User Add-On Guide for more Realism and Immersion (ACE2-based)

[domokun 515]

SLX was recently updated and judging by the community's glowing response it seems to have reached maturity.

So what are the tweaks, if any, to get it to work with the legendary Zeus+GL4 combo?

[Banderas 0]

Can some people give me some ideas or feedbacks, how do they set up the different wounding & surrender/fleeing/capturing systems for AI in SP/coop missions? And how do the different systems (vanilla, ACE, GL4, SLX) responding to each other?

Currently I've set up vanilla and ACE modules, not too much problems so far, except when I give first aid for an AI teammate, then our AI medic just forgets to heal him up.

[sampat1 10]

I understand this is probably a horribly stupid question to ask but I am very new to ARMA 2 and its modding. I've got no idea how to open the 'user profile config file' which is needed to change the difficulty settings. What program should be used to open and edit this file?

Thanks in advance

[rangoon 0]

Thanks for this terrific guide!

Forgive me if this question seems dense. Will these mods work with the single-player campaign? I really enjoy the openness of the campaign so have been finishing that up before delving into the coop/multi-player side (although MP is *all* I ever played with ArmA 1).

And since I've yet to install any mods for ArmA 2, I have this question: is it easy to "turn off" mods without uninstalling them? I assume it's enough to just remove the switch in the shortcut properties? It seems an important issue when playing SP/MP, different servers, etc.

Thanks!

[Banderas 0]

I understand this is probably a horribly stupid question to ask but I am very new to ARMA 2 and its modding. I've got no idea how to open the 'user profile config file' which is needed to change the difficulty settings. What program should be used to open and edit this file?

Thanks in advance

No question is stupid from a beginner :) You can find the profile file in your C:\Documents&settings\"yourprofile"\Documents\Arma 2 directory (*.Arma2profile), editing can be done with notepad (or press "F4" in wincmd/tc)

[the.d 0]

Hey there! Sorry for the late reply ...

Anyways:

domokun, I did not find the time to use more of SLX add-on files. What I can say is, the guide's set-up works quite fine with the latest version - you are right, though, it is highly recommended to use more of Solus' project. You could replace GL4 with SLX' SLX-optimized GL3 system, and much, much more. It's a terrific mod! Considering the limited time I have to spend on the forums and out of convenience as well as gaming experience so far, I will leave the guide's SLX set-up - for now. Thanks for your input :)

Banderas, fleeing is mostly GL4's domain, you can set up the enemy team's morale values in the GL4 configs. I do not have any particular or preferred values at hand. Wounding is best applied by using either ArmA2's vanilla modules or ACE2's wounding system. Taking captives is SLX' domain, of course, and can severely interfere with "standard vanilla" gameplay. I guess it's up to you to what degree you'd like to introduce the feature into your gaming experience. As for the guide the surrendering is limited; should you decide to use SLX' additional wounded features, only incapacitated enemies will surrender to you after they have been healed.

sampat1, welcome to the game! :) Right, as Banderas says, you can open the userprofile (the file called "yourplayername.ArmA2Profile") with any text editor such as Window's "NotePad".

rangoon, the mods work in single player - but get ready for an intense and possibly frustrating battle experience. With more aggressive enemies engaging at medium to long ranges and revamped armour values, the single player difficulty balance is severely disrupted. Personally, I did enjoy the challenge as you often find yourself developing alternative strategies to reach your goal - some of the missions take 3 to 5 times the time they would take in "vanilla mode". If nothing else helps or you face a "dead end", just lower the difficulty settings (enemy aiming / precision above all) in your user config. I admit I did that several times to get past a really nasty area - then set the values back to normal again.

You can very easily turn off mods as you like. Just, as you said, remove the pertaining "@-" folder from your shortcut "-mod=" starting parameter.

Again, sorry for the late reply - and thanks for your input here!

Edited June 22, 2010 by The.D

[sampat1 10]

Hi Banderas and The.D. Thanks for the replies, I've got it sorted now. Well that was step one of the guide done now for the rest!

