ALiVE - Advanced Light Infantry Virtual Environment

[opendome 91]

ALIVE sounds amazing, had a brief play with it but could some one point me in t he direction of some good single player missions, persistent campaigns/missions if possible.

Thank you for your hard work.

I dont know if theres ay SP missions but there are some missions on their site :)

http://alivemod.com/

[blackbeard06 10]

Not sure if this has been asked, but if it has I'm sorry. (not looking through 103+ pages for one error.)

however I'm getting an error with placement modules and markers.

"Warning no location found for placement, you need to include military location within the TOAR marker"

I am following the tutorial videos literally the exact same way (with new recent update) however I get this error 90% of the time while setting up new military placement modules. I am 110% positive that the TOAR markers and TAOR marker name within the module are the very same (including case senstive) and yet I still get the error!

why? I'm getting everything else to work. Is this a bug?

[KevsNoTrev 44]

Wow guys, great job with speeding up the placement modules.

I just did a test on Altis with the basic required modules and a Mil-placement, Civ-placement Opcom for OPF_F and the same for BLU_F.

I was getting tasks within 3 minutes compared to nearly 14 last time I did it. Markers were showing up nearly instantly.

Going to have to run on a dedicated, my frames were about 20 when it was initialising, but remained steady over 30 after the first task showed up.

Amazing.

[arjay 7]

Not sure if this has been asked, but if it has I'm sorry. (not looking through 103+ pages for one error.)

however I'm getting an error with placement modules and markers.

"Warning no location found for placement, you need to include military location within the TOAR marker"

I am following the tutorial videos literally the exact same way (with new recent update) however I get this error 90% of the time while setting up new military placement modules. I am 110% positive that the TOAR markers and TAOR marker name within the module are the very same (including case senstive) and yet I still get the error!

why? I'm getting everything else to work. Is this a bug?

Hi Blackbeard, the usual response to this issue is to try the placement module without any TAOR marker defined and with debug switched on in the module, once the game starts take a screen shot of the map so you can see what locations are available over the whole map. Then place your TAOR marker (making sure the marker covers the center point of an existing location from you screen shot). Alternatively expand the size of your TAOR marker until some location is found.

---------- Post added at 14:44 ---------- Previous post was at 14:38 ----------

Wow guys, great job with speeding up the placement modules.

I just did a test on Altis with the basic required modules and a Mil-placement, Civ-placement Opcom for OPF_F and the same for BLU_F.

I was getting tasks within 3 minutes compared to nearly 14 last time I did it. Markers were showing up nearly instantly.

Going to have to run on a dedicated, my frames were about 20 when it was initialising, but remained steady over 30 after the first task showed up.

Amazing.

Glad you noticed KevsnoTrev, we spent a long time getting the initialisation all working prior to the briefing screen and all the performance improvements it entails. Should make ALiVE a lot more fun to test and work with in the editor!

[opendome 91]

I went back to sueprfluids drIrregulars for now and Ive gotta say I just had one of the coolest firefights on the streets of Sangin, the CQB module really makes a difference! I was also wondering if increasing the number of units on the map by 200 makes a noticeable difference in performance?

Thanks again!!!!

[MANTIA 55]

Is there a way to have an a.i. squad dismount a helicopter via the ALiVe transport module? I can get them to board using the MCC but I cant figure out how to get them to dismount once the bird lands.

[hlfritz 1]

just perused the changelog, I gotta say you guys are topnotch. not only is it nice to see all the fixes and feature adds but it is really cool to see bugs and features requested here and in the tracker actually in the changelog. really nice.

great work and congrats.

is the one bug outstanding with CBA team going to affect anything? or is the reason for the change because of that bug until it gets fixed? (a sys_player issue)

[jinougaf 11]

I have much time to test the new update now，because you guys make my wife angry and i cant play with my PC anymore this week，lolï¼;)

So could anyone tell me about the transpot helis？

[oktyabr 12]

I went back to sueprfluids drIrregulars for now

I got superfluids drIrregulars to work too... but didn't they also work the same way in the old Alive version? This would suggest that the Alive Dev Team might have another rabbit up their sleeve too? Further I can get them to work but only if BLUFOR is NATO. If I try a custom unit for both sides, neither will spawn anything. My real dream is Clafghan with the Irregulars as the OPFOR and a mix of Massi's units as BLUFOR (75th Rangers, some DEVGRU, etc.)

