ALiVE - Advanced Light Infantry Virtual Environment

[garbol87 10]

This... This is all I ever wanted... Manly tears shall be shed when it will be released.

Also are you guys wizards by any chance?

[dcal 16]

Wow, this looks incredible. The Arma community is simply amazing.

[mistyronin 1181]

Uhm, first I have the impression that someone has studied Software Engineering ( you have even include a bit of U.M.L. )

Second, well just say that your work is outstanding. Keep it up!

[das attorney 857]

This looks really pro guys - really like the focus on user-friendliness. I enjoyed MSO thoroughly, but editing it was sometimes labourious due to the sprawling nature of the mission files. Glad to see you've addressed this by use of editor modules.

[rye1 21]

...Be sure to like us on Facebook too guys, and see our live streams...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ALIVE-Advanced-Light-Infantry-Virtual-Environment/547638945305077

[SavageCDN 231]

The team is really excited about our efforts to date and we are testing with some well known Arma groups already. Hopefully some of these guys can provide feedback on the experience so far! :)

I'll give it a go!!!

Well I'm pretty much blown away and all I've seen so far is the basic modules and functionality. Very flexible options you can create a huge ongoing war across the entire map or a simple insurgency-style mission to take over a town (using the awesome CQB module)... and the best part is either option takes about 10 minutes of editor work. I can't wait to see the next update which should include the logistics side of things (supplies and reinforcements) enabling longer more strategic battles.

I like the fact that it's an addon - mission size goes from 5mb to 50kb :)

CAS options are very nice and are requested by the player (with a specific item like laser desg) and tasked by the AI - attack choppers, transport choppers and aircraft.

For those interested in the AI, ALiVE features two levels of 'command' - OPCOM (strategic) and TACOM (tactical). Since this system focuses primarily on giving the AI waypoints, it seems to work just fine with other AI mods I tried (at least nothing obviously game-breaking) - of course this requires more detailed testing :p

- ASR_AI

- bCombat (still in testing)

- tpwcas

Due to some issues with the 1.04 patch I am unable to try this on Altis (Stratis works fine) but I'm sure that will be worked out.

Yes any map! Our military placement and objectives modules, automatically scan maps for military, civilian infrastructure etc.

I was unable to figure this part out (tried the Koplic map) - I see you have data files in the addon for Altis, Stratis and Chernarus - is there any way to generate these files for other maps? The only module I could find that had options for dynamic generation were the objectives modules (mil and civ)?

Our target platform is Dedicated MP servers. Most modules work fine on local host, saying that the stats and data persistence stuff is currently dedicated only. There is nothing from stopping you from running a dedi server on the same machine as your client though.

The best part is almost everything works in SP editor preview mode - great for testing!!

Isn't the resolution of battles too fast in that first video which shows the combat simulation behind the scenes? REDFOR and GREENFOR just move at each other and GREENFOR instantly disappears. Shouldn't there be a time delay for that to properly simulate a length of a firefight?

I noticed the same myself (even at 1x speed) - 'virtual' battles get resolved too quickly while 'real' battles (with spawned in units) are more accurate. I'm sure that will get sorted. The fact that it can seamlessly transfer units between the virtual and real layers while keeping the simulation going is pretty cool!!

Edited November 3, 2013 by SavageCDN

[PenguinInATuxedo 18]

Very nice can't wait to try knocking together some some nice big missions.

[highhead 20]

Hi Guys!

Really loving the responses! We are currently in a hot testing phase before unleashing the beast!

Let me just reply ad OPCOM / TACOM and virtual battles:

- OPCOM (+ TACOM) and the genius HAC are different modules and not directly related.

- Handling virtual battles is a thing of balance. Most probabilities are handled on one call "prior" to the battle. Outcome is pretty much already defined, when the troops meet and troop strengths of opposing forces, positions, assets etc. taken into account, but to handle the outcome a bit different every time, it is furthermore dicerolled against all that predefined values. To delay the outcome further is probably not needed, because the player wouldnt ever take a notice, since he is not around. Im glad about the feedback and will think about how to get it "slowed" down a bit!

Again, im amazed of the response of you guys (and girls)!

Enjoy A3 and we will keep you updated!

HH

[jumpinghubert 48]

a dream comes true for me! I was a big fan of the good old secondary operations module (SOM). I know your mod have tons of features more but I loved the som module because there was zero performance impact. Is it possible to put the whole altis map under war with the performance of a little sp-mission?

[SavageCDN 231]

Hi Guys!

- OPCOM (+ TACOM) and the genius HAC are different modules and not directly related.

- Handling virtual battles is a thing of balance. Most probabilities are handled on one call "prior" to the battle. Outcome is pretty much already defined, when the troops meet and troop strengths of opposing forces, positions, assets etc. taken into account, but to handle the outcome a bit different every time, it is furthermore dicerolled against all that predefined values. To delay the outcome further is probably not needed, because the player wouldnt ever take a notice, since he is not around. Im glad about the feedback and will think about how to get it "slowed" down a bit!