[stevedrumsdw 10]

A question here:

With the release of Operation arrowhead immient, does this render this thread obselete? I am wondering when I get OA will I have to disable all addons including ACE unitl its configured to work with what OA will have?

[sampat1 10]

Hi again, so far so good until....after installing the GL4 addon and starting up the game i receivce the message 'Script UserConfig GL4\GL4_Core.sqf no found' although when I checked the file is in the location it should be. I have tried it both using the files in the GL4 download and with the files you suggested as parameters and still no joy. Again any help would be really appreciated.

thanks

EDIT: Got it working

Edited June 23, 2010 by sampat1

[domokun 515]

The.D: thanks for the feedback. BTW is there a good reason that you've suggested IceBreaker's Isla Duala but not Panthera island ?

[the.d 0]

stevedrumsdw: That would be my guess :-) But not for long; I assume a great deal of the add-ons will be easily portable and definitely compatible with the expansion. I will re-write the guide for OA in due time.

domokun: A good reason? No... mere laziness and a lack of time recently - I love Panthera!

[Component Actual 10]

---------- Post added at 04:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:19 PM ----------

[/color]

Hey there! Sorry for the late reply ...

Anyways:

domokun, I did not find the time to use more of SLX add-on files. What I can say is, the guide's set-up works quite fine with the latest version - you are right, though, it is highly recommended to use more of Solus' project. You could replace GL4 with SLX' SLX-optimized GL3 system, and much, much more. It's a terrific mod! Considering the limited time I have to spend on the forums and out of convenience as well as gaming experience so far, I will leave the guide's SLX set-up - for now. Thanks for your input :)

Banderas, fleeing is mostly GL4's domain, you can set up the enemy team's morale values in the GL4 configs. I do not have any particular or preferred values at hand. Wounding is best applied by using either ArmA2's vanilla modules or ACE2's wounding system. Taking captives is SLX' domain, of course, and can severely interfere with "standard vanilla" gameplay. I guess it's up to you to what degree you'd like to introduce the feature into your gaming experience. As for the guide the surrendering is limited; should you decide to use SLX' additional wounded features, only incapacitated enemies will surrender to you after they have been healed.

sampat1, welcome to the game! :) Right, as Banderas says, you can open the userprofile (the file called "yourplayername.ArmA2Profile") with any text editor such as Window's "NotePad".

rangoon, the mods work in single player - but get ready for an intense and possibly frustrating battle experience. With more aggressive enemies engaging at medium to long ranges and revamped armour values, the single player difficulty balance is severely disrupted. Personally, I did enjoy the challenge as you often find yourself developing alternative strategies to reach your goal - some of the missions take 3 to 5 times the time they would take in "vanilla mode". If nothing else helps or you face a "dead end", just lower the difficulty settings (enemy aiming / precision above all) in your user config. I admit I did that several times to get past a really nasty area - then set the values back to normal again.

You can very easily turn off mods as you like. Just, as you said, remove the pertaining "@-" folder from your shortcut "-mod=" starting parameter.

Again, sorry for the late reply - and thanks for your input here!

I also like to use alot more of the SLX mod. I like GL4's healing system over the vanilla one as I dont have to constantly swith to the medic to heal my teammates. Of course I wouldnt have to switch to the medic if the medic actually healed people when told to instead of waiting til they are dead before getting around to it. But as far as SLX's healing or ACE2's healing goes I have no idea which I like better as I can't get either to work. ACE2 allows me to examine people and I get a little message like "he is bleeding" but I the options like bandage, morphine, turnequitte, etc. are always greyed out. there is no way to use the medical equipment, and I assume that this is what you are suppose to do with the ACE healing system it just never works for me. Does the ace healing system have to be activated or included in the mission some how or do you just need to run the mod for it to work?

As far as SLX wounding system goes it seems to work fine as far as healing/administering first aid goes, but the real problem it causes is that 95% of the time people die from being shot. That is there are almos no injuries. People tend to die immediately, which isn't a good thing. What really sucks with this is that I have to disable the SLX wounds PBO, and alot of other SLX PBOs are dependent upon the wounds one.

