What does A2 content library mean for ARMA3?

[fluffy_nosed_horse 10]

Hi guys.

So i heard they released the library content or something like that of Arma2 for Arma3. Now this doesnt mean that we have all the arma2 content in our arma3 game, but what exactly does it mean? does it mean that if we own the games we can use the content? or is it seperate (said something about differnet licences). what i want to know really is,

1.does it mean i can load arma2 content to Arma3 without all in arma's bugs?

2.do i have to own arma2 to get any of this future content

3.do i only have access as a modder?

4.what does this mean going forward and in the future

i really dont understand it all because im not a modder. any clarification would be great.

[KING5TON 10]

Basically it means that modders will be have access to and be able to convert and modify the ARMA 1 and ARMA 2 models to ARMA 3.

So a plane that is in ARMA 2 can be converted to work in ARMA 3.

So two things may happen from this, people will take individual models and convert them like a plane or some very nice people will convert all the models from ARMA 1 and ARMA 2 and create a massive content pack for ARMA 3.

I'm hoping for the latter and have seen rumblings of this already (with the prerequisite negative Nora's chiming in their bile filled comments)

[fluffy_nosed_horse 10]

Well, thats great news. I bought OA just incase they required it for the models to be used, but i guess that wasn't very smart. However im happy to give BI the money in all honesty.

I have seen this thread here

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?169302-What-is-going-to-happen-when-Arma-2-s-content-is-released-Problems-and-solutions

Some person was planning on having a community effort to have a all content in one pack from various modders. I thought for a noob like me that would be great. One of the devs mentioned something about distribution being improved, so maybe this will make it easier. I think if i had to install 30 mods for the content, i probably wouldnt be interested in getting them all which is a shame. However i know you can have packs to subscribe to in the workshop like in L4D2 (i hope i don't get flamed for playing that game). which might make distribution easier.

Also AIA seems to be a bit buggy still. would these releases mean the same sort of thing as AIA but with less bugs? (on the website he mentioned that there were something that wasn't is fault, so guessing its a engine problem, but im only speculating, hell thats why im on the forums to find out stuff)

Also, your little dig at the end about the negative nora's. . . Have to say i agree with the post mentioned above. I obviously have no idea about modding, or even how it works, but some guy comes up with an idea and they start flaming him. The all in one pack he suggested would make ARMA3 a bit more accessible to me. something im sure the devs want and are aware of. If the idea doesnt work, well fair play, point out the problems but the idea (maybe a utopian one) of everyone wanting to work together to create a awesome pack for noobs like me is nothing but charming to me.

[wipman 1]

Hi, sounds like a good new to the community and the addon makers. When i did my M4's pack for the ArmA2 using the BIS Weapons Sample Models i'd found varoious bugs on the sample models, things like holes on the models on various or all the LODs, zones that wasn't unmapped and some other things; they were better refference models than anything.

Im againist the big packs, i preffer the modular things... why i've to download and install everything if i just want X or Y?, is like the mod folders... i hate to have to do a new mod folder and shortcut for every single weapon, plane, unit or units pack, vehicle or whatever, instead use general mod folder names and shortcuts like: @Weapons, @Planes, @Rotary, @Units, @Vehicles & @Objects. I think that would be a much better idea, to drop on each mod folder the single addon plane, weapon or whatever that you want and it's bisign rather that something as big as the AiA; it woult be also easyer to identify conflicts between addons and remove the broken or breaker element if they were segregated like this, one by one instead have 'em all on the same huge .pbo, where if something is broken... you'll have to remove it loosing all, the broken things and those that are not.

Have access to the ArmA & ArmA2 models and textures to bring 'em to the ArmA3 is pimp for those who (as i...) miss an UH-1Y or an AH-1Z, but if work on the ArmA2 addons was very hard... i guess that work on the ArmA3 addons must be a nightmare; that's why i've left the addon making/texturing world, but i wish good luck to those with the will to work on it, using the buggy BIS sample models or beginning from zero. Let's C ya

[fluffy_nosed_horse 10]

Hi Wipman.

