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Operation Flashpoint (OFP) aka ArmA: Cold War Assault (CWA)

The briefing is an essential part of any mission. It usually displays a synopsis of what to do to complete the mission.

Briefing.html is a simple HTML file located in the mission folder. You have to create this file manually, and the file will be loaded automatically when the mission begins. For SP missions and campaigns, the briefing.html is accompanied with the overview.html.

The briefing is broken into 4 main sections:

• Notes
• Plan
• Objectives
• Endings

To preview your briefing whilst in the editor, hold SHIFT while clicking 'preview'.

The Briefing Notes section of the briefing.html uses the TAG “Main” as the section, this is mostly used for short notes about the mission.

In multi player missions the Notes section is seen exactly the same regardless of side.

The Briefing Plan section of the Briefing.html is used as a formal introduction to your mission, you can use this section to link markers on the map to information or objectives in the Plan section.

The original BIS style briefings employ a small amount of information on the mission to be played, giving the player only the most basic of intelligence needed to complete his task. The BIS notes section usually takes the form of a diary entry and whilst these methods are certainly an accepted in the community, there is another way to write your briefings.

The advanced briefing takes writing and presenting a briefing to a whole new level. Using links and pictures you can create a much more detailed and aesthetically pleasing effect which will allow you to share with the player, as much information as you wish. Multiple pages will allow you to present different portions of your briefing in an orderly fashion. For example, you may wish to break your briefing down into phases such as:

• Sitrep (Situation Report)
• Orders
• Insertion
• Target
• Exfiltration
• Friendly Forces
• Enemy Forces

With various links this is easily achievable.

Additionally you can define some sounds for the briefing in the CfgSounds section of the description.ext file, and activate them at the top of the description file using:

 onBriefingGear="SoundName"
 onBriefingPlan="SoundName"
 onBriefingGroup="SoundName"

There is the possibility to make versions of the briefing for other languages. At the moment there is support for: Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish.

The usual file “briefing.html” will be displayed, if no other localized version is available and supports “native” english content only.

To get special characters displayed properly, a localized version of the briefing has to be provided in the mission directory. For example, to use german “Umlaute” (ä,ü,ö, etc.) create a additional “briefing.German.html”.

Note: Special characters are not shown in the regular “briefing.html”

overview.html

A detailed example of the different sections that can appear in a briefing file shown here in BIS example briefing.html file.