Here is my wish list for ALiVE:

1) Make it as easy to assign BLU, IND and OPF as it is to select the units in the editor, i.e. a drop down of all available units by side.

2) Have virtual military and civilian placements that can be placed in the editor and will spawn accordingly when used with the appropriate placement module. This would be ideal for small FOBs, rebel camps and similar locations that ALiVE doesn't "pick up" on it's own.

3) Cache-able CIVs. I really, REALLY miss the ambient civ modules (note, plural! Vehicles too, please.) in A2! CQB is fine. CQB with a chance of running into... and possibly shooting... unarmed civilians would really take it up to a new level! Civs fleeing a town ripped apart by becoming the new hotspot in the battle? Civs possibly aligned with one side or the other, either armed or unarmed (civ runs down street yelling and whistling when he spots some of the "opposed" force.) Civs changing alignment as the balance of power in their area changes too? MUHAHAHAHAH!

4) Some sort of "Chain of Command" module for the players. The OPCOM should recognize you (and any other units not spawned by ALiVE itself) by *rank*. If you spawn in as an LT you should be able to take command of lower ranked units and groups (either as squad mates or possibly with a version of high command?) and later be able to release them again to ALiVE. You ever see an AI salute an officer on it's own? I want a "yessir!" with that when I commandeer your helicopter and it's crew. Similarly, as long as we have an OPCOM that will give the players tasks to complete, how about tasks appropriate for the rank? Lowly grunt? Join this unit and attack that installation. Captain? Round up some troops and assault that village!

5) Last but not least, some variation provided by a random number seed and perhaps some OPCOM "profiles" ala MCC... Is the OPCOM commanded by a cunning strategist who is willing to spend more time and conserve his resources? Or a raving lunatic who will throw wave after wave of troops to chase the opposing force entirely off the island?

... hey, that's why they call it a "wish" list, right? ;)

Would still like a little help getting drIrregulars to battle Massi's US & Devgru?

EDIT: MOAR documentation with examples, please! :D

Edited January 22, 2014 by Oktyabr

[p0laris 14]

So does anyone have any idea what the slider bar for the arty does? is that how accurate they are?

[arjay 7]

1) Make it as easy to assign BLU, IND and OPF as it is to select the units in the editor, i.e. a drop down of all available units by side.

2) Have virtual military and civilian placements that can be placed in the editor and will spawn accordingly when used with the appropriate placement module. This would be ideal for small FOBs, rebel camps and similar locations that ALiVE doesn't "pick up" on it's own.

3) Cache-able CIVs. I really, REALLY miss the ambient civ modules (note, plural! Vehicles too, please.) in A2! CQB is fine. CQB with a chance of running into... and possibly shooting... unarmed civilians would really take it up to a new level! Civs fleeing a town ripped apart by becoming the new hotspot in the battle? Civs possibly aligned with one side or the other, either armed or unarmed (civ runs down street yelling and whistling when he spots some of the "opposed" force.) Civs changing alignment as the balance of power in their area changes too? MUHAHAHAHAH!

4) Some sort of "Chain of Command" module for the players. The OPCOM should recognize you (and any other units not spawned by ALiVE itself) by *rank*. If you spawn in as an LT you should be able to take command of lower ranked units and groups (either as squad mates or possibly with a version of high command?) and later be able to release them again to ALiVE. You ever see an AI salute an officer on it's own? I want a "yessir!" with that when I commandeer your helicopter and it's crew. Similarly, as long as we have an OPCOM that will give the players tasks to complete, how about tasks appropriate for the rank? Lowly grunt? Join this unit and attack that installation. Captain? Round up some troops and assault that village!

5) Last but not least, some variation provided by a random number seed and perhaps some OPCOM "profiles" ala MCC... Is the OPCOM commanded by a cunning strategist who is willing to spend more time and conserve his resources? Or a raving lunatic who will throw wave after wave of troops to chase the opposing force entirely off the island?

Would still like a little help getting drIrregulars to battle Massi's US & Devgru?

EDIT: MOAR documentation with examples, please! :D

Wow lots of ideas in there..