I think your reply does bring up a good few points. I understand that 1 big pack means if there is a break, then you lose everything possibly. The installation of mod folders puts me off abit, and like you said making 100 mod folders is probably going to be a pain which is one of the reasons to me, someone who hasnt installed a mod, these "big packs" would be a good idea. But, you know i have a feeling that from previous dev posts, that the integration of these mods is already being looked at. Lets hope that they bring a steamworks integration into it where we just subscribe, and unsubscribe for content..... this way, for us that want the big packs we chose the pack of all the mods, just one install, you chose the individiual packs you want. everyones happy and we all have a picnic with some cream tea (im English so thats what might happen)

Also, as a non modder or knowing anything about this, your insight into the difficulty's in welcome also. I think from my original post that the answers to the questions are this.

1.does it mean i can load arma2 content to Arma3 without all in arma's bugs?

NO

2.do i have to own arma2 to get any of this future content

NO

3.do i only have access as a modder?

Currently yes, but things will become available in a steady stream as people create there own mods with the content

4.what does this mean going forward and in the future

It means that we will be getting a lot of content modded quicker, due to players having a blueprint to work from as a starting point. However choosing what we have is going to a laborious task. with so many varients.

I suppose what i wonder now, is how will this affect some bugs that All in arma has which are putting me off? will All in Arma benefit from the release in any way whatsoever? to make it a more reachable mod? im really unsure of how it works, and im very tempted to install it but hearing that it causes duplication in showcases audio, and things like that puts me off.....

Thanks again, and any one else with some insight is well appreciated.

[Victim9l3 11]

I have already tried to put the OA DLC's into A3 like I did with everything else. I put A2 and OA stuff in a @Folder and have been using them in A3, in a more cruder way than AIA. So far only the lite versions of pmc and baf worked. When I tried to put ACR and the non lite DLC's into A3 I would get a warning "A3 can't can't open air_acr due to a blocked header".

Now since the release I tried it again. I can depbo the ACR stuff now, so I know the header isn't blocked. But I get a new warning now "air_acr SHOULD be protected, so A3 will not use it". Basically that's what it says. SHOULD is the key word. So I guess bi will still need to do something on the A3 end in order for those to work. So I still can't use the stuff I have been wanting to for a long time.

[chortles 263]

fluffy_nosed_horse: All in Arma basically takes existing Arma 2 mods/official content and makes them work to a degree when run in Arma 3, i.e. substituting Arma 3 classnames in place of Arma 2 vehicles' default crew classnames to avoid "bad soldier type" errors (since there is no "USMC_Soldier_Pilot" character in Arma 3, but there is a "B_pilot_F").

In contrast, the Arma 2 content library release consists of source files which modders may use to create Arma 3 mods with. :) People were already doing this sort of thing with the (previous) Arma 1 sample models release, using them to create mods for both Arma 2 and Arma 3. Previously some people did create Arma 3 content using unpacked Arma 2 files, but those had to be granted permission by BI on a case-by-case basis, whereas the new Arma 1 sample models re-release and Arma 2 content library release both come with new licenses so that people can use those sources without having to first seek permission from BI, so long as they otherwise follow the license.

For example, if I were trying to get the F-35B into Arma 3, instead of having to use All in Arma to get the Arma 2 jet working in Arma 3 (it's in Air2.PBO), I could wait for someone else to release an Arma 3-native F-35B mod or make my own, using the source files that were included in the Arma 2 content library release as a starting point, then so long as I otherwise follow the license and behave appropriately (i.e. create my own textures or use permitted textures created by others) I could then release it publicly for people to have a F-35B in Arma 3 without needing Arma 2. :D

[johnnypope 10]

Great explanation Chortles. To further summarize, all that AiA does is allows users who already have Arma 1 & 2 installed to stick that content directly into their Arma 3. If someone doesn't own that content and have it installed on their computer, they wouldn't be able to do that. BI has been granting permission on a case by case basis to allow releases of mods derived from Arma 1 & 2 content, which, correct me if I'm wrong, means that someone without Arma 1/2 would still be able to download and use the mod. What they've done here is opened all the stuff up to modders so that they can make a good, bug-free A10 from the Arma 1/2 content and release it for download to people who don't own Arma 1/2. Even though almost all Arma 3 owners surely own Arma 1/2, this is really a generous offering by BI. Thank you BI!

