ALiVE.OS · ALiVE 3 Development
C2ISTAR
Runs the mission's task engine, intel map and player command tools for every side.
Overhaul complete · ALiVE 3
ALiVE 3 is in active development. This briefing describes work in progress, and the behaviour it covers is subject to change as testing continues. Check the changelog at the foot of the page for what has moved recently.
On this page
Overview
What C2ISTAR does
C2ISTAR stands for Command, Control, Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance, the military term for knowing what's happening on the battlefield and directing the fight. In ALiVE it's the module a mission maker places to give the mission its command and control layer: it generates missions for players to complete, feeds the map with intel (spot reports, diary entries, sectors), and gives players in command roles a set of tools to issue orders and track the battle. One module serves every side. Syncing it to an OPCOM module only lets that AI commander send its spot reports to the map, and the factions its automatic tasks use come from 'Auto Task Factions', whose Enemy slots follow the mission's hostile AI Commanders unless you pick a faction.
Auto-generated tasks range from destroying vehicles or installations to disposing of IEDs, escorting or ambushing convoys and helicopters, and rescuing downed pilots. A civic state (hearts and minds) model can also run alongside, tracking a population's trust, security and services and generating tasks around that. Once 'Commander Intel Mode (COP)' is on, every player sees a Common Operational Picture overlay on the main map showing friendly and enemy activity, and players carrying an access item can request their own tasks or issue orders through OPCOM.
COP map modes
What the COP shows at each Commander Intel Mode
With Commander Intel Mode (COP) set to anything but Off, the Common Operational Picture (COP) draws your side's intel over the main map. Each mode keeps everything the one before it shows and adds more. The pictures show one small area, zoomed in, since most of the labels and detail only appear then.
- BasicYour AI Commander's objectives: a ring round each one it's attacking (red) or defending (brown), labelled with the side, what it's doing, the nearest place and the objective's priority. An objective with fewer than 3 enemies within 300 m counts as held, unless every group the commander sent there has been wiped out, and gets a HELD dot in that side's colour instead of a ring, even while the commander is still attacking or defending it. No units show at this level.
- PartialAdds the enemy your commander knows about, in the enemy side's colour. Enemy groups in the same 200 m square share one symbol, for the most dangerous type among them, labelled with that type, how many groups, their faction and how many minutes since the newest of them was first spotted. Dots above give a rough size from the number of groups, and a letter beside it shows what the enemy's own commander is doing at the objective nearest them: A attacking, D defending, R holding it in reserve. Enemy infantry more than 1000 m from every player is left off; everything else always shows.
- FullAdds your own side's units, as paler symbols in your side's colour, and an arrow on each enemy symbol whose group has somewhere to go, pointing at its next waypoint and longer for faster kinds of unit.
- AdvancedAdds a short faded trail behind an enemy group that's been on the move, an orange pulsing ring round armour, AA, anti-tank guns, artillery and aircraft, a thin age ring round a contact first seen over a minute ago (a wider one after 2 minutes), MIXED under a symbol that stands for more than one type, and a dashed arrow from the nearest of your units to each objective your side is attacking, until any of your units is within 200 m of it.
Main map only. The COP draws on the map you open with M. The C2ISTAR tablet's own map doesn't show it.
Zoom in to read it. Enemy labels appear once you've zoomed in to about half the widest view, and the size dots, activity letters, MIXED, movement arrows, age rings and axis arrows only a little closer than that. Your own units' labels and size dots show a little sooner, and objective labels always show.
Where the enemy comes from. Contacts are what your side's Military AI Commander knows, so each side you want intel for needs its own conventional commander. Nothing needs syncing, and an insurgent commander only feeds the separate insurgent layer, when Commander Intel Asymmetric is on. Expect it to fill up over the first 10 to 20 minutes as patrols make contact. A contact fades after a minute, to about a third by 3 minutes, and stays until the commander stops reporting it.
Your own units. Only groups ALiVE runs show: the ones its placement modules create and editor-placed groups taken over by the Virtual AI System module. COP Friendly BFT on Auto shows them at Full and Advanced; On shows them at any level, and Off hides them and the axis-of-advance arrows, which start from your units.
How far and how often. You see intel within COP Anchor Distance of yourself, 1000 m by default, or across the whole map with COP Command View on (enemy infantry still only near players). Enemy and friendly positions update every 60 seconds at the default COP Update Interval, and objectives every 2 minutes.
Alongside Map Intel. With Display Map Intel on, your side ticked in Commander Intel Sides and this module synced to your side's commander, the commander's blocking lines and advance arrows still draw with the COP, and the older spot report markers are hidden.
COP settings
What each COP setting changes on the map
The main settings under the COP heading, and the objective marker settings below them, choice by choice. Each picture shows the same kind of patch of map as the modes above.
T.R.A.C.E.
How the T.R.A.C.E. shading clears
T.R.A.C.E. shades every map square with buildings red, as places enemies might be hiding, and turns them green as your players search them on foot.
What it marks. With T.R.A.C.E System set to a fill, every 100 m square within 30 km of the C2ISTAR module that has a building you can go into is shaded red, as a place enemies might be. The 30 km isn't a setting. The squares are ordinary map markers, so they show on the tablet maps as well as the main map.
How a square turns green. It turns green for your side when one of your side's players is standing in it at a check, on foot and at ground level, with no enemy within 75 m of the square's centre. Only enemies on foot count; one sitting in a vehicle doesn't. The check runs every 30 seconds, so a player who moves straight through a square between checks leaves it red. Only players count: AI units never clear a square.
How it turns red again. Only if one of your players is standing in it at a check and an enemy is within 75 m of its centre. A square you've cleared and left stays green, even if the enemy moves back in.
Whose picture. Every side starts with the same all-red grid, then each side sees only its own players' clearing. Nothing is saved, even with persistence on: after a restart every square starts red again.
Military C2ISTAR
What happens to a prisoner
A beaten enemy soldier can give up, and a player can question him. What he tells you is better, and turns into a task, if you bring him to a prison.
- SurrenderOnce an AI group has lost half its men, each survivor on foot with a hostile player within 200 m rolls AI Surrender Chance (default 0, so it is off). He drops his weapons and puts his hands up; with ACE he becomes an ACE captive. A cornered insurgent recruiter also gives himself up.
- Handling himTalk to soldier on a prisoner offers question, restrain, follow or stay, search and release. An enemy you've cuffed or tied up yourself, or one surrendering through ACE, gets it too. The first order or question takes his weapons.
