Modules in Mission Editor not working all of a sudden

[Garren 10]

Hello, I'm new here but a long time fan of Arma and the old OFP games. I am having some trouble figuring out what happened to my modules in the mission editor. The first time I played around with the mission editor I selected a few of the "Ambient modules" to run, such as civilians, animals, and vehicles and they all seemed to be working properly. Then, after installing a few user-made scripts and creating a few missions I noticed that no civilians, animals, or vehicles were spawning anymore. I even made another mission with nothing on the map except my player and using the three ambient modules I mentioned above. It was a no go. None of the modules are working anymore and I'm not sure what happened to cause them to not work all of a sudden.

I am using the STEAM version of the game and all has been running great for the most part - other than this issue. I can add civilians and animals manually in the editor and assign them waypoints or even use the "Urban Patrol" user-made script but that sucks and takes too long to setup. I just want to populate the island's cities, town, and villages with the ambient people, vehicles, and animals.

Please, any help would be appreciated. I really do not want to have to reinstall the game since I'm not sure if there is a limit on reinstalls using the STEAM version. Plus, the game IS working fine for the most part so I don't think a full reinstall is appropriate at this time.

I can't imagine that any of the mods/scripts I've installed have anything to do with this either since all of them are there own pbo files and I am using the "mod folder method" for installing them (ex. ARMA2 Shortcut and adding in the target line "-mod=@VOPSound2.1" to run the VOP2.1 sound mod) Also, I was running a few mods PRIOR to the modules not working so I'm pretty sure it's either A) an unresolved game bug OR B) I've managed to "unset some setting somehow" - that was a tongue twister.

Anyways thanks for any help! I'm liking this game quite a lot.

EDIT:

Damn, I think I may have borked my modules using this. How do I fix this then?

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Functions_Library

! Always check for 'BIS_fnc_init', not specific functions (e.g. 'BIS_fnc_setpitchbank')!

Never set value of 'BIS_fnc_init' in any part of mission! It may lead to breakdown of some modules!

Edited July 13, 2009 by Garren

[Garren 10]

Fixed my own problem through reinstalling the game. What I did to solve this for anybody who has the STEAM version and might encounter the same problem in future.

1. Create a backup of the game via STEAM's backup program. (Right-click on the game in STEAM and click on "properties". Then click on the "local files" tab and then click on "backup". Follow the directions. Very simple and quick.)

2. Use STEAM to delete all local files for Arma2. (This option is right below the "backup" option above. NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE MADE A BACKUP FIRST BEFORE DOING THIS. You don't want to have to re-download the whole game again. That takes forever and isn't necessary.

3. Manually delete ALL Arma2 folders and files that STEAM didn't. (Usually mod files and folders don't get deleted by STEAM because it doesn't know to look for them and delete them. It only searches for the base files and folders that you originally downloaded from STEAM when you bought the game. Check under "Program Files" and make sure there is nothing listed for Bohemia Interactive). Also, go into your "My documents" folder and delete anything with Arma2 listed in there.

4. Run Regedit and look under "Computer/Hkey_Local_Machine and delete anything listed under the Bohemia Interactive folder. Not sure if this had to be done, but it's always best to delete EVERYTHING prior to reinstalling.

5. Open your STEAM folder under "Program Files" and look for your "Backups" folder. Then look for your "Arma 2" folder and open the folder "Disk_1". Then click on the "steambackup" program and follow the directions.

NOTE: Once it's done reinstalling the game on your PC, start the game and readjust your settings. Then test out the modules in the mission editor. Everything should be working properly again. Just make sure NOT to use the "function module" in the future if you're not sure what it does or how it works. I found out the hard way. The "functions module" apparently screws the rest of the modules up so that they don't run properly and you will have to reinstall the entire game over again using the steps I provided to get it fixed. It seems to be the only way for now. I even tried to just delete the modules.pbo and bi from the Addons folder and let STEAM update the game and it still didn't work until I did the steps above.

Hope this helps anyone who experiences similar troubles in the future. Have fun and good luck! :)

[Garren 10]

Turns out that I was a little off here. It was not the functions module that screwed up the ambient modules. It was the CBA mod version 1.1.7 Hotfix. I will have to wait for version 1.2 to come out I guess.