ALiVE - Advanced Light Infantry Virtual Environment 1.0 (GA)
ALiVEmod.com
The next generation dynamic persistent mission addon for ArmA3
Release 1.0.7
After more than 3 years of development we are proud to release version 1.0 of ALiVE!
It's a huge moment for the ALiVE team to announce the 1.0 release. ALiVE represents thousands of hours of volunteer time from a small team working every evening, weekend and holiday available. Our vision for ALiVE was to create a dynamic, persistent and credibly realistic battlefield environment that brought ArmA3 missions to life. Our aim was to do deliver this with an intuitive, modular mission framework that required minimal technical expertise for mission makers yet provided everything that players needed to set up and run military operations in almost any scenario, including command, combat support, service support and logistics. Critically, we wanted AI Commanders that automatically planned and directed missions for all AI forces across the Area of Operations, identifying strategic objectives and reacting to changes in the tactical situation. To make all this happen with minimal impact on performance, we needed a Virtual AI Profile system in order to support thousands of units continuing to operate across the map when players were not present. We are delighted that we have been able to deliver on all our objectives and more!
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.
Download Grab the latest version from ALiVEmod.com
Also available from PlayWithSix, ArmAholic and Steam. (Please allow a few hours for these sites to catch up)
Join the War Room Now!
Note for server admins that this build requires the new @ALiVEServer package. The old one should not be used and in most cases won't work (or will crash).
Manual
Please refer to the ALiVE Wiki. All the info you need is there. If anything is missing or unclear, please let us know.
Support Forum
For direct support and feedback from the ALiVE dev team, join us on our forum at http://alivemod.com/forum/
Acknowledgements and Thanks
We wanted to take this chance to thank the following key people for their support and recognise the efforts of those that have dedicated so much time to this project: Wolffy.au - One of the original developers of MSO and helped kick off the MSO Next Gen vission that later became ALiVE Tupolov - A key contributor to MSO and one of the driving forces behind development of ALiVE, in particular the cloud-based persistence system, sitreps/spotreps/stats, IED system, ALiVE War Room and more. Highhead - Another former MSO developer and driving force behind ALiVE, building the AI Command & Control including the Operational Commander, Insurgency, CQB and so much more. He also implemented support for headless client and player logistics support. ARJay - ALiVE would not scale without the immense Virtual AI system created by ARJay. This system has been interwoven into many aspects of ALiVE and ARJay has contributed across pretty much all of the ALIVE codebase as well as being a lead developer of the ALiVE War Room, C2ISTAR and lots more. Friznit - We could not get anything done without a key focus on how ALiVE is used, implemented and simulates modern warfare. Friznit brought focus and organisation to the team along with his military experience, unique brand of PR and of course documentation! Jman - Our release master and general all round good bean who has contributed to the original persistence system and many admin and player helper systems. Gunny - Shepherded much of the ported combat support system (thank you Neo!) into ALiVE and assisted with a number of other systems. Secure - In our desire to remove dependence on .NET and Windows, Secure completely rewrote the plugin/extension system to make it multi-platform and faster Hazey - Helped with testing and support as well as custom compositions and the original insurgency mission for ALiVE SpyderBlack - Has been a huge help in supporting the community with his expertise as a mission maker and has written add-ons to ALiVE that have since been incorporated. The following people have supported us either during the life of the project or contributed at certain times - we thank you for your contribution and support!VRCRaptor, Sacha Ligthert, Cameroon, Naught, Rye, Singleton, SavageCDN, Kremator, WobbleyHeadedBob We want to take this opportunity to also thank everyone for their support and in particular: CBA Team VOLCBAT Kelly's Heroes VRC Bohemia Interactive for the incredible military sandbox that is Arma 3 What's Next?
After the release of 1.0, ALiVE development will be making a strategic change in direction. We kept the source code private during development in order to maintain control and facilitate support and error fixing. It is time to change that! With the widespread adoption of ALiVE, we believe that the mod will benefit from the combined resources of the community to allow it to continue to develop and flourish. There is still so much more that could be done with ALiVE both as a mod and a platform and we hope this will give the community the opportunity to take it to the next level. We will announce the details and support for this approach in the near future!
