Arma: Cold War Assault Mac/Linux Port

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Supported distributions

Mac

  • OSX 10.8 and later versions

Linux

  • Ubuntu 16.04 and later LTS versions
  • Mint 18 and later LTS versions
  • Fedora 24 and later LTS versions
  • SteamOS 2.87 and later stable versions

Check Steam Store to determine whether your system is able to run Arma CWA. Please make sure you have the latest graphics drivers installed. Use these links for purchase options and follow their installation guides:

The game is cross-platform and Windows compatible. Have fun playing it!


Graphics Drivers Updates

Mac

On Mac OS X the graphics driver is part of the Operating System. You can only upgrade by upgrading to a newer version of the Operating System. To find out which graphics card your Mac uses, click on the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen and select About this Mac.

SteamOS

The drivers for SteamOS are provided as part of the system image and integrated by Valve. Valve will be integrating new and updated drivers over time.

NVIDIA on Ubuntu and Mint

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Enter "sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa"
  3. Enter "sudo apt-get update"
  4. Enter "sudo apt-get install nvidia-375"

Your drivers should now be updated after restarting.

Check here for new drivers.

NVIDIA on Fedora

Enable both (free & paid) RPM Fusion Repositories here:

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Enter "xorg-x11-drv-nvidia akmod-nvidia "kernel-devel-uname-r == $(uname -r)"", and install everything the package requires
  3. If you're on a 64-bit system, enter "sudo dnf install install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.i686" after the previous operation finishes
  4. Reboot (you may find that the boot process takes longer than usual; this is normal the first time)

AMD

Ubuntu 16.04 and all distros with Xorg1.18 or higher, need the AMDGPU-PRO beta driver (for newest GPUs) or Oibaf MESA drivers (recommended). You can find it here. Oibaf driver info can be found here. Fedora 24 or higher ships with its own MESA driver.

In addition, Fedora 25 users with a AMD GPU need to disable the Wayland display driver and re-enable X Server for the game to work correctly. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Open /etc/gdm/custom.conf for editing
  2. Uncomment WaylandEnable=false
  3. Reboot

Installing MESA drivers for AMD:

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Type in and execute: "sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers"
  3. Type in and execute: "sudo apt-get update"
  4. Type in and execute: "sudo apt-get install synaptic"
  5. Type in and execute: "synaptic - launches synaptic manager"
  6. In the manager, click on "mark all updates" and apply
  7. Reboot

In case Steam is not working with MESA, this may help:

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Type in and execute: "gedit .bashrc"
  3. Add line "export LD_PRELOAD='/usr/$LIB/libstdc++.so.6' DISPLAY=:0"
  4. Save and exit

Steam should now launch by typing "steam" into Terminal.


Mod Installation

Method 1

  1. Find Arma: Cold War Assault Mac/Linux in your Steam library.
  2. In its properties go to the Local files tab and press the button to Browse local files.
  3. Copy all the PBO files from the mod to folder "AddOns" in the CWA root folder.
  4. Start the game.

In this case, the community files are accumulating in the Addons folder which can cause problems. This method works, but it is not recommended.

Method 2

Downloaded mods needs to be adjusted so that the main folder (e.g. "@vietnam") contains a folder called "AddOns" with its PBO files. Some mods already have a structured hierarchy like this, but beware that the folders are case sensitive.

  1. Copy the mod folder to the CWA root folder.
  2. In its properties go to the General tab and use “Set launch options” to paste in: -mod=FolderName (e.g. -mod=@vietnam)
  3. Start the game.

If you don't want to launch the mod anymore, you can start the game without this parameter. Many mods come with their own installation notes. Some may require other mods to run. And some are not debugged and may generate error warnings for example.


Joysticks & Gamepads

Unfortunately, Steam’s standard only supports standard Xbox and Windows XInput gamepad schemes. This means that the more sophisticated schemes present in Arma 3, which use DirectInput and allow reconfiguration of gamepads and joysticks in-game, had to be turned off in the ports. It is possible to reconfigure them by modifying the mapping text, but this is not intuitive. Alternatively you can try to remap your keybinding using third-party software (e.g. AntiMicro).


