Mods. Are they really worth the hassle?

[pipscouse 10]

ACE etc. Even with Six Updater. For a non-techie like me it just seems unfathomable. You can't join this server because blah, blah, blah deleted content blah, blah, blah.

It all seems so esoteric. Does it really have to be so difficult?

Discuss

Personally - I'm off back to vanilla

[jedra 11]

It's not difficult really. Unfortuantely to protect themselves against more nefarious mods, server admins are usually strict about what mods are allowed.

The best way to use mods online is in a squad or a clan as they will set up specific missions with specific mods - so if you want to use mods and want to play online then this is your best bet. The exception to this is the ACE mod which a lot of public servers use. Generally though most public servers tend to only allow Vanilla.

In single player there are loads of missions and campaigns that make use of mods. In these cases then it is very much worth the effort. Some of the mods are amazing and it would be a shame for you to miss out on all the user made content out there.

For me, the mods are what Arma is all about - I love just playing with them and creating missions for them. I am not quite sure what I would do if I couldn't send my SAS troops on sorties around Isla Duala or Lingor!

[sickboy 13]

For ArmA3 there is talk about improvements http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=120878

For current games i'm unsure if we can do much better without changes on BIS side.

SU already can detect required mods for servers (read from gamespy), and select these when joining the server, but this is limited to the mod versions you have locally, or are available on the official network.

If more servers would support the additional auto configuration capabilities of Six Updater,

for mods on the official network or custom versions on custom repos which they can host themselves, things could already be a little better.

Also still have many more features and improvements planned: http://dev-heaven.net/projects/six-arma-updater/roadmap

Still, improvements in the game could really make a difference.

Edited August 11, 2011 by Sickboy

[metalcraze 290]

You install ACE with a single click after launching SU

How hard can it be?

[HyperU2 11]

God I hate people.

[pipscouse 10]

ACE updates absolutely fine with SU. By beef is not with ACE or SU at all. It's great. Where I get lost is that, across the board, MP servers all have such an array of mods required to play that it becomes virtually impossible for a non-techie like me to make any sense of it all. If it was just down to updating ACE using SU I wouldn't have a problem. I accept the deficit in knowledge lies with me. I just suspect I am not alone.

@ HyperU2 - Get some therapy man

[HyperU2 11]

Go play Vanilla without making a thread. Seek some therapy for your narcissism.

[jedra 11]

ACE updates absolutely fine with SU. By beef is not with ACE or SU at all. It's great. Where I get lost is that, across the board, MP servers all have such an array of mods required to play that it becomes virtually impossible for a non-techie like me to make any sense of it all. If it was just down to updating ACE using SU I wouldn't have a problem. I accept the deficit in knowledge lies with me. I just suspect I am not alone.

Yeah - it is quite daunting to begin with - when I first came back to Arma late last year I was well confused. All I can say is that after a while you start to recognise the mods from their @ tags in the Expansions field in the server list. Using Six does make things a little easier too.

All I will say is that it is worth sticking with as some of the mods are very good indeed and really make this game. Maybe start by downloading a few SP missions that use mods and you'll start to get to know them. Also, if you keep an eye on the Addons and Mods Complete thread you start to get an idea of which the most popular ones are.

Often you see a load of mods in the line and a lot of them are dependencies (i.e the island @Isla Duala, also needs @ibr_plants, @ibr_towns, @MBG_Buildings2). Using Six updater makes life a bit easier because if you select Isla Duala, it will automatically select the dependent mods also. Of course not all the mods are on Six Updater (although there are over 150 I think).

If you see a mod in a line and you are not sure what it is, you can ask in the forums or search for the @name.

You aren't alone, regardless of what some may say, everyone who came to this game will have had the same problem, I know I did. All I can say is that you pick it up fairly quickly. Stick with it, it is worth it.

