ARMA2 & OA's Steam Thread: All Steam Q's/discussions go here [covered by Dwarden]

[Hoot1988 0]

Ok just a quick question and I am sorry if it has already been answered.

I am coming back to playing ArmA2:CO after about a year, and just ordered OA off a website.

I am wondering if there is a major advantage of installing the games to steam? I assume it would make patching the game and playing online easier?

Do the Mods work in the same way on steam as a standard install?

Thanks for any help :D

[USMCLuke 10]

There's actually not a true fix, Dwarden. Right now our dedicated server can't launch in CO mode because I don't know how to launch it this way without being logged into Steam, and we shouldn't have to have a completely new Steam account with its own version of A2/OA/CO. We don't want to have to run our server in A2 or OA only modes via the dedicated server file, which we're doing now. We want to run a dedicated server in CO mode so that everyone can connect and we can switch between the two modes from within the server, and use the content from both. Right now people are having to do a hundred different work-arounds depending on what crazy concoction of ArmA 2 and OA they happen to have...

This is seriously the worst experience with an expansion I've ever dealt with and I've been gaming on the PC since the x386 days. It's also been a nightmare to administrate a dedicated server, which is kind of the only way to play it since MP is the most enjoyable part of the game.

[Dwarden 1124]

luke beta A2:OA build don't need STEAMclient at all ...

A2:OA server binary arma2server.exe don't need STEAMclient at all

only build of arma2oa.exe released with STEAM needs STEAMclient

---------- Post added at 00:34 ---------- Previous post was at 23:37 ----------

just note when i will use the non steam path with beta

(based off _runA2CO_beta.cmd )

to run game

:run

call "%_ARMA2OAPATH%\Expansion\beta\ARMA2OA.exe" "-mod=%_ARMA2PATH%;EXPANSION;ca" "-mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion" -window -nosplash -cpuCount=2 -exThreads=7 %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

to run server , two -mod=

:run

call "%_ARMA2OAPATH%\Expansion\beta\arma2oaServer.exe" "-mod=%_ARMA2PATH%;EXPANSION;ca" "-mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion" -showscripterrors -port=2333 -cfg=basic.cfg -config=server.cfg -profiles=H:\_Junctions\ArmA2_e\_Profiles\server -gamerTag=server

this is just example how it can be done, some people prefer to have single -mod= line (it works for me same as above

(yet i noticed Ondrej said it should not work so i include signle line)

to run server, single -mod=

:run

call "%_ARMA2OAPATH%\Expansion\beta\arma2oaServer.exe" "-mod=%_ARMA2PATH%;EXPANSION;ca;Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion" -showscripterrors -port=2333 -cfg=basic.cfg -config=server.cfg -profiles=H:\_Junctions\ArmA2_e\_Profiles\server -gamerTag=server

...

don't copy it directly from post above , first do quote of message then copy then adjust as you need

take in mind this works for me fine w/o single issue etc. but it's just example it might be not perfect

...

Edited July 24, 2010 by Dwarden

[USMCLuke 10]

So, let me make sure I get this correct before I waste another half day re-installing the games on our server...

I reinstall both through Steam, which I will have to do because before I had to install the non-Steam 1.52 patch on top of our Steam OA install to get the dedicated server files so that our server wasn't dependent on Steam running. I know that's not a "correct" way of doing it, but it was a work around that allowed us to run a dedicated OA server without having Steam on.

Steam A2 + Steam OA + install latest beta build = dedicated server, which will run independent of Steam, and in CO mode?

[Dwarden 1124]

So, let me make sure I get this correct before I waste another half day re-installing the games on our server...

I reinstall both through Steam, which I will have to do because before I had to install the non-Steam 1.52 patch on top of our Steam OA install to get the dedicated server files so that our server wasn't dependent on Steam running. I know that's not a "correct" way of doing it, but it was a work around that allowed us to run a dedicated OA server without having Steam on.

Steam A2 + Steam OA + install latest beta build = dedicated server, which will run independent of Steam, and in CO mode?

you dont need install any nonSTEAM patch at all

it will break the STEAM install

there is dedicated server inside BETA patch

which is compatible with 1.52 MP gameplay and way more fixed/up2date than the retail patch one ...