Dedicated Servers

Mac

  1. Create a file named “server.txt” containing this:
    hostname="Test";
    maxPlayers = 64;
    password="123"; //password to join the server
    passwordAdmin="123"; //password to login as admin
    voteTreshold=0.334;
    motd[]=
    {
    "Welcome",
    "message"
    };
    motdInterval = 5;
    class Missions
    {
    };
    ... and save it to applications/Arma Cold War Assault.app/Contents/Resources/Data
  2. Find Arma CWA exe (open folder Applications > Arma Cold War Assault.app > RMB > Show package contents > Open folder Contents/MacOS to reveal the Arma Cold War Assault EXE file.
  3. Open Terminal and enter: “cd ” and move there folder Data Contents/Resources/Data to enter that folder in Terminal. It should look like this:
    QAs-iMac:~ QA$ cd /Applications/Arma\ Cold\ War\ Assault.app/Contents/Resources/Data
  4. To change the encoding from UTF8 to ASCII, enter:
    iconv -f UTF-8 -t ASCII -c server.txt > server.cfg
  5. To check, enter (still in the /Data folder in Terminal):
    file server.cfg
    and if successful, you’ll see:
    server.cfg: ASCII C++ program text, with CRLF line terminators
    QAs-iMac:Data QA$
  6. The game cannot be executed once the server is started. So start the game now and minimize it in order to play on that server too.
  7. To start the server (still in the /Data folder in Terminal), move over the Arma Cold War Assault executable file
    and add “-server -config=server.cfg” like this:
    /Applications/Arma\ Cold\ War\ Assault.app/Contents/MacOS/Arma\ Cold\ War\ Assault -server -config=server.cfg
  8. Click start.
  9. In the game, choose multiplayer and select the test server (“123” is the password).
  10. Write “Ctrl+C” in Terminal to quit the server.

Linux

  1. Launch Arma Cold War Assault via Steam normally (if you want to run a server and client on the same PC).
  2. Find your Arma Cold War Assault installation folder by using your right mouse button to click on the game name in Steam's library and go to the Properties. Click on the Local files tab, then click on the Browse local files button to open the file browser at that location. You should also put the server.cfg file there. The default installation folder is: "~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Arma Cold War Assault".
  3. Open Terminal and enter: "cd 'your Arma Cold War Assault path' " and then press Enter. It should change to your game folder.
  4. Enter and execute: "./armacwa -server -config=server.cfg“

Your dedicated server should run alongside the normal game now.

SteamOS

In SteamOS, you have to enable desktop mode to be able to run the game and the dedicated server at the same time. To access the SteamOS desktop, it must be enabled from the Steam settings menu:

  1. Select settings (the gear icon in the top right)
  2. Select Interface
  3. Check the "Enable access to the Linux desktop" box
  4. Now the Exit button will have an additional option, "Return to Desktop", that will switch to the SteamOS desktop

You can now follow the steps above for Linux.


Known Issues

High Severity

  • VoIP is no longer supported.
  • Alt-Tabbing during cutscenes freezes the game on AMD GPU pro drivers.
  • Mouse control, especially while aiming, is very difficult to master.
  • Alt-Tabbing while firing makes characters shoot until they run out of ammo.
  • Sometimes not all subordinates are listening to the collective commands for all subordinates mapped to the ~ key. In this case you will need to repeat the order directly to the subordinate.
  • The game might crash if the video options are maxed out.
  • Mission "Maverick" is missing the notepad in the map screen.
  • Your escort truck in the "Defender" mission can be damaged by the enemy. If that happens, you cannot finish the mission.

Medium Severity

  • Pressing Esc during radio messages (campaign dialogues) will skip right to the next one without finishing the previous line.
  • Alt-Tabbing in the middle of a dialogue skips the subtitles.
  • Sometimes pausing using the Esc key during a dialogue mutes the speech. After the character finishes the muted line, the sound continues as it should.
  • Alt-Tabbing during the radio speech in the "Invasion" mission restarts the dialogue from the beginning.
  • The status icon of subordinates may sometimes remain red even after healing.
  • Mission "Escape" is missing its subtitles during cutscenes.

Low Severity

  • Starting a dialogue facing another way than face-to-face makes the dialogue continue in that direction.
  • It is possible to see through the sloped ground, rocks, etc. while zoomed using the V key.
  • Blue smoke may appear from vehicles.
  • The tracks on the beach, left by tanks in the "Resistance" intro mission, are flickering.
  • Mild collision inconsistencies (e.g. vehicles vs. bushes and trees)
  • The "Radio subtitles enabled/disabled" text in the difficulty settings is too long and partially invisible in Italian and Spanish.
  • The mission name in the campaign menu is different than the name during the briefing for: "The Hills" / "The Pass", "Chase for rabbit" / "Hunting", "Offensive" / "Trap"
  • After a language change, the campaign mission names remain in the first language until the game is saved. Only then the names will reflect the chosen language.
  • In the single mission "Camel Attack", after the first objective is completed, a text error pops up in the console. This error can be ignored.
  • Deleting the player profile needs to be confirmed with the "OK" button. If you don't do so, the profile will still be available.
  • When you save and load a game during an unskippable cutscene, you gain control of your character before the cutscene has ended.

Other Issues

Found by the community:

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