So my suggestion is if your having trouble with dieing rather quickly in engagements is to go through the SLX readme and search for these words: "heal, armor, damage, and wound" read what each PBO containing one of these words does, and if it sounds like it makes people more vulnerable disable it. One PBO which does this which you may miss is the SLX_Mod Weapons Core or something like that but it changes damage values of weapons and tends to make a gun that would take two-four shots to take you down take only one.

I disabled the SLX GL3 PBO and am using GL4, but I don't think it is a bad idea to try using the SLX GL3 PBO w/o GL4 I just haven't got around to trying it out yet.

If your not already start using VFAI, very simple mod which works exactly as described.

As far as difficulty goes I would suggest not using Zeus AI if you are playing single player. It just makes enemies way too accurate and almost impossible to move under fire. But this may be because I can't figure out how to lower the precision. I go into the ARMA2 profile in mydocs/arma2 and change the precision to what I want, then go into the game play for a while exit, and reopen the the ARMA2 profile only to find the value has been bumped up to mathc the enemies skill level. It is suggested to play against enemies with high skill and low precision. That way the enemies will employ a variety of tactics and techniques against you but wont be able to shoot with an AK from 500 meters away with their first shot. I have tried saving as read only file, but I have the feeling this file only reports the in game settings and does not actually affect them, and the config file works same way. But I know i am probably in the minority on that one but whatever.

If your looking for some more weapons definetly get teh RH weapon packs, they are the best but each pack basically gives you 20 different versions of the same gun, so it doesn't add a huge amount of variety. A good pack for variety is the FFAA weapon pack. These are very cool guns, but the telescoped sights aren't as real life as the ACE2 sights and the RH sights. The FFAA pack is a port from ARMA but the textures look fine to me.(woundn't of know had I not read it) The biggest problem with the FFAA pack to me is that the sounds feel kinda weak. I haven't tried it in conjunction with CSM2 yet so hopefully that will give them some more bang.

Two other must have mods for me is the Full screen Night Vision mod, VFTCAS (keeps helicopters flown by ai from flying into ground/trees)

---------- Post added at 04:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 PM ----------

Hey, Hunter123! Yeah, we've noticed - it's been a problem of ArmA2 (and ArmA) to start with but the AI enhancements (especially the increased aggressiveness and attack radius) amplify this effect. The latest beta patch(es) tune nightly encounters back to a more realistic level - but to really avoid the "all-seeing-eye" ability on enemies you might have to disable ZeusAI and, possibly - yet untested - some or all of GL4's ai scripts. Originally, however, this is caused by the way the ai "works" in the game (see the "enemy able to track your every move once they discovered the player" problem).

I didn't have much time testing and tweaking lately and the little free time I get I usually end up just playing the game and having fun; your point if very valid though and duly noted.

The AI are not able to track your every move once they see you. I know this because of a mission I played in the seal team 3 campaign. You assasinate soem dude on an airfield with a sniper rifle and then the whole base comes after you. something like 50 people. You pretty much have to retreat stop and shoot then retreat and repeat over and over. It was a small island but I was able to sneak away from the enemy on several occaisions. The enemy would continue to move in the direction they last saw me in until they got to the beach or just until they got tired I guess. If they knew where I was they would have followed me no matter what but they obviously could only guess where I was based on their last sighting. I was even able to sneak up behind a few and kill them at close range (was low on ammo so used pistol). Im not making this up either to be a fanboy, and try to pretend the game is flawless (cant stand people who do this) please play one of the latter missions of seal Team 3, the one with only you and a spotter on your team, if you dont believe me.

---------- Post added at 04:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:12 PM ----------

You will find a pretty good mirror for the proper files on armaholic. Just search through the categories.

I have also been trying to find the best combination of the popular mods. This guide was pretty helpful!

But there's one big problem I have encountered with any combination and I'm sure you all know of it:

I find myself wandering around and waiting to be attacked. What I mean is that no matter how cautious and stealthy I behave, 90% of the time I get spotted by the enemy first. This is unrealistic. No matter how I tweak the difficulty settings. It is so annoying playing as a navy seal sniper and being engaged by a farmer with an AK.