- Questioned in the fieldWith Field Questioning Lies (%) he may lie: every mark 800 m to 2 km off, and no installations. Otherwise he talks seven times in ten, marking up to 4 enemy groups within 2 km of where he stands plus his side's installations near him, or he refuses. A captured recruiter always talks, out to 3 km.
- Bring him to a prisonA prison is a map marker placed in the editor whose name or text has "prison" as its first word: inside it for an area marker, within 50 m of any other. An active Player FOB within 100 m counts as well. Questioned there he always talks and never lies: up to 6 groups within 3 km of where he was taken, plus installations. Someone already questioned in the field can be questioned once more here.
- A task from itWhat he gives up at a prison becomes a task for his captors' side: destroy an insurgent installation he knew of, else the nearest group he named. One per prisoner, one per side every 20 minutes, and none while the module's unasked player tasks are off.
- Nobody takes himA prisoner left behind is removed once no player is within 1 km, unless he is tied up or walking with a player's group.
Making a prison. Players can't draw one in game, but a FOB they deploy works as one within 100 m. For a fixed prison, place the marker in the editor, for example one named "Prison Camp" over a fenced compound.
Auto Task Factions
Who a C2ISTAR task fights
Tasks bring their own enemy, such as a Liaison task's QRF. Each side's Enemy slot in Auto Task Factions decides which faction that is, and by default it follows the mission's own AI Commanders.
- A task is madeAutomatic tasks, Strategic or Constant, and tasks players request each need an enemy faction for the fighters they bring.
- The mission's enemyEvery Enemy slot in Auto Task Factions starts on The mission's enemy (its AI Commanders), at the top of its list, in Eden and in the Mission Builder. The task takes the factions of the AI Commanders hostile to that side, read when the task is made, so the fight is against forces actually in the mission.
- No hostile commanderWith none in the mission, the slot falls back to the old default: CSAT, or NATO for OPFOR players.
- A faction you pickedPicking a faction replaces The mission's enemy, and it's kept. A slot can hold several, and each task goes after one at random. Taking the last one off goes back to The mission's enemy.
- A pick nobody fieldsAn Enemy pick that no AI Commander in the mission uses still works, but gets a note in the picker, a warning in the RPT and a hint to admins at mission start, in case it's a slip.
Worth knowing. A mission saved with the slots never changed follows the AI Commanders too. The friendly slots are unchanged: left alone they stay on NATO, CSAT and AAF. Builds from before 31 October 2026 used CSAT unless you picked another faction.
Capabilities
What it handles
Auto-generated missions
Generates a range of task types (destroy vehicle or installation, IED disposal, convoy or helicopter escort/ambush, downed pilot rescue) so players always have something to do. Target tasks of one kind share one entry in the task list, each target a line naming its town or grid.
Task pins
Every kind of task has its own pin on the map and in the task list. Each pin is Arma's own icon for that kind of task on your side's NATO frame. Players pick ALiVE pins (the default) or Arma's own markers under Map pins and markers in Addon Options. Mission makers can place them in Eden too, and an automatic task of a pin's type and side goes to the nearest one. Task pins shows all 33.
HVT manhunts
With HVT Manhunt Chance above 0, that share of HVT tasks start with the man hidden in a 1500 m search area. Clues from civilians, his men, prisoners and informants shrink it, and a Wiretap tells you where he'll be and when. Miss him and he moves.
Civic state (hearts and minds)
An optional model tracks a population's trust, security and services, generating civic tasks and feeding those readings back into the mission.
Common Operational Picture
A main map overlay, shown to every player once Commander Intel Mode is on, showing friendly and enemy activity, the AI commander's objectives (including held ones) and civilian sentiment, with per-layer toggles.
Map intel and visibility control
Spot reports, diary entries, sector shading, kill and logistics markers and the AI commander's objective markers appear on the map. 'Map Intel Visibility' sets who sees the objective, kill and logistics markers: same side, same faction, friendly sides, or everyone.
Player orders through OPCOM
Command-role players can issue orders to OPCOM and switch its stance (Invasion, Occupation, Asymmetric, Dug In or Assault (waves)) from the in-game tablet, and can request their own generated tasks. The server checks every stance change: Player OPCOM Stance Control must be Yes and the player must carry a C2ISTAR access item. The tablet's Commander's Picture adds Go now, Look again and Strike orders, and a Commander > page to pause, resume or change the stance of the commander (admins only by default).
Surrender and questioning
With AI Surrender Chance above 0, beaten enemy soldiers can give up. An enemy you've cuffed or tied up yourself, or one surrendering through ACE, counts as a prisoner too. Walk up to a prisoner and Talk to soldier opens a window to question him, restrain him, tell him to follow or stay, search him or release him. A prisoner marks enemy groups and installations on your map. The same window lets you ask a friendly AI soldier where friendly units are, what his group has seen and where it is headed.
Air picture and briefings
Players are told, on an Air Picture page of the map diary and with a short notice, when an enemy aircraft goes down, when enemy aircraft attack their side, and who holds the air over the battle. Generate Briefing can also write each side a briefing from the mission, off by default.
Request CAS from the tablet
When the mission has an Air Component Commander, the C2ISTAR menu has Request CAS. Open it, click the target on the map, and the request goes to the commander that flies for your side.
How to use it
Getting started
- Place the module and sync it to OPCOMPlace Player Command/Control (C2ISTAR) from the ALiVE list; one module serves every side. Sync it to a Military AI Commander (OPCOM) module when you want that commander's spot reports on the map through 'Commander Intel Sides'.
- Choose what players are allowed to carryTick item groups in 'Access Item Categories' (default Laser Designators) and add extra class names in 'Custom Access Items (classnames)', which add to the categories rather than replace them. Only players carrying that gear, or the Combat Support Tablet, get the C2ISTAR menus; map intel and the COP show for everyone.
- Turn on auto-generated tasksSet 'Auto Task BLU', 'Auto Task OPF' and 'Auto Task IND' (default None) to Strategic or Constant as needed, and use 'Auto Task Factions' to pick which factions are eligible for those tasks. Each Enemy slot starts on The mission's enemy (its AI Commanders), the factions of the AI Commanders hostile to that side, so pick a faction there only when the tasks should fight someone else that an AI Commander in the mission fields. A pick none of them fields gives way to the hostile commanders' factions. To choose where they go, place pins from the ALiVE Task Pins group in Eden's marker list: the next automatic task of a pin's type and side is built there.
