ARMA 2: CO (how to combine ARMA 2 into ARMA 2:OA and use together)

[Sledge 10]

Entered in Error..found solution

Edited February 5, 2011 by Sledge

[uk100 10]

Is there any way someone could compile a complete guide to getting CO working? To be honest the instructions at the beginning of this thread appear very incomplete and confusing and I am not keen on wading through 51 pages!

e.g.

STEAM users;

latest version of batch is now part of STEAM release , please re-validate cache ... so replace _runA2CO.cmd manually (attached in .zip to end of this post)

So does that mean this mean I should use the version of this file that came with the Steam release or not? It's not even clear whether I should be looking in the A2 or OA folders.

[Dwarden 1125]

Is there any way someone could compile a complete guide to getting CO working? To be honest the instructions at the beginning of this thread appear very incomplete and confusing and I am not keen on wading through 51 pages!

e.g.

STEAM users;

latest version of batch is now part of STEAM release , please re-validate cache ... so replace _runA2CO.cmd manually (attached in .zip to end of this post)

So does that mean this mean I should use the version of this file that came with the Steam release or not? It's not even clear whether I should be looking in the A2 or OA folders.

the first line is decisive,

STEAM has already the same version of .cmd file included ...

(in spoiler was old text for time before)

also it's obvious the file is in OA directory considering A2:CO uses OA engine

all You need should be properly downloaded A2 and OA (if not sure use file cache validate feature)

then start STEAM via 'run as administrator'

then run once game ARMA 2 (keys must be written to registry otherwise A2:CO mode fails to work)

then use 'Launch A2:CO' option in STEAM when starting OA

[uk100 10]

OK, thanks, it did work.

[BC_Bat 10]

Guess what folks it might not be as hard as you think. I've done it 2 times already, both times with a different method, but I should mention what packages I have.

ArmA 2 from Sprocket, ArmA 2 OA standalone DVD Boxed, (also BAF).

The first time I used the script supplied in the first post of this thread. Which worked fine, I just had to make a shortcut to it and run it every time I wanted to play "combined operations".

But then at on point I uninstalled everything to trouble shoot a different problem (with BAF, but that's another story), and when I got to the point to reinstall my ArmA 2 OA I decided to take a look at the readme on the DVD which stated the following;

"It is possible to merge ARMA 2 content with ARMA 2: OPERATION ARROWHEAD. In order to do this:

* make sure to install ARMA 2 first

* ARMA 2: OPERATION ARROWHEAD should find your ARMA 2 folder automatically during setup (if you want to install ARMA 2: OPERATION ARROWHEAD as stan alone product, select different folder)

* ARMA 2 version 1.06 or higher is required, ARMA 2: OPERATION ARROWHEAD will update it during setup automatically if necessary"

I did it and it worked without a problem, it even gave me a desktop shortcut called "ARMA 2 Combined Operations".

Sorry if someone has mentioned this already but this thread is about 64 pages long...so I guess I just made it longer.

[Rail82 10]

alright I've skipped around this thread and read through several pages and I have some questions about this. And all I can really find in this thread is steam related issues and I have the disc versions.

Now I had OA first. I have it patched and several addons installed (ace, zuessai, cba etc. etc.) They all work in the standalone.

I just bought A2 (well had to buy CO because they don't just sell A2 anymore, but that BS is for a different thread) I installed it and it works fine. I don't have any patches or addons installed on it.

now when I use :

_runA2CO_nonSteamOA.cmd

The game opens up in CO just fine. I can play the game and everything seems to be in order. Which is the source of my confusion believe it or not...

Here are my questions:

1.) Why doesn't this create a CO shortcut or directory anywhere on my PC? Why do I always have to launch it from _runA2CO_nonSteamOA.cmd?

2.) Where did my expansions go? and how can I use them in CO without a shortcut or even a file folder anywhere to even put them? When I open JUST OA the expansions are there, when I open in CO they are gone. How do I run addons and CO at the same time?

3.) OA is patched to 1.57, my A2 is how it came out of the box, version 1.06 I think it was... do I need to patch A2 to 1.08 or does OA patch take care of that?

thanks.