I think the problem is the ability of some enemys to hear a needle falling down from 500 metres.

I'm playing the Seal Six 4 campaign. At mission K-bar try to approach the broadcasting station unnoticed. It is rather impossible. The enemys will sound the alarm before you get one of them into your sights. Besides every Black ops mission gets crapped, because you are being attacked by some chedaki who don't even know how to pronounce Nightvision.

NOW my question is:

Is there ANY way to the AI's ability to detect you? (Except the difficulty settings of course)

Thanks

I know what you mean. I also think a big part of the problem is that bushes and grass don't affect the AI's vision the same way it does ours. Actually if anybody knows a solution to make grass and bush provide concealment against the enemy please share, as this is very annoying, in that you have to choose between graphics and gameplay in deciding what to set the terrain detail to.

But more on point I have found this little mod which claims to be able to adjust exactly what you are inquiring about ;), but I have not yet tested it out so I don't know if it works or not :o. Definetly worth a shot though right!!? Its called "Infantry Stealth and Recognition Skills" available at http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=9604

Also on a final note I agree with The.D in that disableing Zeus AI should help to some extent.

---------- Post added at 04:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 PM ----------

Good question, Popa. The most we ever got was as far as ~10-12 people for a coop - it seemed stable for most missions (there are scenarios that might cause problems with ACE2/GL4, but that's a mission-sided issue and has nothing to do with the specific mod combination used here) and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

My suggestion in your case would be to use ACE2/GL4/Zeus in a properly configured set-up and leave out the more advanced* stuff (SLX, at the moment). As long as server and internet connection can keep up, it should be fine but you never know until you try :).

*in terms of adding even more content and features gameplay-wise

Edit: Guide updated - SLX 1.99 is working splendidly, although some might want to leave out the wounded features altogether to keep things simpler and ensure compatibility in all missions (ACE and non-ACE).

I might leave out the Units & Gear section. I am completely overwhelmed by its extensiveness. And picking just the "Top 10" is too subjective and ... well, presumptuous of me.

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I personally would like to see your top picks for weapons. I know there is alot out there but for those of us who don't do alot of editing it is sometimes a bit of a chore to add weapons to a mission, and so I have only really tried out 1 weapon pack as I dont want to mess with the hassle unless they are gona be some bad ass weapons.

I dont know if I really explained myself correctly but whatever I am just saying I would like to know what you would recommend weapon wise. Also know weapon packs/sound mods with some really loud weapons sounds, Im talking like right on the verge of begin too loud/unproportional to the other sounds loud? Yeah I like em loud.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hell yeah! I just wasted the last hour of work posting on BIS forums. Office spacing it up!

Edited June 23, 2010 by Component Actual

[jpinard 10]

Hey D, would you create a second guide for those using OA for everything?

[the.d 0]

Component Actual: Thanks for your extensive input! Just a quick addendum: As far as I know, SLX modules will actually try to increase "armour values" for personnel.

Regarding enemy spotting abilities, well, with a lot of patience and luck you are able to shake them off, no doubt, and they will lose track of you eventually - but that's not my point: When engaging on a longer range enemies will be able to direct their shots precisely to your position, even though you moved behind foliage cover/rocks/etc. - they do not just randomly shoot on spec but really are able to aim for you for about 30 seconds+. They are "magically" tracking you. This is actually corresponding to your reply on Hunter's post and might well be a problem of how the AI "perceives" visual obstacles.

My top weapon picks? Basically, everything from RobertHammer - I haven't looked much into more weapon packs (I did use some but many were flawed in one way or the other and I didn't quite like the overall "feeling" of how some weapons were ported or modeled) - ACE2 adds so much stuff already (and will also ensure that the weapons used have consistent sound effects!); actually, one of the biggest problems we face in our multiplayer coop sessions is the people "shopping" for weapons in ACE2 weapons crates right after the mission starts - some people really take several minutes to decide :-P

jpinard: Yes! My copy hasn't arrived yet, and, naturally, some time will pass to let the community's magic work on OA - but it will be done eventually!

