ALiVE - Advanced Light Infantry Virtual Environment 1.0 (GA)

[ALiVEmod 123]

ALiVEmod.com

The next generation dynamic persistent mission addon for ArmA3

Release 1.2.1

 

 

Critical Fixes and Updates, ACE IED compatibility, Side Mission improvements

Following on from the amazing addition of the ORBATRON aka The Orbatterer, SpyderBlack continues to add fixes and updates to the only in game faction creator around. It's a seminal piece of work where wanna-be faction modders can finally make their OPFOR dreams come true. SpyderBlack has added the ability to customize unit ethnicity, language and insignia. Vehicles can now be further customized by specifying different crew classes for each turret. The entire ORBAT Creator has also received a visual lift and a bunch of new export options. All of this has been rounded out with some splendid general fixes to provide a smoother experience.

 

Meanwhile we had several reports that the ALiVE helicopter pilot's level of service has been dismal. Everything from forgetting to drop off replens to not even bothering to sling load supplies were some of the main complaints. Apparently, even factions without helo's had access to OPFOR helo resupply, leaving many commanders in the field wondering if the Russians were up to something dodgy. Comrade Tupolov has contacted the various combat service supply units and given them a good bollocking. Helo resupply and logistics now reliably deliver to requests and factions can be limited so they don't resupply using someone else's chopper. 

 

We had several requests to support ACE IED's in the ALiVE IED threat module and ALiVE Asymmetric Warfare options. Tupolov has implemented a system that supports most third party IED mods, as long as those mods are using vanilla "mines" as the base class for their IEDs. More feedback welcome on our GitHub.

 

Command & Control also received some improvements. Aircraft can now assume a hybrid role of both Transport and CAS (using the CS_TYPE = "hybrid" value) when using the Combat Support module. There were also reports (thanks Shukari!) of HQ not using appropriate voice protocol for tasking (C2ISTAR), this has now been fixed. Don't forget about the cool "side missions", which include the following taskings (auto generated if you wish):

 

• Assault on a military installation 
• Defence of a military installation 
• Assault on a civilian installation
• Assassination of a HVT
• Hostage Rescue
• Combat Search and Rescue
• Transport insertion
• Seek and destroy enemy infantry
• Seek and destroy enemy vehicles
• Sabotage a military/civilian installation
• Patrol an area (as an insurgent)
• Destroy military assets (as an insurgent)

 

Minor fixes include addressing an error that was only apparent when player persistence was turned off and players disconnected from a mission using persistence. Auto pause of virtual AI and relevant systems when there were no players on the server has also been fixed, ensuring AI insurgents don't spread across the map like wild fire. Minor updates include new ZEC composition updates (thank you ZEC!) and improved error handling when OPCOM factions have not been placed on the map.  Again, we had a bunch of people that didn't want to use ALiVE due to us overriding the vanilla ABORT button, so we've fixed that.

 

Thanks to everyone for feedback both here and on our forum!

 

Download

Grab the latest version from ALiVEmod.com

Also available from PlayWithSix, ArmAholic and Steam (Usually within 24 hours of this post)

 

Join the War Room Now!

 

Please note that as with all updates, if you have an issue loading a mission made with a previous version of ALiVE, delete and replace the modules in that mission.

 

Release Highlights

 

• Key updates to SpyderBlack's ORBATRON

• Critical fixes to Helicopter resupply

• Aircraft can now be both Transport and CAS for Combat Support

• ACE IED and 3rd party IED support 

• More Integrated ZEC and ZECCUP compositions into ALiVE (massive thanks to lsd/2600k!)

• Fixed issue where auto pause didn't work when players left the server

• Various minor fixes and updates (31 issues fixed or improved)

 

See full commit history on Github

 

More Maps?

The momentum is really beginning to build with the indexing tools and we are cracking through the backlog. Instructions for using the Map Indexer can be found on our wiki

 

Known Issues & Support

Existing bugs are listed on Github here. Feel free to submit bugs (with repros) or discuss any issues or ideas on our forum at http://alivemod.com/forum/.

 

Manual

Please refer to the ALiVE Wiki. All the info you need is there. If anything is missing or unclear, please let us know.

 

Are you using Linux?

ALiVE is fully supported on a Linux Dedicated Server (as well as Windows). In fact the ALiVE Official Server for testing is running Ubuntu. Here are some tips on getting ALiVE running smoothly on Linux and integrated with War Room - http://www.alivemod.com/forum/1916-setting-up-linux- dedi-server

 

Acknowledgements and Thanks

Particular thanks to all those on our support forum who have worked closely with us to identify bugs, provide logs and generally help us improve ALiVE. Your assistance is valuable and your dedication to ALiVE makes it all worth the effort!

