Coop mission editing: What are the basics?

[Bahger]

I have made an SP mission but would like to have coop functionality in all future missions.  In fact, I'd like to reverse-engineer the existing scenario for coop.  Could somebody give me some guidelines for how to design missions as coop so that I can integrate this into the process from the very beginning?  There must be some basic principles that I need to be aware of but right now I don't know where to start.  And if anyone would like co-author credit on my SP mission by adapting it for coop, please post here!  Thanks.

[bedges]

There's a very good tutorial covering the basic principles in the Editors Depot.

[Bahger]

Thank you, Bedges, I don't know how I missed that, but I did.

[kju]

where to start?

load the mission on a dedicated server on your computer and join as client
now see how it goes and analyze the rpt output

[hoz]

I agree with kju, you should really develop the mission with a dedicated server. Hosting a mp session and being the server is an ok way to get started but what most people find is that those missions don't work the same in a dedicated server environment.

[Bahger]

I think this is going to be too technical for me.  I think I can make good SP scenarios with a view to coop gameplay, so if anyone wants to co-author conversions from SP to coop, please see my thread here in MP Editing, thank you!

[RangerX3X]

If you want to make working MP missions then take the time to study the F2 template:

http://www.ferstaberinde.com/f2/en/index.php?title=Main_Page

In less than a few hours you can have a working MP game up and running.

Of course, with anything in life, the more effort you put into it the more you get out of it.

[Bahger]

Wow, this looks great.   Could you just confirm basic usage:

After installing the contents of the latest F2 download package in my \My Documents\ArmA 2\MPMissions\ folder as directed, what is the best way to proceed?  The MO appears to be that you name your mission, set the basic parameters in the mission folders by copying and pasting text from the relevant sections of the online manual and then you go into the ArmA2 editor to actually build the mission with the parameters you have just created?

Also, I'm assuming that the mission designer must already have some sort of mission concept in his head, i.e. this is not a sample mission generator.

I guess I'm looking to find out how automated -- if at all -- F2 makes the process of MP mission design.  I see that it includes ready-made "Shack-tactical" unit compositions which seem to include default loadouts, groupings and unit names/formations.  This in itself would seem to save the mission designer an enormous amount of shoe-leather.

So basically what this does is step you through the process of getting your mission to work in MP, with all the necessary files and instructions in how to adapt the code to your specific needs but the mission design itself (objectives, triggers, waypoints etc.) is still done in the Editor?

Sorry to be such a novice but are the above assumptions sound?

[hoz]

F2 is a good starting place and it will automate some aspects of the mission editing process but not all.  When it comes down to it, you'll use the editor to design almost all aspects of the mission. The F2 framework is great starting point but you're going to have to still go in an customize it to fit your mission.  There are plenty of good missions which use the F2 framework and I highly suggest testing some of those missions out. A good method I like to use is to de-pboing a mission I like and see how an author does something I'm interested it. It sounds like you are looking for a short cut for building a mission into a 5 minute job and thats just not going to happen.

If you're truly into producing a high quality mission then your still  going to spend countless hours building it.  Check out the beta testing area and have a look at some of the missions others have submitted. Over time those missions might not start out that great but over time and testing those missions usually become some of the best I've played.

[Bahger]

Thanks, Hoz. I'm not looking for a 5-minute fix, I'm actually a real perfectionist but I have a wife, kids, job and still want to make high-quality missions for ArmA 2 SP/coop so I need to manage the available time as efficiently as possible.

If you take a look in the SP Beta forum, you'll see that I just finished my first mission and put a lot of work into that (with invaluable assistance from Zipper, who will be reviewing it, and others...)

Perhaps you could comment on the following assumptions regarding use of F2 in making a MP mission:

Let's say I want to make a USMC SP/coop mission with three 13-man Rifle Squads, only one of which is playable by human players in coop.

- I use F2 to set all the necessary starting parameters for coop by copying and pasting the required code from the files it provides into the equivalent files in my own mission folder.

- Similarly, I use F2 to create a Marine platoon, consisting (I think) of 3 Rifle Squads, configured according to the F2 ShackTactical system.  

- Having used F2 to set all the above functions, plus mission time/weather, scripts like the spectator script it provides, getting the ending scripts right for MP, etc., I now upen the mission in the editor and use vanilla editing functions to place the units I created with F2, create waypoints/triggers et al?  I also set whether the units are playable or not in the editor.  If not, I plot AI routes, tactics in the editor for non-playable units.

- If the above is correct, is it safe to assume that, because all the OpFor forces will not be playable (this is coop, not adversarial, H2H MP) I do all the mission creating for Red in the editor alone and would not need the F2 framework?  Or should I create all units with F2 and just use the editor to place and plot, do the triggers, synchronisation?  All task/objectives should be created in the editor, too, right?

Sorry about the novice questions.  Part of my problem as I gaze at the learning curve from its lower reaches is that I have no experience with scripts or scripting and have spent 90% of my time in the editor and 10% using 3rd-party utilities to help me with the accompanying file formats (.html, .sqf, briefing, overview, etc.)

Please feel free to try out the final version of my first (SP) mission in the SP Beta forum.  I think it's reasonably good for a first-time effort but as you'll see from the thread, I had to work hard to wrap my non code-orientated brain around getting it right.

[RangerX3X]

Follow the F2 guide step by step and most of your questions will be answered.

All editing is done in the MP environment, not the SP editor, and you start by copying the entire F2 folder and then renaming it to your mission name. This is all spelled out in the link I provided above.

The great thing about F2 is that it is a solid foundation. Once you master making co-op or other game type missions with that, you should find most other MP topics easy to get a handle on.

One critical note: MP is an entirely different beast than SP; Simply converting a SP mission to MP co-op is not as easy as it may seem, especially in terms of locality issues.