Questions on features that will be improved from ArmA 2 to 2

[Flogger23m 2]

Hello all,

I have been playing the ArmA 3 Alpha for a while and I am thinking of pre-ordering the full game. Though there were some improvements I had wanted to see in ArmA 3 that have been absent in the Alpha. I understand it is an Alpha and is not complete, so I am wondering if the following things are going to be updated/changed in the final version of ArmA 3:

-Will we be able to get a GUI for mission complete/fail conditions in the mission editor? For example, in Jane's USAF and LOMAC/DCS you can set conditions to pass/fail a mission, such as unit X being destroyed, or unit X being in a certain trigger zone via a quick to use GUI interface. In ArmA 2, and the ArmA 3 Alpha, it looks as though you must type in scripts to even do a basic mission win/loss condition. Will such a feature be added to the editor by the release of the full ArmA 3 game?

- 3D mode which can switch back to the 2D mode on the fly. I really enjoyed using this in Jane's USAF (1999 mind you) as it made placing objects easy. No such mode seems to be in the ArmA 3 editor.

- Will we be able to change the loadout of soldiers in the editor through a GUI (like DCS & USAF)? Currently you have to type out a long script to add/remove weapons and magazines. I am wondering if there will be a GUI where we can select weapon, magazine, ammo type, equipment and amounts through the editor with a GUI interface.

- New AI squad command menu. Are there any plans for a SWAT 4 style list to command the AI? I find it much quicker and easier to navigate than the ArmA 1/2/3 Alpha style.

- Will modders be able to create new reload animations for new weapons? For example, if a modder adds in an AK, will we be stuck with the set of provided animations or can new an entirely new one?

These were the most important changes I had wanted to see in ArmA 3. Thanks for reading.

[PuFu 4600]

Hello all,

I have been playing the ArmA 3 Alpha for a while and I am thinking of pre-ordering the full game. Though there were some improvements I had wanted to see in ArmA 3 that have been absent in the Alpha. I understand it is an Alpha and is not complete, so I am wondering if the following things are going to be updated/changed in the final version of ArmA 3:

I assume you mean A3 Alpha Lite. Otherwise, you already own the game (and access to all the development stages).

-Will we be able to get a GUI for mission complete/fail conditions in the mission editor? For example, in Jane's USAF and LOMAC/DCS you can set conditions to pass/fail a mission, such as unit X being destroyed, or unit X being in a certain trigger zone via a quick to use GUI interface. In ArmA 2, and the ArmA 3 Alpha, it looks as though you must type in scripts to even do a basic mission win/loss condition. Will such a feature be added to the editor by the release of the full ArmA 3 game?

This is false. You can already build simple to medium missions using nothing but the editor, without using any external scripts. (some commands might be required though).

But you can happily create win/loose conditions using ONLY the built in tools and triggers.

- 3D mode which can switch back to the 2D mode on the fly. I really enjoyed using this in Jane's USAF (1999 mind you) as it made placing objects easy. No such mode seems to be in the ArmA 3 editor.

It was planned, but no one around here can tell you if by the time A3 will go gold this feature will make it in. Might come later during post-release development though.

- Will we be able to change the loadout of soldiers in the editor through a GUI (like DCS & USAF)? Currently you have to type out a long script to add/remove weapons and magazines. I am wondering if there will be a GUI where we can select weapon, magazine, ammo type, equipment and amounts through the editor with a GUI interface.

Although this would be appreciated and good direction to take (especially considering all the other efforts BIS put in to make this game more newb friendly/accessible), i really really doubt it. For some weird reason this sort of thing seems to be really low on the priority list of BIS, and this cannot really be modded by some skilled community member either.

- New AI squad command menu. Are there any plans for a SWAT 4 style list to command the AI? I find it much quicker and easier to navigate than the ArmA 1/2/3 Alpha style.

no plans.

- Will modders be able to create new reload animations for new weapons? For example, if a modder adds in an AK, will we be stuck with the set of provided animations or can new an entirely new one?

Yes, creating new reload animations (or any other animation for that matter) is very much possible. That said, BIS should really put down a proper pipeline workflow for getting this anims from external modelling/animation packages into the aging and (rather) hardheaded O2.

[Flogger23m 2]

Thanks for the reply. For the mission pass/fail I was hoping to see something like this:

http://spare-time-pilots.de/Gamefiles/BlackShark/Mods/BlindspotsModdedME/BLINDSPOTs_ModdedME.jpg

Select a unit from a drop down menu, select some conditions (unit destroyed within 5 minutes) and then have an action (mission ends). You can clone them with the press of a button and modify the unit number for different units to be added. Much easier are more clean than the little Initialization line in ArmA IMO.

Though it seems like this stuff is a lower priority, which is too bad. I was looking towards general improvements like this rather than getting underwater combat. I'll have to look into it further but I may just stick with ArmA 2. Again, thanks for the helpful reply.