Edit: still no luck, read through even more of the thread, and seen similar questions asked, but no clear cut answers... I love this game, don't get me wrong, but why didn't they make it more user friendly? I mean I have had tons of games in the past that I bought expansions for, and I have never had to combine and launch them in this manner. They always made a new shortcut, or a new menu in game to access the new content. I don't understand why it can't be installed as one, with it's own unique shortcut and directory. And I've had CO for over 48 hours now and I haven't played it once, because I can't get my mods to work, and I'm not playing it without ACE at the very least. Now I have been struggling through the editor and learning new tricks there with scripting and what not, and now I need a PHD in "computer rocket surgery" in order to "combine" the game. I shouldn't have to download 3rd party files in order to launch CO. I don't know what the hell BI was thinking, but they have a fantastic game on their hands but it's too intimidating for the average joe to even play it to it's full potential. Now I am self teaching myself because this is the game I have wanted for years, and I need to learn new tricks if I want to enjoy it fully, but think of all the people who don't have the patience to learn this stuff and just give up on this game after a couple weeks. I know I have thought of putting it down a few times already myself, especially when I learned about all the scripting required to make GOOD missions. Fortunately I am hard headed and am determined to not let this game beat me down. Others aren't so lucky though. I don't knwo, I just think BI could have cleaned some of these BASIC issues up.... Like a simple way to combine the game and install mods.

Edited February 27, 2011 by Rail82

[Kehäraakki 10]

I had almost the same problem but fixed it(after many painful hours of banging my head against the keyboard) by uninstalling OA and reinstalling it after the fact. It seems that it's vital to install basic ARMA 2 first, then installing OA on top of it.

[Rail82 10]

I had almost the same problem but fixed it(after many painful hours of banging my head against the keyboard) by uninstalling OA and reinstalling it after the fact. It seems that it's vital to install basic ARMA 2 first, then installing OA on top of it.

Yeah I just did that and now it works. But now I am still having trouble adding the mods.

I can't open several of my missions because they use ACE content so now instead of playing the past 4 hours, I have been installing and uninstalling and downloading launchers and moving my mods around and nothing is working.

[.kju 3244]

-mod=c:\absolute\path\works\too;relative\path

[Bkp 10]

Except a lot of errors, I got another problem when running CO like this, the speedo and the altimeter are not working

[Rail82 10]

Ok my target line looks like this:

"C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\arma2OA.exe" -nosplash -mod=@CBA;@ACE;@ACEX;@zcommon_ace;@ACEX_SM

and when I try to open the game I get this error:

userconfig\ace\ace_clientside_config.hpp not found

and then it doesn't open the game.

I triple checked to make sure the mods where in the armaII directory. They are in the right spot. All these mods worked just fine when all I had was OA.

This is the 4th day or so I have been struggling with this shit and all I want to do is play CO with fucking mods.

I am about to lose it.

And I love how I can open just A2 on it's own, but now I don't even have the option to open OA on it's own, so I can atleast play my missions, (that of course require ACE content to even open.)

Edit:

Now even if I remove the mod line from the target and just try to open it vanilla, I still get the same error message. I have to remove ace completely from the directory to get it to even open up vanilla.

WTF IS GOING ON?

Edited February 28, 2011 by Rail82

[Gunter Severloh 4057]

This error userconfig\ace\ace_clientside_config.hpp not found

your getting is because you need to go into the Ace folder inside it is a folder called storage.

Go into the storage folder and theres a zip file, unzip it and what gets extracted is some files but the one you want is the userconfig.

Put the userconfig into your main arma2 directory, and the error will stop and the game will start.

The error is letting you know what files you are needing, so what you should be asking is where is this file, and I explained it above.

Edited February 28, 2011 by Gnter Severloh

[Rail82 10]

thanks man. That did the trick! all is right in my world again!

[Bkp 10]

Except a lot of errors, I got another problem when running CO like this, the speedo and the altimeter are not working

Ah nevermind fixed this by updating Arma2

[T1M3L355 10]

Many thanks for this...

I had OA first.. then BAF

bought A2 yesterday...

Uninstalled OA and BAF, cleaned the registry, deleted the BI folder in install directory, a completely clean uninstall...

1/ Installed A2, installed the updates/patches for it

2/ Installed OA, installed the updates/patches for it

3/ Installed BAF and run the OA update/patch again (I should have just run it once here, but got trigger happy with the installs lol)

4/ opened A2, closed it, opened OA, closed it, ran the "_runA2CO_nonSteamOA.cmd" file (as admin, as I did with EVERYTHING Above!!!)

When I ran the "_runA2CO_nonSteamOA.cmd" file, it opened up the game, which I then closed

I found the Arma2 Combined Operations shortcut in the "start > all programs > Bohemia Interactive > Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead" folder.. right clicked, shortcut to desktop, and hey presto CO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MANY thanks to all the under/over-world members of bohemia interactive :D

Edited March 11, 2011 by T1M3L355

[ratherbegliding 10]

Non-Steam Arma2 + OA standalones

Found it even easier than T1M3L355's post above:

1) Already had Arma2 installed and patched, with ACE, ACEX etc.

