Arma II and Operation Arrowhead Islands successfully imported

[sakura_chan 9]

I've just about finished importing the older islands, complete with the new sky, HDR lighting, and NO pop-up errors or .rpt errors. The main caveat is that I won't be even attempting to import the old soldiers, weapons or vehicles. The basic logic behind this is that you cannot simply import an A2 vehicle to A3 in a 1:1 manner. It requires a huge re-write of the config, and there is a very good chance that BIS will be doing it for us at some point anyways. But the good news is that you should be able to run an island designed for A2 without error (I actually did this to use wgl_palms). I'll try to include an addon that applies the new lighting and sky to old maps, as currently they will use their original lighting unless (easily) modified. Some might prefer the original lighting so I'll make it optional.

What I had to do:

-----------------

Added a bunch of dummy cfgPatch entries for deleted pbos. No requiredAddOn errors

Removed a few hundred stringtable entries that were duplicates of A3 ones

Modified the faction and vehicleclass of a few warfare buildings

Privatized some public units, mostly from water2.pbo so I could use the LHD in Utes without errors

New sounds.pbo, A2 and OA only needed 3 sound files from the original

What needs to be done

------------------------

Fix a .rpt error where it generates a long list of missing bones in OFP2Skeleton, probably from a vehicle cargo animation

Add new ambient life to the islands. The original animals aren't there anymore so I'll rebuild that with A3 critters and fish

I would like to try importing the A2 animals. I had a vision of ragdoll cows and satchel charges.

fix the intro missions so they don't use missing addons "can not play due to missing addon" message

update the streetlamps, they currently look like they did in A2 (no flares)

Well it does need a little more work, but currently you can start A3, load up an A2 map, make a mission, and play it without any pop up warnings or messed up UI. I was impressed that the older islands don't look dated at all, they look awesome in the new lighting and moving through some of the bigger buildings (like Devil's Castle) is really smooth with the new controls!

[r3volution 0]

This is about 50 kinds of awesome. Since my first try of the new engine in A3 I've been insanely keen to revisit some of the content from A2 and OA! I then keep having visions of being able to use the version of Cherno from the DayZ standalone... ;)

Great work!!!!

[mjr.hassle 13]

This is great! Been hoping for a maps only port. Love the idea of playing on Takistan with the new stance system. Thanks for putting the time into this. I'll be watching eagerly! :)

[nouty 10]

WOW. This is extremely cool! Arma 3 is slowly becoming playable, even before the release! Thanks to the most awesome community in the world! :)

[ebarstad 18]

This is great! Been hoping for a maps only port. Love the idea of playing on Takistan with the new stance system. Thanks for putting the time into this. I'll be watching eagerly! :)

Took the words right out of my mouth. I love the Takistan maps and A3's movement. Can't wait!

[fully 1]

I took this a few weeks ago!

http://imageshack.us/a/img546/4017/arma320130318202344028.jpg (365 kB)

[MasterDon 10]

I'd like to see Takistan sometime soon! Love this good long awaited news!

[sakura_chan 9]

Just thought I would throw some pics in before I go to bed. The new A3 shadows just kick ass.

Chernogorsk

Chernarus @ 12000 view distance

[Leaulux 2]

The maps look amazing with the new lighting engine in ARMA 3!

Are these islands considered "New Maps" or will we have to do some kind of synchronization between our ARMA 2 and ARMA 3 files?

[meshcarver 12]

@sakura chan,

This is fantastic mate, very impressive.

Does this mean you will be supplying this as an addon, or giving us mere mortals instructions exactly as how to do this in noob language? ;)

[gvse 10]

Looks absolutely wonderful. I can hardly wait for a release or instructions how to get the new lighting into the old islands.

[papanowel 120]

Do you have shadow issue or it works like a charme?

[Harzach 2517]

Wow! Chernarus looks like a new map. Excited!

[denco 16]

You're the boss Sakura :)

[Mabe 1]

wow man just wow. Do you plan on doing other maps like clafghan etc

[sakura_chan 9]

Hopefully the end result is that we won't have to "do maps", the original A2 map will work in A3 just fine. You will need to copy most A2 pbos but it is really straightforward.

@Papanowel - no issues, it works great

[Defunkt 431]

Looks great. Hopefully you'll consider doing the same for ArmA 1 islands.

[liukang168 1]

Here is what I did but I do get some errors, though you can play ... maybe a tutorial from you would be neat.

Here: http://www.elithor.com

***updated the tutorial ***

Remember this will still be buggy and not the solution from this thread!

Edited March 29, 2013 by liukang168

[andersson 285]

Very nice, thank you :)

Looks great. Hopefully you'll consider doing the same for ArmA 1 islands.

Oh yes please...

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Keep up the hard work, Sakura. Looking forward to traipsing the Proving Grounds again soon. :)

[papanowel 120]

@Papanowel - no issues, it works great

Great news, once you get rid of all the small error it will be awesome for us :)

[tremanarch 6]

awesome pics!

[Wilco 944]

Ive followed a few guides online and I managed to get mod islands working ingame (Obviously with errors) and other addons. Things look good.

[Raptor 10]

wow, absolutly stuning! :)

[Vilos Cohaagen 1]

Those pics blew me away - Chernarus with the new lighting model looks incredible. I cannot wait for this.