Editing Questions

[anthropoid 1]

I have taken my first steps into the world of Arma2 mission editing, and I have to say, unlike previous attempts to make missions I'm finding it rather absorbing!

I have been making use of several of the terrific resources listed here; MulleDK's tutorials on basic editing were _integral_ to me getting going! Thanks for those MulleDK!

http://www.armaholic.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=6751

Phantom's Mission site has also been invaluable in getting me going. Thanks Phantom!

http://phantommissionsite.weebly.com/

I've fiddled with the editor for maybe 10 or 15 hours and managed to get a prototype mission working that I played in Preview for 30 min and LOVED it! I was going to do an ambush mission, but decided that getting all the waypoints and stuff to work was a bit too daunting so have switched to a simple assault mission. First mission will be entitled "Night at Nur" and will involve a USMC FR squad of 9 or 10 men assaulting a "Takiban" munitions cache in the village of Nur in the darkest of night. Having got a previous version of it to work pretty much exactly how I wanted once and played it, I am confident I am actually going to finish this sucker and make it available to the community! :) I intend to make it a Coop mission (modeled on my limited experience playing with the CiA clan) but to design it so that it can also be played SP and could easily be ported into an SP version (although perhaps considerably more challenging to finish SP).

Even though I am aware of all the resources available and I want to be as little of a pest as possible, I think I will inevitably have a few questions that I struggle to find answers to so I appreciate any of you experts indulging me by providing any answers you can in this thread.

First questions:

1. I am attempting to create a 'house clearing' scenario in which the friendlies must go house to house searching for ammo crates (with unknown hostiles lurking in the buildings) and I have encountered an issue for which I cannot find an answer: exact positioning of ammo crates inside buildings.

a. I would do this in 3d mode but when I try to open a mission that I started in 2d mode in 3d mode I don't see that option. When I try to build a mission in 3d mode, the first step of assigning a player unit is not possible because my Unit and Group drop down menus are nonfunctional. Perhaps there is an app or something I need to activate?

b. Using the <this setCaptive true> script to make my player invulnerable to enemies is proving to be invaluable for Previewing and this combined opening and closing Preview to shift crafts slightly allows me to move crates to pretty much the exact X,Y coordinates that I want in the game world (inside buildings). But I'm not seeing a way to set ammo crates inside a building on a 2nd or 3rd floor, i.e., to set the Z coordinate.

Is that possible?

Edited April 16, 2013 by Anthropoid

[xxanimusxx 2]

The file formats of the missions saved when in 3D and 2D mode are different so you can't open them in both, you have to stick to one of them. There are, however, tools to convert 2D/3D missions somewhere if you really need them.

Holding the ALT-Key on your keyboard while moving your mouse will change the Z-Value of the object you've selected.

If that doesn't work, you can set the Z-Value in the init-field of the object using: "relPos = getPosATL this; rePos set [2, HEIGHT]; this setPosATL relPos;"

There are several topics concerning placement in buildings in this forum which got tons of replies so I guess you've to search a little or wait for another user to remember the links :>

[sander 14]

Yes, use a setpos statement to place the crate at the desired height and a setvectorUp statement to ensure it is horizontally placed (should the house be on an incline it might otherwise follow the terrain countour rather than the level floor of the building), so in the init line one would type something like:

this setPos [ getPos this select 0, getPos this select 1, (getPos this select 2) +3.45]; this setVectorup [0,0,1];

Be advised though that positioning crates on higher floors can result in comedy effects as many a building is immediately destroyed by a satchel charge detonation, whereas the crate will burn up for a while before sinking into the ground. This may result in a burning crate floating in the air above the ruined remains of the building before the flames go out and it will slowly descend. Therefore it is better to place them on the ground floor to avoid such surreal side effects.

Regards,

Sander

[anthropoid 1]

Thank you gentlemen.

Thanks for that headsup on the Monty Python effect Sander. I really enjoy your missions; some of them seem virtually unwinnable!

I think I'll try it in Preview mode and see if it is too outlandish.

Speaking of surreal comedic effects . . . I had a good (and perhaps somewhat disturbing) laugh last night when I realized that with the setCaptive script I was free to plant satchel charges at the base of unsuspecting Takistani Militiamen's feet. It is not often that you get to play "How Not to be Seen" with the AI :D

[anthropoid 1]

Progress!

Using a combination of several different sources (most of them quite old) I'm beginning to piece together understanding of the final elements to make a complete functioning mission; most notably the briefing, and linking in game changes to mission status (Task completion and mission completion).

