Experimental Ports – Arma 3

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Please visit this overview page to learn more about our experimental client ports to Linux and Mac, including the limitations and a F.A.Q

Installation

  1. Check the limitations overview to decide whether you find them acceptable.
  2. Check the minimal requirements to determine whether your system is able to run the port.
  3. Download and install Steam client, create an account and purchase the Windows retail version of Arma 3.
  4. Install the game (it will automatically download the data for Mac or Linux, depending on the platform you are installing from).
  5. Play!

Known Issues

  • The in-game news feed references the latest Windows version, rather than the actual port version. This information may not be applicable to the port version.
  • Potential Out Of Memory client crashes when playing for longer periods of time
  • Potential crashes when playing demanding missions in the "Win" campaign - random / non-blocking
  • AMD OpenGL drivers have trouble handling FSAA for vegetation (white outlines). It is being addressed, but AMD drivers below version 15.5 are not supported currently.
  • Frame rate drops when Steam overlay pop-ups appear
  • Minor Linux OpenAL sound issues (occasional mild static or stuttering in dialogues and intense firefights)
  • Potential Windows 10 compatibility issues in the 1.42 legacyPorts branch
  • Any issues fixed since update 1.42 in the primary Windows version


Distros

Supported linux distributions are:

  • Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS 64bit and later, recommended is Ubuntu 14.10 64bit
  • Mint 17.1, 64bit and later

32bit Linux systems are considered too unstable due to crashes in MP, although it may be possible to play ArmA III there.

We support only default desktop environments such are Cinnamon on Mint,Unity on Ubuntu.

Debian is able to run the game but was not the part of QA process, therefore we cannot guarantee the support.

There are community tests of ArmA on other linux distributions, such as Gentoo and Arch Linux. You can find more information on forums and Feedback Tracker regarding issues on unsupported distros.

Video Drivers Update on Linux

  • Quick "how-to" on updating Nvidia drivers on Linux PCs :
  1. Open terminal (CTRL + ALT + T)
  2. Enter "sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mamarley/nvidia"
  3. Enter "sudo apt-get update"
  4. Enter "sudo apt-get install nvidia-349" (or possibly newer versions. When in doubt, check https://launchpad.net/~mamarley/+archive/ubuntu/nvidia for more info)

Your drivers should now be updated after restart.


  • AMD Catalyst is a bit more complicated. The only method we have found that works reliably, is to install the driver from the archive that AMD provide for download. The drivers that Ubuntu 14 ships with are outdated, have known performance problems and bugs.

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Linux+x86

  • There is a guide to manually installing them here:

http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Precise_Installation_Guide The guide mentions the 13.12 drivers, but the process is the same for the later ones.

Joysticks and gamepads

Windows version of ArmA uses DirectInput and XInput methods for mapping of peripheries, which turned out to be insufficient for ports. For this reason, with Linux and Mac ports of games, where gamepads are concerned, we decided to go with Steam's Big Picture controller configuration instead, which slowly becomes standard for controller setup on Mac and Linux, as it cooperates with SDL in that regard, and we use SDL's gamepad mappings.

To make the most of your gamepad for Arma 3 on Mac and Linux, first you need to make sure that the gamepad is enabled in Steam Big Picture, and configure it there. The exact steps are as follows:

  1. Launch Steam.
  2. Connect your gamepad and make sure it's on.
  3. Launch Steam Big Picture, if it's not in Big Picture mode (it's an icon depicting a gamepad in the top right corner of Steam window).
  4. When Steam's Big Picture menu shows up, navigate to Settings (it's an icon near the 'exit' one in top right corner of the screen.
  5. Select 'Controller' option.
  6. At this point you should see your controller mappings. Make sure that they're all as you want them, and then select 'Save' option.
  7. Steam may ask you to share your mapping with others at this point - agree or decline.

Now, for Arma 3, this should really be enough, in theory. If you are launching the game from within Steam client, and you have configured the controller, then Steam most likely placed the information about controller configuration in its config.vdf file, and will provide this information to the game as environment variable during the game's launch. So, the proper way to configure and remap controller settings on Linux and Mac is to configure them in Steam Big Picture, instead of the game. Every controller in existence in theory should be supported in this manner, even those that on Windows show up only as 'controller with scheme'.

Dedicated servers

How to start dedicated server on Mac:

  1. Run Steam Client (If you will not start the normal game first, it wont let you to launch after the dedicated server is on)
  2. Run Arma3, wait till game gets to the menu
  3. Run Terminal
  4. Change current directory to path where Arma3.app is, in my case: "cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Arma\ 3/"
  5. Run dedicated server by command: "./ArmA3.app/Contents/MacOS/ArmA3 --args -server config=Server.cfg"

There are two ways how to start linux dedicated server.

  • 1st way:
  1. Lauch Arma3 via Steam normally. (If you will not start the normal game first, it wont let you to launch after the dedicated server is on)
  2. Localise your Arma3 by RMB in Steam library on Arma3>properties>local files>browse local files and copy the path. You should also put the Server.cfg file there.
  3. Open terminal and write: cd 'your Arma3 path' and hit enter. It should open your game folder.
  4. Type in the terminal: ./arma3 . It should write you this message: error while loading shared libraries: libSDL2-2.0.so.0
  5. Type in the terminal: sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0:i386, hit enter, enter password and let it install. Agree by pressing Y.
  6. Type: sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 in terminal and hit enter.
  7. Type: sudo apt update in terminal and hit enter.
  8. Write: ./arma3 -server -config=Server.cfg in terminal and hit enter.

Your dedicated server should run now alongside with the normal game.

  • 2nd way:

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3_Dedicated_Server#Instructions_.28Linux_o.2Fs.29

Xplatform compatibility with windows game

Linux/Mac port uses Legacy 1.42 ArmA´s version. You can only access servers with this version. (Greenlighted in server list) 1.42 Legacy version installation on Windows: 1)Hit the right button on the Arma in Steam library and open Properties. Then open the Local Betas tab. Enter the code: Arma3LegacyPorts. This should unlock the LegacyPorts version. 2)Download and play.

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