Arma 3 Mods Installation and Use Tutorials

[Goblin 76]

So many Players have Questions / Problems with Mod Use / Installation , I thought I would post these links Google found for me . Arma 3 Launcher and A3 Launcher ( Scroll Down for video )  Tutorials .

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Arma3 mods and the Arma3 Launcher

By Rick0Shay

 

 

Here's a quick guide on how to manage mods using the Arma3 Launcher. The community is expanding at a rapid rate and there are a lot of new players who need some help managing mods.

Mods allow you to add assets like weapons, vehicles, maps and other non standard functionality that are used by mission makers.

Many mods are of a fairly high standard and are free to people who own Arma3.

 

 

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Created by

Rick0Shay
Last Online

 

Category: Game Modes, Gameplay Basics, Maps Or Levels, Modding Or Configuration, Weapons, Workshop

Languages: English

 

Posted

Updated

4 Jan, 2015 @ 1:31pm

11 Dec, 2015 @ 8:12am

 

9,214	Unique Visitors
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Guide Index

 

Overview

 

Adding and managing Arma3 mods - the Launcher 

 

Comments

Adding and managing Arma3 mods - the Launcher

How To Install Mods

If you don't know how to install mods its actually a very easy process. You only need to do this once for each mod.

Download or subscribe to the mod you want to add to Arma3. Currently most A3 mods are located on Armaholic (AH)[www.armaholic.com] Luckily there is an increasing number of mods moving onto the Steam Workshop (SW). Steam Workshop mods are a lot easier to deal with - since they are automatically added and updated when the publisher releases a new version. Mods sourced from alternative sources like AH have to be d/l, added & updated manually, this is a major pain.

Since the Arma3 Launcher offers significant advantages over other methods I will concentrate on using the Launcher as the default method.
 

Arma3 Launcher (BIS)

The Arma3 launcher that is installed with Arma3 makes mod management very easy since it allows you to simply activate mods or groups of mods that you have subscribed to or added and saved as presets. Why do you need presets? Well many A3 servers (red flag in listing) do not allow you to use mods.

The Launcher opens by default when you start Arma3, select the MODS tab on the LHS.

 
Mods that you have subscribed to via the SW will be listed here. Note that mods subscribed to via the SW are placed in your C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3 folder. Mod folders normally have the @ prefix i.e. @CAF or @CBA. The prefix makes it easy to distinguish community content from vanilla A3 content.

 
The check box next to the mods allows you to activate the mod when starting A3. You can activate all mods with a single click on the checkbox at the top of the list.

 
To add mods from alternative sources like AH, first d/l the mod and unpack using WinRAR (or similar) then place the @modname folder in either your My Documents\Arma3 folder or in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3. Each mod must have its own folder. NOTE: Armaholic mods require you to constantly check for updates and d/l and unpack every mod when there are changes! Tell the mod maker to add his mod to the Steam Workshop!

In the Launcher click on the +[Folder icon] - then browse to the folder you want to add. The new mod will now appear in the mod listing. Most likely you will add SW mods via the Steam client rather than via a browser.

 
 
Note: If you have an older version of a non SW mod already installed - first delete the old mod then create a new folder appropriately named for the new mod.

By default SW mods are updated - you can select if you want SW mods to update by clicking on the down arrow on the far right of the mod and then select the update option.

 
You can name non-SW mod folders whatever you like but I suggest use the names that the author used - see the folder inside the archive you downloaded.

If the mod has a "userconfig" folder in it, copy it into the Arma3 equivalent folder, usually:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3\userconfig".

If there is a key in the mod Keys folder place it into the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3\Keys folder.

The key is used if you run a server.

Ok so now you have installed the mods, now to ACTIVATE them there are 2 basic methods.
 

Activating Mods

In the Launcher simply click on the little box LHS next to the mod you want to activate. To activate all mods click the box 'Load all'. You can also save this group of mods as a preset. This will allow you to start Arma3 with all or no mods or just certain ones you want to use. Now you start getting the idea behind the Launcher it's very powerful and saves a lot of time!

 
 
 
To remove mods from the list simply click on the Unsubscribe (Trash can). If you are not using the Launcher you will have to manually delete the mod folder and remove any command line additions. Unsubscribing to Steam Workshop mods automatically removes it from your SW subscription list and deletes the mod folder on your machine.

NEW FEATURE - see below

 

Mod Dependencies

Some mods require other mods to function correctly. An execellent new feature added to the Launcher automatically flags mods that require dependencies that are not loaded - with a red chain icon.


Click on the white chain on the RHS with red flag and you will get info on the missing mods.


Missing mod dependencies are listed - if they are already in your list of mods you will see an option at the bottom on the page 'Fix selected dependencies'. If not you will need to either add missing mods manually or source them via Steam Workshop.


Click on the 'Fix selected dependencies' button
 
You're all done!

Click on PLAY to start Arma3.

or
 

Arma3 Launcher PARAMETERS

In addition to managing mods and subscriptions the Launcher allows you to change a number of game parameters. Click on the tab on the LHS. Here you can drop in the equivalent of startup line parameters mentioned earlier. For example you could drop in mods like this -mod=@A3MP; or with absolute paths. I'm not sure why anyone would use this given the simplicity of the method above. The other options are useful to speed up Arma3 startup. Startup of Arma3 can be dramatically improved by skipping the intro and splash screens and only loading mods that you need to use, remember the presets, they can really make a difference!

I switch off logs because mods and Arma3 in general tends to spam the rpt file. See C:\Users\urname\AppData\Local\Arma 3 for the rpt file. Rpt files list all the errors Arma3 encountered during start up. Most can be ignored - so don't panic if there are a lot of entries. Switch on logs to debug startup or mod issues.

  
The Advanced tab allows you to make some significant changes to Arma3's default start up. I suggest you leave these options alone unless you know what you are doing.


If you want to know more about these settings read this:

Arma3 Start Up[community.bistudio.com]

Official Launcher documentation: https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3_Launcher

  
This basic guide should get you started and hopefully the Launcher will make your life easier. Give me feedback if I left stuff out or something isn't clear or inaccurate.

Happy hunting!

RickOShay

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2016 by Goblin