Most recently I've been making use of this old page:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?73424-Basic-Briefing-howto/page3

The Briefing: (Got It: Basic briefings are showing up just fine)

Tasks: (Yep Got that too, I have managed to create my first functioning tasks that highlight map markers when I activate them!)

Task completion: (Yep, managed to trigger a green light on a Task by killing a target)

For this I used a 5m circular Trigger on the map with:

Activation: NONE

Type: None

Condition: !(alive o1)

On Act.: Task1 setTaskState "SUCCEEDED"

I have an AK-74 riflemen named "o1" on my map and when I sportingly shot him in the back of the head with my trusty DMR rifle, I found that my Task 1 was marked green! Yaaayy.

player createDiaryRecord ["Diary", ["Mission", "Marine special operator will conduct direct action inside enemy territory at the village of Nur."]];

Task1 = player createSimpleTask ["Task 1"];

Task1 setSimpleTaskDescription ["Kill the guard.", "Task 1", "Kill the guard."];

Task1 setSimpleTaskDestination (getMarkerPos "m1");

Task1 setTaskComplete "SUCCEEDED"; hint "You've completed Task 1!";

As you can see I've copied Mike84's format on the Hint from his old "how to make a briefing" page. Although the Task 1 changed to green (as did the on map marker) I did not get a "Hint" (the popup) to alert me that Task 1 was completed. Is something wrong with my syntax? Or am I just completely missing something for a Hint popup?

[xxanimusxx 2]

setTaskComplete is not a valid command :D

You really should look into script error output while developing missions, preferably using the startup parameter -showScriptErrors

I'd use a taskHint instead of hint, well, because it's... flashier? :D

[anthropoid 1]

With respect to the floating burning crates, I have luckily selected a building where the 'destroyed' animations are suitable. I was going to go so far as to provide a screen cap but then my prospective first time mission users would get a hint where at least one of my crates was located and that wouldn't do ;)

Suffice to say, one of the two-story buildings in Takistan village of Nur, has some remnants of its internal walls and floor remaining when it is destroyed. positioning the crates in that spot makes the effect seem almost believable and creates a MUCH more interesting house-to-house search scenario!

The actual position I used was:

this setPos [ getPos this select 0, getPos this select 1, (getPos this select 2) +3.375]; this setVectorup [0,0,1];

Thanks for that bit of code Sander!

Interesting to see that you can do this with soldiers too . . . THAT! is gonna be useful alright! I guess soldiers have a different 'point of spawn' than crates because the code I had to use to get my player soldier to spawn on the same floor with the crate was:

this setPos [ getPos this select 0, getPos this select 1, (getPos this select 2) +2.0]; this setVectorup [0,0,1];

Very interesting. I'm liking this stuff and looking forward to getting some missions done so I can torment my fellow players with tricky puzzles.

ADDIT: And thank you so much for that link on Task Hints XxAnimusxX!! So fast of response and so helpful! I almost feel like its the support channel :)

---------- Post added at 20:36 ---------- Previous post was at 19:05 ----------

Any good links for tutorials/how-tos dealing with calling in an extraction?

I've tried setting an aircraft off in the distance not flying, and creating a trigger at an extraction zone with Opfor present. This does seem to work at triggering the aircraft to go airborne and come to the landing site. But then even with a Load waypoint and

On Act.: Hotel7 land "LAND" (with an MV-22 named Hotel7) he just flies around in circles above the landing site. He is set to careless and no enemies are shooting at him.

MulleDK seemed to struggle with this in his tutorial video, although he did manage to get it to work. Will have to look back at his video.

[anthropoid 1]

Wow so many resources to learn how to edit in this game.

I thought this old thread seemed kinda useless till I spotted the last couple pages with 20 Youtubes linked!

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?85932-How-to-use-the-3d-Editor-Tutorial

This guys how to video is exemplary for how to help a true noob get past that initial point of brick wall and I cannot get past it

[sander 14]

For editing you take the right approach by cutting up the problems in small parts and testing them each in turn. That makes debugging a lot easier than making something complicated where it is not directly clear where problems are caused.

For extractions there are some tricks that can be employed to ensure the aircraft lands. One of them is to have a separate AI group in the helicopter and giving that helicopter an Unload type waypoint on an invisible helipad. That way the bird reliably descends to the extraction point and it looks good to see a security element disembarking to provide cover as well. The unload waypoint will have a condition in it to wait till the entire playergroup is inside before the previously unloaded AI are made members of the helicopter crew group and provided with assignascargo and ordergetin true statements in the on activation field. A second close by waypoint is then only activated when the entire crew group is on board and then the bird flies off back home for tea and medals all around.

