Millenium7

holy crap, worst download site in the world Please host it somewhere that works

I tried that with a campfire and flashlight and it did absolutely nothing

There would be no need for a central server. Please reread my original post concerning a "Server URL field" It would be mod/addon specific, entered by the mod maker, to elect any server of their choosing to be used for distribution. Thus, there is no need for a central server, of course the option to have some sort of central server is still there. Again BIS dev's, where does the problem lie? You already have the capability of multiple concurrent connections through Squad .XML files. Add one more to download files from another server which is passed to the client from the game server (which is read from the addons) It would be nice to have the engine load/unload addons on-the-fly but again its not necessary. Even a simple 'You must restart to join this server' option would be good, not great but it doesn't require any new code to be developed, just a simple restart of the game client with the appropriate -join= and -mod= parameters None of my suggestions violate the current game engine limitations or require 'new' sections of code, only modification to some dialogs, checks, file reading and establishing 1 more connection edit: If i'm wrong about the multiple concurrent connections, it's still not a problem. Upon encountering mod files that fail the validation check (or are missing), still kick the client but before doing so, pass them a URL. This will trigger the client to begin downloading. Once its done, reconnect to the server, simple no?

I'm working on a stealth mission that essentially overrides the stock AI's ability to detect or engage units, as I find it woefully lacking when it comes to 'stealth' Now, units are more alerted, but not necessarily alarmed by sights or sounds and may look at or investigate an area without being certain anything is there. Instead of being either 'aware' or 'unaware' of ones presence with no middle ground The problem i'm having is a long lasting one. Light has absolutely no impact whatsoever on AI visibility. Even if I stand in front of a spotlight the AI won't see me. I don't really care about the standard behaviour, but are there are scripting commands that can tell me my 'illumination'? I realise I can check for proximity to any fixed lights, but that doesn't work for aimed lights (flashlights, spot lights) and would make standing behind a light, the same as in front of a light Additionally. Any way to increase or decrease lights range and intensity? I want flashlights to be more powerful and cover a longer range

The point is to have a 'server URL' field, filled out by the mod makers themselves. It would not attempt to download addon files from the game server, it would download them from an external server (again no different to sixupdated) so no additional load is placed on the server There are 2 glaring problems with external tools such as sixupdater First and foremost, it makes it highly impractical for a server to run missions that have small individual addons. As mentioned if I load a mission with a small 20kb addon, it kicks everyone else because they don't have it. They'd have to quit, find it, download it, activate it then reload the game and rejoin. If there are 10+ seperate little addons, thats a huge pain in the ass. So unless your addon is part of a larger pack (which is more about marketting and less about creating addons) there is slim to no chance of it EVER being used in multiplayer And the second is that you need to explain to people how to use sixupdater and why. Don't get me wrong I think its fantastic, but it's just too complicated for what should be a simple task. I perfectly agree that its more suited for larger addons of several GB, but smaller ones of only a few MB would be so much better to have downloaded and activated directly through the game when joining servers

The way I see it you guys have 90% of the hard work implemented already. You already have .bisign files in place which verify the integrity of files stored in addon folders You already have the ability to query and download remote server info (in the form of Squad XML) You have a progress bar in place when downloading missions from servers So whats missing? 3 processes with an optional 4th 1) When joining a server, just like it currently does the game should query against the servers .bikey files to find which files are either missing, or fail the integrity check (old/outdated or tampered with files). When it finds a file that is invalid or missing, download it from a server. Where? thats step 2 2) Look at the servers .bikey file (or a seperate spreadsheet/database file bundled with mods/addons containing all CRC32/MD5 file checksums) which would contain an entry for a server URL or IP address. i.e. 'ftp://myarma3mod.com/mymodfiles' 2.1) If the URL field is empty, do exactly what the game currently does and kick the player from the server 2.2) If the URL field contains a valid URL (filled in by the addon maker), begin downloading all files which have failed the integrity check (or are missing) from THAT url, NOT from the game server. Be kind and show a progress bar with remaining filesize as well 3) When finished reload the new addon file, or if necessary prompt the user "To join this server your game must restart and load the required addons" with a yes/no, you click yes it restarts and rejoins the server 4) Since some servers may run different versions of addon files with the same name. Allow the game engine to also check for _xxx.pbo's, and not strictly the original name This sounds a bit complicated so here's an example. A bunny.pbo file fails because its version 1.0, the server requires version 1.1. Rather than overwriting, rename the downloaded file bunny_001.pbo. When joining a server it will load whichever file matches the .bikey starting with the name 'bunny' I don't want to blow my own horn here but I used to write software as a hobby and I really can't see this as being difficult. If there's something i'm missing please let me know but it seems this could easily be whipped up in no time at all It also covers some much needed bases. Yes people can use third party software but its such a pain in the ass, especially for newer people to understand. And it presents a giant problem with small or individual addons. At present its impractical for a server to run missions containing generally unknown addons that float about the internet, as it'll kick everyone. So a lot of smaller addons never get used in multiplayer for that reason alone, this would fix it. A small 20kb addon suddenly becomes viable and not an impractical nightmare to have running on servers Sincerely - Millenium7