The question I have is, are the islands from Arma 1/2 included in this? What about OFP/R/CWA? I noticed lots of missing objects on Sahrani with AiA and the water and neverending land is weird on Chernarus. Also I can't seem to find a female that works using AiA. Looking forward to this as it's difficult to put together any kind of storyline without females eh?

Again this is great for people like me who are impressed with Arma 3, finally got it performing well, but are disappointed by the existing future content and more importantly the lack of content in general. I LOVE the fact that we'll soon be rolling with a FULL SUITE of PRESENT-DAY assets from like 8 TOTALLY UNBALANCED factions. It's the way it's meant to be played. :cool:

[chortles 263]

Great explanation Chortles. To further summarize, all that AiA does is allows users who already have Arma 1 & 2 installed to stick that content directly into their Arma 3. If someone doesn't own that content and have it installed on their computer, they wouldn't be able to do that. BI has been granting permission on a case by case basis to allow releases of mods derived from Arma 1 & 2 content, which, correct me if I'm wrong, means that someone without Arma 1/2 would still be able to download and use the mod. What they've done here is opened all the stuff up to modders so that they can make a good, bug-free A10 from the Arma 1/2 content and release it for download to people who don't own Arma 1/2. Even though almost all Arma 3 owners surely own Arma 1/2, this is really a generous offering by BI. Thank you BI!

This is indeed what the difference is. That link in the third post has an OP that seems to advocate a centralized pack of Arma 3-native mod content, which does not have to do with what AiA does. For example, AiA-imported Arma 2 content does not get any texture upgrades, although it may look better under Arma 3's lighting, whereas someone could instead create a derivative Arma 3 mod depicting that content with higher-res textures not made by BI and without requiring the end user to own Arma 2.

Therefore, the "Arma 2 content library" release consists of unbinarized (or unencrypted) source files which modders may use (without first seeking case-by-case permissions from BI for those specific files) as part of the process of creating such content.

Here and here are examples of the prior situation -- weapons "ported from Arma 2 with permission from BIS" on a seemingly case-by-case basis, while here and here are examples of people using the Arma 1 sample model packs to create Arma 3-native M16A4 mods that do not require the end user to have Arma 1 or Arma 2.

The question I have is, are the islands from Arma 1/2 included in this? What about OFP/R/CWA? I noticed lots of missing objects on Sahrani with AiA and the water and neverending land is weird on Chernarus. Also I can't seem to find a female that works using AiA. Looking forward to this as it's difficult to put together any kind of storyline without females eh?

Source files for the Arma 2 islands with the notable exception of Utes are included in the content library release, but the source files for Sahrani (Arma 1) are in a separate download, though at least some of the data can also be found in the Arma 1 content re-release (the second zip file thereof).

Note however that a Sahrani for A3 mod is already WIP, although I do not know to what extent they're leaning on said Arma 1 source files or not.

To my knowledge OFP/R/CWA unencrypted (unbinarized) source data is not publicly available; what's in the licensed data pack is binarized PBOs.

[Victim9l3 11]

What AiA does is it tells arma3 to look for more files outside the arma 3 directory. It is the same as moving A2 and OA content into A3. But AiA has gone further to remedy some of the issues or problems that come up. Like sound. The problems happen because the A3 stuff override old things like sound. So an A2 vehicle might call on a sound file that gets blocked by A3 content. Like echo or reverberation. A3 uses different ways to produce those sounds, so A2 stuff sounds wrong when in A3. I'm just using sound as an example.

So if you want something from OA orA2 or A1, you can put it in A3. But you need to also bring over anything it relies on. Like the F35 needs CAAIR or something and other pbo's. If you don't bring those over too it won't work right. I put everything from A2 and OA in arma 3 in a @folder. But I did leave some behind. Mainly because they had the same name in A3.

I got everything to work in A3 but with the issues like sound or things I don't care as much about for now. Even the lite BAF and PMC worked. BUt I still can't get A3 to open the newly released DLC content. I got around the security issue but now it won't open the p3d for the vehicles. They need to do something to fix that because we can't mod it into A3 (which is why it was released) if A3 refuses to recognize the dlcs.

So i'm still waiting for a dev to tell me why it's not working

[rye1 21]

I thought it meant more headaches?! :D