What's the best way to manage mods and addons?

[doveman]

I'm using ArmaII launcher which is great but I'm not sure about the best way to manage all the addons and mods.

What I mean is that I want to have a LAN game with my friend but I don't necessarily know which missions we'll want to play until I get to the Host menu and have a look at them and some missions require various mods (Duala, Unsung, Undead, Duala, Fallujah, BB_Units, PatrolOps, etc), so I don't know whether I should just set ArmaII launcher to load all the mods, islands, etc that we might need or if I have to keep exiting ArmaII and restarting it with a specific profile which loads the necessary mods for a certain mission(s).

I know some missions require ACE but we're not really ready for that yet and if it's loaded it affects all missions, so I'm leaving that out for now. I dare say we'll move to ACE once we get the hang of ArmaII but for now we just want to have as many gizmos and units as possible and play around a bit I'm liking COWarMod but I've disabled some of the included mods to suit my tastes and I think I have to be careful with AI mods with some missions, so I'm not sure I can leave it enabled for everything.

[DukeNukeM.]

there's nothing wrong with loading all the various mods u have installed even if you're not using them, since u are in a LAN and coordinate the addons required according to the mission. unless of course u load a mission with an addon your friend pc does not have. hope this helps.

[doveman]

Thanks, that does help and makes things simpler. I sync the addons and missions over to the other PC, so we both have the same files.

From what I've read though I get the impression I do need to leave some things disabled to avoid causing problems for some missions, which as far as I understand is mainly AI-type addons (which may be contained within something like COWarMod) or that make changes that we don't want at the moment (like ACE or at least it's modifications to sniping, which are a bit advanced for us at the moment, or parts of COWarMod, although there's good documentation with the latter explaining what each addon does, so it's fairly easy to pick out and remove individual mods from that). Even so, if I can leave most stuff loaded that's great.

[PeteWaddell]

Hey buddy, I'm no expert, I am new to this as well but I would highly recommend using a program called 'SixUpdater'. Its easy once you get the hang of it. Things like ACE and downloading maps are so much easier. It is designed for Mods. You launch them through SixUpdater and there are options to how you launch the game. If you are interested I have saved you the trouble - https://dev-heaven.net/projects/six-arma-updater/files I hope this post is not way off topic.

[doveman]

Thanks. I already use SixUpdater occassionally to update mods but I can't really understand how to use it to select which mods I want enabled and Arma II Launcher seems much simpler for that. Anyway, if I can just leave all the addons enabled (except for some like ACE and AI-related mods) as DukeNukeM says, I only really need two profiles, one with and one without those enabled.

[doveman]

I just tried the OA campaign, mission Operation Sandstorm I think it was, and the mods seem to mess that up as I was trying it a few days ago and found it rather hard and encountered a lot of enemy choppers and tanks. This time the friendly AI completed the task "Capture the Base" before I got anywhere near it and I don't think I saw a single enemy chopper. There were some tanks near the start, before the oilfield but nothing like before and the airfield was more or less undefended apart from a few foot soldiers. If I hadn't played it already, I probably wouldn't have realised there was a problem though and just though it was a bit easy! I guess I should just avoid using mods when playing the campaigns, but it makes me nervous that they might "break" some missions as well.

These are the mods I had enabled in case anyone can help me identify which might cause problems.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

<Group Name="Group 1" Checked="true">
    <Addon Name="@cba" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@cba" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@jayarma2lib_new" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@jayarma2lib_new" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@acre" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@acre" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@blastcore_soundfx_beta" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@blastcore_soundfx_beta" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@jsrs1.4" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@jsrs1.4" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@cmsound" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@cmsound" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@cmsound_chernarusenvironment" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@cmsound_chernarusenvironment" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@cmsound_takistanenvironment" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@cmsound_takistanenvironment" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@cmsound_dualaenvironment" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@cmsound_dualaenvironment" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@rksl" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@rksl" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@sthud" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@sthud" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@stmovement" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@stmovement" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@blastcore_visuals_r1.2" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@blastcore_visuals_r1.2" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@blastcore_tracers" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@blastcore_tracers" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@jtd" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@jtd" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@neo" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@neo" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@okt_noblurbeta" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@okt_noblurbeta" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@map" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@map" Checked="true" />
  </Group>
  <Group Name="Units" Checked="true">
    <Addon Name="@bb_oa_mercs_v1" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@bb_oa_mercs_v1" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@bb_units" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@bb_units" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@bos_cwis" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@bos_cwis" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@mctierone" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@mctierone" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@bravo_november" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@bravo_november" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@gnt-frigates" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@gnt-frigates" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@african_foilage" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@african_foilage" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@iraq_afghan_village" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@iraq_afghan_village" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@mgb killhouses" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@mgb killhouses" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@patrolops" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@patrolops" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\arma_campaign_animations" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\arma_campaign_animations" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\arma_objects" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\arma_objects" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\arma_objectscti" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\arma_objectscti" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\arma_plantsautumn" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\arma_plantsautumn" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\arma_vehiclefeatures" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\arma_vehiclefeatures" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\arma_vehicles" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\arma_vehicles" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\arma_worldintros" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\arma_worldintros" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\arma_worlds" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\arma_worlds" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\extra_worlds" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\extra_worlds" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\qg_objects" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\qg_objects" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@caa1\qg_worlds" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@caa1\qg_worlds" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@oac_core" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@oac_core" Checked="true" />
  </Group>
  <Group Name="Chopper" Checked="true">
    <Addon Name="@mma" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@mma" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@mma_ns" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@mma_ns" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@heli_extras" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@heli_extras" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@gnat's b52" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@gnat's b52" Checked="true" />
  </Group>
  <Group Name="Islands and Overhauls" Checked="true">
    <Addon Name="@undead" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@undead" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@unsung" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@unsung" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@celle" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@celle" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@cicada1.2" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@cicada1.2" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@duala" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@duala" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@fallujah1_2" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@fallujah1_2" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@lingor" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@lingor" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@nc" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@nc" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@ovaron1.3" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@ovaron1.3" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@baghdad" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@baghdad" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@ghosts" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@ghosts" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@panthera" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@panthera" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@quesh_kibrul-v2" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@quesh_kibrul-v2" Checked="true" />
  </Group>
  <Group Name="Misc" Checked="true">
    <Addon Name="@ryd_fireatwill" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@ryd_fireatwill" Checked="true" />
    <Addon Name="@ryd_hac" Path="d:\games\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@ryd_hac" Checked="true" />

[Muerte LOL]

Seems to me if you are going to do default missions the only mods you should really have to worry about are the ones that change the default models.

[doveman]

Are any of those I had enabled in that category? Would I be right in thinking that the same would apply to any other missions that use the default models (which I imagine is a lot of them)?

[doveman]

I just played the CWC mission "Ambush (UK)" which was fine until right at the end when it went into almost freeze-frame mode and took an age to finish. I wonder if that could be due to one of the mods I'm using?

[Katipo66]

A bit OT but i'll just jump in and say its a shame you cannot manage them better from the game itself, I.e a good feature would be a disable/enable all mods button which remembers which mods you had activated.