hmm well it now works for some reason. I dunno what I did I just rewrote everything seemingly the way it was. I have noticed however if I place a single character out of line, i.e. if (so and so) then { { } else { }; The whole script fails because theres that extra { in the second line. Nothing gets run at all, maybe I had a typo somewhere. But please, for the love of god BIS, I really really REALLY hope you guys plan to implement a better way of scripting than this. A GUI built in to the editor would be fantastic, preferably with a compiler that can pick up basic syntax error, and also gives you a bit more information on how to use commands than the current editor (which does almost nothing, still have to look up wiki's for hours)

its not working I have a trigger with Condition (repeat <= time) and on activation null = player execvm "runscripts.sqf"; repeater = time + 1 I also make it 'beep' so I know its running. It continues to beep no problem I placed.... if (debug==1) then { hint "debug is 1!"; }; into the script and I never get any hint I have another trigger (radio alpha) which sets debug = 1 No hint when I do 0-0-1

i'm using SQF I'm running a main .sqf file every 1 second from a trigger (if there's a faster and more reliable way, i'd like to know about it, as I'd like to be able to play a sound as frequently as 10 times a second but triggers are hopelessly unreliable at timing) and that script calls additional scripts It doesn't seem to matter how I lay my 'IF' statement out, it never executes. And calling 'getvariable' always returns the number after the variable (in this case 0, if I change it to 5 its 5) I can however access the variable ssuccessfully if I just put something like hint str(debug) it'll show 1. Just whenever an 'if' statement is involved everything goes to crap

I'm trying to use the 'IF' statement in scripts and it flat out doesn't work. I have not been able to get it to work. If I include it in a script, the script doesn't work properly, and it seems that anything after the 'IF' statement does not get executed either i.e. if debug==1 then // Doesn't work ? debug==1 : // Doesn't work if debug ==1 then { }; // Doesn't work, so I tried a suggestion on here to do this... _d = player getVariable ["debug", 0]; hint str(_d) if (_d>0) then { null = execvm "debug.sqf"; }; // Should work right? DOESNT WORK! argh! always returns 0 What am I doing wrong and why does it have to be so hard?

I could understand maybe a config file gone wrong, I think a clean install is unnecessary. latest official patch works fine, but now 'any' beta patch does not. It's specifically to do with running the beta. normal patch lets me load and play fine. I'd rather avoid downloading enormous data again if possible

same problem. Doesn't matter if it's run by launcher or shortcut, still crashes at startup before getting to main menu

I'm hoping someone can help. I've left ArmA2 alone for about 2 weeks, yesterday I applied the latest beta patch and tried to start it up the usual way through arma2 launcher. I get to the first screen with the tanks in the foreground and hangers/jeeps in the background and the game will crash to desktop with... Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: arma2oa.exe Application Version: 1.60.93.825 Application Timestamp: 4fdb3f79 Fault Module Name: arma2oa.exe Fault Module Version: 1.60.93.825 Fault Module Timestamp: 4fdb3f79 Exception Code: c0000005 Exception Offset: 0011d188 OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1 Locale ID: 3081 Additional Information 1: 0a9e Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789 Additional Information 3: 0a9e Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789 this was NOT happening previously, and if I run 'without' the beta patch it works fine. Strangely even if I revert to a beta patch I had working previously, it too will cause a crash. log files here http://www.sendspace.com/file/az96bv I'm not aware of changing anything and my system is fine for everything else. Help?

I'm hoping someone can help. I've left ArmA2 alone for about 2 weeks, yesterday I applied the latest beta patch and tried to start it up the usual way through arma2 launcher. I get to the first screen with the tanks in the foreground and hangers/jeeps in the background and the game will crash to desktop with... Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: arma2oa.exe Application Version: 1.60.93.825 Application Timestamp: 4fdb3f79 Fault Module Name: arma2oa.exe Fault Module Version: 1.60.93.825 Fault Module Timestamp: 4fdb3f79 Exception Code: c0000005 Exception Offset: 0011d188 OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1 Locale ID: 3081 Additional Information 1: 0a9e Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789 Additional Information 3: 0a9e Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789 this was NOT happening previously, and if I run 'without' the beta patch it works fine. Strangely even if I revert to a beta patch I had working previously, it too will cause a crash. log files here http://www.sendspace.com/file/az96bv I'm not aware of changing anything and my system is fine for everything else. Help?

I really liked the movement in hidden and dangerous 2. I looked at it as OFP movement massively improved. Basically you rolled the mouse forwards and backwards to set your 'speed'. I believe it had 5 levels, so if you roll your mouse down all the way then you would crawl (laying down) or walk (standing up/kneeling) very slowly and precisely. Roll mouse wheel forward once its a bit faster, once more its now a regular walk, one more it's now a jog and the last one was a run/sprint I'd 100% stand by this system as it allows you to simply and quickly select your speed wherever appropriate. I think we can simultaneously get rid of the hopeless slow and inefficient action menu, and replace it with a simple tap of the 'F' key to be bring up a catagorised menu. I.E. F-2-1 = Menu->Vehicle->Drivers Seat F-2-2 = Menu->Vehicle->Gunners Seat F-1-4 = Menu->Self->Use Medkit F-1-3 = Menu->Self->Switch to RPG/Secondary Weapon F-0 = Close Menu F-F = Context sensitive, interact with whatever mouse is pointing at