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

[chappy 0]

yes, but you would have to edit the _runA2CO.cmd file

if you open it in notepad you will see down the bottom under 'run' the commandline it uses, based on the registry entries it searches before hand. in there should be the -mod element, you will just need to amend that to include the mods you want.

[Dwarden 1125]

yes, but you would have to edit the _runA2CO.cmd file

if you open it in notepad you will see down the bottom under 'run' the commandline it uses, based on the registry entries it searches before hand. in there should be the -mod element, you will just need to amend that to include the mods you want.

no need to edit the original batch file, he can define it in the set launch options in game properties in steam

he can also create shortcut to the _runA2CO.cmd file

with

"-mod=@whatiwant;@andineedthistoo;@anothergreatmod"

once again, you can add up to 9 parameters behind _runA2CO.cmd

e.g.

_runA2CO.cmd -noplash -windowed -noPause "-mod=@mylovelymod"

see more

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma2:_Startup_Parameters

Edited July 6, 2010 by Dwarden

[Njits 10]

just download from first post file _runA2CO.zip

then extract file from _runA2CO.zip file _runA2CO.cmd

and run _runA2CO.cmd

that's all

in case You needs mods erm ...

it's described in first post too but no idea if simple enough

p.s. if you have steam then don't need to download anything for running A2: CO mode, it needs work only if you want mods

well yeah thats why im doing it i want to use all the awesome mods created for this game

p.s. why do you guys charge so little for your games? it deserves so much more

Edited July 6, 2010 by Njits

[NuBZiLLa 10]

Is this guide only for Steam users?

Sorry if this was already asked, I don't feel like reading through 342 messages.

[Dwarden 1125]

Is this guide only for Steam users?

Sorry if this was already asked, I don't feel like reading through 342 messages.

read first post ... nothing else needed unless you don't understand ...

if you don't care about mods then don't read at all as it's part of STEAM release now

[ahmedjbh 0]

Dwarden, can you add to you first page post:

If you have dvd versions of both games, and you have installed the game in the default directories, you will get a desktop shortcut called "Arma 2 combined operations" if you use this, it will have OA and Arma 2 content. You dont need to do anything else. When you use the editor, you can select which island, and you can also select any campaign from Arma 2 or OA or Eagle Wing etc.

[Dwarden 1125]

Dwarden, can you add to you first page post:

If you have dvd versions of both games, and you have installed the game in the default directories, you will get a desktop shortcut called "Arma 2 combined operations" if you use this, it will have OA and Arma 2 content. You dont need to do anything else. When you use the editor, you can select which island, and you can also select any campaign from Arma 2 or OA or Eagle Wing etc.

erm i though that's obvious

because they installed into same directory (ARMA 2)...

this thread covers existance of different directories for each game

or the DVD shortcut works also in case the ARMA 2 and ARMA2:OA has different directories ?

[Dwarden 1125]

and by popular demand

cmd to run ARMA 2:CO in beta mode

there is only one limitation, it must be placed in same spot where is arma2oa.exe

[mmaker 10]

so... installed this and can see arma 2 under expansion when i start arrowhead. But when i do a multiplayer game, when democracy fails, i still dont get the new weapons or vehicles?

btw, resume/lobby bug stills exists in arrowhead coop campaign.. ye thats right its been here since patch 1.00 in Arma 2 :/

[los18z 19]

still no luck for me, I can get A2OA combined but I cant run any mods otherhr than the base products. (I have the latest _runA2CO.cmd) I tried two things: (My install is bot A2 and A2OA steam download into same drive but separate directories)

1. Created a shortcut of _runA2CO.cmd and the target lines reads:

"C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\_runA2CO.cmd" -nosplash -world=empty "-mod=@gl4;@SF_MC;@Vopsound;@WingsRussia;"

This starts only Operation Arrowhead not combined and no mods nor do you see any mods in expansion.

2. Modified the cmd file so it reads in this section:

:run

"%_ARMA2OAPATH%\ARMA2OA.exe" "-mod=%_ARMA2PATH%;%_ARMA2OAPATH%\EXPANSION;ca;@gl4;@SF_MC;@Vopsound;@WingsRussia;" -nosplash -world=empty %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

ENDLOCAL

3. If I run it plain vanilla I get both A2 and A2OA but cant select mods under expansions. Am I typing something wrong?

Los

[Dwarden 1125]

still no luck for me, I can get A2OA combined but I cant run any mods otherhr than the base products. (I have the latest _runA2CO.cmd) I tried two things: (My install is bot A2 and A2OA steam download into same drive but separate directories)

1. Created a shortcut of _runA2CO.cmd and the target lines reads:

"C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\_runA2CO.cmd" -nosplash -world=empty "-mod=@gl4;@SF_MC;@Vopsound;@WingsRussia;"

This starts only Operation Arrowhead not combined and no mods nor do you see any mods in expansion.