2) Installed OA into same /Bohemia Interactive/Arma2 directory

3) Installed BAF same place

4) Ran patch OA 1.57 (which updates all three of the above)

When I finished I had a shortcut on my desktop called Combined Ops!!! Woo hoo!!

No need for "_runA2CO_nonSteamOA.cmd" or anything else.

Enabled mods I wanted from the 'Expansions' page within the game.

[mikemike664 10]

ya i tryed that and i did not get any thing

---------- Post added at 03:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:55 AM ----------

no i got it

[Ollie1983 10]

This has to be the most backward thing ever. Did all the steps, game will still not launch CO from steam but content appears in expansions when run as OA.

[sharpy78 10]

ok this is really frustrating to me nnow, there is no solution to my problem >:( , ok this is it, i go to the store, get my combined operations , come home,try to insta;; (also i had the demmos from steam, my oa demo works fine, my normal arma2 demo works fine just a bit more powerful) so i try to install, i put my disk in (arma2) then i go throguh it all and when im about ot install at the end it says "not ennough memory to install arma2" WTF! man, i have over 3/4 of memory free , but when i put my OA in it works all fine, but no addons or anything just oa plain oa , so plz help me and im jsut a gamer, im not a pc wiz, but i ususaly get wat people try to say to me, im just not an advanced pc person plz help !!!

[pooroldspike 129]

....come home,try to insta;; (also i had the demmos from steam, my oa demo works fine, my normal arma2 demo works fine just a bit more powerful).....it says "not ennough memory to install arma2".... but when i put my OA in it works all fine..!

Uninstall the demos, they might be interfering with things.

Then uninstall OA and any remaining bits of AA2 etc so you'll have a fresh clean sheet.

Then try installing AA2 again.

If it works, install OA into the AA2 directory and they should automatically combine and put a "Comb Ops" icon on your desktop for you.

I used disks like you and it worked at the second attempt AFTER i'd cleared out the old demos and gunk, and tried again.

[Vampyr_six 10]

Okay, this thread is already super long and tends to led those non-super savvy people all over the place. (I count myself as one of those)

Here is what I did to get Combined Operations to work with Steam AND how I was able to get mods to work too!

Note: I have ARMA 2 and Operation Arrowhead installed in two seperate folders, and this method still works fine. Some people mentioned installing it all into one folder, but I couldn't figure out how to make Steam do that.

1. Open Steam
   
2. In the LIBRARY tab, right click on ARMA 2 and select PROPERTIES
   
3. In the LOCAL FILES tab, select VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME CACHE...
   
4. Once that is finished, close that window
   
5. In Steam, select ARMA 2, click PLAY, PLAY ARMA 2, and click PLAY again
   
6. Allow game to fully load. Once at main menu, exit game.
   
7. Follow the exact same steps but for ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead
8. (The next three steps are only necessary if you want to adjust the command line for mods)
   
9. Now, in Steam, right click on ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead
   
10. Select PROPERTIES, and in the GENERAL TAB, select SET LAUNCH OPTIONS
    
11. This is where you will put your mod line. Mine is: -mod=@cba;@ace;@acex;@acex_ru;@acex_sm;@a2warmod;@faces;@sthud;@sounds; -nosplash -winxp -world=empty -cpuCount=4
    
12. Now you can select ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead, click PLAY, and you should see an option for LAUNCH ARMA 2: COMBINED OPERATIONS
    

I had two other friends do the exact same steps also with success.

Note: The multiplayer maps that you want and the mod folders that you want must reside in the ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead folder. This doesn't seem to see any of those that are over in the ARMA 2 folder.

I hope that these instructions save someone else hours of frustration too.

Regards,

Vampyr_Six

[xFullBoost 10]

I have retail ArmA 2 and Steam Arma 2 : Operation Arrowhead.

What method do I need to follow to combine these?

Im not asking for a step by step, but simply which method to use.

(A2OA was a gift for my bday, thus i got the boxed copy not steam)

[jonneymendoza 10]

Hi guys. i am having trouble installing both A2 and OA and combining it to become combined ops.

My pc is runniing windows 7 with 6gb and a 480gtx if that helps.

i have A2 on a dvd and OA from sprocket.

i installed A2 first form the dvd on the usual program files location and then after that i succesfully installed OA, again in program files location, in the exact place A2 is i.e program files/Bohemia Interactive/Arma 2.

I then tried the the _runA2CO_nonSteamOA and it didnt seem to work as after that, i went into regedit to try and locate the necesary registrys and none of them was there.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[Dwarden 1125]

if you installed both games into same directory then there should be no need at all to use the .cmd

whole point .cmd solution is to cover when games are in standalone directories

[jonneymendoza 10]

ahh ok but i dont have a combined ops shortcut?