[sampat1 10]

So just so I get this correct are all the addons in this guide incompatible with Arma 2 if I use OA to optimize Arma 2.

Thanks

[the.d 0]

sampat1, I should think so. Even if there are some mods that will be compatible (OA hasn't arrived here yet, so I cannot test anything but I'd presume something like WarFX and JTD Fire&Smoke will retain their ArmA2 compatibility when the game is "merged" with OA), I'd highly recommend to play "vanilla" for the time being and just enjoy the game as BIS intended it to be played. Surely, there will be specific OA mods / mod conversions soon enough.

[spangg 0]

Actually I think many of them are work. Many others confirmed in other threads. I believe the ones touching the ui and the big ones like ace are out for now , but the ones like zeus and slx ai should be ok. slx_wounds needs to be left out as someone said though.

[sampat1 10]

cool thanks for the reply. I'll stick to vanilla for the time being then, and look forward to new mods.

[Snipe292 10]

Hi again, so far so good until....after installing the GL4 addon and starting up the game i receivce the message 'Script UserConfig GL4\GL4_Core.sqf no found' although when I checked the file is in the location it should be. I have tried it both using the files in the GL4 download and with the files you suggested as parameters and still no joy. Again any help would be really appreciated.

thanks

EDIT: Got it working

I'm curious, how did you get it working? I'm having the same problem. Thanks.

[Component Actual 10]

Anyone else having trouble with the SLX wounding system? It seems whenever I use the SLX Wounds and a character team member dies the other team members fail to report this to me, and also I can swith to that charecter even though they are dead. This is very bad when the main character get injured and I swithc to a teammate who is dead then the main character dies. It essentially cause a game ending bug/kill screen per say. I can not hit escape to bring up the menu or anything the game will not end I am just stuck looking through the eyes of a dead man and must ctr alt del to exit game.

[bearking19 10]

I really like the massive amount of weapons made by the community but what i hate about it is that they were made by different people and hence not standardised. Getting the sounds right would really be a great improvement for me as i appreciate effects and atmosphere alot. But i doubt the sound makers would dwell into this since they're still focused on getting the vanilla guns to sound right.

[Component Actual 10]

My top weapon picks? Basically' date=' everything from RobertHammer - I haven't looked much into more weapon packs (I did use some but many were flawed in one way or the other and I didn't quite like the overall "feeling" of how some weapons were ported or modeled) - ACE2 adds so much stuff already (and will also ensure that the weapons used have consistent sound effects!); actually, one of the biggest problems we face in our multiplayer coop sessions is the people "shopping" for weapons in ACE2 weapons crates right after the mission starts - some people really take several minutes to decide :-P

[/quote']

@The D, I understand. Yes it can be a daunting task especially when you are equiping an entire team! One thing that I would like to see in a future release of the guide (since it is not included for many weapons, especially ACE) is weapon descriptions and comparisons. When choosing a weapon for a mission I basically just look at what accessories I want like ACOG, Grenade Launcher, and SD. But as far as choosing between an MK16, M4, SCAR, ACR, or Masada. I really have no idea what the difference between the weapons are. So far all I have really been able to tell just from experimenting is that the SCAR-H seems to be the most powerful and most accurate of the assault rifles. Short descriptions of when the weapon was developed and for what purpose it is usually employed and what its benefits and drawbacks are would really make having such a large selection of weapons so much more enjoyable.

[jpinard 10]

D. Sorry I never got that island spreadsheet to you. I'm working on an updated version of it.

I have a question about the editing the skill level down to such a low number like .3 - If you're setting the precision down to .4 already, doesn't setting the skill to .3 just make them too slow and too stupid?

[sarge4267 16]

srry about breaking into your conversation.

You might want to add jarhead's soundmod.

[DOA 20]

Thanks The D. Your time and effort are much appreciated. I will be joining the Sunday casual players server to try and run with the big dogs. ASAP.

DOA

the other D ;-)