2D Editor: External

Mission Editor provides majority of tools required for designing a mission, but finishing touches are usually made outside of it. Briefings, custom scripts, multiplayer settings or final packing are only handled by separate files programs.

Mission Folder

Folder Name

Mission folder with the most common files

Missions are stored as folders with name composed of mission name set in Save window and world name:

<mission name>.<world Name>

Examples:

TopGun.abel
SpyGame.Chernarus
Domino.ProvingGrounds_PMC

World name matches the class in CfgWorlds

Folder Directory

All single player missions are located in Missions folder, multiplayer missions can be found in MPMissions folder in same directory. Path varies depending on a project, see following table for specific directories:

Icon	Game	Path
	Arma: Cold War Assault	%Arma: CWA directory%\Users\%player%\
	Arma: Armed Assault	My Documents\ArmA\ My Documents\ArmA Other Profiles\%player%\
	Arma 2 Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead	My Documents\ArmA 2\ My Documents\ArmA 2 Other Profiles\%player%\
	Take On Helicopters	My Documents\Take On Helicopters\ My Documents\Take On Helicopters Other Profiles\%player%\

Green text means variable, where you have to include either name of your profile or absolute path to an installed game.

Subfolders

Within the mission folder, you can create as many subfolders as desired. As paths in mission are relative, you can refer to such subfolder using:

\subFolderName\desiredFile.sqf

Files

Mission.sqm

Example of mission.sqm

The mission.sqm file is generated automatically by the Mission Editor. Any action you perform in Mission, Intro, OutroWin or OutroLoose is saved in this file.

Once you have completed your new mission, it's always good practice to check the mission.sqm for presence of unwanted addons in addOns and addOnsAuto arrays. They contain CfgPatches classes of used addons.

class Mission
{
	addOns[]=
	{
		"missions_ew",
		"cacharacters2",
		"ca_modules_functions",
		"chernarus"
	};
	addOnsAuto[]=
	{
		"missions_ew",
		"cacharacters2",
		"ca_modules_functions",
		"chernarus"
	};

Apart from class Mission, list of addons is present also in class Intro, class OutroWin and class OutroLoose.

Description.ext

Example of Description.ext

Main article: Description.ext

Scripts

Example of *.sqf file

Main article: Script (File)

External script files are executed by filename, so they can have any filename the author chooses. There are however several special Event Scripts that are automatically executed by the game engine at certain times during the mission.

FSM

Example of *.fsm file

Main article: FSM

Briefing.html

Main article: Briefing.html

File loaded automatically when the mission begins, providing mission plan and notes.

The briefing is broken into 4 main sections:

• Notes
• Plan
• Objectives
• Endings

To preview your briefing whilst in the editor, hold SHIFT while clicking 'Preview'.

Since ArmA 2, briefing.html is only used for the debriefing text. For more information see Arma 2 Briefing creation.

Overview.html

Example of overview.html

Main article: Overview.html

The overview.html contains simple mission description and picture visible in main menu mission selection.