 

Disclaimer

We may need to prune the persistent database data from the War Room, eliminating data that is older than 6-12 months. The ALiVE War Room database is run on a voluntary basis at a cost to the ALiVE development team. No guarantees can be given on the mission data stored or the availability of the service. We apologise for any downtime that may impact your MP persistent missions.

 

ALiVE has transformed my Arma 3 experience, how can I thank you?

Please consider making a contribution to our server costs if you enjoy ALiVE! It costs us $65 per month to run our War Room website and the ALiVE Database servers and every little helps. Donate here http://www.alivemod.com/#Donate

 

Special thanks to everyone here for supporting us with donations to the ALiVE mod development effort.

 

Have fun!

[spyderblack723 407]

First

[Guest]

New release frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

ALiVE - Advanced Light Infantry Virtual Environment v1.2.1.1611081

Community Base addons A3

[autigergrad 2034]

[JD Wang 352]

Holy shit I didn't expect this so soon!! Awesome work! The Auto Pause being fixed makes me so happy.

 

Just on the ACE IED's do we have to change the listing of IED's on the module, or does it just add ACE interactivity to the current ALiVE IED's?

 

Great work again guys and thank you so much for all the work you put into this. I don't think I'd have anywhere near the 1500 hours I have in ARMA if it weren't for ALiVE

[spyderblack723 407]

Holy shit I didn't expect this so soon!! Awesome work! The Auto Pause being fixed makes me so happy.

 

Just on the ACE IED's do we have to change the listing of IED's on the module, or does it just add ACE interactivity to the current ALiVE IED's?

 

Great work again guys and thank you so much for all the work you put into this. I don't think I'd have anywhere near the 1500 hours I have in ARMA if it weren't for ALiVE

 

Replace the existing classnames with the classnames of the ACE IEDs

 

Edit: Classes are

ACE_IEDLandSmall_Range, ACE_IEDUrbanSmall_Range, ACE_IEDLandBig_Range, ACE_IEDUrbanBig_Range

[Riksen 183]

Amazing! Just donated to the cause 

 

Cheers

[tupolov 520]

 

Replace the existing classnames with the classnames of the ACE IEDs

 

Edit: Classes are

ACE_IEDLandSmall_Range, ACE_IEDUrbanSmall_Range, ACE_IEDLandBig_Range, ACE_IEDUrbanBig_Range

Actually that is incorrect, I believe it should be:

 

ACE_IEDLandSmall_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDUrbanSmall_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDLandBig_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDUrbanBig_Range_Ammo

 

This is because we want ALiVE to place armed IED's

[SavageCDN 231]

 

Acknowledgements and Thanks

Particular thanks to all those on our support forum who have worked closely with us to identify bugs, provide logs and generally help us improve ALiVE. Your assistance is valuable and your dedication to ALiVE makes it all worth the effort!

 

 

 

On this note I'd like to say a special thanks to HeroesandvillansOS for his work helping other ALiVE users - both here and on the ALiVE forums.  Know that it is appreciated.

 

:wub:

[spyderblack723 407]

Actually that is incorrect, I believe it should be:

 

ACE_IEDLandSmall_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDUrbanSmall_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDLandBig_Range_Ammo, ACE_IEDUrbanBig_Range_Ammo

 

This is because we want ALiVE to place armed IED's

The ones I posted are armed but not disarmable, which might be important if you like living :)

[ski2060 167]

The ones I posted are armed but not disarmable, which might be important if you like living

 

Did you mean armed BUT Disarmable?  Because NOT disarmable makes for frustrated EOD techs...

[HeroesandvillainsOS 1504]

On this note I'd like to say a special thanks to HeroesandvillansOS for his work helping other ALiVE users - both here and on the ALiVE forums.  Know that it is appreciated.

 

:wub:

Aww. :)

I take back everything bad I said about Canada. Your president is handsome and you people are so nice and blackberries are awesome and I can't believe how the election turned out yesterday (I'm not very political but I didn't think he had a chance).

[spyderblack723 407]

Did you mean armed BUT Disarmable?  Because NOT disarmable makes for frustrated EOD techs...

Nope, meant what I said. Use Tup's classes

[ski2060 167]

So, having IEDs that cannot be disarmed is a good thing if you want to stay alive?  How so? I think I'm just missing something here.