- Tune task distance and area markerSet 'Minimum Task Distance (m)' to control how far tasks spawn from players, and 'Task AO Radius (m)' to draw a red search circle around each player's current task (it doesn't change the objective itself). Both default to 0: no circle, and no minimum distance for most tasks.
- Filter which enemy factions show upLeave 'Filter Enemy Factions' on Yes (the default) so the Generate Task menu only lists enemy factions actually used by this mission's OPCOM modules, rather than every faction in the game.
- Turn on map intelSet 'Display Map Intel' to Yes (default No), or no spot reports or markers reach the map. Tick sides in 'Commander Intel Sides' (empty by default, so no spot reports), and turn on 'Spotrep Diary Entries', 'Military Map Sectors' and 'Player Map Sectors' if wanted (default No). Set 'Commander Intel Mode (COP)' above Off for the COP.
- Switch on the optional extrasSet 'AI Surrender Chance (%)' above 0 so beaten enemies can give up; players question them with Talk to soldier. 'Field Questioning Lies (%)' makes some prisoners questioned in the field give false positions. 'Generate Briefing' writes each side a briefing in the map diary. 'Report Enemy Aircraft Losses', 'Report Enemy Air Attacks' and 'Report Air Situation' are on by default and feed the Air Picture page. 'AI Takes Over Slow Tasks (min)' sends the nearest free friendly AI group to a task players leave open too long. 'HVT Manhunt Chance (%)' above 0 turns that share of HVT tasks into a manhunt.
- Play and check the tools in gameCarrying an allowed item, press the ALiVE menu key and open Commander Actions to order OPCOM. To choose where a rescued hostage is brought back, or where an informant or VIP is taken, pick the task in the tablet's Generate Task screen, then Alt+click the map to drop the point before you create it. Without one, the Delivery Destination setting decides: the nearest settlement by default, or the nearest Player FOB or friendly base.
- Ask for close air supportWith a Military Air Component Commander in the mission, players with access get Request CAS in the C2ISTAR menu. They open it and click the target on the map. CAS must be ticked in the commander's Available ATOs.
Settings
Every setting, and what it does
These settings decide who can open the C2ISTAR tablet and menus, which tasks players get handed automatically, and how Hearts and Minds tasks feed back into the civilian population. They also control every intel layer ALiVE can draw on the map, from simple spotrep markers and sector shading up to the full Common Operational Picture (COP) overlay.
Presets that use this module: Hearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns, Hunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA, Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved, Special operations: a small team against a held town. Place one in the editor to see it set up.
Quick setups
A sandbox mission where BLUFOR players get tasks without an OPCOM
- Auto Task BLU: Constant
- Automatic Player Tasks: Yes
Constant starts generating tasks for that side about 2 minutes after the mission begins, whether or not an AI commander is running.
A proper Hearts and Minds campaign
- Enable Civic-State COIN Model: Yes
- Trust Failure Multiplier: 2
Turning the model on unlocks all 10 civic task families and per-settlement trust, security and services tracking, and the doubled failure multiplier makes a botched task that affects trust cost twice as much of it (security and services losses are unchanged).
A commander's map with live enemy contacts and friendly positions
- Commander Intel Mode (COP): Advanced
- COP Friendly BFT: On
- COP Anchor Distance (m): 2000
Advanced turns on every conventional COP feature, including trails, threat rings and axis-of-advance arrows, and a 2000 m anchor shows intel over a wider area around each player.
Classic spotrep markers from the AI commander, seen only by its own side
- Commander Intel Sides: Opfor (East)
- Display Map Intel: Yes
- Map Intel Visibility: Same Side
Ticking East makes the East AI commander send its spotting reports, as long as its module is synced to this one, and Display Map Intel switches the map intel on. The spotting reports only ever go to that side's players anyway; Same Side keeps the commander's objective and logistics markers to the same side too, and a kill marker goes to the side that lost the unit and the side that made the kill.
Tasks that are easier to find and not right on top of the players
- Task AO Radius (m): 300
- Minimum Task Distance (m): 1500
A 300 m red circle marks the search area of the player's assigned task, and generated Short, Medium and Long tasks are placed at least 1500 m away whenever a target that far exists.
Enemies who give up and talk
- AI Surrender Chance (%): 30
Once a group has lost half its men, each survivor near a player has a 30% chance to surrender, and Talk to soldier lets you question him.
Friendly AI that pick up the slack
- AI Takes Over Slow Tasks (min): 30
A task still open after half an hour gets the nearest free friendly AI group sent in, while players can still finish it.
No tasks inside the main base
- Task Blacklist: base_area
Generated tasks never pick a target inside the area marker called base_area.
Commanding only from a desk at the HQ
- Access Item Categories: none ticked
- Command Point Classes: Land_PortableDesk_01_olive_F
- Command Point Radius (m): 5
Players can open the menus only within 5 m of any desk of that class, wherever it came from, and not by carrying a tablet or designator.
Module Parameters
5 settings
Choices: Yes / No
Turns on extra diagnostic logging and map markers for C2ISTAR, including task-generation diagnostics on the server. Leave it off for a real mission.
AffectsOnce switched on for a session, the task diagnostics stay on until the mission restarts.
Players can open the C2ISTAR menus only if they carry an item from one of the ticked equipment categories. It doesn't check side or faction, so any player carrying a matching item gets access.
AffectsOnly C2ISTAR's own menus use this: the tablet, the CBA menu and the ACE self-interaction entry. Combat Support and Player Resupply have their own access item settings. A player carrying the Combat Support Tablet always gets in, whatever you tick. A player standing near a command post (an object marked with ALiVE_accessPoint in its init, or one of the Command Point Classes below) counts as carrying an item too.
TryLeave it on Laser Designators so only players carrying a designator (or the Combat Support Tablet) can open the menus.
Extra item classnames, separated by commas, that also grant access on top of the categories above. Matching ignores upper and lower case, and a name matches if it appears anywhere in the item's classname.
AffectsAdds to Access Item Categories rather than replacing it.
TryType the classname of a mod's command tablet here if it isn't in any category.
Choices: Object class names, separated by commas
Every object of a listed class, or of a class that inherits from one, acts as a command point: a player standing within Command Point Radius of it can open the C2ISTAR, Combat Support and Player Combat Logistics menus as if carrying an access item. It works however the object got there, so a desk placed in Eden, dropped by Zeus, spawned by a script or built at a FOB all count. No script is needed on each one.
