Userfriendly Editor?

[ZoneTrooper 10]

Hey guys i just wanted to ask what you think about a more userfriendly Editor for ARMA 3? i mean atm you have to do manny options and settings out of the Editor,to creat awesome Mods like Wasteland.So right now when you create a missions everything is fine, but when you go for MP its a different story.Everything starts with placing units making routes,triggers,where they spawn etc but then you have to make scripts,and thats what i REALY hate.Leaving the game,creating extra txts filling them up with messages etc and then TEST,TEST,TEST until it works.Thats just so much work that you need ages until you completet the modification like you wanna have it,it would be cool to see more options in the Editor like you place a unit,example a Car and then at the same location you can choose a timer for repsawn,like if destroyed it respawns in 2 min,or if the vehicle wasn´t used after somene was inside it respawns in 10 mins.Or stuff like loot-pool for vehicles and soldiers in MP a example,you place some vehicles all over the map and then you choose a window near the vehicle,where you can put in items that you want,these item fill up the item list for the spawned vehicle,the vehicles are differented in groups like civilian,military/light/heavy,choppers,jets,boats.And after saving the map only the stuff that is inside the loot list will spawn inside of these vehicles,and then you can go on to military vehicles and pack them up with rifles,backpacks,vests,NV-googels,atm i play alot of Wasteland but it sucks to rewrite the scripts all the time so that civilian vehicles spawn without weapons,because thats pretty unrealistic.

Or you can choose this option to create gunstore´s on the map,addin a vendor wher you can sell every of your items,and you can choose how much you can buy and sell it,so that these feature´s make editing much easier then it is atm.

[Anachoretes 10]

awesome Mods like Wasteland

No comments.

[gossamersolid 155]

First of all: Please learn to format your posts so that people can read it properly. Nobody likes to read a block of text.

Second of all: Welcome to mission development. Any complex mission WILL require scripting, which does require working with outside files. No mission editor will ever allow you to just copy and paste a bunch of things and end up with a mission like Wasteland.

I'm not going to answer the rest of your post because it makes me angry reading such an unformated block of text.

[Anachoretes 10]

Let's start with the fact that it is very user-friendly editor.

[Hion 1]

I would say that the editor is already very user friendly, it gives you the ability to make quite complex missions with minimal need for external scripts.

Trying to change the editor to allow the user to manage complex scripts through its interface would only serve to make the editor less user friendly for those who are relatively new to it.

[Smurf 12]

The editor is fine (except for no 3D). The game is too open to have such specific implementation built in.

[Sandy* 10]

Simplified editor only leads to simplified missions.

[xendance 3]

Simplified editor only leads to simplified missions.

You're confusing "simple" with "better".

[GottyPlays 10]

yeah i agree with op, i hope that some minimal things would be simplified, right now i have to script if i want to start with a different weapon, if i want ammocrates with different weapons again i will have to script...

i think that there should be maybe some ui to configure that kind of stuff, and simplify the ui of the editor will benefit everyone with a better workflow.

maybe a simple "help" function integrated in the ui, with a list of pre-made scripts would be cool, it would help for people like me that are not familiar with the scripting language and should speed up things for those who can already script missions...right?

[hellfire257 3]

Simplified editor only leads to simplified missions.

For simplified people.

It is fine as it is. It does the job and does it well.

[GottyPlays 10]

For simplified people.

It is fine as it is. It does the job and does it well.

wow just wow

[PuFu 4591]

scripting should be made of friendly kittens. here, i said it

[kremator 1064]

^^ aww all cute and fluffy! We demands a cute and fluffy editor!

In all seriousness the editor is easy to use - however HOW you use it gives it the complexity that missions need. Just stick with it OP and you will be fine. Nowadays I only fire up Virtual Training System to check out new items in DEV version!

[Varanon 892]

maybe a simple "help" function integrated in the ui, with a list of pre-made scripts would be cool, it would help for people like me that are not familiar with the scripting language and should speed up things for those who can already script missions...right?

Uhm, ever bothered to click on the "function browser" icon ?

[roguetrooper 2]

I can't imagine how the editor could become even more userfriendly, convenient easy to use and already very simplifie. As it is, it is already one of the best tools out there. As it was said before, you can't get around scripting (creating txt/sqf files with the windows text editor and write basic-like lines into it). Sure, nobody was born with the knowledge of how to Arma-editing and -scripting, but it is very easy (beside mathematical and programming language issues).

No offence, but maybe the editor is just a filter to separate generation CoD from people who are willing to spend more than five minutes on research, reading and learning.