1) Not sure how doable that would be, would need some complex method of reading configs and outputing factions I guess, possible but not high on the priorities.

2) This is one the todo list

3) Civs with the features you describe we have thought about, you can see my response to a reddit post here.

4) Great idea! We are reworking the task module in the future (it will be stand alone) and those are some good ideas we can discuss and think about.

5) We have talked about OPCOM personality in the past, it would definately be a cool feature and is on the would like list.

Regarding assistance with unit mods are you in the alive skype group, I've been chatting with a few users in there about these, if your not in there please pm me your skype details and I will add you.

Documentation: anything in particular you would like more details about?

[gunny1979 3]

I have much time to test the new update now，because you guys make my wife angry and i cant play with my PC anymore this week，lolï¼;)

So could anyone tell me about the transpot helis？

Lol bad news my friend, what would you like to know about Transport Heli's?

---------- Post added at 08:33 ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 ----------

So does anyone have any idea what the slider bar for the arty does? is that how accurate they are?

Its meant to be the dispersion, however during coding and testing, it seems the AI just do what they wish with the new BIS Arty method, I will continue to enhance this module.

---------- Post added at 08:41 ---------- Previous post was at 08:33 ----------

Is there a way to have an a.i. squad dismount a helicopter via the ALiVe transport module? I can get them to board using the MCC but I cant figure out how to get them to dismount once the bird lands.

Hi DoRo, yes this has been requested before, I was going to create an drop off\unload task of which the AI auto disembark and the heli RTB's, however I forgot and it was not logged as a request on DH. :rolleyes:

Requests and Issues can be logged here https://dev.withsix.com/projects/alive/issue

This is or Bugs and Features list we go by, you can also get an update of where they are at etc

Edited January 22, 2014 by Gunny1979

[oktyabr 12]

1) Not sure how doable that would be, would need some complex method of reading configs and outputing factions I guess, possible but not high on the priorities.

And yet other applications seem to pull it off. MCC as my prime example has managed to deal with incorporating custom units for some time now. While I won't claim to understand the mechanics that go on under the hood so to speak, the presentation to the user is simple and direct. Click a drop down list and select what you want. Hey, it's a wish because it beats the heck out of digging up config definitions manually and getting them right (see my multiple mentions of drIrregulars, etc. as examples).

Regarding assistance with unit mods are you in the alive skype group, I've been chatting with a few users in there about these, if your not in there please pm me your skype details and I will add you.

Documentation: anything in particular you would like more details about?

PM being sent now, although it's late my time and I really need to be text only or risk the wrath of my family ;)

Documentation? I loved all your tutorial vids and really hope you do some more covering the new features in this build and how they might work. Similarly a wiki that can be updated, user's manual, etc. would be nice. For those of you that have been testing and improving it I'm sure it seems much more easy to understand. For someone only just now installing it, or even someone like me that has already seen the videos and read the guide, there is much more that could be covered (before this thread grows another couple hundred posts!)

Additions to my "wish list":

6) For the TAOR markers, a "handle" or larger, distinct "hint" region so it's easier to find and select without having to hunt for it.

7) Some way of indicating what ALiVE can "pick up" on a given map *before* placing modules and such in the editor... so basically an improvement to how ALiVE deals with the editor. With the addition of so many maps, and presumably more yet to come, it would be handy to know how "valuable" a particular spot might be to ALiVE before editing in TAOR markers, etc.

8) "Do not use roads" option. Particularly for insurgency type missions, especially in regards to foot infantry, it might be useful to have an option to specify if roads are OK for use (default?) or if travel in cover (off the side of roads) would be more preferable.

---------- Post added at 12:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 AM ----------

With some thought I guess I should add:

9) Really an extension of #2 "Have virtual military and civilian placements that can be placed in the editor and will spawn accordingly when used with the appropriate placement module.":

Allow the value of a location to change over time regardless of force of occupation. Whether this represents a growing munitions stockpile, a town's allegiance growing towards one faction or another (or neither!), etc. this might be a handy complication to have. Even if the player(s) create a stockpile of weapons, fuel, etc. themselves, anything that makes a particular location a more valuable acquisition should be considered. Additions might include VIPs hiding out there, some other form of intel, a POW camp, etc. Player added, added in the editor, or evolving over time as a function of progress in mission itself (as I think it does now, to an extent), this would add variety to the replay value, let the mission makers drastically change the battle plan by placing assets, and allow the players to play a more determinate role... i.e, Task: Destroy that power substation/radio tower/bridge, etc. could have a real effect on the larger scope of the battle. "Hearts and minds"... sway the civ population (existing as previously wished for or not) might also sway the difficulty in occupying the area and thus the likehood of a faction being able to do so.