AffectsAny side can use them, so pick a class only your mission places: ALiVE's own base layouts and many terrains already have map boards, and a broad parent class takes in far more than you meant. An object's own ALiVE_accessPoint setting still wins, so a script can widen one or switch it off. A class the game doesn't know is left out, with a line in the server log. Combat Support's operator rule still applies. Leave empty for none.
TryEnter Land_PortableDesk_01_olive_F, place one desk in Eden and stand next to it. To make commanding possible only at these points, set the access items to something players don't carry.
Choices: A number of metres, at most 200
How close, in metres, a player has to stand to an object of the Command Point Classes. Anything above 200 is cut to 200, since the menus check this every frame while they're open.
AffectsOnly applies to the Command Point Classes. An object marked with its own ALiVE_accessPoint number uses that number instead.
Faction Filters
1 setting
Choices: Yes / No
When Yes, the enemy faction list in the tablet's Generate Task screen only shows factions the AI commanders are actually using in this mission. If no such list can be found it quietly shows every faction instead.
Tasks per Side
5 settings
Choices: No / Yes
When No, tasks that other parts of ALiVE hand out unasked are dropped before they reach players: air taskings and pilot rescues, counter-battery, convoy protection, the AI commander's capture orders and the Constant auto-task cycle set by Auto Task BLU, OPF or IND. Tasks a player asks for from the tablet still work.
AffectsCan be switched on and off during the mission from the OPCOM Orders menu in C2ISTAR (Stop or Allow Automatic Tasks (all players)) by any player carrying an access item. The tablet's own auto-task screen isn't hidden.
Choices: None / Strategic / Constant
How BLUFOR players get tasks automatically. Strategic passes on the objective-capture tasks of the AI commander that runs the BLU friendly faction picked in Auto Task Factions, from any of its factions; Constant starts generating tasks about 2 minutes into the mission, with or without an AI commander.
AffectsPlayers can also start or stop Constant or Strategic tasks for their side from the tablet, and the tablet's choice then counts instead of this setting. Automatic orders skip a player whose group already has a task, or who holds a task they asked for, until that task ends.
TryUse Constant for a sandbox mission with no AI commander.
See it inHearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns (Constant), Hunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA (Constant), Special operations: a small team against a held town (Constant)
Choices: None / Strategic / Constant
How OPFOR players get tasks automatically. Strategic passes on the objective-capture tasks of the AI commander that runs the OPF friendly faction picked in Auto Task Factions, from any of its factions; Constant starts generating tasks about 2 minutes into the mission.
AffectsPlayers can also start or stop Constant or Strategic tasks for their side from the tablet, and the tablet's choice then counts instead of this setting. Automatic orders skip a player whose group already has a task, or who holds a task they asked for, until that task ends.
Choices: None / Strategic / Constant
How INDFOR players get tasks automatically. Strategic passes on the objective-capture tasks of the AI commander that runs the IND friendly faction picked in Auto Task Factions, from any of its factions; Constant starts generating tasks about 2 minutes into the mission.
AffectsPlayers can also start or stop Constant or Strategic tasks for their side from the tablet, and the tablet's choice then counts instead of this setting. Automatic orders skip a player whose group already has a task, or who holds a task they asked for, until that task ends.
Picks the friendly and enemy faction for each side's automatic tasks (six slots in all). Each Enemy slot starts on The mission's enemy (its AI Commanders), the choice at the top of its list: the factions of the AI Commanders hostile to that side, read when each task is made, so tasks fight the forces actually in the mission. With no hostile commander it falls back to CSAT (NATO for OPFOR). Picking a faction replaces The mission's enemy, and taking the last one off goes back to it. An Enemy slot can hold several factions: click a faction to add or remove it, picked ones show [+], and each task is aimed at one of them at random. A friendly slot left blank uses its stock faction (NATO, CSAT or AAF).
AffectsDecides which faction the three Auto Task settings above hand tasks to and which faction they send players against. A mission saved with the slots never changed follows the AI Commanders too; a faction picked on purpose is kept. An Enemy pick that no AI Commander in the mission uses gets a note in the picker, a warning in the RPT and a hint to admins at mission start, and its tasks fight the factions of the commanders hostile to that side instead (the RPT says so once). A list keeps only the factions in play. With no hostile commander in the mission, the pick is used as it is.
See it inHearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns (BLU_F|OPF_G_F||||), Hunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA (BLU_F|OPF_G_F||||), Special operations: a small team against a held town (BLU_F|OPF_F||||)
Auto-generated Tasks
7 settings
Choices: No / Yes
When Yes, player tasks saved to the ALiVE database are loaded back in at mission start. Task state is saved whenever the database is running, whatever this is set to; this setting only decides whether it's read back.
AffectsNeeds the ALiVE Data (database) module to be working. Deleting your last saved tablet task clears it from the save too, so it doesn't come back after a reload.
See it inPersistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved (true)
How many order requests must pass before the commander can offer the same kind of order again. 0 lets the same kind come straight back.
TrySet it to 4 for more variety in the orders players are given.
Choices: Yes / No
Yes aims tasks against enemy vehicles, air defences, infantry, buildings and installations only at what your side's AI Commander knows of: what its units have seen in the last 30 minutes, plus spot reports and what prisoners, civilians and informants tell you (the enemy within 150 m of what's reported). When nothing is known, another kind of task is picked, and a player who asked for one on the tablet is told so.
AffectsNeeds an AI Commander on the players' side. Tasks placed on the map are left alone. A prisoner who lies feeds nothing in.
Choices: a number, 0 for no cap
The most tasks against enemy vehicles, air defences, infantry, buildings and installations a side can have open at once. While that many are open, auto-generated tasks are of other kinds.
Choices: 0 to 100
The chance an HVT task is a manhunt rather than a tip-off. Players get a 1500 m search area instead of a target, and each clue shrinks it, to 900 m and then 500 m, with an HQ radio line. Clues are civilians telling you of enemies near it, intel read from his men, and what prisoners and informants say. After three, a Wiretap task comes up on a house near his hideout; once it's done, HQ names a place and a time window on the game clock, and he's there for about ten minutes. Six clues give the window without a wiretap.
AffectsMiss the window and he goes to ground 2 to 4 km away, half the clues are lost and the search starts again; if players are right on him when it closes, he stays five more minutes. Recruiters are never picked. Clues come from the Civilian Population and AI Commander modules; without them, players can still search the area. 0 keeps every HVT task as it is.