Disclaimer
ALiVE is now GA. However, 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.
License
ALiVE 1.0 is release under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND). Full details are included in the download.
ALiVE has transformed my Arma 3 experience, how can I thank you?
Please feel free to donate! It costs us about $65 per month to run our War Room website and ALiVE Database servers. 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!
The next generation dynamic persistent mission addon for ArmA3
Release 1.0.7
After more than 3 years of development we are proud to release version 1.0 of ALiVE!
It's a huge moment for the ALiVE team to announce the 1.0 release. ALiVE represents thousands of hours of volunteer time from a small team working every evening, weekend and holiday available. Our vision for ALiVE was to create a dynamic, persistent and credibly realistic battlefield environment that brought ArmA3 missions to life. Our aim was to do deliver this with an intuitive, modular mission framework that required minimal technical expertise for mission makers yet provided everything that players needed to set up and run military operations in almost any scenario, including command, combat support, service support and logistics. Critically, we wanted AI Commanders that automatically planned and directed missions for all AI forces across the Area of Operations, identifying strategic objectives and reacting to changes in the tactical situation. To make all this happen with minimal impact on performance, we needed a Virtual AI Profile system in order to support thousands of units continuing to operate across the map when players were not present. We are delighted that we have been able to deliver on all our objectives and more!
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.
Download Grab the latest version from ALiVEmod.com
Also available from PlayWithSix, ArmAholic and Steam. (Please allow a few hours for these sites to catch up)
Join the War Room Now!
Note for server admins that this build requires the new @ALiVEServer package. The old one should not be used and in most cases won't work (or will crash).
Manual
Please refer to the ALiVE Wiki. All the info you need is there. If anything is missing or unclear, please let us know.
Support Forum
For direct support and feedback from the ALiVE dev team, join us on our forum at http://alivemod.com/forum/
Acknowledgements and Thanks
We wanted to take this chance to thank the following key people for their support and recognise the efforts of those that have dedicated so much time to this project: Wolffy.au - One of the original developers of MSO and helped kick off the MSO Next Gen vission that later became ALiVE Tupolov - A key contributor to MSO and one of the driving forces behind development of ALiVE, in particular the cloud-based persistence system, sitreps/spotreps/stats, IED system, ALiVE War Room and more. Highhead - Another former MSO developer and driving force behind ALiVE, building the AI Command & Control including the Operational Commander, Insurgency, CQB and so much more. He also implemented support for headless client and player logistics support. ARJay - ALiVE would not scale without the immense Virtual AI system created by ARJay. This system has been interwoven into many aspects of ALiVE and ARJay has contributed across pretty much all of the ALIVE codebase as well as being a lead developer of the ALiVE War Room, C2ISTAR and lots more. Friznit - We could not get anything done without a key focus on how ALiVE is used, implemented and simulates modern warfare. Friznit brought focus and organisation to the team along with his military experience, unique brand of PR and of course documentation! Jman - Our release master and general all round good bean who has contributed to the original persistence system and many admin and player helper systems. Gunny - Shepherded much of the ported combat support system (thank you Neo!) into ALiVE and assisted with a number of other systems. Secure - In our desire to remove dependence on .NET and Windows, Secure completely rewrote the plugin/extension system to make it multi-platform and faster Hazey - Helped with testing and support as well as custom compositions and the original insurgency mission for ALiVE SpyderBlack - Has been a huge help in supporting the community with his expertise as a mission maker and has written add-ons to ALiVE that have since been incorporated. The following people have supported us either during the life of the project or contributed at certain times - we thank you for your contribution and support!VRCRaptor, Sacha Ligthert, Cameroon, Naught, Rye, Singleton, SavageCDN, Kremator, WobbleyHeadedBob We want to take this opportunity to also thank everyone for their support and in particular: CBA Team VOLCBAT Kelly's Heroes VRC Bohemia Interactive for the incredible military sandbox that is Arma 3 What's Next?
