How to Make a Simple Mission Guide

[mattxr 9]

How to make a Simple Mission

Some people might wonder why I’m creating such a guide while there is a wide resource of other styles of mission editing guides. Well it all starts with none of them actually showing how to make a small mission which beginners can learn from.

This guide will be made for beginners so for people who have and already know how to create missions with simple script commands probably will find this boring.

I hope all new starters to mission editing will get inspiration to create.

[Pirin 0]

Good attempt, I appreciate your efforts.  However I think your tutorial assumes a lot of prior knowledge that a true Newbie to editing wouldn't have.

For example you skip a lot of steps, even from the beginning.  You start the game in the town of Tandag on the island of Sahrani.  However the default editor starts in Corazol, assuming the newbie knew enough to pick the Sahrani island.  It would be helpful to explain how you got to your starting location.

A newbie tutorial should include every mouse click and entered command in a clear and concise manner.  Rather than setting entered text aside using a red > icon to indicate part of the rest of the sentence should be typed in you should separate it and make it very clear what should be typed in.  

Unclear camera example:  Then type > this exec "camera.sqs" in the init field.

Clear camera example:  Then type the following into the init field of the unit:

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">this exec "camera.sqs"

In your example you describe how to place a player, but not how to select the changes you made to his class type nor how exactly to name him.  It might be obvious to someone that's edited before, but a real newbie might not even realize some of those options in the picture are drop downs.  Each field of the editor should be explained along with what they all do and what type of options are available.

On page 5 when you add in the reinforcements you say "As you can see I have added a small group of infantry and a Ural all in the same group." but you don't explain how to place a group of units nor link them to a vehicle.  It would also be helpful to explain how to switch between Unit/Group/Waypoint/Trigger etc modes and how each works.

It would be good also to go over how specifically to preview the mission and how to export the mission in order to play it as a mission, rather than just run it from the editor.

As a purely aesthetic choice I'd probably have removed your TrueMods mod before taking screenshots, so that your editor would look the same as a newbies.  While the options are the same, the colors might confuse someone and make them wonder why their client looks different.

Two tutorials that I enjoyed when I started are the The ArmA Mission Editing Tutorial by Rick Rawlings and OFPEC Beginner's Tutorial by Cheetah.  Both of them take you step by step through a full mission build (though the OFPEC one is imcomplete polish wise without some tempting features listed at the end! )  You might refer to them for some ideas.  Sorry if this seems like harsh criticism, I'm just trying to give suggestions on how to improve this.

[mattxr 9]

Thanks for the tips, the guide i made is exactly like the one i saw 6 years ago. It wasnt for someone who just opened the editor but someone who just knew how to place Inf all over and waypoints etc and just watch them fight, this gives them an idea of what can be done and a little push to show them that they can do it too.

Quote[/b] ]For example you skip a lot of steps, even from the beginning.  You start the game in the town of Tandag on the island of Sahrani.  However the default editor starts in Corazol, assuming the newbie knew enough to pick the Sahrani island.  It would be helpful to explain how you got to your starting location.

TBH it doesnt matter where the start location is thats the point it can be anywhere anyways its just i choose that location. Im sure ive got a grid marker in there anyways to say where it is and im sure anyone starting off mission editing will know how to read the map grids.

Quote[/b] ]A newbie tutorial should include every mouse click and entered command in a clear and concise manner.  Rather than setting entered text aside using a red > icon to indicate part of the rest of the sentence should be typed in you should separate it and make it very clear what should be typed in.  

I thought about that but it rushed out of my mind.

Quote[/b] ]In your example you describe how to place a player, but not how to select the changes you made to his class type nor how exactly to name him.  It might be obvious to someone that's edited before, but a real newbie might not even realize some of those options in the picture are drop downs.  Each field of the editor should be explained along with what they all do and what type of options are available.

Well thats what the pictures are for and im sure if they dont no how to Experiment for example clicking on the drop down menues etc.. well no one can be that much of a noob i know when i first loaded OFP i knew how to select differnt units and that if no one knows that what the hell are they doing trying to edit lol.   edit: Also i built this guide not for total beginners but beginners who know how to use the editor but dont no how to add small differnt senarios to there missions. Like an ambush/reinforcements etc. as stated in the second page.

But yeah the OPEC link doesnt show you how to make the mission, just shows you what the things in the editor do.

But the  " The ArmA Mission Editing Tutorial " im going to have a look at that now  

[Nemesis_wales 0]

hi matt, played alot of your missios. nice work. i downloaded an viewed the guide u made, but it didnt help me, ive made a basic mission for ACE 1.1 just to test all the vehicles etc, but when i play it with my friends and we die, we are seagulls..... ive searched an found out there 5 BIS settings for respawn script, but i dont know nothing of the scripting process wot so ever. can u point me int he right direction?

[mattxr 9]

Ah yes this guide didnt go into Spawning.

What you need is a marker on the map called " Respawn_West " or East/GUER etc for the other sides if you want.

Then you need to make a Description.ext if you dont already have one and add these lines into it and your sorted.

respawn="3";

respawndelay = 2;

[CarlGustaffa 4]

@Nemesis_wales: Download an existing mission and dePbo it. Note the different kinds of files in there, and look them up on the Biki.

Here is a couple to get you started:

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA:_Mission_Editing

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA:_Mission_Editor

[hoz 0]

There is also the Respawn tutorial at OFPEC