Try50 so about half the HVT tasks become a hunt.
Choices: 2, on the players' side / 4, all round the objective
How many observation posts a Recon task gives. 2 puts both on the players' side of the objective. 4 puts them all round it, at least 45 degrees apart, so the team works its way round and sees it from every side.
AffectsThe OPs can be manned in any order, a minute at each, and HQ ticks one off when you finish it early. Move a recon OP moves the nearest OP not yet used.
Choices: 1 / 2 / 3 / 5 minutes
How long a Recon task's team has to watch from each observation post before it's ticked off.
AffectsWatching longer spots more. The task text says how long.
Task Area
5 settings
The shortest distance from the player at which Short, Medium and Long auto-generated tasks can be placed. 0 turns the limit off for most tasks, but Supply Convoy, Market Reopening, Checkpoint Partnership and Secure Community Event then aim for 4 to 6 km (a Supply Convoy with no town that far takes the farthest one at least 1.5 km off), and VIP Escort and Informant Exfiltration for 4 km. For those last two, any other value under 1200 m counts as 1200 m.
AffectsIf nothing that far away exists, the limit is ignored and the nearest target is used.
TrySet 1500 so players normally have to travel before the task starts.
Choices: metres, 0 for off
How far from the players generated tasks may be. Auto-generated and Short / Medium / Long tasks are picked within this distance of the player they're built round, and the next auto task is built round the player nearest where the last one was, so tasks lead a group across the map in steps. If nothing is in range, the nearest target beyond it is used, and the RPT says so.
AffectsSupply Convoy, VIP Escort and Informant Exfiltration keep their drop-off within it of the pickup, so a drop-off can be up to twice this from you; a FOB, base or picked point chosen as Delivery Destination is used wherever it is. Not capped: Sabotage, Clear an IED, Wiretap, the air tasks, Capture and Protect a Convoy. It must be above Minimum Task Distance.
Try3000 on Altis to keep a group's tasks within a short drive of each other.
Choices: Nearest settlement / Nearest Player FOB / Nearest friendly base
Where the hand-over tasks end. Informant Exfiltration and VIP Escort take their passenger there, Rescue and CSAR bring theirs back there, and Aid Delivery and Supply Convoy collect from there (at its nearest road) and still deliver to the settlement that asked. The pickup stays in the hostile area.
AffectsNearest Player FOB uses the side's closest active FOB; Nearest friendly base also takes an objective the side's AI commander holds, unless it is being fought over. A FOB or base too close to the pickup is passed over; with none left the AI Commander HQ is used, then a settlement. An Alt+click on the tablet's task map always wins, for these tasks as well as Rescue. The task title names the FOB.
TrySet Nearest Player FOB, build a FOB, then generate Informant Exfiltration from the tablet and check the handover marker is at the FOB.
Choices: Marker names, separated by commas
Areas generated tasks must stay out of, such as your main base. A task won't pick an enemy position, town or insurgent site inside any of these markers.
AffectsA marker name that doesn't exist is reported once in the RPT and ignored.
TryDraw an area marker over your base, put its name here, and generate tasks: none lands inside it.
Draws a red circle of this radius in metres around the player's currently assigned C2ISTAR task, to show the search area. 0 draws nothing.
TrySet 300 to help players find objectives in dense towns.
Task Timers
3 settings
Choices: A number of minutes; 0 is never
When a player task is still open after this long, the nearest friendly AI group within 3 km that isn't busy is sent to search and destroy in the task area, and HQ tells the side on the radio. The task stays open for players to finish.
AffectsOne group per task, never one in an aircraft, boat or static weapon, a held garrison or a player group. It goes back to its AI Commander when the task ends.
TrySet it to 15 minutes, take an automatic task and leave it alone; after 15 minutes listen for HQ on side chat and watch a friendly group head for the task on the map.
How many seconds a VIP who panics when shots land nearby after pickup can stay away from the escort before the task fails. A player getting within 30 m calms them. Anything under 30 is treated as 30.
AffectsApplies to VIP Escort and Informant Exfiltration tasks.
TrySet 300 to give players more time to calm and recover a VIP under fire.
How long a pilot who ejected and landed alive waits to be rescued. When it runs out the rescue task is cancelled and the pilot, marker and strobe are removed. Never less than 300.
Task Types
3 settings
Pick the task types the AI commander may generate for players, and type any extra mod task types into the Override field. Left empty, the stock list is used unchanged.
AffectsMerged in the way Custom Class Mode says.
See it inHearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns (AidDelivery,SupplyConvoy,MeetLocalLeader,VIPEscort,SecureCommunityEvent,RepairCriticalService,MedicalOutreach,CheckpointPartnership,InformantExfiltration,MarketReopening,RemoveIED,InsurgencyPatrol,InsurgencyDestroyAssets), Special operations: a small team against a held town (Assassination,SabotageBuilding,DestroyBuilding,Rescue,Wiretap,DestroyInfantry,CivAssault)
Choices: Replace / Append
How the task list in Override Auto-Generated Tasks is used. Replace means the commander only generates the tasks you pick; Append adds your picks to the stock list.
AffectsDoes nothing while Override Auto-Generated Tasks is empty. A mission script that sets the task list itself runs later and wins.
Choices: Every task type / Only the picked task types
Which task types players can generate by hand from the tablet. Only the picked task types offers the ones ticked in Override Auto-Generated Tasks, so players get the same choice the AI commander draws from.
AffectsNeeds at least one task type picked in Override Auto-Generated Tasks; with nothing picked every type is offered. The list is the same on a dedicated server.
TryPick two task types in Override Auto-Generated Tasks, set Only the picked task types, then open the tablet's Generate Task screen and check it lists just those two.
Civic State (Hearts & Minds)
7 settings
Choices: No / Yes
Turns on the full Hearts and Minds model: all 10 civic task families, with trust, security and services tracked per settlement and tasks weighted toward where support is weakest. When No, only the 6 original families appear, picked in pairs by how hostile the settlement is (supply runs and aid drops while hostile, escorts and meetings once calmer, repairs and events when nearly won over), and the nearest settlement wins.
AffectsAll six multipliers in the next section only work when this is Yes.
TrySet Yes for a counter-insurgency campaign built around winning over the population.
See it inHearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns (true)
Scales how much trust a settlement gains when players complete a Hearts and Minds task. 1 is normal, 2 doubles it and 0 stops trust rising from successes.
AffectsOnly works when Enable Civic-State COIN Model is Yes.