After the release of 1.0, ALiVE development will be making a strategic change in direction. We kept the source code private during development in order to maintain control and facilitate support and error fixing. It is time to change that! With the widespread adoption of ALiVE, we believe that the mod will benefit from the combined resources of the community to allow it to continue to develop and flourish. There is still so much more that could be done with ALiVE both as a mod and a platform and we hope this will give the community the opportunity to take it to the next level. We will announce the details and support for this approach in the near future!
Disclaimer
ALiVE is now GA. However, 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.
License
ALiVE 1.0 is release under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND). Full details are included in the download.
ALiVE has transformed my Arma 3 experience, how can I thank you?
Please feel free to donate! It costs us about $65 per month to run our War Room website and ALiVE Database servers. 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!
ALiVEmod.com
The next generation dynamic persistent mission addon for ArmA3
Release 1.3.5
Local Persistence
Highhead has worked his magic and delivered an option to persist ALiVE missions to your local machine without needing to install a database. This works in Single Player games or on the hosts machine in Multiplayer, including on dedicated servers. It's possible to use a scripted autosave option too, though it comes with a health warning: the server will desync for a few seconds while saving large missions. Reseting persistent missions can be done the same way as before but we have included some extra commands for clearing data from the local ProfileNameSpace manually - details for how to do that are below and will be on our wiki. Setting up a local database using CouchDB is still an option for those with the technical skills do to so and of course for all those with dedicated servers, the ALiVE War Room is still our recommended method for mission persistence, stats, server monitoring and After Action Reviews.
Meanwhile the rest of the team has been working hard on some major performance improvements. There is now an option to adjust how fast the virtual profiles spawn when players are within range - slow & smooth helps prevent stuttering on busy missions but may take too long to spawn in for fast moving units such as jets, so adjust to taste.
SpyderBlack continues to enhance his Orbat Tool. If you have not tried it yet, it's well worth a go. Many people have released some great new factions using the tool already and remember you don't need ALiVE to use them in missions (though of course we recommend you do!)
Tupolov has returned from the wilderness of no interwebs and responded to a few community requests to index the shiny new Lythium map (welcome back Tup!). He's also hard at work on an AI Air Component Commander to complement the Ground Ops Commander. Air Command will issue Air Tasking Orders for all non-logistics aircraft in the AO, providing CAP, DCA, SEAD, CAS and Strike in support of ground forces. You can see the design work in progress on github. Download Grab the latest version from ALiVEmod.com
Also available from PlayWithSix, ArmAholic and Steam (Usually within 24 hours of this post) 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.
Local Persistence Usage
This is the first iteration of Local Persistence so please report any bugs Github. To use local persistence, select "Local" on the ALiVE Data module and make sure you have persistence enabled on the other modules as normal. It is recommended you backup your user profile and/or server profile (C:\Users\username\Documents\Arma 3 - Other Profiles\profilename). Use the ALiVE Save & Exit button when exiting the mission to save the mission data. When you restart the mission, all saved items will load from your ProfileNameSpace automatically - there is no "Load" button. To clear the save and start over with a fresh mission, either rename the mission pbo or use the following functions in the debug console. We may add buttons for clearing data in due course.
call ALiVE_fnc_ProfileNameSpaceClear: clears data for the current mission only. Note that renaming the mission pbo will also start a fresh instance.
call ALiVE_fnc_ProfileNameSpaceWipe: clears all ALiVE data from ProfileNameSpace completely.
For Autosave, put the following in init.sqf
900 call ALiVE_fnc_AutoSave_PNS where 900 is the save interval in seconds
-1 call ALiVE_fnc_AutoSave_PNS run at any time will disable autosave
ALiVE War Room
You can continue to use the War Room for mission stats, server monitoring and AAR with Persistence set to Local but you must run @aliveserver on the host machine, have a War Room account and the server details setup, just the same as now.
Join the War Room Now! Release Highlights
Added a database-free local save option
Changed label of "CouchDB" persistence to "Cloud"
Map Index - FSF Adiyaman (thanks Vegas!); Diyala (thanks Heroes!); Winthera & Dingor (thanks Whigital!); Lythium (thanks Tup!)