A demo version for the method is available at:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~svdorst/co06_extraction_demo.Chernarus.rar

But since it features in a couple of dozen of my scenario's, you can depbo them and look in there too.

Regards,

Sander

[anthropoid 1]

Thank you sir!

I think I have all the resources I need to finish the final steps to completing my first Coop mission:

1. Make use of this interesting technique for house placements

http://phantommissionsite.weebly.com/unit-inside-building-radiotrigger.html

2. Figure out how to write my briefing and tasks via Varanon's task tracker

http://ciahome.net/forum/index.php?topic=2805.0

3. Figure out how to make the mission end

4. Put it all together, polish it and let the guys tear it up!

---------- Post added at 10:23 ---------- Previous post was at 08:23 ----------

*sigh* Ah the agony of noobness. Amazing how when you don't know what you are doing, even the simplest of operations can prove to be cul de sac . . .

I believe I have messed up my installation of CPBO and that the application is now not going to work correctly unless I do something like edit out the registry keys that it has created. Here is what I did.

I downloaded Kegetys Arma tools package from here

http://www.kegetys.fi/arma/

Resulting in this:

C:\ArmA2 DLs\cpbo\tools07072010.zip

I then extract that zip to that directory.

Not realizing that it might not work right if run from there, I then find the

C:\ArmA2 DLs\cpbo\cpbo\cpbo.exe

and left-click it, which results in this:

http://imageshack.us/a/img38/1332/cpborun1.jpg (151 kB)

I click yes, which leads to this

http://imageshack.us/a/img42/9486/cpborun.jpg

Now I go to my target .pbo to "depbo" it

C:\Users\Owner\Documents\ArmA 2 Other Profiles\Anthropoid\missions\ExtractionDemo.Chernarus

and right-click it, but nothing like a "Run with CPBO" option.

When I manually select the CPBO.exe and tell it to run the file, it spontaneously runs Arma2_CO and loads the mission in singleplayer game mode.

Thinking "Ah hah! I needed to extract that .zip into a directory that Windows Explorer recognizes as an application directory, I copy the CPBO directory to this location (prompting Windows to tell me I need to give it Administrator privileges)

C:\Program Files (x86)\cpbo\cpbo\cpbo.exe

But sadly, when I execute that, I get the same results.

So now, I'm guessing that I have improperly installed the CPBO.exe and that the registry keys are going to have to be deleted in order to properly install it?

Apologies if I really should ask this in a different thread or even a different forum.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Anthropoid

[anthropoid 1]

My first mission is very close to being finished. But I'm a bit lost on how to get the entire thing to package into a .pbo.

If I have a couple of script files (e.g., fhqtt.sqf; HousePatrol.sqf; ammo.sqf) do those all get packaged into the .pbo?

I created it in the singleplayer editor so I hope that that will not be a problem with exporting it for Coop play?

I name it: co11_oa_Nuratnight and select Export to multiplayer folder, then look in

C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\ArmA 2 OA\MPMissionsCache

I see all the missions that have imported from the coop server I have been playing on with the CiA clan, but my mission is not there. Also not in:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\MPMissions

I have no idea where the .pbo is.

When I select send by email, I get a functioning .pbo. When I copy that to my SP missions folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Missions\co11_oa_NightatNur

and copy over the folder with my scripts, the mission seems to load and run fine as long as I put my script .sqf files in a folder with the .pbo, but I was under the impression that Coop missions run completely from the .pbo?

[sander 14]

The script files ought to be in the same folder as the remainder of the mission file (mission.sqm, description.ext etc) and will then be packaged into the pbo.

It does not matter whether a mission intended for coop is exported as a SP mission, that only stores the file in a different default location. Just copy it over from the Missions - to the MPMissions folder. Exporting it as a MP mission will just store it directly into theMPMissions folder.

C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\ArmA 2 OA\MPMissionsCache is the location where files downloaded from a MP server are stored. Your own creations that are exported as an MP mission ought to appear as a packed pbo file in the \Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\MPMissions folder, at least when done so from the 2D editor.

When you talk about naming the file, is co11_oa_Nuratnight the name you saved it as a user mission? Then there ought to be a folder co11_oa_Nuratnight.Takistan in the My Documents subfolder with your profile. That folder name will determine the file name of the pbo, not the name you give it in the description.ext or in the mission.sqm.