... use the BETA server + proper commandline to use CO+beta

[USMCLuke 10]

It will break a Steam install to PLAY, but not to run just the dedicated server .exe, which doesn't matter on a dedicated server since it doesn't even have a video card that can play the game. It was our way of bypassing the Steam requirement until a new version of the dedicated server files came out for Steam.

I guess what I'm not understanding, is how exactly do you get a beta patch on a Steam version without manually downloading and installing it? If that's the way to get the Steam compatible dedicated server files, that will run in CO mode on a dedicated server.

In case I'm not being clear enough, this is a server we rent. No one plays on this machine, and since the server is completely unmanaged the only way we have to install the game + expansion is to use Steam since we do not physically have access to the DVD drive on the server.

Edited July 25, 2010 by USMCLuke

[MJK-Ranger 0]

@USMCLuke

I run both version from Steam and i run them on my server to.

I just copy both of my ArmA2 folders over to my server from my game computer, then i made an registry file that put the correct path and info into my server registry. You can also put the key into the reg file so you can update the game to if you want, but i simple just install beta patch on my game PC then i copy the beta folder over to my server.

Beta updates has nothing to do with steam at all. The beta only check your registry for valid install path and key.

If everything are correct the beta patch will be installed into an beta folder in your OA, i.e XXXX\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\

I don't know how much access you have on that rent server, but since you are allowed to run steam client and install games, you may have full access.

Are you using Remote Desktop or something?

It's important that you run ArmA2 and ArmA2:OA once so your registry are updated.

Then you can download the latest beta from the server using a browser if you have access to that one, then install the beta patch and use Dwarden startup on some previous posts here

Edited July 25, 2010 by MJK-Ranger

[USMCLuke 10]

Yes, we Remote in and have full control.

I'll give it a shot like you recommended.

[USMCLuke 10]

Well, the good news is we finally have our server running in CO mode with the beta patch.

But the good news can't last, right? So because we have to have the beta patch running as a mod, in order to not have our members and the public have to install the beta patch, we have to run it with equalmods=0. Not only have the number of asshats and hackers run out of control, people who come on and play with only OA installed see all the ArmA 2 content as birds and all sorts of other crap.

So we're not able to run missions that feature USMC and Army for BluFor and RU and Taki's for OpFor, unless we want to lock our server down or require everyone that connects to have the beta patch installed.

[MJK-Ranger 0]

@USMCLuke

Hi. There is an workaround for that Beta mod problem ;)

Ok, let say your have OA beta folder installed here:

g:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\

Then copy everything inside the beta folder into your OA install folder:

g:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\ < .----- here

Then overwrite everything. Make sure you turn off auto update in your steam client for OA.

It's a good idea to make a backup of those files that are gonna be overwritten.

Now you can start your server as normal startup without the beta.

Edited July 27, 2010 by MJK-Ranger

[ArmaDan 10]

Today when I was going online to game, I was kicked off server by BE, with message: You were kicked off the game (Battleye: missing OS privileges (run game as administartor) WTH!?!?! gamed last night without any problems! Cant find out how to run OA or BE as administartor? Tried to run Arma2 and steam as administrator, but it dont help, same message. tried different servers, same thing.

My specs: Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5. AMD Phenom2 X4 965. 4gb Corsair dominator 1600m/hz cl8. 2x XFX 5870 @850m/hz. Coolermaster 1000w psu. W7 pro 64.

[Pedersen-HJK- 10]

Today when I was going online to game, I was kicked off server by BE, with message: You were kicked off the game (Battleye: missing OS privileges (run game as administartor) WTH!?!?! gamed last night without any problems! Cant find out how to run OA or BE as administartor? Tried to run Arma2 and steam as administrator, but it dont help, same message. tried different servers, same thing.

My specs: Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5. AMD Phenom2 X4 965. 4gb Corsair dominator 1600m/hz cl8. 2x XFX 5870 @850m/hz. Coolermaster 1000w psu. W7 pro 64.

