Mission Creation - Where to Start? Best Tutorials?

[bw1231996 11]

I really want to get into creating scenarios for Arma 3. Where should I start? What and where are the best tutorials for new people?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks!

Brendan

[jshock 513]

Try these.

[bw1231996 11]

Try these.

Got me there.

I know I'm a noob at mission creation, don't have to tell me twice.

What I was wondering exactly, was the recommended tutorials from the pros here.

[jshock 513]

Jester, SwissMaverick, H8terMaker, and SayUnkl all have some good video series on Youtube.

[Grumpy Old Man 3546]

I'd say as a very beginner to arma mission making you'd be best off starting to goof around and have some fun in the editor.

Get a grasp of how different units interact with each other, learn how to use waypoints, different behaviour settings and how triggers work.

If you've got a grasp of that head on to the terrifying mistress that's scripting.

That's probably how the majority of Arma scripters learned their trade.

Can't really go wrong typing "Arma 3 scripting guide" into google.

If you're a bit more advanced with scripting both of these pages are a goldmine (which now reminds me that the first name letters form a KKK, coincidence? you be the judge! heh):

Killzone Kid

Kylania (most of this stuff still works in A3)

Cheers

[Montgomery 205]

Try these.

No need to be a jerk.

@bw1231996

Keep in mind that you can make very good mission without any fancy scripting. I agree with Grumpy that the best way to learn is to just get into the editor and try different stuff. You can learn a lot by just having fun and trying different stuff. Good luck!

[killzone_kid 1332]

I'd say as a very beginner to arma mission making you'd be best off starting to goof around and have some fun in the editor.

Get a grasp of how different units interact with each other, learn how to use waypoints, different behaviour settings and how triggers work.

If you've got a grasp of that head on to the terrifying mistress that's scripting.

That's probably how the majority of Arma scripters learned their trade.

Can't really go wrong typing "Arma 3 scripting guide" into google.

If you're a bit more advanced with scripting both of these pages are a goldmine (which now reminds me that the first name letters form a KKK, coincidence? you be the judge! heh):

Killzone Kid

Kylania (most of this stuff still works in A3)

Cheers

Oh great, thanks, just let me put my hood on and light up this cross here. After all I own 2/3 of my and Kylania's organisation.

[Hatchet_Harry 1]

I'd say as a very beginner to arma mission making you'd be best off starting to goof around and have some fun in the editor.

Get a grasp of how different units interact with each other, learn how to use waypoints, different behaviour settings and how triggers work.

If you've got a grasp of that head on to the terrifying mistress that's scripting.

That's probably how the majority of Arma scripters learned their trade.

Can't really go wrong typing "Arma 3 scripting guide" into google.

If you're a bit more advanced with scripting both of these pages are a goldmine (which now reminds me that the first name letters form a KKK, coincidence? you be the judge! heh):

Killzone Kid

Kylania (most of this stuff still works in A3)

Cheers

Yep dude!

KillZone Kid and Kylania helped me too. They are he best :)

At this point: Thanks for the great help and the ongoing work on great articles and tutorials.

[Varanon 892]

A good but somewhat outdated guide is Mr Murray's Armed Assault Editing Guide available on Armaholic. Written for Armed Assault, it's still mostly valid for Arma 3 when it comes to how the editor works and it explains all the things with unit placements, triggers, and waypoints that will get you started before going into deeper subjects like scripting.

[SilentSpike 84]

I'm with Grumpy. Mess around in the editor to get a feel for how the different resources there work, try setting up simple scenarios. Then if you want to have the most control over everything start learning sqf - the best way to go about this depends on how exactly you learn, so I'll detail the way that I personally did it (through simply trying things out until I understood how they worked).

To start scripting you'll need a basic understanding of what exactly missions are in terms of file structure. I'm not sure if there's a page somewhere that explains it so I'll just tell you that the answer that they're essentially a folder. You can find all of your editor saved missions under

Documents\Arma 3\<your profile>\missions
or possibly
Documents\Arma 3 - Other Profiles\<your profile>\missions

(It will be MPMissions if your using the MP editor).