[HeroesandvillainsOS 1504]

So, having IEDs that cannot be disarmed is a good thing if you want to stay alive?  How so? I think I'm just missing something here.

He's saying just use Tupolov's classnames. Spyder posted classnames for IED's that blow up but can't be disabled. Tupolov's posted classnames for IED's that blow up and can be disabled.

[ski2060 167]

OK.. something is getting lost in translation.  I read this "The ones I posted are armed but not disarmable, which might be important if you like living"  and get:  " These IEDs are armed, but cannot be disarmed, which is good if you want to stay alive in a mission while trying to disarm them, or walking by".  Why would an armed IED that cannot be disabled be good for players?

I would think that having armed IEDs that CAN be disarmed by an EOD or Engineer would be preferable, so that your team can get rid of the IED? 

Anyway, thanks to Tupolev for posting the other classnames for Disarmable IEDs.

[spyderblack723 407]

OK.. something is getting lost in translation.

 

Which might be important if you enjoy living is applied to the disarmable portion of the sentence.

 

Meaning

 

The IED's are armed, but unable to be disarmed. Being able to disarm them might be important if you enjoy living.

 

I'll be back next week with more English with Spyder

[Incontinentia 339]

I think maybe he meant it in the sense that Tupolov's classes are good if you want to stay alive? 

 

Great work on the new update devs!! 

 

Edit: this is why page refresh exists. Ignore my comment!

[ALiVEmod 123]

Spyder's trying to get everyone killed.  No change there.

[Incontinentia 339]

Spyder's trying to get everyone killed.  No change there.

He's a wild man. 

[reaper lok 82]

Loving all the improvements and updates but can anyone guide me in the right direction regarding eliminating some of the stutter that comes with enemy spawns?

 

I understand that there will be a certain amount of stutter, however, recently this seems to have become very......noticeable.  Is there a sweet spot or trick (staggering enemy spawning maybe) to having this effect reduced (playing on a game server not hosting locally).

 

Any help is apreciated.

 

REAPER

[HeroesandvillainsOS 1504]

Loving all the improvements and updates but can anyone guide me in the right direction regarding eliminating some of the stutter that comes with enemy spawns?

I understand that there will be a certain amount of stutter, however, recently this seems to have become very......noticeable. Is there a sweet spot or trick (staggering enemy spawning maybe) to having this effect reduced (playing on a game server not hosting locally).

Any help is apreciated.

REAPER

I certainly wouldn't consider myself an expert on this, but here are some things I do to mitigate performance:

1. The map itself, above all, will greatly effect your experience. You will never have an FPS happy experience on a map such as Sangin (for A2). It simply will not happen even on a good PC so you utlimately have to decide if the map you're using is worth it based on your expectations. This is less to do about ALiVE and more of just a general observation but something you should consider nonetheless.

2. Keep objectives to a minimum. When the AI commanders have lots of objectives to deal with, you'll certainly see lower FPS and more micro-stutter when units spawn. I like to keep objectives 90 and below per commander. Even on very large maps, such as Chernarus, that seems to still populate the map enough for me. To do this, you might have to get creative with your mil/civ obj filtering. That said, some others have suggested upwards of 150 objectives per side should be ok but for me, I've never felt it necessary to push that many to get a good full map battle going.

3. Reduce spawn distance in the Virtual AI module. On resource heavy maps without open barren spaces, 1100m is a value I've used and it's perfectly fine. If you don't have any human combat pilots, feel free to lower the spawn distance from the air a lot as well. Note: I personally don't touch the active limiter unless it's absolutely essential as I find dropping it too much makes AI spawn in and out of objectives oddly. I prefer to stay at the default 144 or close to it whenever possible

4. CQB settings have a very noticable impact on performance and a very very noticeable impact on loading. I never exceed a 10% pairs setting, and lower this further depending on the map.

5. If you aren't interacting directly with it, right click on every object you placed in the editor and go to its settings and check the "simple object" box and uncheck the "enable simulation box" and thank me later. This has improved my performance A TON.

6. Civilian spawn distance can also be lowered. I usually don't feel the need to touch it, but it's certainly an option.

[jarrad96 1940]

Q- How does 'Simple Object' differ from the 'Disable Simulation' option that we already have? Is simple object a more optimised version of it, or available to more objects or something?

[spyderblack723 407]

Q- How does 'Simple Object' differ from the 'Disable Simulation' option that we already have? Is simple object a more optimised version of it, or available to more objects or something?

 

Simple explanation, requires less processing power and causes less network stress.

[jarrad96 1940]

So Simple Objects is basically superior to the old Disable Simulation option?