Same problem after battleeye updated its version once logged in on to random server.. Same problem on every server tried.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Pedersen|HJK|

[JinxHacker 10]

Today when I was going online to game, I was kicked off server by BE, with message: You were kicked off the game (Battleye: missing OS privileges (run game as administartor) WTH!?!?! gamed last night without any problems! Cant find out how to run OA or BE as administartor? Tried to run Arma2 and steam as administrator, but it dont help, same message. tried different servers, same thing.

My specs: Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5. AMD Phenom2 X4 965. 4gb Corsair dominator 1600m/hz cl8. 2x XFX 5870 @850m/hz. Coolermaster 1000w psu. W7 pro 64.

same here FPDR

[MJK-Ranger 0]

Well i don't have that problem with the newest Battleye.

But i think you all need to set your BEClient.dll to run as administrator privileges

c:\Users\YOURUSER\AppData\Local\ArmA 2 OA\BattlEye\

[Pedersen-HJK- 10]

Well i don't have that problem with the newest Battleye.

But i think you all need to set your BEClient.dll to run as administrator privileges

c:\Users\YOURUSER\AppData\Local\ArmA 2 OA\BattlEye\

I would have,if it would even remotely let me..

Just putting both the OA and Arma 2 exe files manually to admin privs worked for me.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Pedersen|HJK|

[MJK-Ranger 0]

I would have,if it would even remotely let me..

So you think the problem is BEServer.dll located on your Server?

Everytime i join a server i got this message:

Battleye Client: NOTE: BE requires administrator privileges to be able to detect all hacks running on a client's system

I have been playing for almost one hour and no problem here.

Edited July 28, 2010 by MJK-Ranger

[ArmaDan 10]

Well i don't have that problem with the newest Battleye.

But i think you all need to set your BEClient.dll to run as administrator privileges

c:\Users\YOURUSER\AppData\Local\ArmA 2 OA\BattlEye\

Cant set BEclient/server to adminpriv, cant do it on OA either, or i dont know how to... have tried to set A2 and steam to adminpriv, but that didnt help.

---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 PM ----------

Found out what the problem was. UAC!! Turned off UAC in windows and all the problems went away:D

[MJK-Ranger 0]

Cant set BEclient/server to adminpriv, cant do it on OA either, or i dont know how to... have tried to set A2 and steam to adminpriv, but that didnt help.

---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 PM ----------

Found out what the problem was. UAC!! Turned off UAC in windows and all the problems went away:D

Nice to see it works for you :)

[decap 10]

Am I going to have problems if I buy OA on disc but I have arma2 on steam?

[verana_ss 0]

My friend got ARMA2 and AO via steam and is having problem with connecting to AO server.

According to his claim, problem occurs when receiving mission data from warfare server.

When the mission download gauge went 99%, game tells him that he needs "missionInit.sq" and such.

The strange thing is that the other AO clients, like me and the other friends of mine can connect and receive mission data from server without any problem.

1. He deleted ARMA2 and tried.

2. He tried re-downloading and re-installing both, ARMA2 and AO.

3. He did forward required ports indicated on other thread.

and any of this didnt help.

friend A (thats having problem) : bought combination pack via steam and installed both ARMA2 and AO. : can NOT connect to server.

my env : bought combination pack via steam and installed only AO. : can connect to server

my friend B : bought combination pack via steam and installed both. : can connect to server

my friend C : bought AO via steam and installed AO. : can connect to server

And please behold that me and my friend B, C could connect to friend A's Warfare server.

Would someone clear out this problem? Is there way to fix?

is this bug? if so, have devs noticed this problem?

[Massacher 10]

i have finally finished updating the Arma 2 cache. when i go to launch the game i get the following error message:

Warning: preNLOD format in object ca\characters\stopa_l.p3d

i have looked in the Arma 2 folder inside the \steamapps\common folder and there is no such file...

i get 3 options upon launching the game:

1) Play Arma 2

2) Launch in Windowed mode

3) Reinstall BattleEye Anti-Cheat

i have tried all 3 options and i get the same result. i have re-started Steam several times but still it won't work.

i am at a loss as to what to do.

my specs are below:

Core i7-860

Gigabyte P55A-UD5

G.Skill-Trident 4GB DDR3-1600

Sapphire HD5870 1GB

LG Flatron W2261VP (2ms)

ViewSonic 19" WS (2ms)

WD SATA 1TB HDD x2

LG SATA 18x DVDRW x2

Thermaltake Evo_Blue 750Watt PSU

Noctua NH-C12P-SE14

running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

[cmls5 10]

Hi guys I am one of the Senior admin over at Battlegroup-XTRA and have a got a member who is having a number of problems trying to log onto one of our combined ops servers.