Added adjustable Smooth Spawn™ for virtual AI
Added group mapping for latest RHS update
Added air transport logistics scheduling to reduce instances of helicopter collisions
Fixed some issues that resulted in profiles being sent to 0,0,0
Several performance enhancements
Many thanks to all those not mentioned here who contributed bug fixes, enhancements and map indexes! See full commit history on Github
Known Issues & Support
Existing bugs are listed on Github here. Feel free to submit bugs (with vanilla repros please) 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!
Local Persistence
Highhead has worked his magic and delivered an option to persist ALiVE missions to your local machine without needing to install a database. This works in Single Player games or on the hosts machine in Multiplayer, including on dedicated servers. It's possible to use a scripted autosave option too, though it comes with a health warning: the server will desync for a few seconds while saving large missions. Reseting persistent missions can be done the same way as before but we have included some extra commands for clearing data from the local ProfileNameSpace manually - details for how to do that are below and will be on our wiki. Setting up a local database using CouchDB is still an option for those with the technical skills do to so and of course for all those with dedicated servers, the ALiVE War Room is still our recommended method for mission persistence, stats, server monitoring and After Action Reviews.
Meanwhile the rest of the team has been working hard on some major performance improvements. There is now an option to adjust how fast the virtual profiles spawn when players are within range - slow & smooth helps prevent stuttering on busy missions but may take too long to spawn in for fast moving units such as jets, so adjust to taste.
SpyderBlack continues to enhance his Orbat Tool. If you have not tried it yet, it's well worth a go. Many people have released some great new factions using the tool already and remember you don't need ALiVE to use them in missions (though of course we recommend you do!)
Tupolov has returned from the wilderness of no interwebs and responded to a few community requests to index the shiny new Lythium map (welcome back Tup!). He's also hard at work on an AI Air Component Commander to complement the Ground Ops Commander. Air Command will issue Air Tasking Orders for all non-logistics aircraft in the AO, providing CAP, DCA, SEAD, CAS and Strike in support of ground forces. You can see the design work in progress on github. Download Grab the latest version from ALiVEmod.com
Also available from PlayWithSix, ArmAholic and Steam (Usually within 24 hours of this post) 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.
Local Persistence Usage
This is the first iteration of Local Persistence so please report any bugs Github. To use local persistence, select "Local" on the ALiVE Data module and make sure you have persistence enabled on the other modules as normal. It is recommended you backup your user profile and/or server profile (C:\Users\username\Documents\Arma 3 - Other Profiles\profilename). Use the ALiVE Save & Exit button when exiting the mission to save the mission data. When you restart the mission, all saved items will load from your ProfileNameSpace automatically - there is no "Load" button. To clear the save and start over with a fresh mission, either rename the mission pbo or use the following functions in the debug console. We may add buttons for clearing data in due course.
call ALiVE_fnc_ProfileNameSpaceClear: clears data for the current mission only. Note that renaming the mission pbo will also start a fresh instance.
call ALiVE_fnc_ProfileNameSpaceWipe: clears all ALiVE data from ProfileNameSpace completely.
For Autosave, put the following in init.sqf
900 call ALiVE_fnc_AutoSave_PNS where 900 is the save interval in seconds
-1 call ALiVE_fnc_AutoSave_PNS run at any time will disable autosave
ALiVE War Room
You can continue to use the War Room for mission stats, server monitoring and AAR with Persistence set to Local but you must run @aliveserver on the host machine, have a War Room account and the server details setup, just the same as now.
Join the War Room Now! Release Highlights
Added a database-free local save option
Changed label of "CouchDB" persistence to "Cloud"
Map Index - FSF Adiyaman (thanks Vegas!); Diyala (thanks Heroes!); Winthera & Dingor (thanks Whigital!); Lythium (thanks Tup!)
Added adjustable Smooth Spawn™ for virtual AI
Added group mapping for latest RHS update
Added air transport logistics scheduling to reduce instances of helicopter collisions
Fixed some issues that resulted in profiles being sent to 0,0,0
Several performance enhancements
Many thanks to all those not mentioned here who contributed bug fixes, enhancements and map indexes! See full commit history on Github
Known Issues & Support
Existing bugs are listed on Github here. Feel free to submit bugs (with vanilla repros please) 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!
