Noob Needs Mod Help (Installing Mods)

[Rhorn]

Hello, I am new to pc gaming in general and Arma 3. I have watchted the 2 different tutorial videos, and I am still confused.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trGlZ52mIt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXltCcd0qxU


In the first guide, the MOD are in the Addon folder, however after reading the replies on this thread, that is a BAD idea..

So where should I put the mods? C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Arma 3 ?

Or should I create a folder in there? (I just made the folder called Arma 3 MODS) like :C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Arma 3\Arma 3 MODS

In the guide it menitoned 7zip and winsar, i downloaded the 7zip, I dont know how to use it and for the winsar, I see that you need to pay to get it.

Also for the using the launcher and putting the mod names, can I just put all the mods in 1 folder? like @Mod1? and then put the text -mod=@mod1? instead of having to put into 20+ different mod names?

And how to you acutally "see" the mod and know if it works? does it pop up in the virutial traiing wepaon/item loadout?

Im currently trying to get weapon/character mods

[Mirudes]

Originally posted by Rhorn:

Hello, I am new to pc gaming in general and Arma 3. I have watchted the 2 different tutorial videos, and I am still confused.

I have just watched the first movie and they are using the native AddOns-folder only for the reason because they are using a trial version of ArmA and not a full version. The trial version do not support the use of seperate @mod-folders.
(I have never heard of a trial version of A3, except the Free2Play-weekends. But it is true, that the use of mods is restricted in the demo and such)

Originally posted by Rhorn:

So where should I put the mods? C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Arma 3 ?

Originally posted by Rhorn:

Or should I create a folder in there? (I just made the folder called Arma 3 MODS) like :C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Arma 3\Arma 3 MODS

When you have downloaded a mod, they often come as compressed archives. You need a tool to decompress it and to extract it into the right directory. The right place is the ArmA3-directory. Best choice is to use the standard mod-names.

Originally posted by Rhorn:

In the guide it menitoned 7zip and winsar, i downloaded the 7zip, I dont know how to use it and for the winsar, I see that you need to pay to get it.

You can use Winrar and 7Zip for this task.
- WinRAR is distributed as shareware but can be used at any time to unzip RAR-files. You only need a license when you want to create compressed rar-files with it.
-7zip is a shell extension, that is availlable in the context menu of any compressed file. You just right-click on the rar file and choose the directory where to inflate the files. It is freeware.

Originally posted by Rhorn:

In the first guide, the MOD are in the Addon folder, however after reading the replies on this thread, that is a BAD idea..

NEVER use the native AddOns-folder in the A3-directory for your mods:
- All the files in there are loaded at startup, even when you don't need mods! This leads to conflicts and incompatibilities with missions!
- For online gaming, you must have updated versions of your mods, together with current digital keys.
- The server will reject you if you come with one mod too much, because they think you are a cheater who is hiding a cheat under the name of a mod.
- There is no way to tell what a mod is, when you want to deinstall or update a mod.

Originally posted by Rhorn:

Also for the using the launcher and putting the mod names, can I just put all the mods in 1 folder? like @Mod1? and then put the text -mod=@mod1? instead of having to put into 20+ different mod names?

You can use one single mod-folder for a collection of units, for example the complete package for a CTI-mod from a clan, or a island with a african scenario with the belonging soldiers and vehicles. But there are also dependencies that are used by many other mods together (f.e. CBA). To avoid multiple installations, it is easier to use a script or a shortcut and launch A3.

Originally posted by Rhorn:

And how to you acutally "see" the mod and know if it works? does it pop up in the virutial traiing wepaon/item loadout?

In the editor the units appear in the correct category. The custom preview works always, but a mission that was created with mods, only works if this mod was also started by the player. Only when the mission that you play (Downloaded singleplayer or multiplayer), use the mods, they are being used.

When the mod was successfully loaded, you can see a icon of it in the A3 start screen. Doubleclicking on it helps you to configure it.

Originally posted by Rhorn:

Im currently trying to get weapon/character mods

[Hash]

DL Play with Six for mod management.