SP Mission Updater/Downloader

[Josheh 10]

Hi, Just curious, What's the easiest way to download Missions that also require addons, And let something auto download everything I need?

What I mean is, If I download this mission - http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=

And it requires these addons - Desert USMC Units, US Vehicle Texture Pack, Tier One Operators.

Is there anyway I can auto download and auto install all the mods / addons required to run that mission? I was told Six Updater does it, But it's so fucking complicated to use.... Been hours now, And I still have no idea what I'm looking at.

Hopefully someone can help me get an easy Single Player Mission downloader program that helps me install required addons as well.

P.S. I'll be getting all my missions / mods / addons from Armaholic if that's possible.

P.S. That Mission repo crap doesn't seem to work, And it doesn't categorise single player + multiplayer, and it's only showing lame missions that require no addons "zz"

Edited August 7, 2011 by Josheh

[jedra 11]

As far as I know there isn't anything that does that. You will need to download the required mods separately.

As for the Six-Updater, it's not that complicated really - if you are having problems with it then it's official thread is here. Someone there will be happy to help.

[Josheh 10]

As far as I know there isn't anything that does that. You will need to download the required mods separately.

As for the Six-Updater, it's not that complicated really - if you are having problems with it then it's official thread is here. Someone there will be happy to help.

FFS are you serious? Some jerkoff from armaholic said there was something that did all of that, and it's called Six Updater, It's the only reason why i brought the full version, Fuck sake..... Now it's a whole bunch of bullshit to install the mods... Hell just 1 of them you need to rename shit, add parameters, Do this, do that, install this, just for 1 fucking mission...

Arma 2's mod layout is messy and a pile of crap.

I'd have expected a Six Updater to have managed everything, "Add a mission, reads mission info, Auto downloads addons required that you don't already have".....

Ffs.

[HyperU2 11]

Troll thread.

[jedra 11]

FFS are you serious? Some jerkoff from armaholic said there was something that did all of that, and it's called Six Updater, It's the only reason why i brought the full version, Fuck sake..... Now it's a whole bunch of bullshit to install the mods... Hell just 1 of them you need to rename shit, add parameters, Do this, do that, install this, just for 1 fucking mission...

Arma 2's mod layout is messy and a pile of crap.

I'd have expected a Six Updater to have managed everything, "Add a mission, reads mission info, Auto downloads addons required that you don't already have".....

Ffs.

Firstly, if you want help on these forums, you are going to have to calm down a bit. The first thing you have to bear in mind is that the Mods, the user missions, and Six Updater are all built by community members in their spare time and given out for free for you to use, for free. So, with that some slack needs to be given!

Secondly, Six Updater does take a lot of the pain of running mods and missions if you take the time to learn what it can and cannot do. Unfortunately you do have to download the mods you need to play a particular mission, but as Six Updater already has around 150 mods in its database a lot of the time it's just a case of selecting the mod you need.

With missions that require a lot of mods, this is what I do...

On the left pane, right-click on one of the presets (lets say A2 Any - Vanilla). Select 'Clone Preset' from the context menu that appears. In your list you will now have a preset called 'CUST - A2 Any - Vanilla'. You can then right-click on that and choose 'Rename'. Enter a good name like 'Bobs Takistan Mission' or something.

Left Click on the new renamed preset and make sure that at the top of the screen in the preset box it says 'Bobs Takistan Mission'.

You can then select the 'mods' tab in Six Updater and right-click on the mod you need. Select 'Add to Preset' from the context menu. Keep going until all the mods you need for that mission have been added. NOTE this is slightly more complex if the mod you need is not on the SixUpdater network - see 'LOCAL MODS' below.

When you are ready to go, right click on the preset name in the left pane and choose the option 'Updater Actions'. This will give you another menu, choose 'Install or Update and Startgame'. This will download any mods in your list that need downloading (they are blue), update any that you already have that are out of date (these are in yellow) and then run the game for you.

You only have to select the mods once with this method. All you have to do after that is select the preset and hit the startgame button at the top-left of the six-updater screen.

If you play one mission a lot then this is a great way to do it.

LOCAL MODS.

Some mods are not on the Six Updater Network. In these cases you need to go to armaholic and download them yourself. Make sure that each mod you download is saved in your Arma 2 or Arrowhead folder (depending on whether you run only Arma 2 or OA/Combined Ops). They need to be in the structure...

@modname/addons/list of .pbo files

Once you have done this, then the mods can be added to presets like any other, except this time you look at the 'local Mods' section at the bottom of the Mod screen. Select the local mod you need and choose 'Add' and it will add it to the currently selected preset.

Conclusion

This may seem long winded, but once you get used to it, it is second nature and much easier than the old 'shortcut' method. Also Sickboy is adding new mods to hsis database all the time - eventually the need to manage mods locally will be gone.

Stick with it, take your time and ask questions in the thread I linked to previously and you will find it easier to run Arma.

[sickboy 13]

SU's primarily designed as Mod Manager/Downloader/Installer/Updater and Server Browser (incl auto join servers with the required mods etc).

See www.six-updater.net/p/about.html for details.

I've ticketed the request for mission analysis and auto mod selection: http://dev-heaven.net/issues/23211

Edited August 7, 2011 by Sickboy

[Bee8190 10]

@Josheh

At first i wanted to award this post with double face palm...but you're obviously real frustrated and I was once too.

It's as easy as Jedra wrote and its really the best we have so far and it's, again, free...