[MavericK96 0]

There are some really excellent mods out there. Don't dismiss them because it takes like, 5 minutes of effort. :rolleyes:

[twisted 128]

one bit of advice - get arma launcher. then just extract mods to your arma2 mian directory and the arma2 launcher will pick them up automotcially for you. very simple.

[Bee8190 10]

ACE etc. Even with Six Updater. For a non-techie like me it just seems unfathomable. You can't join this server because blah, blah, blah deleted content blah, blah, blah.

It all seems so esoteric. Does it really have to be so difficult?

Discuss

Personally - I'm off back to vanilla

When you install the Six updater for the first time its really not that easy to figure out how to use it but its really quite simple -

1: install six suite

2: create new preset

( top left screen , it will be added to panel on your left, RMB to rename preset to (ex; islands/sounds)

3: select mods tab, (middle of your screen) select desired mod, R click to activate menu, add to preset, R click again and convert to six updater

4: mod has been added to preset you just created, R click on the mod and select install/update

If more mods are desired just add them to your preset

If you need to remove mod, R click and remove from preset

5: Now you know Six updater is full of win and you're ready roll :681:

Btw ironically enough im trying to avoid servers without any mods as in my experience it will be mess...no teamwork, teams joining only

bluefor etc... :j:

Anyways if your looking for some nice mods to begin with - http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=122515

Edited August 12, 2011 by Bee8190

[pipscouse 10]

@ Jedra and Bee8190. Thanks guys. Really good advice. I will stick with it as I know I am missing a huge amount of content. I get frustrated with myself sometimes. For me it's a steep learning curve :-)

[nodunit 397]

For most stand alone addons or addon packs you can simply unzip the files into your C/program files/bohemia interactive/arma2/addons (or if you have operation arrowhead, expansions then addons)

It is more simple than mod folders, the drawback is that when you start the game it may take longer to load.

[sickboy 13]

Putting custom addons in official game addons folders is not recommended, already since the time of OFP.

One reason is the inflexibility introduced by it - e.g you can't join servers (e.g with signature protection) that disallow the mod, or if you want to disable a mod you have to manually (re)move files.

Also if you want to update the mods - you need to know which files to remove as to not leave old obsolete files etc.

Modfolders, Launchers and Updater tools like Six Updater are really the way to go, esp for MP, but imo SP just alike :)

Edited August 12, 2011 by Sickboy

[kylania 568]

SpiritedMachine's ArmA II Launcher makes starting the game with whatever mods you want effortless.

[metalcraze 290]

Is it so hard to put some effort into researching how to use mods?

This isn't even OFP days anymore where some mods required you to actually modify game files (like adding C# code into the config manually) - and if it wasn't a problem for me - something as simple as using mod folders shouldn't be hard for anyone.

It isn't a rocket science and it does pay off as you get an access to a lot of nice content. Come on man.

[dmarkwick 261]

Is it so hard to put some effort into researching how to use mods?

This isn't even OFP days anymore where some mods required you to actually modify game files (like adding C# code into the config manually) - and if it wasn't a problem for me - something as simple as using mod folders shouldn't be hard for anyone.

It isn't a rocket science and it does pay off as you get an access to a lot of nice content. Come on man.

A little part of me cringes every time I see this attitude. No it's not difficult, but it is far from intuitive and there is a definite learning process. To dismiss this learning process for a newcomer is disingenuous, everyone starts out by simply asking how it's done. Try and remember when OFP was new to you, and if you're honest with yourself you will remember difficulties. Examples:

It took a long time for me to realise that I can load up more than one mod using the ; separator.

I initially placed addons in the game addons folder, believing this to be the simplest process.

The "Addons" subfolder within each mod folder always catches me out.

Mod folder order can be important.

Endless arrays of shortcuts on my desktop for different mixes of addons, depending on what server I wished to join.

Further complications with userconfig files, the userconfig folder, and updating all these elements.

OK, tools exist to help. But all the above are not "easy" or intuitive for the newcomer. And simply posting your scorn for the newcomer does not help either. IMO natch.

