TFO Mission Maker Guide

Presentation¶

This guide aims to assist the mission maker on how to prepare missions on Arma III as TFO requires them. It provides information on how to set up settings, scripts, prepare modlists, player layouts and many more.

1. Mods¶

Mods are the sinews of war, they take an important place in the gameplay.

This is why it is fundamental to test them first, make sure they work properly (including their ACE compatibilities), before starting to create modlists or missions, as some of them can be outdated, broken or badly optimized (AMF).

Test mods and compatibilities

2. Modlists¶

After testing mods, it is time to create modlists. Beware, it is imperative to create multiple modlists as they don’t fulfill the same role. Modlists must be kept as small as possible to prevent issues (mod count & size). You can’t use the same modlist for playing and creating the mission, as some mods, ex. TFO repack, contains mods that create dependencies.

By the way how TFO plays and operates, there are mods that are always required :

CBA_A3
ace
ACRE2
Gruppe Adler Trenches
KAT - Advanced Medical REWRITE
TFO Briefing UI
TFO Repack

If you have a doubt about if a mod is only client side or server and client side, usually you can find information in the description of the mod’s workshop page, or you can ask in the missionmaker chat.

When your modlists are done, make sure it is available as soon as possible before the op, especially if new mods need to be downloaded.

When exporting your modlists, remember to put “Arma 3 Preset” in the name, without underscore or else (ex. Arma 3 Preset TFO US Army), so when importing the modlist, the player will have the right name in the Arma launcher (TFO US Army, instead of Imported preset).

3 versions of modlists are needed (exemple below) :

Mission making : Contains mods required by the mission plus for the creation of the mission
Server : Similar to the mission making modlist, but can include mods needed by the server
Player : Have additional mods only needed by the player

Here’s an example of modlists made for a previous TFO US Army campaign :

Mission making	Server	Player
CBA_A3	CBA_A3	CBA_A3
ace	ace	ace
ACRE2	ACRE2	ACRE2
Anizay	Anizay	Anizay
Community Factions Project (CFP)	Community Factions Project (CFP)	Community Factions Project (CFP)
CUP ACE3 Compatibility - Vehicles	CUP ACE3 Compatibility - Vehicles	CUP ACE3 Compatibility - Vehicles
CUP ACE3 Compatibility - Weapons	CUP ACE3 Compatibility - Weapons	CUP ACE3 Compatibility - Weapons
CUP Terrains - Core	CUP Terrains - Core	CUP Terrains - Core
CUP Units	CUP Units	CUP Units
CUP Vehicles	CUP Vehicles	CUP Vehicles
CUP Weapons	CUP Weapons	CUP Weapons
Gruppe Adler Trenches	Gruppe Adler Trenches	Gruppe Adler Trenches
Hendrix US Army Vest	Hendrix US Army Vest	Hendrix US Army Vest
Jbad	Jbad	Jbad
KAT - Advanced Medical REWRITE	KAT - Advanced Medical REWRITE	KAT - Advanced Medical REWRITE
LAMBS_RPG	LAMBS_RPG	LAMBS_RPG
LAMBS_Suppression	LAMBS_Suppression	LAMBS_Suppression
LAMBS_Turrets	LAMBS_Turrets	LAMBS_Turrets
One Man Army Mortar Pack	One Man Army Mortar Pack	One Man Army Mortar Pack
ACE Compat - RHS USAF	ACE Compat - RHS USAF	ACE Compat - RHS USAF
RHSUSAF	RHSUSAF	RHSUSAF
USAF Mod - Main	USAF Mod - Main	USAF Mod - Main
USAF_AC130_BETA	USAF_AC130_BETA	USAF_AC130_BETA
Zeus Enhanced	Zeus Enhanced	Zeus Enhanced
Zeus Enhanced - ACE3 Compatibility	Zeus Enhanced - ACE3 Compatibility	Zeus Enhanced - ACE3 Compatibility
3den Enhanced	Deformer	Bloodlust (Edit)
Deformer	Injured AI	Escape From Tarkov Footsteps
	Splendid Smoke	Escape From Tarkov Weapon Sounds
	TFO Briefing UI	JSRS SOUNDMOD
		Splendid Smoke
		TFO Briefing UI
		TFO Repack

Mods required :

By the mission
For making the mission
For making the mission and by the server
By the server
By the server and the client
By the client

Keep modlist small as possible
Use required mods
Make sure modlist is well in advance available before the op
Create different modlists for different uses
Put Arma 3 Preset in the modlist name

3. Mission settings¶

When the modlists are ready, it is time to create the mission. But before starting, it is important to configure the settings of the mission properly to prevent any issues.

General¶

Multiplayer¶

4. Player layout and loadouts¶

Player layout¶

We need a specific player layout according to our sign up sheets HERE. To get this player layout in Arma with the correct configurations, a composition is available on the workshop :

A version with premade loadouts is also available here :

What is this version for ?

Every equipment required per special role are already included in the uniform and backpack (Radios, medical, grenades, tools…). All the rest (weapons, launcher, ammo, vest and helmet) are up to the missionmaker to put whatever wanted for the mission. Uniforms and backpacks can be changed to similar size capacity gear (sort by capacity to make it easier), to fit the faction played.