If you disagree, try to figure out the ''old'' method putting up the mods:D

I'm sure you will than understand why is six suite the best we've got:cool:

C:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\arma2oa.exe -noSplash -noFilePatching -showScriptErrors "-name=Beee" -mod="@HiFi_air;@HiFi_sfx;@jsrs-v;@jsrs-e;@CBA;@WarFXParticles;@panthera;@HiFi_vehicle_weapons;@HiFi_weapons_long;@jsrs-vw;@GLT_AirWeapons;@rkt_f15;@GLT_RealAirWeapons;@GLT_MissileBox;@GLT_F16;@Blastcore_Visuals;@jsrs-w;@JTD;

[Zipper5 74]

Download mission, place in Missions folder in your ARMA 2 install's root directory. Download addons, place them in a modfolder of your choice inside your ARMA 2 install's root directory. Add the -mod= parameter to your shortcut's target line and launch the game.

If you think that's a messy pile of crap then I wouldn't recommend trying to install and uninstall mods on any PC game. From my experience with PC games with mod-heavy communities, namely GTA IV, STALKER, Source games, installing is easy as most make you overwrite core files, but good luck uninstalling them. RV is the easiest I've come across.

[Josheh 10]

Thanks all and thanks sickboy for ticketing it to maybe added into the future.

Compared to most / many games this is by far the messiest way to add mods.

For instance, GTA IV is the easiest one to mod for, once you have the basic loaders etc, all you do is grab the ASI file or the other script and place it inside a folder, that's all... Most games that have a lot of mods are usually really simple. hell you can completely transform the game and make yourself an actual police officer where you can pull people over and give people tickets etc, and all that's required is one simple file in 1 simple location... It just doesn't seem like Arma's ever meant to be simple.

I didn't mean to "troll" or go off / be really angry, I was just frustrated I have to do everything again, There's SO many mods / tools for Arma 2, Yet nobody has yet made a simple Mission Manager.

Something like this - Download .PBO Mission file, Open it in this program, It'll list all required mods, It auto checks armaholic or other sites for it, and then lets you download, and automatically put the files in the right locations etc.

Either way, It is quite messy, I was just frustrated and I'm sorry for that, It's still my fav game and I'm still going to be playing it / getting the missions for it, I just wish someone had made a much simpler "Mission Manager" tool!

[sickboy 13]

Something like this - Download .PBO Mission file, Open it in this program, It'll list all required mods, It auto checks armaholic or other sites for it, and then lets you download, and automatically put the files in the right locations etc.

That's a lot more involving and complex than you make it sound (checking community sites for an addon and installing it etc).

Analysis of a mission and list required addons (their internal names, not actual filenames!) is already available in several tools

I think SU mission addon download would be realistically possible; it has a network where all mods are in the same format, and the database of information of mods can be easily queried for all kinds of information, like the list of files included with a mod etc.

[jedra 11]

Thanks all and thanks sickboy for ticketing it to maybe added into the future.

Compared to most / many games this is by far the messiest way to add mods.

For instance, GTA IV is the easiest one to mod for, once you have the basic loaders etc, all you do is grab the ASI file or the other script and place it inside a folder, that's all... Most games that have a lot of mods are usually really simple. hell you can completely transform the game and make yourself an actual police officer where you can pull people over and give people tickets etc, and all that's required is one simple file in 1 simple location... It just doesn't seem like Arma's ever meant to be simple.

I didn't mean to "troll" or go off / be really angry, I was just frustrated I have to do everything again, There's SO many mods / tools for Arma 2, Yet nobody has yet made a simple Mission Manager.

Something like this - Download .PBO Mission file, Open it in this program, It'll list all required mods, It auto checks armaholic or other sites for it, and then lets you download, and automatically put the files in the right locations etc.

Either way, It is quite messy, I was just frustrated and I'm sorry for that, It's still my fav game and I'm still going to be playing it / getting the missions for it, I just wish someone had made a much simpler "Mission Manager" tool!

It seems frustrating at first, but once you get it set up, it really is very easy to get the mods loaded using Six Updater. Most missions tend to have just one or two mods (usually an Island - and I can't think of any off hand that aren't on the six updater network).

I grant you there are some missions (campaigns especially) that have a few - DEVGRU and some of the Namalsk campaigns spring to mind. For those it can take a bit of time to get the mods together. The ticket Sickboy raised would help in those cases.

My point is that it is worth getting to know Six Updater as once you do, life will be much easier.

Also, with SixUpdater you can download and run with the latest beta builds easily. As these builds are like addons, you can switch it between beta and normal any time you like and they don't overwrite the original game.

Lastly, some mods come with Userconfig files that need to be added into the userconfig file in your install folder - Six Updater takes care of this also.

Why do I bang on anbout Six so much? Well, when I first got Arma 2 I got so frustrated with setting up shortcuts for mods that I didn't play it for months - then someone pointed me at six updater and I never looked back.

[Kommiekat 12]

Firstly,

Secondly,

I was just playing with this downloader today and was wondering how things worked.

You're explanation was by far the best. Bravo!

Add the -mod= parameter to your shortcut's target line and launch the game.

Even easier is to use the many launchpads out there.

I personally use Dogs Of War Arma Launchpad...

It even has "play in window" so that way, I can practice making missions and use Adobe to read the "Editor Manual" side by side, going through things step by step.

There you go!

That reminds me, how the hell do I get a team in a helicopter, land and disembark then have the helicopter take off...

Ah hell, time to open my Manual and fire up Dogs of War...!