TrySet 1.5 for a campaign where good work pays off quicker.
Scales how much trust a settlement loses when a Hearts and Minds task fails. Higher values make failure more punishing.
AffectsOnly works when Enable Civic-State COIN Model is Yes.
TrySet 2 for a harsh campaign where mistakes cost twice as much.
Scales how much a settlement's security rises after a successful Hearts and Minds task.
AffectsOnly works when Enable Civic-State COIN Model is Yes.
Scales how much a settlement's security drops after a failed Hearts and Minds task.
AffectsOnly works when Enable Civic-State COIN Model is Yes.
Scales how much a settlement's services rise after a successful Hearts and Minds task.
AffectsOnly works when Enable Civic-State COIN Model is Yes.
Scales how much a settlement's services drop after a failed Hearts and Minds task.
AffectsOnly works when Enable Civic-State COIN Model is Yes.
Civic Tasks
7 settings
Scales how long a settlement waits between Hearts and Minds task offers; higher means longer waits, and anything under 0.1 counts as 0.1. With the civic model on it also scales the wait between insurgent retaliations, which never drops below 450 seconds however low you set this.
TrySet 0.5 for a busier campaign with more frequent civic tasks.
Choices: 0 to 100
The share of Aid Delivery tasks where the relief comes as a supply crate instead of a van, to bring in a vehicle that can carry it or sling-load under a helicopter. The briefing and HQ chat then talk about delivering the crate.
AffectsAid Delivery only. A pickup with no road nearby always comes as a crate, whatever this is set to.
Choices: A number of seconds; 0 is off
Once the clinic is opened, the leader met, the repair made or the aid handed over, players hold the area this many seconds before the task succeeds, which gives the enemy time to answer it. The countdown stops while enemies are within 150 m, and the task fails if no living player of the side is within 200 m for 30 seconds. Players hear the time left every 30 seconds.
AffectsApplies to Aid Delivery, Medical Outreach, Meet Local Leader, Repair Critical Service and VIP Escort. In a VIP Escort the VIP leaves the group at the destination and gets on with their job while you hold, then rejoins you for the trip back. 0 makes a task succeed as soon as the action is done.
How much a Hearts and Minds task repeating in the same settlement is penalised. Each repeat in a row cuts the reward by this fraction (0.15 is 15% per repeat, counted up to four, never below a quarter of the normal reward), and a repeated failure costs the settlement more. With the civic model on, it also makes the same family less likely to be picked there again.
AffectsIt's held between 0 and 1, so anything higher counts as 1.
Which Hearts and Minds task families can be generated; untick one to leave it out. Untick every family and no Hearts and Minds tasks are generated.
AffectsWith the civic model off, only the original 6 families can appear anyway.
How likely each Hearts and Minds task family is to be picked, written as Name=Weight pairs separated by commas with no spaces (a space after a comma quietly puts that family back to 1). A family you leave out counts as 1, and a weight of 0 removes that family completely. Weights above 0 only shape the pick when Enable Civic-State COIN Model is Yes.
TryWith the civic model on, change MedicalOutreach=1 to MedicalOutreach=3 to make medical tasks come up about three times as often.
Choices: No / Yes
Adds a summary of the settlement's trust, security and services to the description of each generated Hearts and Minds task.
TryTurn it on while tuning the multipliers, then off before players see the mission.
Commander Control
3 settings
Choices: No / Yes
Adds an OPCOM Stance menu to the tablet so a player can switch their side's AI commander between Invasion, Occupation, Asymmetric, Dug In and Assault (waves) during the mission. The switch rebuilds the commander's objectives, so it takes a little while.
AffectsOnly appears if the mission has an AI Commander (OPCOM) module, and the player still needs an access item. The server checks both and turns a request down with "The mission maker hasn't allowed OPCOM stance changes." or "You need a C2ISTAR access item to change the OPCOM stance." It also unlocks Set stance on the tablet's AI Commander settings page (see Commander Controls).
Choices: Off / Read only / Read and orders
The Commander's Picture page on the tablet, opened from the C2ISTAR menu or Intel then Commander. It shows what your side's AI Commander has found out about the objectives it's about to attack, when its Find Out Before Attacking is on: how sure it is, where its recon has got to, the groups seen (on the map only when its Intel Markers are on) and what happened to them once an objective falls. Off hides the page and the menu entry.
AffectsRead and orders adds Go now, Look again and Strike for players the Ops limit admits (Strike shows once vehicles have been seen at an objective the commander is finding out about or going into): one order a minute per objective, one every two minutes per player, and Look again twice per objective for up to 10 minutes each. It also opens the AI Commander settings to the players Commander Controls allows. Start the war, for a commander set to Hold Until Go, is also in the C2ISTAR menu for admins, the host or a singleplayer player, so it works even with this Off. See Operations Command.
Choices: Admins only / Anyone allowed to give orders
Who may use the AI Commander settings page (Commander > on the Commander's Picture): pause and resume the commander, change its stance, set its Intel Wait and how sure it must be, and send an Assault commander's next wave early. Admins only means a logged-in admin, the host of a hosted game, or the player in singleplayer. Anyone allowed to give orders opens it to every player the Ops limit admits.
AffectsPause, Intel Wait, how sure it must be and the next wave need Commander's Picture at Read and orders and pass this setting. Stance is the exception: with Player OPCOM Stance Control set to Yes, any player carrying a C2ISTAR access item or an ALiVE tablet can change it there, as from the ALiVE menu. Anyone else sees the page read only, with a note naming the setting that stops them (Commander's Picture, the Ops limit or Commander Controls). Changes last until the mission is loaded from a save. It doesn't decide who may press Start the war: that's always an admin, the host or the player in singleplayer.
Operations Tablet
5 settings
Choices: Side / Faction
Which groups appear in a player's Group Management list: groups on the player's side, or only groups of the player's own faction.
Choices: Side / Faction / All
Which forces a player commander can work with on the Operations tablet: same side, same faction, or every force they can find.
Choices: No / Yes
Lets commanders spectate other forces from the Operations tablet.
Choices: No / Yes
Lets commanders take remote control of other forces from the Operations tablet.
Choices: No / Yes
Lets commanders watch a live camera feed from friendly aircraft on the Operations tablet.
Player Objectives
3 settings
Choices: Yes / No
Lets players set, cancel and reprioritise the AI commander's objectives, choosing Take or Hold, from the Operations tablet or with a map marker starting "obj take" or "obj hold" (deleting it cancels). "obj recon", "obj sad" and "obj ambush" markers send a group to scout, search and destroy, or lie in wait there for ten minutes. Set No to keep the commander out of players' hands.