Edited July 2, 2013 by RogueTrooper

[GottyPlays 10]

Uhm, ever bothered to click on the "function browser" icon ?

i don't even know what the hell is that

[kremator 1064]

No offence, but maybe the editor is just a filter to separate generation CoD from people who are willing to spend more than five minutes on research, reading and learning.

Ooooooh cutting! Harsh but fair?

We do need the CoD generation, as, Whitney put it, 'I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way'

[Varanon 892]

i don't even know what the hell is that

It's a "simple help button integrated into the UI, with a list of pre-made scripts" ;)

[Alwarren 2765]

Teach them well and let them lead the way'

I think the problem is that many people want to know but do not want to learn. Unfortunately, knowledge is only ever acquired through learning, but the effort is what puts many people off.

[Varanon 892]

No offence, but maybe the editor is just a filter to separate generation CoD from people who are willing to spend more than five minutes on research, reading and learning.

In all fairness, the editor is not very well documented, and without having some knowledge of where to look in the community, it's hard to get a grip on it.

I agree, though, that most people want to know how to make missions, but are not willing to actually learn how to do missions.

[Smurf 12]

In all fairness, the editor is not very well documented, and without having some knowledge of where to look in the community, it's hard to get a grip on it.

Sorry, but there are many videos on YT, even the Pre-E3 livestream with the Devs can teach you some things + guides (that one for A1 is still valid) and the BIWIKI. It could be better but isn't bad.

You will have to sweat to do something. On the bright side, you can do something unlike pretty much everything else.

[roguetrooper 2]

I mean, when *I* was able to exploit everything the editor offers (started in Arma I, not changed at all basically), without somebody who tought me (RL or internet), then everybody willing to spend more than 5 minutes on it, can do this as well. Placing some stuff in the editor is of course only 1%-5% of what it takes to make a more complex map. For the scripting stuff of course you need help. But the editor itself is very convenient and quite self-explaining (just talking of the interface). Of course I took/take part in the Editing forums (A2 so far) and learned a lot from people there and elsewhere. But pimping the editor does not help in mapping. You just need some sources where you can learn from (forums, YouTube, Mr-Murray's Editor Guide - actually a survival guide for your first months) and DEDICATE TIME to all of the aspects.

In my opinion, an Editor-internal text programm would contribute the most to mapping/editing convenience. So you wouldn't have to Alt-Tab to the desktop all the time (which is not a great issue, though). But no matter what features will be embedded into the Editor, you just can't get around of learning, watching, testing and spending time on it. Being able to make good Arma 2/3 maps just needs its time (weeks - months). On the other hand, the more they pack into the Editor the more dehorrent it would be for the 'noobs'. So with the tools we are given (simple editor + endless scripting possibilities) EVERYTHING is possible. The only limits are your imagination and programming language skills.

[NeMeSiS 11]

In my opinion, an Editor-internal text programm would contribute the most to mapping/editing convenience. So you wouldn't have to Alt-Tab to the desktop all the time (which is not a great issue, though). But no matter what features will be embedded into the Editor, you just can't get around of learning, watching, testing and spending time on it. Being able to make good Arma 2/3 maps just needs its time (weeks - months). On the other hand, the more they pack into the Editor the more dehorrent it would be for the 'noobs'. So with the tools we are given (simple editor + endless scripting possibilities) EVERYTHING is possible. The only limits are your imagination and programming language skills.

Unless they also integrate a browser into the editor we will probably still spend a significant amount of time alt+tabbing. Maybe i just suck but i spend a bunch of time looking up stuff on the wiki anyway.

[xyberviri 1]

Unless they also integrate a browser into the editor we will probably still spend a significant amount of time alt+tabbing. Maybe i just suck but i spend a bunch of time looking up stuff on the wiki anyway.

Or for those that set the game to windowed mode and a 2nd monitor, just pan out of the frame..... ;)

Honestly the only thing people miss is the hidden 3d editor in arma 2 that allowed for better placement of small objects. If BI would just add some way to view in 3d and control height in addition to pan most of the mission designers would hush up.

[NeMeSiS 11]

Or for those that set the game to windowed mode and a 2nd monitor, just pan out of the frame..... ;)

I have a 2nd screen, though it is quite a bit smaller than my main screen. I run ArmA3 in fullscreen windowed with a browser on the 2nd screen for reference, works fantastic. :)

Though for whatever reason 2nd screens arent as common as they should be, so not really a solution for most people.