Is it possible to make a custom face for ArmaII like you could in ArmaI? Does it use the same format (face.jpg)? I remember when armaii first came out there was a lot of problems with custom faces so I never ported my armai face over.

there should be an answer in this 17 page thread:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?72219-Custom-face-textures-in-ArmA-2

Couldnt find anything in that thread since it is so old must of the stuff is broken links. You would think that somewhere on the wiki there would be a step by step on what to make and where to put it.

This is what I figured out by trial and error.

Face.jpg
different format that arma 1
place it in your documents/appdata/local/armaii main directory
select custom face in game.

still has the ATI bug
black is a transparency and not a color so if you paint something black you will just have a light gray clear coat and it will show standard skin color.

Here is the best resource on it.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?51913-ArmA-Custom-Faces-For-Free

I see the strategy...scare the enemy away without firing a shot

So I have been playing with it in the hopes that my Dayz guy can have a custom face.

First of all.... 90% of the dayz servers dont allow it.

Secondly there is still the same ATI bug from armai where it makes your custom.jpg face extremely light. You would think they would have fixed that by now.

Secondly, the format has changed for armaii but I cant find anywhere official that explains the new format. For instance my custom face works fine for the external model but I cant see my gloves from first person.

This is the best thread on it.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?51913-ArmA-Custom-Faces-For-Free

Ok, I figured it out.

Make your custom face from one of the armaii templates (where it has two hands and no legs/feet).

Then export it as a 256x256 jpg.

Load up texview2 which is a free tool provided by BIS that you can find on their wiki.
http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/TexView_2

Then import your face.jpg and export it as a face.paa file. Make sure it is under 100kb. You can actually use 1024x1024 or 512x512 as a texture format but when you export those sizes they are over 100kb and 99.9% of the servers only allow 100kb custom faces.

Take that file and place it in your documents/arma2 directory.

Load up the game and select your custom face.

Done.

The .paa file fixes the ATI graphics bug where your custom face is about 500% too bright.