Is Modding Disabled?

[looter 10]

Created a couple of addons for Iron Front (using Eliteness and just renaming .ifa -> .pbo and back) and upon attempting to load them get "Wrong signature for <addon>" as if its checking all addons to see if they are signed by the Iron Front devs, so is modding effectively disabled in the engine right now until the devs release their version of the modding tools? after reviewing the code of most of IF, there shouldn't be any problems using the tools already available, but that's just conjecture. Anyone else had any luck loading their .ifa's? or do the developers have any comments, or are we still just waiting for IF-Specific tools?

Edited May 28, 2012 by Looter

[mr burns 131]

Small excerpt from the community Q&A we held with Deepsilver / AWAR the last saturday.

(quick translation from german)

Q: How about community mods, can the devs say something about it?

A: Not yet, but we´ll be glad to include good mods into IF.

Q: So atm it´s not possible to load mods in IF?

A: It is possible, but not without our help, as they need to be signed with our key.

Steffen told me they´d post an official statement about modding that same evening, but i couldn´t find it yet.

Seems we need to wait some longer.

[looter 10]

Thanks for the quick reply, I must have missed that interview over the weekend. I figured it'd be something like that. Such a shame, I had just finished replacing the awful K98/Mosin sounds just to realize I cant load them yet :(.

A thought on the "we'll be glad to include good mods into IF", the reluctance of using stock bi mod tools, IF sig checking any addon attempting to load, and their anti-cheat "plans" kind of has me worried they want to setup some kind of restricted modding environment to minimize the chance of people hacking (which wouldn't work at all), but I hope they are just taking their time to develop their own set of tools or something, I guess we will see in the announcement.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Looter
MORE CONJECTURE

[Phazon 0]

I think I wasted hours today trying various ways to get the game to load up a sound mod I've been working on as well, I thought I was doing something wrong but I guess not. They better sort this out soon.

[looter 10]

I think I wasted hours today trying various ways to get the game to load up a sound mod I've been working on as well, I thought I was doing something wrong but I guess not. They better sort this out soon.

Glad to see I'm not the only one that was kind of confused at first, I really just hope they aren't going to try and change how the actual modding works in any way, Like only signing/loading certain "trusted" mods to keep multiplayer more consistent.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Looter

[Sealife 22]

What a fantastic idea ,

I hope this helps with anti cheat and speeding up stability of vanilla , I think Bis should seriously consider this method for A3.

[looter 10]

What a fantastic idea ,

I hope this helps with anti cheat and speeding up stability of vanilla , I think Bis should seriously consider this method for A3.

i hope your trolling

[gishank 1]

The devs "approving" mods is a very bad way to go about things and could very easily discourage people from modding.

[ProfTournesol 956]

The devs "approving" mods is a very bad way to go about things and could very easily discourage people from modding.

Exactly. That's the worst idea ever.

[Sealife 22]

I think in ofp and arma 1 , I would completely agree but since then , the numbers and variety are so few , I can't see major mods like ACE and Other major players disagreeing with consistency enforced by devs .

My two cents ,I crave mp stability and anything that allows for tighter anti cheat gets my vote .

Of course this method would have to prove stability and I have no real idea for IF devs intentions .

[looter 10]

I think in ofp and arma 1 , I would completely agree but since then , the numbers and variety are so few , I can't see major mods like ACE and Other major players disagreeing with consistency enforced by devs .

My two cents ,I crave mp stability and anything that allows for tighter anti cheat gets my vote .

Of course this method would have to prove stability and I have no real idea for IF devs intentions .

The problem is it wouldn't increase stability at all, and it would do absolutely nothing to help stop cheating.

[Sealife 22]

But it can as you have already seen, you tried to make a mod to the game and didn't succeed

[ProfTournesol 956]

I think in ofp and arma 1 , I would completely agree but since then , the numbers and variety are so few , I can't see major mods like ACE and Other major players disagreeing with consistency enforced by devs .

My two cents ,I crave mp stability and anything that allows for tighter anti cheat gets my vote .

Of course this method would have to prove stability and I have no real idea for IF devs intentions .

Modding becomes more and more difficult (technically speaking), adding some more constraint will make it completely disappear. Then, the MP crowd will be happy.

[xeno 230]

But it can as you have already seen, you tried to make a mod to the game and didn't succeed

Those nice guys who try to ruin RV engine MP games don't use addons for it anymore... just saying...

