Standard Qualification 1

General Qualification Initiative 1 (GQI-1) is a certification course that aims to teach the basic skills necessary to play Arma with others (though a portion of material may be specific to EDC). Being certified on this course is required in order to progress to a Cadet and subsequently be approved to participate in immersive operations.

Standard Qualification 1

Certification Information
Created by	Sirdog
Certification Checklist	[ Link]

Basic interactions

Use of ACE interact on a supply crate.

In Arma III, the default means of interacting with the environment will be the scroll wheel. This is how vehicle inventories are accessed, door are opened, vehicle engines turned on and off, and so on. Once the desired option is highlighted, use Space Bar to make the selection.

ACE interact

EDC (and a lot of Arma units) makes use of an addon known as ACE. It's difficult to describe what ACE does succinctly (and it will be referenced frequently), but one of the many things it does is introduce an interaction system. This is accessed via holding the left ⊞ Win key. Movement of the mouse will move the cursor, slightly move the camera, but any interaction options available will remain in place. When you are close to an object that can be interacted with an interaction option will appear in the form of a circle. Hovering over it will expand into further options (if applicable). To select an option, hover the mouse over the option, and then release the ⊞ Win key.

ACE interaction is used for many things, including:

• Opening a crate's inventory
• Entering and exiting vehicles
• Knocking on certain vehicles
• Joining someone's group
• Passing a magazine to another player
• Tapping a player's shoulder

ACE self-interact

Use of the ACE self-interact feature.

ACE similarly allows interaction with the self. This is done by holding LCtrl+⊞ Win. This will work in most any situation, including while your map is opened. This is used for many things, including:

• Checking your medical state
• Clearing a jammed gun
• Changing your team color
• Renaming your group
• Quick detaching/attaching attachments
• Dig a trench
• Insert and remove hearing protection
• Repack magazines
• Enabling the light to see your map at night

ACE interact settings and keybinds

There are certain settings that ACE provides which may be pertinent to look into changing. These are not required but highly advised, and knowledge these settings exists is required for certification.

Setting Location	Setting Name	Rationale
ACE Interaction Menu	Always display cursor for interaction	Detaches movement of the mouse from the camera for the default ACE interaction, making it function similarly to self-interaction.
ACE Interaction Menu	Display interaction menus as lists	Instead of having the options be a circle, it'll be a list on the left or right (see first image of this section). Some members prefer this to the circle.
ACE Interaction Menu (Self)	Move to root	Allows moving certain interactions from a sub-menu to the main list that is immediately visible when beginning self-interaction. Advise adding Clear Jam, Earplugs In/Out, and Wipe Goggles to root.

Some default keybinds are...

• Wipe Goggles is LCtrl+⇧ Shift+T.
• Take Prisoner is ⇧ Shift+F1.
• Show Names is LCtrl but it's advised to re-bind to LAlt so it matches the free look key. There is no downside to doing this.

Basic weapons

Firearms

While moving, to lower your weapon, press LCtrl x2. This will also reduce your stamina usage while moving which will be described further later. Do LCtrl x2 again to raise the gun back up.

It is advisable to enable your weapon's safety, primarily when tabbing in and out of the game to mitigate an accidental discharge of your gun. The default key bind for this is LCtrl+` (Tilde). Use the bind again to remove the safety, or simply change the fire mode with F.

HUD icon for a rested weapon.

HUD icon for a braced weapon.

In Arma, a weapon may either be braced or rested. A weapon is braced when a tripod attachment is used to "mount" the gun to cover, or the ground. This dramatically increases the stability, and decreases the spray intensity, of the firearm. This must be done manually by pressing C. A weapon is rested when Arma detects that you are holding the gun over cover, in which Arma simulates you "resting" the gun and/or your arms on the cover. This increases stability, and decreases spray, but to a lesser degree than properly bracing would. As has been insinuated, this is automatic, and requires no manual engagement from you. Whether a weapon is braced or rested is show visibly at the top-right of your HUD.

Certain firearms may jam. To clear a jam, use ACE self-interact.

Grenades and smokes

The ACE grenade throwing interface.

Grenades and smokes are a staple of infantry warfare. By default, a grenade can be thrown by pressing G and switching between the various grenades in your inventory is done via LCtrl+G. Certification requires that you go into your settings and unbind the default grenade throwing key, or set it to something far more difficult to use, such as having to press G x2. Without doing this, it is far too easy to throw a grenade negligently, would could be catastrophic to group play.

The advised way of interacting with grenades at all is via ACE, done by pressing ⇧ Shift+G. This presents a graphical UI showing the anticipated arc of the grenade, a clear visual of the grenade you are holding, and clear button prompts on how to interact with it. This same interface is also used for smoke grenades.

Smoke grenades tend to be used as long-range signaling, such as giving an air asset your location to pick you up or giving said asset a location of a target to engage with heavy firepower. Smokes come in a variety of colors. Many Arma units standardize the colors unit-wide, meaning any usage of a particular color in any operation the unit engages in has the same meaning. EDC does not do this. Whether a grenade color has any significance will be determined by the operation leader or otherwise someone in the chain of command in the operation. If you are ever confused about a particular smoke grenade color that you spot, do not hesitate to ask someone. You may just spot an enemy smoke.