2. Modified the cmd file so it reads in this section:

:run

"%_ARMA2OAPATH%\ARMA2OA.exe" "-mod=%_ARMA2PATH%;%_ARMA2OAPATH%\EXPANSION;ca;@gl4;@SF_MC;@Vopsound;@WingsRussia;" -nosplash -world=empty %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

ENDLOCAL

3. If I run it plain vanilla I get both A2 and A2OA but cant select mods under expansions. Am I typing something wrong?

Los

where are your mods located?

if they in ARMA 2 directory only

then you must first create for them junctions

---------- Post added at 23:46 ---------- Previous post was at 23:45 ----------

so... installed this and can see arma 2 under expansion when i start arrowhead. But when i do a multiplayer game, when democracy fails, i still dont get the new weapons or vehicles?

btw, resume/lobby bug stills exists in arrowhead coop campaign.. ye thats right its been here since patch 1.00 in Arma 2 :/

mission must be able use these new vehicles , they will not autoappear in old mission ....

you can verify if the content works if you check editor and see all 5 islands and all vehicles etc.

[los18z 19]

"where are your mods located? "

Should I run all those mods from my OA folder, as in copy them over from my A2 side. I have most of my mods in my A2 side.

WRT Junctions

Ok So I DL junctions and put it in my OA directory (Or should it go in A2 dir?) where I also put your junction cmd files, then ran the _junctionA2intoOA4me_windowsXP.cmd which I believe is the one that allows you to select mods from in game expansion section? then I ran _runA2CO.cmd.

AM I doing this correctly?

Will some patch come along soon that will take care of all this?

Should I just combine both games into the same directory ala the dvd installs and scale it a day? Have wasted much time on this rather than playing and still have three more PC installs to figure out. Thanks for you patience.

Los

[Lord Byte 0]

If you want to do it without junctions or the other crap:

Getting the steam version (or any other version) to work in combined mode with no hassle, bugs and any modifier / mod you like? Is that possible?

Yup! Even though the information is incomplete, disparate and hidden in different locations it's as simple as creating a shortcut!

Go to your \Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead folder, rightclick on the ArmaA2OA.exe choose create shortcut, or pull it onto your desktop holding alt (to create a shortcut)

Then edit that shortcut (rightclick, properties) and edit the target

Example:

"D:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\ARMA2OA.exe" "-mod=D:\ARMA 2;D:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\EXPANSION;ca;@KHPackOA;" "-nosplash" "-cpucount=4" "-exThreads=7"

"D:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\ARMA2OA.exe"

= Path of the executable, pretty straightforward.

"-mod=D:\ARMA 2;D:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\EXPANSION;ca;@KHPackOA"

= This one the mother-lode :

- the entire line needs to be enclosed in "", adding other modifiers in doesn't seem to work that's why I put each modifier in "" The reason is mostly because there are / might be spaces in the path

-First point to your Arma 2 dir (here D:\arma2;) Make sure it's updated to 1.07!!!

- Each subsequent mod also needs to end with ;

- D:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\EXPANSION; Important! Point this to the Expansion folder in your arrowhead directory

-ca; without this most other mods and modifiers won't work! It needs to be in front of any other additional mod you add in!

-@xxxxx; add any other mod(s) you like here! Make sure it's after CA or it won't work properly (no idea why, it just won't!)

"-nosplash" "-cpucount=4" "-exThreads=7"

Any other modifier you like can be added here, you got a quad-core like me, then add this, otherwise look around on the forum, that info is easy to find!

Again make sure they have "" around them, each modifier is in it's own separate "" (adding them together again didn't seem to work, adding the modifiers before the mods were loaded didn't work either, I think CA is the cause there too.

You can also edit the .cmd or better yet, make your own without all the extra crap.

Just create a textfile and rename the extension to .cmd (if it still has a text file icon make sure you disable "hide known filetypes" in your explorer options or it won't work).

Put the entire command line in there like this: "D:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\ARMA2OA.exe" "-mod=D:\ARMA 2;D:\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\EXPANSION;ca;@KHPackOA;" "-nosplash" "-cpucount=4" "-exThreads=7"

again modify where necessary. Bingo!

