LAAT: Lightweight Automated Arma Toolkit

LAAT is a CLI tool for generating Arma 3 Aux mods from simpler TOML configuration files.

Disclaimer

The LAAT Devlopment team is not resposible for any mods or content uploaded to the Steam Workshop using LAAT. It is a tool hoping to ease the Arma 3 mod development process, not make it easier to steal other people's copyrighted works.

Why?

I ran an Arma 3 unit for close to 6 months. At our peak we had around 50 members, each of whom would, over time, get their own custom armor added to our mod. Initially it was easy to handle the demand, make a texture, convert from png > paa, and write the nessecary configuration. However, after reaching a critical mass, the requests became too much for one developer to handle. That unit ultimately failed due to this issue.

LAAT aims to fix that, by automating as much of the Arma 3 Aux Mod development process as possible, all while-adhering to insdustry-standard software engineering practices in the process.

With LAAT you can use CI/CD to automate releases and updates to your mod, you have deterministic builds, and most importantly, you have much less code to mantain.

Installation

git clone https://github.com/ajmwagar/laat
cd laat
cargo install --path .

Usage

Create a new LAAT project with laat init

laat init -p myproject -a Avery Wagar

Build your Arma 3 Mod with laat build

Pack your Arma 3 Mod into PBOs with laat pack

Create a keypair with laat keygen <name>

Sign your PBOs with laat pack --sign or laat sign

Release to the Steam workshop with laat release -u <steam user> -p <steam pass> -g <steam guard code>

GitHub Actions

Since LAAT, by-default, doesn't require any extra tooling, you can run it in GitHub actions and automatically build and release your mod to the Steam Workshop.

name: Build and Release with LAAT

on:
  # Triggers the workflow on push or pull request events but only for the master branch
  push:
    branches: [ master ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ master ]

  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
  workflow_dispatch:


jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      # Checks-out your repository
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      # Build, Pack, and Sign using LAAT
      - uses: ajmwagar/laat@v1.2.4
        with:
          command: ship
      
      # Release the mod to the Steam Workshop
      - uses: ajmwagar/laat@v1.2.4
        with:
          command: release
          args: -u ${{ secrets.STEAM_USER }} -p ${{ secrets.STEAM_PASS }} ${{ github.event.head_commit.message }}

Configuration

Currently you configure the bulk of LAAT via the LAAT.toml file.

An example file looks like this:

prefix = "17th"
name = "17th Infantry Division"
author = "Pvt. Wagar"

# Enable the following plugins
plugins = [
  "music",
  "addons",
  "kits"
]

[pack] # PBO packing settings
excludes = ["*.png"]
include_folders = []
header_extensions = []

[release]
workshop_id = 0000000 # Steam Workshop Item ID

[kits]
file = "./kits.toml"

A LAAT Project might look like the following:

.
├── addons
│  ├── CommandLink
│  ├── Core
│  ├── Customs
│  ├── Disguise
│  ├── Factions
│  ├── JetpackPatch
│  ├── Kits
│  ├── LAATImpulsePatch
│  └── Vehicles
├── assets
│  └── music
├── build
├── keys
│  ├── 17th.bikey
│  └── 17th.biprivatekey
├── kits.toml
├── LAAT.toml
└── release
   └── @17th

Developing with LAAT

The development workflow with LAAT adds a new step.

We call it the "build" step, which comes before PBO packing.

Think of the "build" step as another developer who is working on the project with you. It will generate code and addons and add them to the build folder.

The workflow for people who are building normal addons doesn't change, However, we have removed the P:/ drive.

The steps in the pipeline are as follows:

build: LAAT generates your addons
pack: LAAT uses armake2 to pack your addons into PBOs.
sign: LAAT signs your PBOs using your .biprivatekey file.
release: LAAT used steamcmd to upload your mod to the Steam Workshop.

Compiler Plugins

Plugins are what take your assets and configuration file, and turn them into valid Arma 3 Mod Addons (i.e. the things you build into PBOs)

Currently there are only a few plugins, but many more are planned. If you'd like to see a plugin or certain Arma 3 process automated, please open an issue.

`addons`

The addons plugin is the most trivial. It takes all of the existing Arma 3 Addons in your addons folder and copies them into the build folder.

This enables you to use LAAT as much or as little as you'd like, by mantaining support for the existing Arma 3 Mod format and tooling.

