BIS, add more usability to mission editor and mod tools

[Cookieeater]

Making anything else than a scenario with AI fighting each other is a pain in the ass in ArmA II. I shouldn't need to close ArmA II and open a textpad to add in respawning. It should be built into the mission editor itself with an option for each unit. I shouldn't need to script to have a squad spawn in a chopper when the map starts(without using in cargo). I shouldn't need to open waves and waves of text files and folders to try creating a map.

BIS should improve their modding tools, the modders and mission makers have serviced BIS since OFP:CWC, and most likely without modding and mission making, ArmA III wouldn't exist. Yet the modding tools that ArmA II has are awful, and the scripting language, required for anything that isn't simple in mission making, is unorthodox and foreign to most programming languages.

If ArmA III is to be successful, it will need to rely on the modders that have saved the ArmA's, and OFP. Therefore, the tools should be much more accessible to the people, so we could have more people making content for the community.

[NeMeSiS]

Unless it also comes in with a build in browser and file explorer you would end up alt+tabbing anyway.

EDIT: Also, having a squad start in a chopper is 1 line and can be done from any units init, its hardly a script.

[chris64]

Making anything else than a scenario with AI fighting each other is a pain in the ass in ArmA II. I shouldn't need to close ArmA II and open a textpad to add in respawning. It should be built into the mission editor itself with an option for each unit. I shouldn't need to script to have a squad spawn in a chopper when the map starts(without using in cargo). I shouldn't need to open waves and waves of text files and folders to try creating a map.

BIS should improve their modding tools, the modders and mission makers have serviced BIS since OFP:CWC, and most likely without modding and mission making, ArmA III wouldn't exist. Yet the modding tools that ArmA II has are awful, and the scripting language, required for anything that isn't simple in mission making, is unorthodox and foreign to most programming languages.

If ArmA III is to be successful, it will need to rely on the modders that have saved the ArmA's, and OFP. Therefore, the tools should be much more accessible to the people, so we could have more people making content for the community.

Agreed, the mod scene is vital to this game and anything to make it more easily accessible is worth including.

[Flash Thunder]

Not to the extremes as you stated it, but I Would like to see a respawn tool and in editor mission parameters section so you can fastly edit mission objectives and make a briefing.

[neokika]

Hi,

Well if you say that Alt+Tab, create a description.ext file and place respawn=2 in there and save it is too much work, then I would risk to say that mission making is not your "thing".

_neo_

[GossamerSolid]

Well you think it's "very important" to the modding/mission making community, I disagree.

Head over to the ArmA 2, ArmA and OFP User Missions sections. Tons of missions made and tons more on the way.

BIS has more important things to work on than redesigning things that already work and are already easy to do.

[gammadust]

I would welcome a BI Tools 3.

For one, BIS is, most probably (if you take in consideration the new engine), using updated in-house tools out of which a subset/toned-down tools could be provided to the community without unreasonable effort.

Another thing is integration, each tool feels disconnected. The job is done right but it is indeed intricate. The workflow sidetracks too much, to a lesser extent if working in team of course since you'll probably designated a smaller set of tools for the task at hand.

Testing is hell, but that I guess is common with other development environements. Could be helped significantly by on-the-fly Cfg loading (don't know what to expect about this).

External formats importers/exporters, would be nice too.

[Dalia]

i think if they improve the mission editor it's good, we lose so many times to make MP mission, for make mp briefing with switchteam we must use taskmasters 2, we have many tools build by addonmakers, if the tools are improve we can do more interesting mission in sp and mp.

If today we can make mission, when we learn after it's easy but a gain time will be good.

[TacKLed]

Make an easy to use EJECT waypoint for paradrop missions.

[Acecool]

How about, include an in-game in-editor text-editor with syntax highlighting and definitions file to aid in short-tabbing functions, including the ones you make.

Must be a simple directory viewer/text editor where you can make folders, make new script files, make new function files, etc etc...

[])rStrangelove]

While i agree that a decent mission editor handling everything as a project (briefing, scripts, custom files, etc) would be great to have in ArmA3, i think its a mistake to think it would make things easier.

If i get this right the OP wants something to be done with the press of a button which for the moment is only possible via proper scripting. Here's your mistake:

A tool doesn't make you creative and it doesn't safe you from having to learn how to use it.


No tool in the world can do what hundreds of scripters would want, too many possibilities.

[Acecool]

Exactly, remove the hassle of alt+tabbing by handling all script and folder editing, creation, deletion and organization into the editor would be a major asset to the people making the missions would help me out a little. Oh and being able to spoof a dedicated server from within the editor!!!

[CarlGustaffa]

I'm all for improvements to the editor, but you can't have "all that" while being an integral part to the game exe itself. As cool as the (late) OFP DR editor was, as a standalone program, looking fresh and packed with features, it truly sucked that it wasn't part of the actual game - you had to launch the game. This took significant time and quickly became too painful to work with.

[Flash Thunder]

I'm all for improvements to the editor, but you can't have "all that" while being an integral part to the game exe itself. As cool as the (late) OFP DR editor was, as a standalone program, looking fresh and packed with features, it truly sucked that it wasn't part of the actual game - you had to launch the game. This took significant time and quickly became too painful to work with.

That was the only thing that kept me from ever using the Dragon Rising editor at all...

Oh my god I hated having to make a small edit, back out of the game entirely make said small change, go back into game after years of loading back out rinse and repeat.... FUFUFUFFUFUFUUFUFUFUFUFUFU

If BIS ever made the editor like that I would never use it.

[2nd Ranger]

I could never go back to an external editor after being spoiled by the OFP/ARMA series. The Ghost Recon mission editor was quite cool; it was 3D, every unit and group placed was viewable in a list at one side, and scripting was done in handy blocks so everything was organized. But it was external. A novice couldn't afford to make large chunks of the mission without testing it. And I had a slow computer back then so making a mission took years off my life. YEARS.

[Jedra]

I have said it elsewhere, but I would like to see a better script de-bugger - especially for server side code. It can be a real pain to track local/global and broadcasted variables.

I would love a debugger that connected to all the clients and the server and showed the current variable state across all of them. It would make complex scripting so much easier to test especially when trying to make sure missions run on both hosted and dedicated servers.

Better documentation on script commands and exposed APIs would be a boon.

A nice script editor would be good too.