Basic ACRE

The various colored bars which represent speaking volume. Level 0 is a whisper whereas level 4 is shouting.

This certification will not explain the installation of ACRE2. For that, please see the appropriate documentation. You should not perform a manual installation, and instead use the workshop addon. You may of course ask any willing EDC member for help.

Another very popular addon that EDC uses is ACRE2 (colloquially called just "ACRE" among members). It is an addon that hooks into TeamSpeak 3 and with it creates a proximity chat environment. Voices will be heard directionally, you will only hear voices in your vicinity, and, the feature it's really used for, it realistically mimics radio use.

As an simple example, the AN/PRC-343 (colloquially called "343") is a short wave radio and will barely clear a kilometer in range. In contrast, the AN/PRC-152 (colloquially called "152") can easily clear 5 kilometers. Terrain is also a factor in a radio's effectiveness. While the 343 struggles to clear a kilometer, it might do so trivially in perfect conditions and with no terrain interference. By contrast, the 343 could struggle to transmit only 200 meters away if there is some solid Earth between you and your recipient.

So long as the man on the bottom remains lying down he will not hear the man above him. There is no line of sight for the radio, and the radio cannot travel through multiple meters of Earth.

Speaking volume in ACRE can be set manually by doing Tab ↹+Scroll Wheel with scroll wheel up increasing your volume and down decreasing your volume. There are 5 speaking levels (starting at an index of 0) indicated via colored bars.

• Level 0 is a whisper
• Level 1 is speaking softly
• Level 2 is regular speaking volume
• Level 3 is a raised speaking volume
• Level 4 is shouting

The advised default speaking volume is 1 and should only increased if situationally appropriate and necessary.

While communicating with your fellow members, there are some things to keep in mind.

• All radios in Arma are what is called "half-duplex". In simple terms, this means it is not possible for 2 people to transmit on the same frequency at the same time. If attempted, anyone listening will hear the signal which is strongest the best along with plenty of static. With this in mind, radio messages should generally be brief.
• If a leadership role asks who needs ammo, please do not reply with "not me".
• If anyone invokes the term "combat comms", or contact against OPFOR is made, all non-relevant firefight communication should cease immediately (even if mid-sentence) and only resume once all contact is eliminated or disengaged from.
• Some operations may have limited to no radio use. In such situations, it is useful to parrot — that is, repeat out loud — orders given by superiors. This way it is more likely the entire element will hear and be made aware of the order.

ACRE mix settings

Development Note: Need to be at home to complete this section.

Radio manipulation

The AN/PRC-343 with the channel knob, handle, and volume controls identified.

For the purposes of GQI-1 the only radio that is pertinent is the 343. This radio — presuming the operation is in a modern setting — is the default radio given to all infantrymen in a squad for inter-squad communication. It is likely you will spawn into an operation with this radio already on your person.

Speaking on the AN/PRC-343 will likely be your PTT1 key for ACRE2. This by default is ⇪ Caps Lock.

To manipulate the radio, use ACE self-interact and select the radio by name. Once selected, a 3D model of the radio will appear. The right knob changes the channel you are on. This can be left alone, defaulting to channel 1, unless you hear otherwise from operation leadership. The left knob adjusts volume in increments of 20% with a maximum of 100%. Volume is entirely preferential, though it obviously should be loud enough to be heard whenever a transmission is received. Both knobs are adjustable by left and right clicking the knobs themselves with your mouse.

The AN/PRC-343 with the block knob exposed.

If you click the handle an animation will play and you will be shown the channel block knob. Here you can change the block of channels used. By default, your 343 will be on block 1. Block 1 has 16 channels which directly correlate to the 16 possible options on the channel knob. If you switch to block 2, this creates an additional 16 channels. In other words, channel 2 on block 1 is not the same as channel 2 on block 2, and thus 2 different squads could have the same setting on the channel knob but have isolated frequencies.

ACRE troubleshooting

Development Note: Need to be at home to complete this section.

Pinging Zeus

Zeus is a real-time mode that allows spawning units and props, editing units and props, and otherwise flying around and having powers like the Greek God Zeus would theoretically have. It is used to curate the experience for operations in real time, similar to a Dungeon Master in Dungeons & Dragons.

Individuals with Zeus access enter it by pressing Y. By default, anyone who presses Y without access "pings" the Zeus. The Zeus will see your name in a box on their screen and hear a specific sound. This is used for getting help when the game acts in a manner which is contrary to the experience that is attempting to be had. For example, a tank exploding due to an AT round and it unrealistically flying around and then landing into a friendly squad. The Zeus can then use their tools to bring the situation to an acceptable status quo.

Zeuses are advised by EDC leadership to only take a ping seriously if there are 2 in a row. This is because we are all human and hitting the key on accident is expected. This means, however, that you should not press Y twice in a row unless you think there is a genuine need for assistance that breaks the 4th wall. The point of operations is to suspend one's disbelief and be immersed in the military simulation. A Zeus' presence is incompatible with this, and they should only be summoned if needed.