Have fun!

[los18z 19]

Hey Lord Byte apparently you are the man! Thank you. Works great

Still think this should all work without the slightest intervention w the latest patch.

Los

[Dwarden 1125]

or just do

_runA2CO.cmd "-nosplash" "-cpucount=4" "-exThreads=7" "-mod=@KHPackOA"

that shall be enough straightforward :) considering the file is already available in the OA folder ;)

also in case you have quadcore the -cpuCount=4 and -exThreads=7 part is not needed ;)

Edited July 6, 2010 by Dwarden

[echo_2-7 10]

Maybe BI should release an .exe installer that detects ArmA 2 and merges it with OA.

[Dwarden 1125]

Maybe BI should release an .exe installer that detects ArmA 2 and merges it with OA.

and why would that be needed ? (not to mention You can do that already when installing OA retail :)

isn't easier to use the workaround now and when it's ready to have direct detection inside engine w/o user interaction ? ....

[echo_2-7 10]

So that means if I install OA, it'll detect for ArmA 2? 'Coz I've yet to buy it.

[DasPenguin 0]

and why would that be needed ? (not to mention You can do that already when installing OA retail :)

isn't easier to use the workaround now and when it's ready to have direct detection inside engine w/o user interaction ? ....

I'm not trying to start anything here, but is that some kind of way of saying steam users are screwed and BIS has no plan of fixing this for Steam clients? If it is, I'd say that's pretty messed up, but I don't know the whole picture or both sides of the coin here... I just know there's a very frustrated & very large customer base who's effected by this.

Like I said, I'm not trying to start/talk $#!+ - just a customer who's asking a question.

[los18z 19]

A good point, it's a 36 page thread on how to get something done that was advertised as a base feature. Certainly Dwarden has been great. I've got at least five friends that are like wake me when this is sorted out and then we'll get the expansion.

[nilshansson9 10]

Hey, I tried Lord Bytes's method and ended up with this on my OA desktop shortcut.

"-mod= B:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2; B:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\EXPANSION;ca;@KHPackOA"

I get an error whenever I start up arma2OA through the shortcut.

steam.exe (main exception): Win32 structuredException at 0040ed32 :Attempt to red from virtual adress 1 without appropriate access rights.

I am quite noob when it comes to this sort of thing so any explanations are much appreciated.

Side now what does "-exThreads=7" and "-mod=@KHPackOA" do?

Edited July 7, 2010 by nilshansson9

[gunterlund21 10]

or just do

_runA2CO.cmd "-nosplash" "-cpucount=4" "-exThreads=7" "-mod=@KHPackOA"

that shall be enough straightforward :) considering the file is already available in the OA folder ;)

also in case you have quadcore the -cpuCount=4 and -exThreads=7 part is not needed ;)

Dwarden this worked perfect but I cant get it to work with the beta in the subdirectories. Arma 2 tries to overlay the OA interfaces

[TBCVAMP 10]

So there is no fix for XP users?

I see Xp users asking the question too and I still see the respond to this.

NOTE XP is NOT Vista nor is it 7

When XP users use the junction it pops up for 5 sec and shuts down.

for STEAM users on Windows Vista/Seven You can do this via junction

type in c: commandline

Code:

cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\ARMA\@ACECode:

mklink /J ".\@CBA" "..\ARMA 2\@ACE"

Edited July 7, 2010 by TBCVAMP

[r3volution 0]

Having tried Dwardens method from a couple of pages back

_runA2CO.cmd -noplash -windowed -noPause "-mod=@mylovelymod"

I'm getting as far as steam telling me its preparing to launch Operation Arrowhead, but then it just hangs there forever and never actually launches the game. I'm not sure wtf I'm doing wrong... junctioned the mods, junctioned the A2 folders, and still nothing... This is launching from steam's 'combined operations' option if that makes any difference.

*EDIT*

OK managed to get it working, the key was deleting the spaces betwen the mods aka "-mod=@ACE; @CBA" whatever needing to be like "-mod=@ACE;@CBA". Now it seems to work, no errors, all the content and the mods are running!!! WOOOT! :D

Edited July 7, 2010 by r3volution

[ray243 11]

I'm pretty sure this question have been asked, but I am lazy to look at 37 pages of text. So I will have to ask again, how do I get it to be combined if I have Arma 2 retail and OA from steam?