Future Release Cycles for Arma 3 and Onward?

[_Mofo_ 1]

Well _Mofo_ BIS have to and do care primarily about that their own project/game and that it stays enjoyable out of the box. If someone is screwing around and "forget" to make a proper addon/mod or replacement - this person is responsible for his work and bugs too. As for your example the error message could be: "Mission 1337 requires maple trees version 0 addon!" or a little bit different: "This mission is using modified content, please download and activate addon "maple tree version 0" !" This is simply more userfriendly and helpful (maybe even faster) than forcing every player to search for certain + working pbo files in the internet.... Btw where is the problem with Nothing against some alternative and oldschool download options just in case of "shit happens"....

Right... so if the "MODDER" fuburs the MOD... how is the base game to know what is jacked up?

The simulator has a structure for how mods are able to interact with the engine. If the modder writes a mod and it's "proper" then the devs theroretically COULD give a proper errors message.

EXAMPLE:

If the simulator had a specific function to read certain information from the top of the mod... then the pbo structure could be like...

mod_name = "Example Mod"

mod_version = "1.0"

mod_website = "http://www.example_mod.com"

mod_author = "Example Author"

So that the mod authors could list information that goes into the error message IF the end user doesn't have the correct module version etc it would popup this information in the error message or w/e. That would be the best approach.

But at the same time, let's say they have that in place and the MODDER does "NOT" put that information in the mod... then what? How should the engine handle the error now? The only way it can handle it is just how it's doing now by telling the end user that "Example.pbo" is missing and the end user needs to figure out that they are missing some pbo that is needed to play on that server.

[maddogx 13]

But at the same time, let's say they have that in place and the MODDER does "NOT" put that information in the mod... then what? How should the engine handle the error now? The only way it can handle it is just how it's doing now by telling the end user that "Example.pbo" is missing and the end user needs to figure out that they are missing some pbo that is needed to play on that server.

Easy solution: make this information mandatory. If it's not there, the game will throw an error/warning on startup and not load the mod. This way addon makers will not "forget" to add it.

[NoRailgunner 0]

If the addon/mod has bugs - report them, most likely these things will get fixed sooner or later. Addons/mods with missing stuff don't start or start with an error message. If there is a error message - start A2OA only with this addon/mod to see if its still happen, if "no" = something else is wrong or incompatible; if "yes" = re-install or re-download addon/mod, look for updates/hotfixes and inform the creator. Simple.

[metalcraze 290]

metalcraze - you do know that BIS were and still are very cautious about "cutting out stuff" and do prefer not to break default game missions with their own updates and IF they probably do/will announce it?

I wasn't talking about BI content.

[NoRailgunner 0]

Sure? Just because if maybe re-read your own comments ....

What if I have ArmA2 installed and it will tell me I'm "missing ArmA2 content" just because maybe there was some pbo added/deleted in some patch?....

:rolleyes:

[_Mofo_ 1]

Easy solution: make this information mandatory. If it's not there, the game will throw an error/warning on startup and not load the mod. This way addon makers will not "forget" to add it.

And here we go into the circular conversation. The game DOES throw an error... it says... "cannot play this mod, missing content... XXXX".... Which was my earlier point that the game already provides information to the end user to use to solve their own problems.

You (the end user) are booted from the server if you have missing or corrupted mod content that the server requires.

[maddogx 13]

And here we go into the circular conversation. The game DOES throw an error... it says... "cannot play this mod, missing content... XXXX".... Which was my earlier point that the game already provides information to the end user to use to solve their own problems.

You (the end user) are booted from the server if you have missing or corrupted mod content that the server requires.

I think you misunderstood my meaning. The whole point of the conversation is making the "missing addons" error message more descriptive.

At the moment, whenever you add mod/addon content to a mission, I believe the name of the CfgPatches entry of that addon is listed in the mission.sqm file. That name is also what shows up in the error message if that particular mod happens to be missing on the client (for example "missing addon ca_a10", or whatever). The problem is that this name may not be immediately recognizable to the average user (i.e. it is often non-descriptive).

The point I was making is this: instead of just adding this non-descriptive name, force addon makers to add more info to the CfgPatches entry (author name, web url etc.) and then copy all of this information into the mission.sqm when required. This way, the error messages about missing addon content can be made much more descriptive to the end user.

[_Mofo_ 1]

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?145319-Future-Release-Cycles-for-Arma-3-and-Onward&p=2290169&viewfull=1#post2290169

Kinda thought I already said exactly that.

But the problem arise WHEN the modder DOES NOT put the information in there... or say the information somehow gets corrupt on the end users machine... then what? How does the engine provide an error message if that specific information can't be read?

It would basically fall directly back to what it does now and tells you SPECIFICALLY what file is jacked up.

Example:

When Day Z is activated and players try to join a Wasteland server, they get a message saying something similar to "deleted chernarus.water" or something like that... because in the eyes of the engine... the user HAS a chernarus map... it's just modified from what that particular server is looking for.

Then the error is thrown letting the use know that some things are missing and they can't play on the server.

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We are basically saying the same thing... it's just I take it a step further and say.. "What happens when the system fails... then what? What's plan B?" And plan B is exactly what they do now.

[maddogx 13]

Now we really are going in circles... :rolleyes:

Kinda thought I already said exactly that.

I know. I answered that post, in fact with the answer to ...

But the problem arise WHEN the modder DOES NOT put the information in there...

... that. And I repeat: make it mandatory. If the mission maker does not provide the info, the addon throws an error/warning on startup.

And before you say "but that's just another error message!" again, actually think it through.

1. Addon maker makes addon.

2. Addon maker tests addon.

3. Aforementioned info is missing? Addon maker gets error.

4. Addon maker adds info to addon.

5. Addon now contains pertinent info. Everyone is happy.

If an addon maker releases an addon without that info to the public, that basically means he didn't test it (which is bad in any case). Players will see the error immediately on startup and he will learn from that mistake.

or say the information somehow gets corrupt on the end users machine... then what?

How does the engine provide an error message if that specific information can't be read?

If the info is corrupt then the addon is corrupt and the sig check will fail anyway. Simple as that.

It would basically fall directly back to what it does now and tells you SPECIFICALLY what file is jacked up.

Wrong.