Inside a mission folder is mission.sqm, this is the file made by the editor that details what objects are placed where as well as some mission settings. However, any other file you create in the folder will be packaged into the mission - so this is where you create all your script files. There are some special files to get started with (reference as you go):

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Event_Scripts

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Description.ext

If you have no programming experience I recommend referencing this page to develop a basic understanding of the data you're working with when scripting:

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Variables

I suggest you come up with a mission idea that you can clearly visualize the end goal of. This is where you'll start using scripting commands to help you achieve it, you'll also get some experience with the workflow of mission creation (that is the process of mapping the mission out in your head, figuring out how to start and how to progress, etc.). Really there's no catch-all workflow when it comes to scripting, but with experience you develop the understanding necessary to decide how you're going to do things and that's probably the most useful skill for any sort of creation process. For scripting commands I suggest referencing this page as you go and find the ones suitable to each step of your project:

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Category:Scripting_Commands_Arma_3

Then you can always ask on the forums when you hit a wall - probably the best resource at your disposal so long as you don't rely on it. (Remember to search for answers yourself beforehand, the forum should generally be your last resort)

The best part is that it gets easier as it goes. Once you know some basics it's really simple to grasp the initially harder stuff like functions or configs.

[Kydoimos 916]

I can second that - Kylania helped me get started with scripting on Arma 3 in a big way (thanks, mate - if you're reading!). Killzone Kid too (thanks!), and his blog is awesome! Jester's YouTube tutorials are well worth a look too! Good luck, and welcome to Arma 3! :D

---------- Post added at 12:55 ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 ----------

EDIT: Goodness, there are dozens of people in this community I could cite for their helpfulness, IndeedPete, Grumpy, Rydygier, the list is endless - these forums and this community will make anything possible for you! Just remember, always be polite! :P And always have a quick search for answers before posting threads! You can still miss things, but always good to have a quick search first!

[jshock 513]

No need to be a jerk.

@bw1231996

Keep in mind that you can make very good mission without any fancy scripting. I agree with Grumpy that the best way to learn is to just get into the editor and try different stuff. You can learn a lot by just having fun and trying different stuff. Good luck!

It's not being a jerk when that's what you personally used to learn this stuff (and that would be Googling random stuff,

click and learn).

Aside from that, another good way to learn is actually to join some sort of group that does missions on a regular basis,

because if there was one way I learned quick was when there was both a timeline and 20 other people depending on me completing the mission. But if your not into stressed learning, I wouldn't recommend it :p.

[gavc 28]

+1 for the jester tutorials on youtube. Usually not a fan of video learning, i like to look back over webpages/books but his were pretty good.

I've only just completed my first proper mission, start to finish with all the trimmings. Without jesters tutorials on triggers and tasks i'd still be staring at teh editor right now.

Gav

[Zenophon 110]

I will take this easy opportunity for self-promotion to recommend my method of mission-making:

Zenophon's Mission Making Framework and Scripting Library

My framework uses scripting to easily achieve many things that cannot be done in the editor. There are 18 tutorials for beginners, 8 full sample missions, and over a dozen demonstrations of various features. My thread explains the many features in detail. I offer unparalleled personal support by answering in detail any PM's in which you report bugs, request features, or ask for help or advice about anything related to scripting and mission-making. I also regularly update my framework every 2 weeks with fixes and improvements based upon user feedback and my own testing.

[m0nkey 111]

Probably the best place is using the editor for basic mission ideas and infusing portions of scripting in it by using inits of objects (you will find out). This lets you use some object oriented programming which is user friendly and slowly learn basic scripting syntax. I downloaded many different tutorials and documents, watched videos and read a lot of forum posts when I started all this.

I also think that by using the editor to place objects and triggers to cause actions/etc you will see how things don't happen the way you want. And that becomes valuable because it is scripting that usually solves your problems, but knowing the problem is half the battle.

When you feel comfortable with what is going on, and can begin to understand what scripting is in arma and how you can start applying it for what you want to achieve, then you can use the editor for basic things like object placement and just script most other things. I think its much easier to script than use the editor personally.

I can say, after a lot of code written, after a lot of reading and experimenting, after downloading tons of others scripts/missions and making my own fancy-schmancy functions and structures, that Zens Coop Framework is a joy to work with. It truly is easy and comprehensive. And between the documentation and his zeal for helping, you can find solutions to problems pretty quick. I am nobody. I've contributed nothing. Only been around here about a year. But I've coded a lot over the years, and this much I can say - I wish I had found Zens framework from day one.

[terox 316]

if you are going to enter the realms of scripting, then you need to learn how to debug........

Debugging Tutorial