Introduction to Arma Scripting

Introduction

This page should give beginners an overview of how to begin with scripting and where to find most of the information they need in the beginning. Some information might not be complete and can be found on other wiki pages.

During mission editing and addon editing you may come across situations where actions or features you would like to have in your mission or addon cannot be accomplished using the basic (or even the more advanced) capabilities of the mission editor or within config files (in the case of addons). Some examples of this might be really cinematic cutscenes in missions or special animations for an addon.

The solution to this is to take advantage of the game-engine's ability to call on an even more advanced feature known as scripting. Arma's scripting language gives you a more direct control of core game features. With any combination of these commands and functions you can create custom processes that meet the specific needs of your mission or addon.

Before anything

Is your idea necessary?

• Will players even notice or use what you want to script? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Sometimes less is more!

Is it possible to do this in the editor?

• Eden Editor is an incredibly powerful tool and with it alone one can achive a lot of things, even without writing a single line of SQF.
• Poorly written scripts are often the reason for poor performance both in singleplayer and multiplayer scenarios.

Can it be scripted using SQF?

• This might be hard to answer, especially for beginners. Try to get as much information about what you want to do and what commands and functions there are before spending time on writing a script, just to find out it is not possible in the end.

Depending on your answer for these questions, you may want to rethink your approach.

ⓘ

Scripting is not a solution to everything.

Terms

Before getting started, you should understand the meaning of these terms.

Data Types: See Data Types

Algorithm: In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an explicit specification of how to solve a class of problems. Algorithms can perform calculation, data processing and automated reasoning tasks.

Interpreter: Reads your code from a script file and translates it into instructions for you to achieve your desired outcome/effect in the game.

Control Structures: See Control Structures

Syntax:

• See SQF syntax
• See SQS syntax (obsolete)

Script: When speaking about a script, we usually mean a .sqs or .sqf file.

Game Engine: The core program of the game which reads and executes your scripting commands at run time.

Function: See Function

Variables: See Variables

Operators: See Operators

Recommended programs

Code Edition programs can be found on the Community Tools - Code Edition page section.

Must-read articles

Best Practices

• Code Best Practices

Debugging

• Debugging Techniques
• Community Tools - Debug Console/System

Optimisation

• Code Optimisation
• Mission Optimisation

Useful Links

These links offer a great deal of information about Scripting:

• Example Code
• Control Structures
• Multiplayer Scripting
• Exception handling
• Script (File)
• Function
• SQS to SQF conversion

Additionally, the following are more resources for more general learning:

• 6thSense.eu Editing Guide
• Fockers Arma 3 Scripting Guide
• Mr-Murray's Armed Assault Editing Guide - Deluxe Edition
• Excellent German SQF tutorial (YouTube)