M.A.W.S. developer docs
Building a walking mech in Arma Reforger
How the M.A.W.S. walker moves, aims, swaps modules and seats its crew – explained with short, self-contained Enforce Script examples. Written for modders who want to build something similar.
M.A.W.S. (Mechanized Assault Walker System) is a 14 m, 50 t walking mech for Arma Reforger. Under the hood
it is a normal wheeled Vehicle – everything that makes it walk is script. These pages show the
techniques, not the full source: each example is cut down to the idea, uses neutral names and compiles on its own
with little glue.
New to Reforger modding? Start here
1. Enforce Script basics
Components, attributes, EOnFrame, server and client - the minimum you need.
2. Your first walker
Step by step with complete code: a vehicle that walks and two legs that swing.
Glossary
Owner, proxy, RplProp, callqueue ... explained in plain words.
What is covered
Architecture & networking
Who computes what: server, physics owner, every machine. The request pattern through the PlayerController.
Leg drive
Moving a 50 t vehicle with SetVelocity: speed ramp, turning toward a heading, hull gyro, park anchor.
Procedural leg rig
Gait phase, foot planting, a 3-segment leg solved as two bones, kinematic part entities.
Hop & thruster jump
Server-validated jump counter, physics on the owner, braking burn and landing damper.
Targeting system
Aim ray, server-validated marks, lock timers, salvo plans and the commander lock cross.
Torso & aim stabilization
Slow torso, fast arms, measured convergence and the aim point lock.
Loadout & modules
Replicated hardpoint occupancy, local module spawning, payload and speed.
Failure & wreck
One replicated state, a collapse laid on the park crouch, an explosion every nearby player sees.
View steering & shared turret seats
Driving with the mouse from a turret, crew turrets riding on a moving torso.
The Sci-Fi Expansion Pack tab covers the add-on systems: energy shield and gravity field.
Three rules that shaped everything
- One physics body. The walker is a single dynamic body (the vehicle root). Legs, torso and arms are kinematic child entities that only look like they carry it. Physics never fights animation.
- Server decides, owner moves, everybody animates. Requests are validated on the server, the machine that owns the physics applies velocities, and every machine runs the leg animation locally from the motion it sees.
- Never trust a tick. Vehicle entities do not always get
EOnFrameon machines that do not own them. Everything that must run per frame has a fallback tick (see Architecture).
MyWalker_... are placeholders – prefix them with your own tag.