Armco-Halo-Mod

Welcome to ARMCO's Halo mod data. In this section, I will provide a breakdown of the file structure that I am currently aware of. I, Belhun, am still learning a lot about Arma 3 coding and don't have a great deal of experience with this mod. However, I do have some coding experience and will do my best to keep this mod updated and hopefully add more in the future.

File Break Down

.
├── ARMCO-Halo-mod
│   ├── Build_PBOs.bat (Mod build script)
│   ├── Setup.bat (Development Enviorment setup script)
│   ├── armco_armours (Where the new Armours are being made)
│   │   ├── CfgPatchesMisc.hpp (Everything that needs to go into CfgPatches plus some additional items)
│   │   ├── CfgVehicleSoldier.hpp (These are the base Solders, needed to either spawn pre made solders in editor or Zues or use them to make uniforms)
│   │   ├── CfgWeaponsCArmour.hpp (Custom Armours go here)
│   │   ├── CfgWeaponsCHelmet.hpp (Squad based Helmets go here)
│   │   ├── CfgWeaponsSArmour.hpp (Squad based armours go here)
│   │   ├── CfgWeaponsUniform.hpp (Uniforms go here)
│   │   ├── config.cpp
│   ├── custom_armours (OLD)
│   ├── custom_dress_uniforms (OLD)
│   ├── custom_emergency (OLD)
│   ├── custom_groups (OLD)
│   └── custom_vehicles (OLD)
├── ArmourBreakdown.md
├── README.md
└── example
    └── @armcohalo
        └── mod.cpp

Changing the Build_PBOs for your own needs

So, what exactly is Build_PBO and how can you use it to simplify your life if you don't know much about .bat files?

Simply put, Build_PBO is a .bat file that automates simple tasks that can become repetitive over time. In my case, it automates the building of each file into a PBO and places it into my local test mod. This local test mod is incredibly useful for quickly testing changes or additions to see if they work or not. All I need to do is double-click the .bat file, and it will delete all old .pbo files and pack up the new ones.

What do you need to use and modify the .bat file? Not much, actually - you only need one program called PBO Manager. Just be sure to remember where you install this program as we will need the directory of PBO Manager.

One more thing you need to know is that you need to create a testing file. This testing file should use the example_build structure. This file structure contains everything you need to run this mod in Arma.

Breaking Down Build_PBO

To make things easy for you, I've provided two files: Setup.bat and Build_PBOs.bat.

To set up the Build_PBOs.bat file, simply take a look at the following code:

C:
cd C:\Program Files\PBO Manager v.1.4 beta

Change the C: to the appropriate drive letter where you have PBO Manager installed. If you've installed PBO Manager in a custom directory, replace cd C:\Program Files\PBO Manager v.1.4 beta with the path to your installation folder. Just make sure that your path looks similar to the following file structure:

Once you've made the necessary changes, run Build_PBOs.bat. If you run into any issues or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Belhun#1 on Discord.

Retexturing info

Want to help with retexturing? Look no further than the "Default Textures" and "png Files" folders. The "png Files" directory is where all the .paa files are stored as .png files, so you can easily make changes without the hassle of constantly converting back and forth. Just be sure to pop your new textures in the right place in the "png files" folder.

Keep in mind that the "Default Textures" folder has textures we use all the time. Anything in the "old" folder is outdated and probably won't work.

Recommend Tools

VS Code

Visual Studio Code is the editor that I recommend for writing code. To make it more useful for Arma 3 modding, you can install the following extensions:
- Arma Dev
- SQF Language
- Optionally Fig Files Intellisense

Arma Tools

You will need some tools specifically for Arma 3 modding:

PBO Manager for managing and packing PBO files for testing
Arma 3 Tools

.paa Files

If you need to work with .paa files, these resources can be helpful:

paa.gruppe-adler.de a website that allows you to convert .paa files to PNGs
.paa Gimp Plugin

Hidden Selections

For managing hidden selections, you can refer to the following resources:

Git

If you are using GitHub to manage your modding project, you will need to install Git and if you're unfamiliar with the command line GitHub Desktop:

coolguy1771/Armco-Halo-Mod