Arma 3 hails people of every flavor from all over the world. To get to know them a little better, we're hosting a series of mini-interviews with some of our amazing community members. These aim to give you a personal insight into their backgrounds, why they got into Arma, and how they typically experience the game. In this issue, we interview Spearpoint and Free World Armoury creator TepacheLoco!
BIO
Name: David
Nickname:TepacheLoco
Age: Old enough to go for a drink at the pub in Saint Pierre
Location: Midlands, UK
Occupation: Designer
BASELINE
Can you provide us with one random fact about yourself?
During covid I designed a sim racing steering wheel for a Porsche factory endurance driver!
So what is the origin of the name TepacheLoco?
My old username used to be very much my actual name - there was a bit of time when I started getting a bit concerned about getting doxxed and whether that’d have any impact on my job at the time. So, I looked around my kitchen at what the least ‘my name’ name there was, and there was a bottle of refreshing fermented pineapple beverage called Tepache that I’d been brewing! And, as these things go, an odd, hard to pronounce name is born (It’s teh-pah-chay).
What's the first Arma game you played?
I go all the way back to Arma: Cold War Assault. In a series of references that will age me: I got hooked on the tactical shooter genre thanks to a PC Gamer magazine demo disc that had SWAT 3 on it. I went to my local GAME shop to pick it up, but it wasn’t in stock. They put me on to the original Rainbow Six, then Ghost Recon, then Delta Force, and eventually after devouring all those they recommended I give Operation Flashpoint a try!
What is your current Arma 3 playtime?
A relatively conservative 2,696.9 (nice nice) hours.
What is your favorite game of all time?
I mean I’d have to be mad not to say one of the Arma titles at this point, right?
Outside of video games, what other hobbies do you enjoy?
I’m a bit of a maker, with lots of time spent doing up the house or 3D printing various little tchotchkes. Aside from that, some archery, some running, and making odd little websites!
Can you show us your PC setup?
All my desks and tables in my office are on wheels so I can move them around to re-orient the space or make room for doing things like 3D scanning, so here’s my little shoe box on a trolley:
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
How and when did you get into Arma?
Arma: Cold War Assault.
How do you play or engage with Arma 3 nowadays?
Very little nowadays! I was a bit of an early mover on Arma Reforger, so I can’t say I’ve spent much time on Arma 3 in the intervening time.
Could you tell us more about Spearpoint?
Spearpoint was my first proper attempt at modding for Arma 3. As per my Make Arma Not War 2025 interview, the story goes something like this: on the way home from work one day, the thought crosses my mind that a Cold War era British Army mod would be quite neat. That night I couldn't sleep and my mind was racing with ideas. I was thinking about it at work for the next few days. It slowly became clear that I need to work on it.
My first pass was rather terrible, but with lots of support from Mondkalb and the Arma Cold Warriors Discord, I kept trying and developing my skillset until the mod was looking pretty decent!
Spearpoint’s name comes from a British Army exercise in the 1980s - truly the closest they ever really came to fighting a war against the Soviets. They spent 40 years of preparation for a war that was likely to last 72 hours. This was the kind of thing I wanted to recreate the vibe of in Arma - Moustaches and all!
What about your other major project The Free World Armoury?
Spearpoint hit at about the same time as me discovering the Forgotten Weapons YouTube channel. Of all the things I worked on in Spearpoint, weapons by far felt like they had the most impact on gameplay, and I really felt like making some unique weaponry could change the feel of the game. At the same time, there were other creators who were asking me for access to the various weapons of Spearpoint for their own Cold War mods.
So, Free World Armoury was born: A set of Cold War weapons designed for use in other mods and for novel gameplay experiences. Rifle grenades are my personal fave of all that was added to the mod since they give a different infantry experience. You suddenly went from running away from tanks and getting to cover, to running towards the tanks to hit them with a massive rifle launched anti-tank grenade. You can give indirect fire on emplaced positions! They also rock your character with the recoil. Love it!
There was a bit of back and forth recently with licensing for some of the content, so it temporarily became unavailable, but now it’s all sorted and public on the Steam Workshop once again. Enjoy!
What is your favorite piece of Arma 3 user-created content (mod, addon, scenario, game mode, tool) and why?
Looking back, two projects stand out to me, and they’re both CDLC.
Global Mobilization set the tone for building a fantastic Cold War experience in Arma. Every little detail, every piece of equipment, every variant of ammo, represented with a consistent level of quality and authenticity. It was an ambition to reach toward in Arma 3, and having since moved to Reforger it was the template to follow with the British Forces mod.
I was involved (quite briefly) with S.O.G.: Prarie Fire, so take this with a grain of salt, but if “Glob Mob” was the ideal ‘Arma’ experience, then S.O.G.: Prairie Fire took me to a different world and immersed me in it. Trapped in the jungle, surrounded on all sides, feeling like a (very well armed) mouse, with the cat about to swipe down its paw. My first playthrough felt like a truly unique and immersive experience in the Arma series, if not gaming at large.
Can you share your #1 pro tip for any Arma 3 player?
10 seconds spent watching and waiting will save 10 minutes trudging back from the respawn.
What are you looking forward to with the franchise as we move along the road to Arma 4?
Opening up the Arma series to the console audience has welcomed an entirely new crowd of people into the milsim world, and Reforger proved that a competent PvP experience is possible in an Arma title. It’ll be fascinating to see how Arma 4 brings that audience and that gameplay together with the kind of deep single player sandbox experience players love from Arma 3.
BONUS: What is your favorite thing about or from the 1980s?
Peter Gabriel! At university I studied 3D Animation and Design, and the music video for Sledgehammer (by Aardman animations, of Wallace and Gromit fame) became a pretty regular point of reference for mixing video footage and weird animated effects and motifs. I could go on an American Psycho style monologue about it, but I’ll save that for the next one of these interviews!
CLOSING
To finish the interview, do you have anything you'd like to share with the Arma community?
The Arma series has been defined by its community. This is not just in terms of mods published, but how many times I’ve seen modders, YouTubers, organisers and regular players all come together to create communities that foster a true sense of camaraderie. I owe a debt of gratitude to you all, for how welcoming you were to me, and how far we’ve all come.