Introduction

By Cheetah

Armed Assault (ArmA) and Operation Flashpoint (OFP) have features that are rare in the world of computer gaming. Both were made by the Bohemia Interactive Studios (BIS), enthusiasts of realistic games, to have a non-army cheap game available for gamers all over the world. These games are the focus of a large and devoted community. The core of this community lies in the endless possibilities that ArmA and OFP have. Most if not all players will have opened the editor at least one, if not to train for helicopter combat, maybe to check out a retextured Police Unit available as an addon or modification (mod). Many missions have been made with the mission editor included in the game and they range from excellent to below average. The community highly appreciates these people, often referred to as missions makers, missions authors or missions editors (editors). However, not everyone is naturally skilled in mission making (editing) and most don't know where to start a mission. This series of articles will try to sharpen the editing skills of all the editors in the ArmA and OFP community, newcomers and veterans might learn from reading these articles.

Various websites in the community store missions on their web servers which are then available for download. Only a few of these websites review missions. The idea behind reviewing is to give the reader and maybe player an idea of what he or she will be playing, the quality of the mission is discussed in most reviews. Secondly, the editor gets feedback on his or her mission allowing them to improve their future missions. A reviewer has a responsibility towards the community and especially the editor of the mission. The editor has to be respected even though the mission isn't one of the highest quality. Therefore a mission should be thoroughly analyzed in a mission, to get an idea of a mission's good and bad points. By reviewing and by playing missions we all develop a sense of what makes an ArmA or OFP mission a good one. It is that knowledge that will serve as the guideline for these articles focused on making good missions. Keep in mind that all the elements of a mission are being discussed by one person, one opinion, so these are not facts merely points to take into consideration when conducting everyone's hobby - editing.

These Chapters will teach you important aspects to keep into mind when editing in Armed Assault. Each Chapter's focus lies on a different aspect of ArmA Mission Editing.