[kaelies 17]

Wonderful work, especially with the profiles system; being able to use hundreds of units while on my laptop is awesome!

I was wondering, what sorts of things do I need to define in a custom units addon to be able to use the ALiVE framework properly? I have CfgGroups set up, but it does not work for all factions and spawns the wrong type of groups for the factions it does work on. All of these factions are currently unreleased because I'm still working on them, would be nice to get ALiVE working properly before I release.

Also, is there any possibility to custom define locations/objectives by placing down a marker? It would be especially helpful if custom bases or such were placed in the editor, for defining locations on a map which isn't publicly supported yet, or for defining special areas in the maps that already are supported (i.e. a military post at the chokepoint to the SW island on Altis, or to put an HQ down at a castle).

I remember working with MSO; the difference in performance is amazing!

[friznit2 350]

I'm in the process of updating the user manual - should be ready by the weekend. It is necessarily brief though because I'm not able to document instructions for every single possible use case for ALIVE, it being by its nature a very flexible tool. I've avoided a wiki until understanding how much popular support we were going to get because it just becomes yet another thing to maintain, but if you chaps think it would be useful and you are prepared to contribute to a community wiki, I'll happily set one up.

Custom objectives are actually possible to define already by placing an empty game logic on the area and calling an OPCOM function (which I've neglected to write down so HH will need to help me out here). It may become a more ALIVE-style easy to use module soonâ„¢.

As for custom units - MCC isn't really a fair comparison - it works during runtime (as opposed to Mission editor) and isn't constrained by the capabilities of editor modules so I'm not sure we can learn much from it. We'll look into it some more though because it's an important usability requirement.

#6 - TAOR markers are just markers. You'll have to ask BIS to make them easier to use!

#7 - this is subject to the way ArmA3 works and not something we can do. Code doesn't initialise until you hit Preview, so there's nothing we can do in the editor. My suggestion would be to place an MP or CP marker with debug on, run up the mission and screenshot the results. Then you have a nice reference for where to place your markers.

#8 - Path finding is something we'd like to improve but it's very processor intensive. We can also only do this for profiled units. Visual units are entirely subject to BIS's AI code, which we don't touch at all.

I like the idea of changing objective priorities. There are some powerful things we can do with Profiles that we've only discussed and not yet even started exploring in detail yet, but touch on many of the ideas you've expounded here. Indeed a Civilian reputation system for a player driven 'hearts & minds' style campaign was one of the original use cases written up by ArJay. Using Profiles for virtual unit management and spawn handling is only the first proof of concept. This is all some ways off though, as we have some important modules to nail first, not least Persistence and Logistics!

[SavageCDN 231]

I went back to sueprfluids drIrregulars for now and Ive gotta say I just had one of the coolest firefights on the streets of Sangin, the CQB module really makes a difference! I was also wondering if increasing the number of units on the map by 200 makes a noticeable difference in performance?

Thanks again!!!!

Well it is Arma 3 so yeah.. another 200 units on the map (spawned) will definitely affect performance. 200 possible spawn locations however will not.

I was wondering, what sorts of things do I need to define in a custom units addon to be able to use the ALiVE framework properly? I have CfgGroups set up, but it does not work for all factions and spawns the wrong type of groups for the factions it does work on. All of these factions are currently unreleased because I'm still working on them, would be nice to get ALiVE working properly before I release.

Also, is there any possibility to custom define locations/objectives by placing down a marker? It would be especially helpful if custom bases or such were placed in the editor, for defining locations on a map which isn't publicly supported yet, or for defining special areas in the maps that already are supported (i.e. a military post at the chokepoint to the SW island on Altis, or to put an HQ down at a castle).

For help with group configs I would join the ALiVE skype channel (old MSO channel) one of the devs will help you out.

