New to editing

[ShootinPutin187 10]

Hello.

I have bought Arma 2 a couple days ago and have today fumbled around with the editor, in the beginning it was quite fun however quickly got frustrating when i wanted to make a serious mission. I came onto the forums and spend a lot of time reading. How ever I just cant figure out how the triggers and all that scripting works.

If I want to make a mission where you have to capture something, I dont know how to place the thing you have to capture and how you just generally capture the thing.

Its so complicated that im already about to give up. I went on MP to check out what fun missions other players made, but I dont understand a thing. I spawn at some airbase, and see this fancy cars and planes and stuff, but i cant enter them. The assault objective is 5km away, and I simply deny to walk 5km. I was looking forward to all that Arma 2 had to offer, but my good feeling about this game is going down.

I basicly ask for some pointers, perhaps even a tutorial that shows how to make some missions, which explain why the creator does that and how to do it ect.

[topeira 10]

im not sure on how to instruct you on how to "capture things". i'd like to read an answer as well, but what u can do is set an area and tell the mission to be "successful" and END if that area has no enemies in it.

it's kinda like "capture" the area.

this is simple, really - u place a trigger (F3) and set it to a certain area that u'd like to be empty of enemies.

set it to, say 200X200 (top of the trigger window).

then u set it to OPFOR and NOT PRESENT

and and the TYPE u set it to END1 or any other end number.

that's it. it means that if opfor is not present in that area than the mission ends.

u can go to EFFECTS and at the buttom of the list palce EFFECT of TEXT and in the most buttom line set what text u'd like to appear.

if u want u can place number of triggeres to test things and then give a text that tells u which trigger got activated.

u can also create a trigger, use the SYNCHRONIZE option (F5) and streach a line from that trigger to a soldier\vehicle. then when u enter the trigger instead of the BLUFOR\OPFOR\INDEPENDENT options u get VEHICLE\ENTIRE UNIT\ANY UNIT MEMBER and such so u can set triggers on specific units.

that's the real simple stuff. if u want a more detailed help than u can keep asking and get others to help or me, if i can...

dont give up on the editor. when u learn the basics of triggers than u can really get creative.

[ShootinPutin187 10]

Manuals are very usefull however they are nothing compared to someone who can help you to put the stuff in the manual in practice. Its like learning Russian from a computer, it aint the same like from a teacher xD, do you got xfire? :)

[Sgt.Spoetnik 10]

Hi

Welcome to the forum, yep the editor can be a bit strange in the beginning

but look up -Mr.murray's editor guide- its full with tips and tricks for missionmakers,also keep reading the forum cause you will learn a lot here 2.

and if you got questions or problems you can still post them on forum.

cya

[JDog 11]

Hey Shootin,

Yea Mr-Murray's Deluxe Editing Guide will get you through all the basics you need to know about using the editor and a good ways into understand the scripting aspects of it all. I also just posted all the files of my mission on the boards here for people to look at. Might be a little daunting when you first look at it, and the map in the editor might seem cluttered with all the objects, waypoints, and triggers. But you're free to take a look.

As for simulating "capturing" something... I have something like this in my mission. The player has to "pick up/capture" some intel to activate the next objective. To make it look like the player takes it, I have a small trigger in the area of the intel objects, and when the player enters that area (touches the intel), the objects disappear (get deleted) and triggers the next waypoint. Hope that kinda gives you an idea how you can go about doing it.

[ShootinPutin187 10]

I actully managed to make this trigger, thanks a lot :)'

Altho it wouldt let me syncronize a trigger with a soldier tho. Let us say i have a group of soldiers which kill the last enemy in an area, the trigger goes and the txt says Clear. Now If id like to trigger a waypoint to the next town to capture how do i do this?

[JDog 11]

You synchronize the trigger to the waypoint, like this:

In this example, the A10 will get to the first waypoint and it will change to a "Wait" waypoint until the condition of the trigger is met. When it's met, it'll give him the next waypoint.

---------- Post added at 10:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 AM ----------

However if you do need to "sync" it to a unit (like to detect if a specific unit is present/not present... you use GROUP to do it, not SYNC. Just click the Group button and drag a line connecting the trigger to the unit.

[ShootinPutin187 10]

Splendid!

Now another note on waypoints, i made a group of motorized infantry and wanted them to drive to a specific city, however id like them to drive on the ROAD, but the AI keeps trying to take the shortest way to the waypoint, meaning going through houses, forests and what not. When I try to make several smaller waypoints on the road, the AI doesent really seem to be able to drive straight, its like a drunken driver, anyway i can make the driver drive more smoothly?

[JDog 11]

there are a few threads on here about that already. to put it simply... the AI is retarded when it comes to driving on roads. just search the boards for "convoy" or somethin.

[ShootinPutin187 10]

I guess theres nothing i can do about it then.

[Inkompetent 0]

Well, you can make a script forcing a vehicle to follow another by using doMove, setVelocity and things like that. A bit annoyingly complex for a working convoy, but it is doable.

[ShootinPutin187 10]

I havent done scripting before, how would I be doing it?

[Inkompetent 0]

Best advice I can give is www.ofpec.com

In one of the giant older guides for Operation Flashpoint there, you can in the back of it find suggestions on how to script convoys.

[ShootinPutin187 10]

I have looked over some guides, the more i read the more confusing it gets really, i guess il just read it again :P

[JDog 11]

I didn't say there's nothing you can do about it in my last post lol >.> I said search the forums for "convoy".

Eventually you would have found this thread with a solution that normally works:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=81700&highlight=convoy

set the group's behavior to safe, put them in column formation, and forceSpeed 8...

[rocket 9]

Set their behaviour to safe or careless. Then they will use roads

[ShootinPutin187 10]

I decided to drop the convoy idea and indstead just dropped the trucks close by with the infantry to make it look as if you drove with them. Next is i'd like a bombing attack over the city. I placed some planes a bit away and around 10 sec, they come over the city, though it seems as if they dont drop any missiles or bombs or anything. I got mainly infantry enemies on the ground. Any advice how I can make some planes drop bombs over the city as they pass or atleast attack the infantry units?

---------- Post added at 05:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:27 PM ----------

Oh and most importently. Id like to play this mission with a friend over the internet. How do I play it with him?