AffectsThe next two settings limit how often and how many.
How many seconds a player must wait between setting objectives for the AI commander.
AffectsOnly matters when Allow Player Objectives is Yes.
The most player-set objectives each side can have at once.
AffectsOnly matters when Allow Player Objectives is Yes.
Intel Tablet
2 settings
Choices: Side / Faction / All
Which forces' intel a player commander sees on the Intel tablet: same side, same faction, or everyone.
Choices: No / Yes
Adds an Intel Log button to the tablet's Intel page. It lists the intel your side has been given, newest first, each with its time and grid, and keeps it after the map marker has gone. Pick a row and the map goes to it.
AffectsLogged: installations, ambush and IED sites revealed, what civilians, prisoners and informants said, spot reports shared with the side, HVT sightings, manhunt steps and trigger men detained. Limit Intel decides whose reports show. Up to 150 reports a side, saved with the tasks when the mission is saved locally.
Map Intel & Spotreps
9 settings
Choices: Yes / No
The main switch for map intel. When Yes, battlefield events (unit kills, logistics runs and AI commander objective changes) appear as map markers, and the commanders ticked in Commander Intel Sides send their spotting reports too. When the COP overlay is on, the basic spotrep chevrons are hidden so they don't double up, but the recon and capture blocking lines still show.
AffectsWorks with Commander Intel Sides (which commanders send spotting reports) and Map Intel Visibility (who sees the commander's objective markers and the kill and logistics markers). Friendly Coverage and the two sector shadings work without it.
Which sides' AI commanders send their spotting reports (enemy groups they've seen) into the map intel. Left empty, no commander sends spotting reports, but their objective markers and the kill and logistics markers still appear while Display Map Intel is on.
AffectsOnly AI Commander (OPCOM) modules synced to this module are checked, and each one compares this list against its own side when it starts.
TryTick East so the East AI commander's reports appear as map intel.
Choices: Yes / No
Shows the map intel's markers for objectives a friendly AI commander is attacking: a circle on each, labelled for example BLUFOR Attacking. Works whether or not the COP is on.
AffectsThese markers only exist when Display Map Intel is Yes and this module is synced to an AI Commander whose side is ticked in Commander Intel Sides. Only that side's players see them.
Choices: Yes / No
Shows the recon and capture blocking lines (rectangles and advance arrows) from the map intel. Works whether or not the COP is on.
AffectsThese lines only exist when Display Map Intel is Yes and this module is synced to an AI Commander whose side is ticked in Commander Intel Sides. Only that side's players see them; Map Intel Visibility doesn't change that.
Choices: Same Side / Same Faction / Friendly Sides / All Players
Which players see the AI commander's objective markers and the kill and logistics markers. Same Side shows them only to the side they're about, Same Faction to that faction, Friendly Sides to any allied side, All Players to everyone. A kill marker also goes to the side that made the kill, and a civilian's death to the side that killed them. Spotting reports from Commander Intel Sides only go to the reporting side.
Choices: No / Yes
When Yes, map intel can show the exact positions of insurgent installations.
AffectsNeeds Display Map Intel set to Yes; the installation icons are drawn with the commander's objective markers, so Map Intel Visibility decides who sees them.
Choices: Off (0%) / Low (10%) / Medium (20%) / High (40%) / Very High (80%) / Total (100%)
The chance that each battlefield event (a kill, a logistics run or a commander objective change) becomes a marker on the map. It doesn't thin out the spotting reports from Commander Intel Sides.
TryPick Medium (20%) for patchy, realistic intel.
Choices: Yes / No
When Yes, spotreps players create are also written into the map diary.
Choices: Yes / No
Writes a briefing into each player's map diary once the AI Commanders are up: the map, time and weather at the start, the friendly and enemy commanders with their factions and rough strength, what your side is trying to do, and the ALiVE support your side has. Each side gets its own.
AffectsBriefing entries the mission maker wrote stay as they are. It's written once, at the start, so a player joining later reads the opening picture.
TryTurn it on, start the mission and open the map's Briefing tab.
Air Reports
5 settings
Choices: Yes / No
When an aircraft goes down, players on the sides hostile to it get a short notice and a line on the Air Picture page of the map diary, such as "Enemy fighter down near Agia Marina". It names the kind of aircraft, not the model.
AffectsCovers AI Commander aircraft, spawned or virtual, and the air commander's own.
TryShoot down an enemy helicopter, then open the map's Air Picture page.
Choices: Yes / No
When enemy aircraft kill your side's men or vehicles, you get a notice and a line on the Air Picture page, such as "Friendly forces under attack from an enemy helicopter near Agia Marina". One line per area every five minutes, so a strafing run reads once.
AffectsKills by a drone, helicopter or plane only; a kill by a ground unit is not reported.
TryLet an enemy helicopter attack a friendly squad, then open the map's Air Picture page.
Choices: Yes / No
Tells your side on the Air Picture page when the air changes hands: we hold air superiority, the enemy holds it, the air is contested, or the sky is clear. It counts your armed aircraft in the air against the enemy ones your side has spotted.
AffectsA change is only reported once it has lasted about a minute, so a single pass doesn't flip it. Unspotted enemy aircraft don't count.
TryPut a friendly attack helicopter up, then let an enemy one be spotted, and watch the Air Picture page.
Choices: Yes / No
Keeps the air situation reports for missions with an air war: a side is only told when a Military Air Tasking Order module flies for a side hostile to it.
AffectsWith no enemy air commander the Air Picture page stays quiet about the air situation. Set it to No to report whatever armed aircraft are up, such as the AI Commander's helicopters.
TryRun a mission with no enemy air commander and check that no air situation notice appears; then set this to No.
Choices: All Armed Aircraft / Fighters Only
Which aircraft decide who holds the air in the Report Air Situation messages. Fighters Only counts planes built for air-to-air combat, so helicopters and ground-attack aircraft don't change it.
AffectsRead on every check, so a mission can switch it while running.
TrySet Fighters Only, put a friendly attack helicopter up, then a fighter: only the fighter brings 'we hold air superiority'.
Questioning & Informants
7 settings
Choices: Yes / No
Players can walk up to an AI soldier of their side who isn't in their group and use Talk to soldier. Friendlies marks every other friendly group within a kilometre of him on that player's map for two minutes, by type, callsign and strength.