In the latest release you can define a custom location for OPCOM to take into account. Place a Game Logic location (any type) and sync it to an OPCOM module. Now OPCOM will send troops to attack / defend that objective. You can also add these variables to the game logic init field:

this setVariable ["priority",50]; this setVariable ["size",150];

Note that you cannot use a game logic to spawn in units like a placement module - it only adds that location as an objective for OPCOM.

[geestyleed 1]

Alive is super awesome =) We really enjoy playing it. now we want to try it with Iron Front, but we are struggeling to get the Fraction names for Russians and German units ::(

Can somebody help me there, please?

[redarmy 422]

First off Alive team thank you for your work.

Alive has been a real game changer for me and many more.

Im more thrilled with the recent update.

I do however have a slight issue.

Im using SUD_RU(russion faction),they spawn fine,but opcom wont give them orders to attack.Im using AAF as other faction(allies) and BLU_F nato as enemy.AAF get the attack orders,but not the RUSSIANS.

I used the drop down box in opcom to select AAF and the over ride to write in SUD_RU.

Am i doing something wrong?

[fennecus 10]

It says that Fallujah is supported by alive now, but it still doesn't recognize all buildings. In fact i can't see any differences compared to the previous version. This is what it looks like for me at the moment with the military civilian placement module:

and this is a screenshot posted earlier in this thread:

http://i.imgur.com/zH26EkS.jpg

I managed to spawn the russians from the russian-mod by using the faction name SUD_RU, but how can i spawn the terrorist units from the russian mod?

[SavageCDN 231]

Alive is super awesome =) We really enjoy playing it. now we want to try it with Iron Front, but we are struggeling to get the Fraction names for Russians and German units ::(

- LIB_LUFTWAFFE
- LNRD_Luft
- LIB_PANZERWAFFE
- LIB_WEHRMACHT
- SG_STURM
- LIB_RKKA
- LIB_USSR_AIRFORCE
- LIB_USSR_TANK_TROOPS
- LIB_GUER
- LIB_US_AIRFORCE
- LIB_US_ARMY
- LIB_US_TANK_TROOPS

It says that Fallujah is supported by alive now, but it still doesn't recognize all buildings. In fact i can't see any differences compared to the previous version. This is what it looks like for me at the moment with the military civilian placement module:

http://s1.directupload.net/images/140122/temp/v7yd5dal.jpg

and this is a screenshot posted earlier in this thread:

http://i.imgur.com/zH26EkS.jpg

That looks about right to me.. the screenshot from earlier in the thread is the CQB module set to 50%. What you are seeing in your screenshot is the marker areas for civilian locations generated by the Civ Placement module

[fennecus 10]

But the CQB module can't spawn units in areas that aren't recognised as civilian or military locations, is that right? If thats the case it's not possible to spawn units outside of the circles shown in my previous screenshot, is it?

[SavageCDN 231]

No the CQB module will spawn guys all over the map (or in towns depending on the module setting). If you sync a CQB module to a placement module then yes it will llimit CQB spawns to that modules TAOR. An easy test is new mission, put down Requires Alive, Profiles module, CQB module. Set the CQB module to 50% both settings and Complete map (make sure debug is on too). Preview and you should see all the possible CQB locations.

[fennecus 10]

Thank you very much. Will there be a possibility in the near future to sync the cqb module to a marker so you don't have them placed all over the map. I want to spawn some units in a specific district on fallujah where no military or civilian installation is nearby and haven't found a solution yet.

[WildFire6 10]

Thank you very much. Will there be a possibility in the near future to sync the cqb module to a marker so you don't have them placed all over the map. I want to spawn some units in a specific district on fallujah where no military or civilian installation is nearby and haven't found a solution yet.

He answered that in the first sentence. And this option has been available since initial release. Sync it to placement module and set placement module to objectives only if you dont want regular faction units spawning there too. CQB module will use the TAOR marker seen by the placement module.

[SavageCDN 231]

I think what he's asking is there a way to sync the CQB module to a marker area instead of a placement module.. for areas that aren't picked up by placement module but may still have house locations to spawn CQB guys. For example on Fallujah there are a few areas that aren't covered by either placement type mil or civ.

I don't know if this is possible for future versions but if there is some interest I will open a feature request.