Arma: Cold War Assault

Arma: Cold War Assault
Developers

	Bohemia Interactive
macOS (OS X)	Virtual Programming
Linux	Virtual Programming
Publishers
	Codemasters
Engines
	Real Virtuality
Release dates
Windows	June 22, 2001
macOS (OS X)	March 14, 2017
Linux	March 14, 2017

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Arma
Arma: Cold War Assault	2001
Arma: Armed Assault	2006
Arma 2	2009
Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead	2010
Arma Tactics	2013
Arma 3	2013

Operation Flashpoint
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis	2001
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising	2009
Operation Flashpoint: Red River	2011

Key points

Originally released as Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis.

Many bugs in the game may be game-breaking. It's highly recommended to use the latest version of the game.

Free upgrade from Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis to ARMA: Cold War Assault.

Not optimized to run on modern hardware. Highest video settings will cut your game performance.^[1]

GameSpy online server browser has been shut down.^[2] Use Master Server Browser.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions (Windows)

Steam Community Discussions (OS X/Linux)

Availability[edit]

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM^{[Note 1]}. Removed in later patches.
Mac App Store
Steam
Steam

SafeDisc retail DRM no longer functions properly on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

ARMA: Cold War Assault doesn't include the Red Hammer expansion, which was developed by Codemasters.

Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions

Name	Notes
Operation Flashpoint: Red Hammer
Operation Flashpoint: Resistance

Essential improvements[edit]

Patches[edit]

A universal patch that upgrades any retail version of Operation Flashpoint to ARMA: Cold War Assault can be downloaded here.

Skip intro videos[edit]

Launch the game with -nosplash parameter^[5]

Launch the game with -nosplash parameter^[5]

Adding the Red Hammer campaign[edit]

If you have a retail copy of Red Hammer campaign, you can add it back to ARMA: Cold War Assault.

Re-adding Red Hammer campaign^{[citation needed]} Either open a folder where Red Hammer expansion is installed or go to a root folder of a CD with expansion pack. There go to a folder AddOns and copy a file VoiceRH.pbo to a folder AddOns in ARMA: Cold War Assault folder. Go to a folder Campaigns either in a folder where you have installed Red Hammer expansion or on your CD. Copy a file redhammer.pbo to Campaigns in ARMA: Cold War Assault folder. A retail copy of expansion is required for this; Red Hammer expansion is not available digitally.

Re-adding Red Hammer campaign^{[citation needed]}

Either open a folder where Red Hammer expansion is installed or go to a root folder of a CD with expansion pack.
There go to a folder AddOns and copy a file VoiceRH.pbo to a folder AddOns in ARMA: Cold War Assault folder.
Go to a folder Campaigns either in a folder where you have installed Red Hammer expansion or on your CD.
Copy a file redhammer.pbo to Campaigns in ARMA: Cold War Assault folder.

A retail copy of expansion is required for this; Red Hammer expansion is not available digitally.

Game data[edit]

External general settings.

In-game difficulty settings.

Configuration file(s) location[edit]

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\ColdWarAssault.cfg^{[Note 2]} <path-to-game>\Users\<user-id>\UserInfo.cfg
macOS (OS X)
Linux	~/.local/share/vpltd/ArmaColdWarAssault/ColdWarAssault.cfg ~/.local/share/vpltd/ArmaColdWarAssault/SavedGames/<user-id>/UserInfo.cfg

It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

UserInfo.cfg contains user-specific settings.

Save game data location[edit]

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Users\^{[Note 2]}
macOS (OS X)
Linux	~/.local/share/vpltd/SavedGames

Save game cloud syncing[edit]

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video settings[edit]

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor		See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen		See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)	See Widescreen resolution.
Windowed	See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Enabled by default. Can be forced off in the graphics card control panel.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)

External advanced video settings (Performance).
External advanced video settings (Effects).
External advanced video settings (Textures).
External advanced video settings (Details).

Widescreen resolution[edit]

The game detects widescreen resolutions but stretches everything from 4:3 by default.

Fix aspect ratio^{[citation needed]} Launch the game. Modify any options and quit the game. Launch ArmA FOV Changer. Select the game and configuration file. Adjust the FOV slider or tick the "Auto" option. Save changes and launch the game.

Fix aspect ratio^{[citation needed]}

Launch the game.
Modify any options and quit the game.
Launch ArmA FOV Changer.
Select the game and configuration file.
Adjust the FOV slider or tick the "Auto" option.
Save changes and launch the game.

Windowed[edit]

Using -window argument causes major issues with the mouse cursor.^[6]

Force windowed^{[citation needed]} Download and run DxWnd. Click on Edit, then Add. Set the name and executable path. Set the window position and size. Set Desktop for borderless fullscreen windowed. Click on DirectX tab, set DirectX8. Click OK, then File and Save.

Force windowed^{[citation needed]}

Download and run DxWnd.
Click on Edit, then Add.
Set the name and executable path.
Set the window position and size.
Set Desktop for borderless fullscreen windowed.
Click on DirectX tab, set DirectX8.
Click OK, then File and Save.

Input settings[edit]

In-game control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Only usable when flying.
Controller remapping		Axis can be natively used only in aircraft.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio settings[edit]

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Effects, radio, music.
Surround sound		Up to 7.0 output^[7] May require DirectSound 3D restoration software.
Subtitles		Setting under Difficulty options.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Cannot be turned off.
EAX support		EAX 2.^[8]

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish

Network[edit]

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		12
Online play		12	In-game server browser doesn't work.^[2] Use Master Server Browser.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues fixed[edit]

Never use "Very high" terrain quality setting, nor exceed 1200-1300 visibility.^[9]

Low fps[edit]

Use dx8 to dx9 wrapper https://github.com/crosire/d3d8to9/releases

Low server count[edit]

Downgrade to patch 1.96^{[citation needed]}

Downgrade to patch 1.96^{[citation needed]}

Frequent crashes or out of memory errors[edit]

Launch the game with -nomap parameter^[10]

Launch the game with -nomap parameter^[10]

Other information[edit]

API[edit]

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8.1

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Middleware[edit]

	Middleware	Notes
Multiplayer	GameSpy

System requirements[edit]

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Vista	7
Processor (CPU)	AMD Athlon XP 1800+ MHz Pentium III 1133 MHz	AMD Athlon X2 2.5 GHz Intel Dual-core 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	800 MB	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	Riva TNT, GeForce 256, GeForce 2 Rage 128, Radeon 16 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible	Nvidia GeForce 8600GT AMD Radeon 3650 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.8	10.8.5 or newer
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 2.4 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 3.06 GHz or faster
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	800 MB	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia equivalent ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 256 MB of VRAM	Nvidia GeForce 9400M G ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB of VRAM

Linux
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Fedora 25, Ubuntu 16.04, SteamOS, Mint 18 (64-bit OS required)
Processor (CPU)	64-bit 1+ GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz AMD equivalent
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	800 MB	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	latest Nvidia or Mesa drivers OpenGL 3.2+ compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 with 512 MB VRAM AMD Radeon HD 7850 with 1 GB VRAM

Despite official system requirements, game does not use OpenAL nor is XP supported on at least the Cold War Assault upgrade.

Notes

↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[3] and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[4]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without Administrator elevation, activity in %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMFILES(X86)%, and %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\ (more details).

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