addons\pbos, & bisigns.

For the more complex mod then you may have a userconfig, which goes in the same place.

then you setup your shortcut---> -mod=@CBA;@modname

then launch the game. of course CBA is required fro most mods, and then you have to determine which one you need.

See thats what bothers me people want to mod their game, but they would rather download a program and sit there for an hour and read on how to run it,

then go and try to figure out how to get a mod installed, by that time i would be ingame already.

I guess im to old school. Whatever floats your Humvee I guess lol.

[sickboy 13]

With that line of thought we can go back to DOS 6.22 (or actual typewriters!),

who needs all these automations that Windows brings etc, let's go hardcore, back to commandline! :)

But otherwise agreed - it's not bad to get your hands dirty now and then ;-)

The real management issue starts at 10+ mods, and wanting to play on several servers, possibly with different mod versions, etc.

Perhaps you stick to Single Player?

Also don't forget there are those who just want to play a game, and there are Modders/devs.

You as modder of course don't mind dealing with the modfolders ;-)

I guess im to old school.

It is easy to get stuck to what you're used to. And it's hard to see the benefits of something new, or why to deal with change.

It's human nature.

(I notice similar resistance to change myself, but I try to be aware of it and fight it :p)

---------- Post added at 12:26 ---------- Previous post was at 12:23 ----------

See thats what bothers me people want to mod their game, but they would rather download a program and sit there for an hour and read on how to run it,then go and try to figure out how to get a mod installed, by that time i would be ingame already.

The difference is, you get acquinted once with the program, and then installing 1, 10, 100, 1000 mods, updates etc, is all just a push of a button :)

It's a bigger concern in MP, when you get to servers who run 25+ mods, dependencies between them, and 10+ players, or say 100 :).

As a server admin you also have more control and reduce support requirements when you deploy SU.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Sickboy

[Gunter Severloh 4052]

With that line of thought we can go back to DOS 6.22 (or actual typewriters!),

who needs all these automations that Windows brings etc, let's go hardcore, back to commandline!

Not what I meant, thats taking it out of context, im simply saying that every beginner should learn where their main directory is and know how to install a simple mod.

The real management issue starts at 10+ mods, and wanting to play on several servers, possibly with different mod versions, etc.

yes i agree, but of course with experience I have my own methods for such things cough.. WarMod but thats just me, but I do agree. :)

Perhaps you stick to Single Player?

Both Sp and Mp, but i rarely if ever go on other mp servers, I build mpmissions for my own server for friends and myself, as well as play other missions.

but getting back..

It is easy to get stuck to what you're used to. And it's hard to see the benefits of something new, or why to deal with change. It's human nature.

I think im to lazy, I just find it faster and easier, more like direct to install mods manually this way for me anyways I know what is where and whats is what,

as you said really what im used too.

So all this said basically based on the topic title, surely SU will be in Arma3, I dont think BIS would have such a system,

not saying that they wouldn't implement it, but whats the point when you have SU.

I think BIS should just focus on the unmodded aspect of their game, and let us modders, handle the rest, I mean you have it covered.

[rory_pamphilon 16]

Gunter thanks for your reply and perspective, interesting that you should say that what is available in arma 2 is adequate. I think it's probably fair to say though that the majority do no share your point of view. I'm not saying what's available in arma 2 doesn't work its just that it feels aimed at your type of player, the hardcore veteran who has above average perseverance and above average forum reading and search skills. What we need is a system in arma 3 that anybody can use whether it's the first pc game they have ever bought (this is possible, console fans will see arma3 and the affluent may purchase a pc just for it) or are seasoned vets like yourself. User friendliness is the key here, succeed at that and the servers that require mods to join will be full of people trying out the mods instead of them nearly all being empty like they are now.

I have 6 friends who purchased arma 2, 5 have never used a mod, 1 uses jsrs but has to get me to setup his steam command line. So out of 7 customers 1(me) has ever worked out how to use a mod. This forum is not the majority, most don't even visit forums unless they are in dire need of a solution. So modded servers are at the moment available to such a tiny slice of the customers that purchased arma 2 and yet it champions the mod community. There is something missing here!

Surely you, as a modder, want as many people to enjoy ur mod as possible?

Edited April 23, 2012 by rory_pamphilon

[naizarak 4]

yes arma 2 is in sore need of proper mod management. six updater is a mess and its functions should be handled by the game itself, in my opinion.

hopefully arma 3 will include the mentioned auto-mod downloading, and auto-mod filtering depending on server mod requirements. no need to re-launch a game just to join 1 server.

[Gunter Severloh 4052]

Surely you, as a modder, want as many people to enjoy ur mod as possible?

Yes indeed, beauty of my mods is it works on a server without having to actually be on it.

I have 6 friends who purchased arma 2, 5 have never used a mod, 1 uses jsrs but has to get me to setup his steam command line.

So out of 7 customers 1(me) has ever worked out how to use a mod.

Its very understandable, if you come to a new game, and would like to add a mod to your game to change whatever effects, or gameplay values then knowing how to install a mod would be important.

When you download a mod via Armaholic, usually the page for the mod will have a link to an FAQ on how to install a mod, as well as links to any required files that the mod needs in order to run.

99% almost 100% of the time a mod needs CBA.

Once you become accustomed to a mod setup, and concept behind the modding system in the game then you'll be able to do alot of things.

There is a tutorial I created in response to a poster a while back who had questions on installing a mod, you can see that thread here:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?118197-Noob-Installation-Questions

the tutorial i wrote there needs to be updated and reorganized, but thats the general idea.

If anyone ever needs help installing a mod the manual way then im always available to help,

Im here regularly trying to do my part for the community.

[batto 17]

Its very understandable, if you come to a new game, and would like to add a mod to your game to change whatever effects, or gameplay values then knowing how to install a mod would be important.

I don't think so. Since BIS games openly allows modding it's even more undertandable if You could play any mod just by clicking "Join". Current mod installation is just copying, unpacking, ... job for computer, not user. Average Joe (me sometimes) is dumb and too lazy. Six Updater isn't the right solution.

EIDT: The problem it's not being able to intentionally change game. It's rather not being able to play on server with awesome description (like "PvP TDM"), full of players, great ping, ...

Edited April 24, 2012 by batto

[sickboy 13]

What is the right solution then according to you one man clan?

Please note that a major UI/UserExperience overhaul is scheduled for the upcoming next generation SU.

And much more; http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?118605-Six-Updater-Install-Update-mods-missions-Delta-patching-Server-browser-and-more!&p=2123747&viewfull=1#post2123747