Modders/Programmers/Modellers/Animators, what do you intend on doing with the game?

[ruhtraeel 1]

So I think ARMA is one of those games where a lot of its fun, and to a lesser extent, it's success, is attributed to what the community plans on doing with the open-ended style of the game (case in point: DayZ).

I don't know if modders actually read this forum, but if there are any out there, do you guys have anything in mind as of yet to mod and toy with once the game is released?

I saw that many mods for ARMA 2 and such were mostly to do with polishing, as expected from the games which have a huge amount of raw content (like Skyrim) vs a smaller amount of polished content (like BF3 or Dragon Age or something).

Missions?

Game modes?

Aesthetics such as graphics and sounds?

Random small stuff like guns?

Being a Computer Science major, I may toy around with game modes, maybe make a squad deathmatch/CS like rounds in a smaller closed off environment for people to drop in and play a couple of rounds. However, I know most of my interest will depend on how much I like the engine, what language it's being made in, etc (I have no previous ARMA programming knowledge).

Also, how does ARMA handle client-side mods? Do they auto-download for you?

Edited October 11, 2012 by ruhtraeel

[pathetic_berserker 4]

Also, how does ARMA handle client-side mods? Do they auto-download for you?

Arma dosn't out of the box but there are great 3rd party programs like 'Play With Six' that will do it for you. And it seems likely they will be intergrating a similar system to A3

but seriously, it would be a bit foolish to think you could simply log on and quickly download a mod to enter a server, first time around. Many of the mods are in fact quite large.

Also I'm not sure what you mean buy sayinging most mods are to do with 'polishing'. The vast majority of the ~many gig~ worth of mods I have is content orientated.

[PuFu 4591]

So I think ARMA is one of those games where a lot of its fun, and to a lesser extent, it's success, is attributed to what the community plans on doing with the open-ended style of the game (case in point: DayZ).

I don't know if modders actually read this forum, but if there are any out there, do you guys have anything in mind as of yet to mod and toy with once the game is released?

I saw that many mods for ARMA 2 and such were mostly to do with polishing, as expected from the games which have a huge amount of raw content (like Skyrim) vs a smaller amount of polished content (like BF3 or Dragon Age or something).

Missions?

Game modes?

Aesthetics such as graphics and sounds?

Random small stuff like guns?

a bit early for this sort of questions i guess. Most addon makers will most likely try and port their content and features over (that includes small and bigs addons alike).

Some might actually have content already planned for A3 that will never see a light of day in A2 engine (me included for both).

a lot depends on what can be done over A2 engire, which is not really something you one can know without the hands on experience.

a lot of mods in arma have some to do with fixing and improvements over the vanilla. That said, the content available for this game is not something to neglect (very poor choice of examples btw, especially when some of those game are not moddable anyways).

Being a Computer Science major, I may toy around with game modes, maybe make a squad deathmatch/CS like rounds in a smaller closed off environment for people to drop in and play a couple of rounds. However, I know most of my interest will depend on how much I like the engine, what language it's being made in, etc (I have no previous ARMA programming knowledge).

Also, how does ARMA handle client-side mods? Do they auto-download for you?

I would have expected this to be a know answer given the fact that you seem to own A2/OA. The scripting language available will most likely be more or less the same (proprietary sqf), with the possible show of some Java.

There is no auto-downloader for A2, but my hopes are high for A3 (and sickboy) in this regard.

anyways, i really see no point of this thread, especially when it is one already available asking content creators of this community what and if they have anything planned for a3.

[dragon01 902]

The vast majority of the ~many gig~ worth of mods I have is content orientated.

That's not saying much. Things like TGW Vehicle Fixes, particle tweaks, etc. don't take up space. Of that category, only sound mods can be really big, and even then, you most likely use only one (and plenty of people are fine with stock sounds). Everything over near gigabyte will be content-oriented.

As for mods, I think that they'll be very diverse. If everything BI talked about is implemented, we could see mods from a whole set of cammies with matching equipment to a new multicam pouch. I really hope for some SF and historical mods, like back in OFP days.

[pathetic_berserker 4]

Well if your so keen to quantify try taking a look at ruhtaeels statement..

I saw that many mods for ARMA 2 and such were mostly to do with polishing

To put it a differnet way, counting things like glt missiles, mando, ACE, SMk etc as 'polish', of the 60 or so mod folders I have via Six, 80% or so are content only.

[slatts 1978]

I feel it'll be the same ratio of content V "polished" addons/mods, I think mod such as ACE, SLX etc. are only ever done by a select few. Where as content addons such as your gun or vehicle addons are "easier". There'll always be more guns and vehicles addons then your ACE's.

[dragon01 902]

Besides, there's only so much you can tweak. AII:OA came out with a couple of inaccuracies and glitches, and people fixed them. ACE not only provides higher realism, but also adds a lot of content. Other "polishing" addons tackle various aspects of ArmA that were unrealistic or lacked something, but compared to the list of existing military vehicles, uniforms and guns, the number of such tweaks that can be made is dinky. We simply don't need a hundred soundmods or ACE-style big gameplay modifications, while there's much more than a hundred different objects that ArmA could use. Also, there's only one reality, so there's pretty much only one direction to go in order to make things more realistic.