Hes has got both Arma 2 and OA from steam (not combined OPs version), when he tries to log onto the server he gets told invalid key and wrong patch version. In the process of diagnosing the problem i notice that the steam version is different to the server version. We have tried to combine the arma 2 and OA together and have change the registry with no luck.

He is able to log onto our dedicated OA only server (but that is only a small test server).

If he uses the beta patch will that allow him to come onto our servers without needing to have the same OA patch as the server.

If this is not a solutions any help would be greatly appreaciated.

Thanks Mads

---Battlegroup-XTRA Senior Admins "we are here to help"

[Lexen 10]

Since Steam is just the greatest system ever in existence ever, that has ever existed, that everyone loves because it never screws anything up, i'd like to see if there is an answer to this problem. (in case you can't read between the lines, I personally don't care for steam. I'd much rather have a hard copy.)

I have a member of my gaming group who has both the Arma II and A2:OA from steam. The versions didn't combine. He re-downloaded them last night and they still didn't combine.

Effectively, he can't play unless we build an ONLY A2 mission or an ONLY OA mission.

I've seen the "fixes" that work sporadically, and those guys that are at home modifying their registries, but is there a one button fix? Is pressing one button to play a game he paid for too much to ask? Am I beating a dead horse?

Did he screw up something?

We're really lost here. Any advice would be appreciated.

[CoolFire 10]

Since Steam is just the greatest system ever in existence ever, that has ever existed, that everyone loves because it never screws anything up, i'd like to see if there is an answer to this problem. (in case you can't read between the lines, I personally don't care for steam. I'd much rather have a hard copy.)

I have a member of my gaming group who has both the Arma II and A2:OA from steam. The versions didn't combine. He re-downloaded them last night and they still didn't combine.

Effectively, he can't play unless we build an ONLY A2 mission or an ONLY OA mission.

I've seen the "fixes" that work sporadically, and those guys that are at home modifying their registries, but is there a one button fix? Is pressing one button to play a game he paid for too much to ask? Am I beating a dead horse?

Did he screw up something?

We're really lost here. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Lexen,

Did you guys read Dwarden's post ARMA 2: CO (how to combine ARMA 2 into ARMA 2:OA and use together)?

Basically what this post says:

DL the runA2CO.zip file and put the cmd into the same folder where the OA .exe is located. Then, in Steam go to the game library, right-click on the ArmA2 game and choose Properties -> Local files -> Verify integrity of game cache. Afterwards do the same for OA in the Steam game library.

When this is done for both games, launch first ArmA2 and secondly OA using the "Play" buttons in Steam. Then, try to launch the game using "Launch ArmA2: Combined Operations" from the Steam OA Play option OR if this doesn't work, try to run the game by double-clicking the runA2CO.cmd from within the OA folder.

If you are using mods/addons on the server in your gaming group and use Yoma addon sync., I can also show you the link to my post where I tell Steam users how to run Steam versions of A2:OA Combined Ops. through Yoma. Some Steam users in my group (including me) have been using this solution with Yoma for 1 month now and it works like a charm.

It's not easy making Combined Ops. working through Steam without doing some sort of tweaking at this point, I guess. But just like any other Steam user, I'm also patiently waiting for the release of THE easy and perfect solution on how to run Combined Ops. without any hazzle.

Good luck getting the game running, hope my words here can help you guys out.

Edited August 8, 2010 by CoolFire

[Fallanx 10]

Ok; first this is a shame that BI didn't sorted this out before the release of the product. People shouldn't have to go into their registry to make modifications in 2010, only 2% of the PC users knows how to do that. How do you expect people to play your product if its not working properly ? Seriously wtf..

Now, I have steam OA installed only and want to install my Dvd version of Arma 2 to merge them. Also i don't want to read 70 forum pages of support regarding this issue just a simple answer on how to do it would be appreciated.

Thanks.