Arma 3: Virtual Reality Custom Courses

Here is a basic guide on how to configure your own VR training courses. If there are some community Courses configured, a new selector will appear with a list of the Courses. This selector will have different colour than the official ones.

Config

class CfgVRCourses
{
    class Default;
    class MyCourse1 : Default
    {
        title = "Course Name";
        icon = "\A3\Structures_F_Bootcamp\VR\Helpers\Data\VR_Symbol_default_CA.paa";
        class Stages
        {
            class Stage1
            {
                title = "Stage 1 Name";
                function = "BIS_fnc_VRFunctionName1";
            };
            class Stage2
            {
                title = "Stage 2 Name";
                function = "BIS_fnc_VRFunctionName2";
            };
            class Stage3
            {
                title = "Stage 3 Name";
                function = "BIS_fnc_VRFunctionName3";
            };
        };
    };
};

icon: Path to icon that will be shown on a billboard throughout the Course.

title: Text that will be shown ingame during Course selection or when loading a Stage.

function: Function to run for each Stage. Must be defined in cfgFunctions (see the Arma 3 functions library, VR functions are usually defined in category "VR").

Functions

Stage functions are typically FSMs (you can get the FSM Editor here). There are certain guidelines to follow:

• player's starting coordinates are always markerPos "BIS_center"

  • you should use coordinates relative to this one for spawning your assets

• there is a brief timeout before player gains control in a Stage - you can spawn all your assets during this period

  • you can determinate the moment player gains control by checking variable BIS_interruptable for TRUE
  • any mission tasks or hints should be created after this period, once player is actually ingame

• there is a logic unit used for icon helper (group icon) - BIS_icon and its group, BIS_iconGrp

  • do not delete these!
    Example of use:

    BIS_icon attachTo [BIS_UAV, [0, 0, -3.5]];
    BIS_iconGrp setGroupIconParams [BIS_TT_colorWarning, "", 1, true];
    

• if player wanders too far away from his starting position, he is automatically moved back - default allowed radius is 100m

  • this can be changed via variable BIS_stageArea in a Stage function.
    Example of use:

    BIS_stageArea = 150;
    

• any assets you spawn will be deleted automatically when the Stage ends

• a Stage is completed by using this code:

  call BIS_fnc_VR_stageDone;
  

• always make sure you've properly terminated your function upon Stage end; keep in mind player can fail a Stage too

  • for Stage failure, use code before you terminate the function:

    [] spawn BIS_fnc_VR_stageFailed;
    

  • condition to check player's "death" or him leaving the Stage:

    damage player > 0.015 || !BIS_interruptable
    

  • you don't need to call any code in this case, just make sure to properly terminate the function

Stage function example

To help you understand how a typical Stage FSM may look like, here's a link to a basic Stage function (it's a slightly tweaked Stage 2 of the Launchers Course):

• https://www.dropbox.com/s/5429wbhsl4f0sky/fn_VRCourseExample.fsm

The End!

« I hope I covered everything here. Have fun creating your own VR Courses! » – Jezuro