Edited August 12, 2011 by DMarkwick

[mosh 0]

Yes, it is worth the 'hassle'.

People spend days/weeks/years making them I'll spend 2 minutes to install them. ;)

[Zipper5 74]

Adding mods is easier than most other games and there are resources stating how to do it. Most good readmes for most mods give you instructions on how to do it too. Granted, it's perhaps not as easy as it could be, but it's not exactly mind-bendingly hard.

I said this in another thread complaining about the same thing, but if you think installing and uninstalling mods in ARMA 2 is difficult then I wouldn't bother doing it for any other game. In all my forays into modding in different games (Source games, STALKER series, GTA IV, Crysis, and many others) I haven't come across a mod system as easy as BI's.

Now, the management of mods in MP is definitely not worth it. At least, not in public play. I too hope this gets improved either by server admins making it easier to get the mods their servers are using, servers only using mods that actually make a big enough difference to the gameplay to warrant the hassle of installing them, and a better system of displaying what mods are being used on a server and perhaps even an auto-mod-download service.

Edited August 12, 2011 by Zipper5

[sickboy 13]

zip :)

Edited August 12, 2011 by Sickboy

[celery 8]

na they'll ban you

[sickboy 13]

Now, the management of mods in MP is definitely not worth it. At least, not in public play. I too hope this gets improved either by server admins making it easier to get the mods their servers are using, servers only using mods that actually make a big enough difference to the gameplay to warrant the hassle of installing them, and a better system of displaying what mods are being used on a server and perhaps even an auto-mod-download service.

SU provides this out of the box, at least for the mods available on the official network or if they are on your harddrive already.

You can browse all servers (the SU server browser contains more information, search, filter and grouping capabilities than the game's server browser), read which mods they need, which signatures are allowed, and SU automatically selects mods too when you join that server through SU.

But not everything is available on the official network, so for mods not available - sever admins could setup a customrepos with them.

It even provides checks to confirm all mods that will be loaded are actually allowed on the server (by bikey/bisign signatures), and warns the user of probable issues when joining the server.

I feel it is even manageable and useful for public play:

a) If the server doesn't run mods that aren't on the official network, anyone with SU will join with the correct mods

b) If the server does run mods that aren't on the official network, if they put the customrepos auto config url in the server name, anyone with SU will join with the correct mods also (mixed - taken from official net and/or their customrepos)

Not everyone is running SU obviously. So if your server supports SU, it might be an idea to put the join-info link in your servername.

All the user has to do is follow the link, read up on the join specs (install SU, select the server in the server browser or click a specially crafted sixupdater:// link that does it all for the user).

It's perhaps not ideal (the user having to find the web url in the server name, and actually visiting it), but it can work, especially when more servers implement this.

A couple of (private) communities have registered with SU and their config urls are listed; http://www.six-updater.net/p/communities.html

Some of these communities run 10's of mods, in the 30ies and beyond.

New members install SU, follow sixupdater:// link, and some minutes later (depending on size of mods) they join the server with everything setup.

Even incl ACRE teamspeak3 plugins, Jayarma2lib dsound.dll, ACE clippi, and userconfigs all handled.

Setup-once, forget forever.

Also no endless shortcuts on the desktop (unless you want them, as SU can make shortcuts to the game with startup parameters, or shortcuts to SU presets)

Still there's plenty left to be improved in both the game and SU :) Especially considering new players.

Edited August 12, 2011 by Sickboy

[HR4 Elite 10]

I’m a complete novice when it comes to scripts, where to put mod’s etc.

Mod’s I simply leave to Six Updater, seems to do the mod side very well..

As for scripts, well come-on.....actors isn't it..

[dukenukem. 12]

Watch this video on how to use SIX UPDATER.

VpdZ1obpGRQ

Edited August 14, 2011 by DukeNukeM.
embedded the video instead

[Gunter Severloh 4068]

Also Learn how to install a mod the basic way:

my tutorial:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1908141&postcount=2