Xeno

[mr burns 131]

Despite all anti cheat and stability thoughts, i think having to have ArmA2 in order to make mods would limit chances of greatness evolving drastically.

And even if you already own ArmA2, the tedious "config, bin, start, close, fix config, bin again, start all over .. etc." addonmaking process really doesn´t need more constraints.

[Sealife 22]

Yes but equally those other nice guys who are not so known , can disguise a simple sound mod that raises the sound of footsteps on there or other mundane little sneaky thing :)

Obviously it's all very subjective ,but I see everyone's point modding makes Bis games and all that , however ,there are some that are happy you can start vanilla and enjoy it and not being able to mod without restriction is a nice to have feature .

[xeno 230]

Yes but equally those other nice guys who are not so known , can disguise a simple sound mod that raises the sound of footsteps on there or other mundane little sneaky thing :)

Check what signature checking is all about... you don't want soundmod x or addon y beeing used on your server ? Enable signature checking on your server and don't add the server keys for those addons on your server... As simple as that.

The IF solution is not doing anything against "cheating" but hinders modders to even make mods for singleplayer.

Xeno

[Phazon 0]

Yes but equally those other nice guys who are not so known , can disguise a simple sound mod that raises the sound of footsteps on there or other mundane little sneaky thing :)

Obviously it's all very subjective ,but I see everyone's point modding makes Bis games and all that , however ,there are some that are happy you can start vanilla and enjoy it and not being able to mod without restriction is a nice to have feature .

You clearly do not understand how the RV engine's addon signing system works, or even seem to be aware of its existence. Servers can choose to check addon signatures and only allow certain addons to be used. If someone changes the files within an addon, it causes a mismatch in the signature and the player will not be allowed to join the server.

The problem you are describing has already been solved by BIS long ago.

[Sealife 22]

It's even more simpler now tho :)

And you are trying to say in an ideal world where everyone uses the full range of checks . You think every server owner knows how to in pho an addon and check config for cheats etc ? Hmm I needed to be in your head ,seems very idealistic and nice .

Also my other point is , right now this small team know, all bugs are there's ,not some small insignificant addon that someone forgot to tell them they had loaded , I think for getting a stable foundation it is genius .

[xeno 230]

After thinking about it again, I have to say you are right, Thromp. And let's hope BIS will implement this great solution in A3 too. Who needs mods and addons these days to keep a game alive...

Xeno

[NoRailgunner 0]

Thromp you are very special now please go and have fun with a console shooter.... :rolleyes:

[jedra 11]

After thinking about it again, I have to say you are right, Thromp. And let's hope BIS will implement this great solution in A3 too. Who needs mods and addons these days to keep a game alive...

Xeno

Totally agree with you. Then we would not have had the awful situation where DayZ shoots Arma to the top of the best sellers list, bringing in more funds for BI to use on A3, increasing the player base and boosting potential future sales of all BI games. Its disgusting.

[Phazon 0]

Well the longer they let us wait the longer its going to take for all the good addons and mods to arrive. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that very few people would still be playing if they were stuck with the stock version of ArmA 2.

I've personally had to stop work on my sound mod now, as I can't even test out the sound samples that I'm making.

[looter 10]

But it can as you have already seen, you tried to make a mod to the game and didn't succeed

Yes but equally those other nice guys who are not so known , can disguise a simple sound mod that raises the sound of footsteps on there or other mundane little sneaky thing :)

Obviously it's all very subjective ,but I see everyone's point modding makes Bis games and all that , however ,there are some that are happy you can start vanilla and enjoy it and not being able to mod without restriction is a nice to have feature .

You probably shouldn't speak about something you know little about. This wouldn't stop hacking at all, this would just hinder legit mod creation. As someone pointed out earlier, the hackers have moved on from creating addons a long, long time ago - they don't even use the system anymore, they just inject their code directly into the game bypassing anything devs throw at them. This thread isn't about terrible ideas for anti-cheat improvement either, its about the state of modding in Iron Front.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Looter

[KEVINMGXP 20]

Don't worry, the ability to mod will be there. I am almost sure the the IF devs are aware of the fact that modding is crucial for their tittles existence.

Not only that but I believe that a few of the devs where modders for ArmA2?

Anyway just wait it off, the game is just out for a couple of days ...

Kind regards