[meshcarver 12]

Well just to give a straight answer to one of OP's questions;

I've started to model assets for a new Island based entirely off the game STALKER- it will be almost 100% custom made objects and will be 100% new terrain.

My wish on completion would be for someone/me to be able to make it playable for persistent online game play.

[tacticalnuggets 24]

Releasing a major update and porting over ATF

[chortles 263]

Re: the possibility of online persistent gameplay... are you aware that "private hives" have been sanctioned for the DayZ mod, allowing servers to now use existing user-made islands such as Lingor, Fallujah or Panthera; here's one game server company outright advertising those along with four BI islands... as "map packs" no less! :eek: (The BI ones are Chernarus, Utes, Takistan and Zargabad.)

Just using this example to illustrate that "user-made map usable in persistent online gameplay" has already happened. ;)

Here's Ivan and Jay telling PC Gamer that they were in fact following DayZ's development for possible applicable knowledge for ARMA 3 development:

RPS: What can you tell us about the plans for multiplayer support in Arma 3? Are Rocket’s experiments with Day Z going to feed into that at all? Should we expect any persistent aspects to Arma 3′s multiplayer?

Ivan: It is hard to tell at the moment, as it would be nonsense just to take the DayZ ruleset and stitch it to Arma 3, but we are carefully examining the possibilities and are excited where this may lead us. Dean’s solutions and lessons learned from running a persistent multiplayer mod are very useful in identifying the weak spots in the current multiplayer code. Arma 3 will surely benefit from the recent Arrowhead patches oriented on the DayZ improvements, but it is impossible to tell if and how we would add any persistence.

Jay: It’s clear we’d need to be careful about approaching the quite evident problems one can run into with persistent worlds and big, public databases; particularly, when evaluating making that tricky transition from a ‘diamond-in-the-rough’ mod to a ‘wait, why isn’t my retail game working’ mindset.

[[aps]gnat 28]

here's one game server company outright advertising those along with four BI islands.

Game server companies commercialising via addons that were provided for free ....... ?

Thats starting to edge into a breach of the games EULA and the user agreement with the terrain makers, in my view.

Me and ArmA3?

Hoping I can finally create ArmA3 : Harpoon or ArmA3 : Dangerous Waters :D

[chortles 263]

Gnat;2240554']Me and ArmA3?

Hoping I can finally create ArmA3 : Harpoon or ArmA3 : Dangerous Waters :D

This here to me is where the potential for ARMA lies... not in how realistic it is (as pointed out elsewhere' date=' it's NOT realistic, just moreso than [i']some[/i] games) but in what can be done with the engine and modding framework.

I'm not sure what's actually advertised by the mentions of those islands, though to be charitable to HFB Servers it could just be "we find/get the island addons up and running on your server with no work on your part required (since you paid us to do that for you as part of your server deal)".

[nodunit 397]

This here to me is where the potential for ARMA lies... not in how realistic it is (as pointed out elsewhere, it's NOT realistic, just moreso than some games) but in what can be done with the engine and modding framework.

Yeap, and to a degree, daft as it may sound, the fact that it can appeal to those that want simple or more complex works to its favor.

As for me..depends on what catches the eye the most, gamescom had some very promising things but I think it best to wait for a more recent video after all the hush hush before making plans.

[[aps]gnat 28]

Yep.

And 50x 100k poly models with super textures don't make a great game.

The OFP and ArmA formula by all accounts produces great games with exception longevity.

IF BIS could just improve the tools they provide addon makers, we'd be in heaven.

[[evo] dan 79]

Or rather streamline the tools so we could use professional tools better.

If they have the TOH flightmodel in A3, I will port over the Mi2 when its ready.

[R0adki11 3945]

I for one have a few plans for Arma3, though they are reliant on getting a new PC so i can actually play it. However i plan to bring over my Nogovan Armed Forces mod to Arma3, as i have done with Arma2, Arma and OFP :)

[Flash Thunder 10]

Java will be interesting to see play out.

Seeing ported content mainly at first.

[slatts 1978]

I have a few things I'd love to do, Taking a look at the possibilities with Java will be interesting.

[Veltoss 1]

Speaking of mods, has there been any recent info on what kind of tools Arma 3 will have? Will it be a lot like Arma 2's tools (like Visitor 3), or is there new/better tools? I think they could really have a much bigger mod community if their tools were a little more user friendly.

[[aps]gnat 28]

Yeh, wondering about Oxygen ..... didn't I read that the BIS guys are now using 3dMax ?

Really hope it (eventually) comes with Visitor4 ......

[PuFu 4591]

Gnat;2241043']Yeh' date=' wondering about Oxygen ..... didn't I read that the BIS guys are now using 3dMax ?

Really hope it (eventually) comes with Visitor4 ......[/quote']

BIS devs are using maya modo mudbox and motionbuilder afaik.

external developers, mostly max and modo ;)

don't quote me on that one though :p

[smookie 11]

BIS devs are using maya modo mudbox and motionbuilder afaik.

external developers, mostly max and modo ;)

don't quote me on that one though :p

notepad, notepad you fool! ;)

[dmarkwick 261]

I use a stack of punched cards.

[[frl]myke 14]

boons :D

http://hackertyper.com/

[PuFu 4591]

notepad, notepad you fool! ;)

and a pen/pencil I presume ;)

that is also my number one work tool ;) - the notepad needs to be a moleskine though :p