Arma 3: Firing Drills

Introduction

This guide will describe how to design and implement a custom Firing Drill Challenge as available in the vanilla game.

See also: Arma 3 Field Manual - Firing Drills (for players) Template:wip

Terminology

• Firing Drill (FD) - a live-fire exercise in which a competitor is graded for tactically moving through a course while engaging a set of targets
• Competitor - the actor performing the drill
• Range Officer (RO) - the actor observing the drill and providing feedback / guidance
• Course of Fire (CoF) - the physical space and layout in which the drill is performed
• Checkpoint (CP) - a navigation point within a course which a competitor must follow in a fixed sequence (if so defined as a rule - see below)
  • The first CP is the start.
  • The last CP is the finish.
  • A strict CP contains a shooting box (marked area) from which to fire.
• Target - an artificial object shot to complete a drill or to receive time bonuses
  • Appearing targets appear and disappear based on activation triggers (see below).
  • Accuracy targets contain zones corresponding to extra time bonuses.
  • Moving targets travel on rails between positions.
  • No-shoot targets are not allowed be hit (adding a time penalty).
  • Bonus targets are optional (rewarding a time bonus).
• Rule - these help to determine the completion and scoring conditions for a drill
  • Training rules - a rule-set allowing familiarization of the CoF (targets at CPs do not need to be shot to move on)
  • Competitive rules - a rule-set used for Achievements / Leaderboards (targets at CPs need to be shot to move on)
• Time - the time from the start it takes to complete a drill (raw)
  • Time bonuses / penalties are substracted / added to arrive at the final time.
  • The fastest / lowest time is the best and wins.
  • There are bronze, silver and gold medal times to beat.
  • There may be one special time to beat (typically faster than gold).

Setup

⚠

At time of writing it is not possible to add new Firing Drills as independent (Workshop) scenarios; they need to be added as 'mods' with configuration.

1. Insert a player character named BIS_FD_Competitor // Fixed system name
2. Insert a NPC Range Master character of type B_RangeMaster_F named BIS_rangeOfficer // Fixed system name
3. Insert a Firing Drill module
   1. It's not exposed in Eden Editor, so place any other module. Will this be changed, seems kinda odd. R3vo (talk) 18:09, 19 October 2020 (CEST)^Clarify
   2. Save the scenario.
   3. Close Eden Editor to avoid auto-saves.
   4. Open the scenario SQM file in a text editor.
   5. Replace the module's class by ModuleFiringDrill_F.
   6. Save the SQM.
   7. Re-open the scenario in Eden Editor.
4. Insert an ellipse trigger with default properties named f.e. BIS_FD_COF // Referenced later
   1. Re-size the trigger to encompass your entire CoF and a little extra buffer area (you'll likely re-size it later as you progress).
5. For each CP (including start and finish), insert a trigger with default properties named f.e. BIS_FD_CP1 // Referenced later
   1. Re-size the trigger to meet your CP activation expectations.
6. Insert a Target - Oval (Ground) prop named BIS_FD_ruleSelector1 // Referenced later
   1. Using a similar workflow as above, manually change its class name to Land_Target_Oval_NoPop_F (all targets need their hidden NoPop variant).
   2. Position this target in comfortable shooting range / direction from the start CP (a few meters at most, oriented to be clearly visible and safe).
   3. In the target's Texture #0 field, enter: A3\modules_f_beta\data\FiringDrills\training_gray_ca // Other colors have corresponding textures - see below
7. Copy and paste the first rule target and name it BIS_FD_ruleSelector2 // Referenced later
   1. Position it near the first rule target, typically right from it.
   2. In the target's Texture #0 field, enter: A3\modules_f_beta\data\FiringDrills\competitive_gray_ca // Other colors have corresponding textures - see below
8. Copy and paste a rule target and name it BIS_FD_restartSelector1 // Referenced later
   1. Position it near the finish CP (a few meters from it, oriented to be clearly visible and safe).
   2. In the target's Texture #0 field, enter: A3\modules_f_beta\data\FiringDrills\restart_gray_ca // Other colors have corresponding textures - see below
9. Copy and paste a rule target and name it BIS_FD_quitSelector1 // Referenced later
   1. Position it near the restart target, typically right from it.
   2. In the target's Texture #0 field, enter: A3\modules_f_beta\data\FiringDrills\quit_ca // Fixed texture no matter the drill color
10. For each target at each CP, generally do the following (more specifics detailed below):
    1. Insert the desired target object named f.e. BIS_FD_target2_1 // Referenced later (apply a logical naming pattern, such as numbering based on CP index and target index)
    2. Using a similar workflow as above, manually replace its class name with the corresponding NoPop variant (see the look-up table below).
11. TODO: description.ext
12. Configure your drill via CfgFiringDrills and CfgMissions (see below).

Common Additions

• CP marking objects
  • Recolored objects
• Start whiteboard
• Ammunition containers
• Decorative props / sponsoring

Tips

• Vanilla CoFs are designed to be somewhat realistic and safe as a non-lethal competitive shooting training / sport. Try to imagine and implement range safety concerns in your target and prop placement. For example, don't place targets in a line of sight of the start, Range Officer, or other spectators. Generally try to solidly block off areas behind targets where possible.