HH

Ah ok thanks for the clarification.. I had just assumed that was the case :p

With regards to speed of virtual battles I would argue that they should be 'slowed' down somewhat... I'll give you an example. A test mission on Stratis with 2 small forces engaging in the north and human players spawning at the southern tip and moving north to assist - virtual battle between OPFOR and BLUFOR in the north is over within 15-20 minutes of mission start (except for defending groups still on the map). Units especially motorized/mechanized move very quickly. I understand that logistics and reinforcements might lengthen the battle however if these groups were actually spawned in on the map and engaging each other the battle would take much longer. Does that make any sense?

I know your mod have tons of features more but I loved the som module because there was zero performance impact. Is it possible to put the whole altis map under war with the performance of a little sp-mission?

Yes for sure although I would assume more human players equals more performance impact. Put it this way - I set up a large virtual battle on Altis between 3 factions involving over 2400 AI (3 full battalions) - infantry, armor, choppers. Units spawned in at 1500m range and performance was great - virtual battles seem to take almost no resources. Best part? Setting that up took about 20 minutes total :)

[jumpinghubert 48]

I set up a large virtual battle on Altis between 3 factions involving over 2400 AI (3 full battalions) - infantry, armor, choppers. Units spawned in at 1500m range and performance was great - virtual battles seem to take almost no resources.

ok thats like christmas² :D

[Tyl3r99 41]

how easy is it to use on a 5 star rating...

1 being hard *

5 being someone off the street could make a mission from this *****

[friznit2 350]

Well, they'd need to know how to open the editor and place a playable unit. But thereafter you could make a simple, playable mission using ALIVE with only 3 modules in under 2 minutes. There is a full manual in progress, which will answer a lot of your questions hopefully. We also intend to whack up a few tutorial vids.

We've tested with up to 4000 Virtual AI and around 12+ players so far. Server performance remains stable throughout apart from a little bit of desynch when someone JIPs, but that's not unusual for any big mission.

We will be implementing a Task Generator (similar to SOM) in due course. Bear in mind the upcoming release is Alpha - there will be plenty of bugs I'm sure, and there's a whole lot of functionality we want to add in future iterations.

[SavageCDN 231]

how easy is it to use on a 5 star rating...

1 being hard *

5 being someone off the street could make a mission from this *****

I would say 4 on your scale of mission making difficulty. As friznit2 said you need to know enough to place playable units, markers and some modules. If you're used to making missions for Arma 2 MSO this will be like taking a nap :p

Edited November 3, 2013 by SavageCDN

[MANTIA 55]

EVERYDAY for the last month I check the forums hoping to see more information on ALIVE/MSO. YES!

[kremator 1064]

I'll soon be able to shout in my best Boris Karlov voice .... 'Its ALiVE!'

[Tyl3r99 41]

I would say 4 on your scale of mission making difficulty. As friznit2 said you need to know enough to place playable units, markers and some modules. If you're used to making missions for Arma 2 MSO this will be like taking a nap :p

thanks i shall give it a try!!

i can place units i think :p

its just the coding that scrambles my head up

[-ghost-tf 12]

Awesome.. just awesome.

[SnR 1]

Well done to all involved, Wolffy those long train trips paid off :D Looking forward to seeing it push our server.

[wolffy.au 9]

Well done to all involved, Wolffy those long train trips paid off :D Looking forward to seeing it push our server.

I promised you AEF boys you could test it, hit me up and I'll sort you out. :)

[phronk 896]

As awesome as this mod is, I'm sure it has its limits due to ArmA 3's technical restrictions. But since you're the creator and have people testing this, I'd like to ask: how's the performance in multiplayer when there are players mixed at two or more different objective areas on the map? Does it noticeably take a steep dive in performance?

I'm basically asking this because larger-scaled missions like Domination or Invade & Annex noticeably dive in FPS (server-side issue, usually) when players decide to hit different areas of the map simultaneously. If this is also the case for ALiVE, then it'd probably be ideal to have options to disable multiple objectives - and stick to singular objectives - to prevent those performance drops. Either way, the mod looks awesome and I really can't wait for this to come out and maybe try to get HAL integrated into this. ;)

[arjay 7]

As awesome as this mod is, I'm sure it has its limits due to ArmA 3's technical restrictions. But since you're the creator and have people testing this, I'd like to ask: how's the performance in multiplayer when there are players mixed at two or more different objective areas on the map? Does it noticeably take a steep dive in performance?

I'm basically asking this because larger-scaled missions like Domination or Invade & Annex noticeably dive in FPS (server-side issue, usually) when players decide to hit different areas of the map simultaneously. If this is also the case for ALiVE, then it'd probably be ideal to have options to disable multiple objectives - and stick to singular objectives - to prevent those performance drops. Either way, the mod looks awesome and I really can't wait for this to come out and maybe try to get HAL integrated into this. ;)

We are working on a limiter to the profile system, where the mission maker can set a hard top limit on the amount of 'active' profiles that can be in play at any one time. This will of course require testing on your hardware, and configured for the types of ops you are looking to support. I think it will be a reasonable compromise, as we all know Arma can only run X number of AI for any given system with Y number of players.

[gunny1979 3]

Highead and I are currently streaming our Testing via Twitch! :cool:

http://www.twitch.tv/highhead

[josan22 10]

Hey I am from an ARMA 2/3 realism group, and we were wondering if we could get access to the beta to aid in play testing and to run on one of our servers?

[HorbeySpector 164]

currently watching the stream. impressed by the performance!

can't wait to try it out myself. :D