Notes :

Platoon leader, squad leaders, JTAC/FO and grenadiers already have 40mm grenades on them. Giving them a weapon without a grenade launcher will remove those grenades from their inventory. So when making their loadouts, make sure to directly give them a weapon mounted with a grenade launcher (ex. M4 with M203).

Use TFO squads composition

Callsigns¶

In order to have the teams names properly showing on the map, their callsigns needs to be changed manually in the “Lobby Manager” in “Tools” (only available with 3den Enhanced), as the composition doesn’t save them.

A simple but necessary process that needs to be done to every teams, by copying the name in “Role Description” and pasting it in “Callsign” :

Change manually callsigns to every teams

Loadouts¶

To avoid the use of an arsenal in-game and win time, every slot must be completely geared out and mission ready in compliance with the loadouts page on the main docs HERE.

A time consuming but necessary step to prevent any omission and loss of time, so we can start the mission and have fun faster !

Make correct loadouts for every roles

5. Images and templates¶

Images¶

Bohemia Interactive developed a file format (.paa) as the base texture file, using 2^n dimensions (ex. 256x256, 512x512, 1024x1024…). Most of the files are square textures but can also be rectangle (ex. 1024x512).

If in your missions you want to use screens, panels, billboards to display images, JPG format is also supported. Most of the displays use 2^n rectangle dimensions, but any 2:1 ratio image is enough (ex. 1000x500) for simple tasks like this.

To display an image on a screen, first you put the image in your mission folder. Then in Arma you go to the attributes of a display by double clicking it or right click > Attributes, all the way down you will find a text box where you put the name of the picture (if it’s in another folder inside the mission folder, use backslashes \ for the path).

__

Set properly the path of the images

Templates¶

You may require a template as some displays use a specific one.

Here are specific templates of the most commonly used ones, with a Photoshop file, and blank .jpg version :

Whiteboard.psd
Whiteboard.jpg

BriefingRoomScreen.psd
BriefingRoomScreen.jpg

Use correct templates if needed

6. Scripts¶

Different scripts can be used to improve the mission and win time, here’s a few scripts used by the mission makers.

Scripts¶

Spawn :

When joining the server, will allow players to spawn where their character is placed in the editor, instead of using the multiplayer respawn module.
Download

Respawn :

When a player dies and respawn, will restore the equipment he had before dying, instead of getting a fresh loadout.
Download

Flare fix :

Script to enhance the brightness of the flares at night, instead of using mods for this purpose.
Download

How to install¶

To install the scripts, you simply have to put them in the mission folder. Beware, scripts must be directly put in the folder and not in a different folder.

Set correctly scripts if needed

7. Tips and tricks¶

Mission making¶

Keep vehicles as decoration as small as possible, as every vehicle's physics are calculated at all times and can cause performances issues
Placing all the enemies in the editor is highly discouraged as it will cause performances issues, use zeus/script to spawn more when needed
Decorative item/object count must be kept as small as possible. Less is more : you can do very good scenes with very few objects
Placing reference points and objective markers are highly encouraged
Bases are supposed to be small and easy to navigate
Keep walking distance to vehicles to a minimum
Turn props that can be into object to save performance
Lock the vehicles that are not intended to be used or stolen
Large hide terrain modules will kill the fps on servers
Some modules won’t work properly outside the edge of the map
Prepare a vehicle and a crate filled with everything needed for a resupply run
Outside of the map, enemies will behave differently and see through walls
PNG pictures are not supported, use only jpg

Zeus¶

Delete bodies/wrecks after a fight to save performance
Promoting someone with zeus module will make the server lag heavily
Large amount of pre-placed AI will cause performances issues, use zeus/script to spawn more when needed
If you’re using Webknight zombies, don’t pre place zombies as it will make the server lag overtime
Headless client will make AI act differently :
Ignore some waypoints (drop troops…)
Make AI move even with the path disabled
Impossible for you to drive and shoot at the same time will controlling an AI in a vehicle

Take notes of the tips

8. Testing your mission¶

When your mission is ready, it is time to test it ! To make sure everything is working properly and nothing is missing.

The best would be testing the mission a day before the op, and not at the last minute. So if changes or corrections are needed, they are not done in a rush and make the mission start late.

Handle your mission’s .pbo and server modlist to a Server Admin so he can set it up on the server. Be patient, it can take time if new mods need to be downloaded. When ready, hop on the server !

What to test ?¶

Mission is loading properly on the server, no mods are making errors
Everyone can join the server, if there’s enough slots
All roles are set correctly and available
The spawn when joining is working
The loadouts are correctly set
The scripts are working
When dying, the respawn point is working
You have access to the zeus
You can spawn and edit objects/units in zeus
Triggers are working
FPS are good and no lag kill the server

The ideal thing to do is to play the mission yourself so you can directly see if all the different things in the mission are available and working.

When you are done testing, don’t forget to warn the Server Admins so they can shut down the server if no more tests are needed.