`missions`

The missions plugin aims to fix the pain-points associated with mantaining server mission files, and any compositions that are needed across all files.4

You can customize the global offset using composition_offset or specify a per-map offset for your composition.

To get started, add the following to your LAAT.toml

[missions]
addon_name = "Missions"

composition = "./assets/compositions/Skybase"

# X, Y, Z
composition_offset = [0, 0, 0]
ignore_center = true

respawn_delay = 2 # 2 seconds

mission_name = "LAATMission"

maps = [
"Altis",
"Stratis",
"Tanoa",
["Malden", [200, 500, 200]]
]

and make sure you add the missions plugin to your plugins section:

# Enable the following plugins
plugins = [
  # ...
  "missions" # ADD THIS ONE!
]

Now, assuming your Skybase composition floats above the air a bit, and has proper respawn points, and playable soldiers, you'll be greeted with functional mission files for each of the listed maps.

`music`

The music plugin generates a Music addon from your assets/music folder. It will generate the proper CfgMusic and CfgMusicClass entries to expose the songs of your choosing in the Zeus Play Music action.

The music plugin searches your assets/music folder for any .ogg files or subfolders. It will create a CfgMusicClass for each of the subfolders, and a CfgMusic entry for each of the .ogg files.

For example a LAAT project with the following format:

assets/music
├── 80s
│  ├── Danger_Zone.ogg
│  ├── Dont_You_Want_Me.ogg
│  ├── Enjoy_The_Silence.ogg
│  ├── Mad_World.ogg
│  ├── Psycho_Killer.ogg
│  ├── Sunglasses_At_Night.ogg
│  ├── Take_On_Me.ogg
│  ├── Tom_Sawyer.ogg
└──└── True_Survivor.ogg

Would generate the following addon:

Music
├── config.cpp
└── data
   └── Music
      ├── Danger_Zone.ogg
      ├── Dont_You_Want_Me.ogg
      ├── Enjoy_The_Silence.ogg
      ├── Mad_World.ogg
      ├── Psycho_Killer.ogg
      ├── Sunglasses_At_Night.ogg
      ├── Take_On_Me.ogg
      ├── Tom_Sawyer.ogg
      └── True_Survivor.ogg

The config.cpp would contain something like:

class CfgPatches {
  class 17th_Music {
    units[] = {};
    weapons[] = {};
    requiredAddons[] = {};
    fileName = "17th_Music.pbo";
  };
};

class CfgMusic {
  tracks[]={
    "Take_On_Me", "Mad_World", "Danger_Zone", "Enjoy_The_Silence", "Tom_Sawyer", "Psycho_Killer", "True_Survivor", "Dont_You_Want_Me", "Sunglasses_At_Night"
  };

  class Take_On_Me {
    name = "Take On Me";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\Take_On_Me.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 223;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

  class Mad_World {
    name = "Mad World";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\Mad_World.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 227;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

  class Danger_Zone {
    name = "Danger Zone";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\Danger_Zone.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 225;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

  class Enjoy_The_Silence {
    name = "Enjoy The Silence";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\Enjoy_The_Silence.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 280;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

  class Tom_Sawyer {
    name = "Tom Sawyer";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\Tom_Sawyer.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 273;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

  class Psycho_Killer {
    name = "Psycho Killer";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\Psycho_Killer.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 312;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

  class True_Survivor {
    name = "True Survivor";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\True_Survivor.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 243;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

  class Dont_You_Want_Me {
    name = "Dont You Want Me";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\Dont_You_Want_Me.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 206;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

  class Sunglasses_At_Night {
    name = "Sunglasses At Night";
    sound[] = { "17th\Music\data\Music\Sunglasses_At_Night.ogg","db+0","1.0" };
    duration = 237;
    musicClass = "17th80s";
  };

};

class CfgMusicClasses {
  class 17thmusic {
    displayName = "[17th] music";
  };
  class 17th80s {
    displayName = "[17th] 80s";
  };
};

Planned Plugins

armor plugin - creating armor retextures per rank, member, etc.
kit plugin - for creating "Kit Boxes" and "Armor Boxes" that assign loadouts, armour, and traits to players via addaction SQFs.
core plugin - create the basic Arma 3 Aux mod entries to create units, objects, and more, all catagorized under your unit's name.

Roadmap & Potential Features

Option to swap the PBO/Binarization backend. (Currently using armake2, but we should optionally support others)
LuaJIT for writing custom plugins.

ajmwagar / laat