Regards,

Sander

[anthropoid 1]

Phantom's simple suggestion to compile the folder I created in into a .pbo seems to have worked ;)

I posted the draft mission over to the CiA forums. Appreciate any feedback or suggestions!

http://ciahome.net/forum/index.php?topic=2838.msg19192#msg19192

[anthropoid 1]

In my next mission, I would like to make a small OPFOR group defeat a group of BLUFOR "geurillas" (backstory is along the lines of the Lost mission; WWIII has happened, Takistan is basically under OPFOR control [mostly Takistani "Insurgents", but also Takistani Army and some Russian]), but small groups of stragglers remain scattered throughout Takistan. A group of them have formed up led by "Captain Steven Shannon" and taken over a town.

The OPFOR group must assault the town, and among other tasks: commandeer weapons and munitions along with at least one vehicle.

I see that Kylania has this awesome stuff on his page

http://www.kylania.com/ex/?p=124

But this seems to deal with a player having items in its inventory.

What I would like to do if it is possible is to set a task to be completed if a certain threshold number of specific weapon and ammo items that are under BLUFOR control (and mostly in ammo crates) are put into an OPFOR controlled ammo crate (which starts the mission empty using the clearmagazinecargo _this; clearweaponcargo _this;).

The crate to which the trigger will be tied will be some distance away from the town at an OPFOR base. Which means it will be necessary to commandeer a vehicle that can carry the items from the area where the town back to the OPFOR base.

So in sum, the idea is:

1. BLUFOR guerillas have taken control of a town and have a weapons cache(s) that include at least the following:

_this addmagazinecargo ["30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", 50];

_this addmagazinecargo ["Mine", 10];

_this addmagazinecargo ["HandGrenade_West", 50];

_this addmagazinecargo ["PipeBomb", 20];

2. OPFOR must assault the town and seize the weapons cache(s)

3. OPFOR must transport the captured munitions back to their base

Would it be possible to set a trigger to fire under the condition that the OPFOR crate that starts the mission empty has the following in it:

_this magazinecargo ["30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", >49] "PRESENT";

_this magazinecargo ["Mine", >9] "PRESENT";

_this magazinecargo ["HandGrenade_West", >49] "PRESENT";

_this magazinecargo ["PipeBomb", >19] "PRESENT";

I see that setting an object as "PRESENT" is an option to fire a trigger, but I'm not sure about the syntax.

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/setTriggerActivation

[sander 14]

It is a good mission concept, but there are some limitations that must be kept in mind when creating a scenario that depends on weapons and ammo being transferred from the one container to the next one to prevent the mission from becoming incompletable:

* Make sure that destruction of either the start and/or end container for the magazines results in an appropriate mission failure ending (making both indestructible might be the easiest and foolproof solution).

* Ensure that the magazines that need transfer are not of a type that can be fired by any weapon present in the mission. If one were to take a weapon and fire off some magazines it could prevent the trigger checking for a certain number of magazines for that type to reach the end container from ever kicking off.

* Make sure that there are no vehicles or backpacks in the mission. Both can act as containers of magazines and can be destroyed, thus preventing the magazines from ever reaching their intended destination.

* Ensure no units have the capability of making bodies disappear, again this could prevent the magazines from being recovered and reaching the intended end destination

Murphy's law will strike in missions and break the concept unless one thinks of the various possibilities how achieving the objective can be broken by the mechanics of the game. Handgrenades and pipebombs can be thrown or detonated by players, so these are less suitable candidates for the objective. Personally I would pick the magazines for a .50 sniper rifle as the objective for example and then make sure no such weapons are around. One can make up a plausible reason why these rounds need to be recovered in the briefing and they are not as commonly used in small arms as the Stanags.

Regards,

Sander

Edited April 24, 2013 by sander

[anthropoid 1]

Excellent suggestions Sander. I think I'll leave the BLUFOR container as destructible. That way, if the OPFOR (human) team uses too much firepower in storming the geurilla base, they risk destroying the weapons cache they are seeking to capture.

Excellent suggestion on the unusual ammo types. That would exclude satchels, mines and grenades. I think the way I'll work it is: the OPFOR team (which I intend to be Takistani geurillas) will come equipped with AKMs (maybe a couple of Sa-58V ACOG in the team). There will be no weapons in the mission that use 30Rnd_545x39_AK, 100Rnd_762x54_PK, strela, igla or metis. All the BLUFOR opponents weapons will use various standard BLUFOR weapons and the ammo that needs to be commandeered will be all .545_AK, 100Rnd_762, strela, igla and metis.