AffectsThis setting turns the Friendlies button on or off; the window's Seen any? (enemy his group knows of) and Heading? (where his group is going) buttons work either way. Each soldier can be asked once a minute; only spawned units are known.
TryWalk up to a friendly AI soldier, use Talk to soldier and press Friendlies, then open the map.
A percentage from 0 (never) to 100. Once an AI group has lost half its men, each survivor on foot with a hostile player within 200 m may surrender: he drops his weapons and puts his hands up (an ACE captive with ACE). Talk to soldier lets you question, restrain, lead, search or release him. Questioned at a prison (a marker placed in the editor, named or labelled prison, or an active Player FOB within 100 m) he always talks and gives up more. An enemy you've cuffed or tied up yourself can be questioned the same way, and the first order or question takes his weapons off him.
AffectsA prisoner nobody takes is removed once no player is within 1 km, unless he's tied up or with a player's group. One who talks at a prison also gives his captors' side a task. A mission can change the chance through ALiVE_c2istar_surrenderChance.
TrySet 50, break up an enemy squad, then walk up to one who has surrendered and use Talk to soldier.
See it inHunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA (40), Special operations: a small team against a held town (25)
A percentage from 0 to 100: the chance that a prisoner questioned in the field lies. A liar marks positions 800 m to 2 km away from where they really are and gives up no installations.
AffectsA prisoner questioned at a prison never lies, and neither does a captured recruiter. A question that can't be answered replies "has already told you what he knows".
TrySet 100, question a surrendered soldier where he was taken and check the marked groups against the real ones, then take him to a prison and question him again.
See it inHunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA (30)
Choices: 0 to 100
When a prisoner questioned at a prison, or an informant at his debrief, gives up something that becomes a task, the chance it's a hostage to rescue or an HVT to take out at the place he named, instead of a destroy task. The popup says which. 0 keeps destroy tasks only.
Choices: Classic / Hot / Timed / Cold / Random
What an Extract Informant task is like. Classic is the task as it always was. Hot: enemy infantry are already in his town. Timed: once one of you is within 2 km of his town a hunter team sets out, and he dies if it reaches him or Informant Hunt Time runs out before you secure him; wipe them out and the clock stops. Cold: no extra enemy, and at the hand-over he's debriefed, marking the enemy round his town and sometimes giving you a new task. Random picks hot, timed or cold each time, and the task's title says which.
TryTimed for a race against the clock, Cold for an informant who leads on to the next task.
Choices: seconds, at least 120
For a Timed Extract Informant: how long you have to secure him once the clock starts, which is when one of you first comes within 2 km of his town. 900 is 15 minutes.
How players open Talk to soldier on a prisoner or a friendly soldier: Auto uses the ACE interaction menu when ACE is loaded and the scroll wheel when it isn't; Scroll wheel always uses the scroll wheel; ACE uses the ACE menu (the scroll wheel without ACE); Both offers it in each.
AffectsPick Scroll wheel or Both with ACE loaded if finding a moving soldier's body for the ACE menu is awkward. The window that opens is the same either way.
Friendly & Sector Markers
5 settings
Choices: Yes / No
Shows friendly units near players on the map.
AffectsThe range is set by Friendly Radius. The markers refresh every 10 seconds whatever Sector Update Time says, and each side's markers show only to that side and the sides friendly to it, whatever Map Intel Visibility says.
How far, in metres, friendly units are shown when Friendly Coverage is on, measured from the centre of each map sector that has a player in it.
How often, in minutes, the Player Map Sectors and Military Map Sectors shading refreshes. Lower values mean fresher shading but more work for the server. The Friendly Coverage markers and the T.R.A.C.E. grid run on their own 10 and 30 second timers, but while Player Map Sectors is on, Friendly Coverage only gets fresh sector data this often.
TrySet 5 on a busy server to cut the load.
T.R.A.C.E. (Probability Shading)
1 setting
Choices: None / Solid / Horizontal / Vertical / F-Diagonal / B-Diagonal / Cross
Shades red every 100 m map square within 30 km of the module that has an enterable building. A square turns green for a side when one of its players is standing in it at a check, on foot at ground level, with no enemy on foot within 75 m of its centre. It turns red again only if an enemy comes within 75 m while that player is in it, so cleared squares stay green. It checks every 30 seconds. None turns it off.
COP (Common Operational Picture)
5 settings
Choices: Off / Basic / Partial / Full / Advanced
The main switch and detail level for the COP map overlay. Basic shows objective rings; Partial adds enemy contacts; Full adds friendly positions and arrows on moving enemy groups; Advanced adds trails, threat, confidence and axis-of-advance markings. Enemy symbols show type, group count, faction, minutes since seen, and A, D or R (attacking, defending, reserve). Contacts come from conventional AI commanders only, over 10 to 20 minutes. Older missions that used the former Live Commander Intel Yes/No switch still work: a saved Yes counts as Advanced while this stays at Off.
AffectsWhen Off, every COP setting below does nothing, apart from the two order and blocking-line marker settings.
TryPick Advanced for a full commander's picture.
Choices: No / Yes
Adds a Command View entry to the tablet menu that shows the whole side's COP intel across the entire map, ignoring COP Anchor Distance. Setting Yes turns Command View on for every player straight away; each player can switch it off and back on from the menu, and their choice survives respawn but resets when the mission is loaded again.
AffectsPlayers still need an access item to see the toggle.
How far around each player, in metres, COP intel is drawn on the map. It only limits what's drawn, not what the AI commander knows; anything under 100 is reset to 1000.
AffectsLarge values with lots of units or objectives can slow the map down.
TrySet 2000 for a wider picture on a small map.
Choices: A number of seconds, 15 to 120
How often the server refreshes enemy and friendly COP data; objectives refresh at half that rate. The AI commander only updates its picture every 120 seconds, so faster settings mainly cost server time.
TryPick Economy (120s) on a busy server.
Which sides' COP data players see. Left empty, each player sees only their own side. Ticking any side replaces that default for every player, so tick your own side too if you still want it, and tick several for an observer or Game Master overview.
AffectsEnemy contacts and objectives for a ticked side come from that side's conventional AI Commander (OPCOM) module; without one, only that side's friendly positions can appear.
COP Layers
3 settings
Choices: Auto (follow COP Mode) / On / Off
Shows friendly AI forces as unit symbols on the COP overlay. Auto, the default, follows Commander Intel Mode: shown at Full and Advanced, hidden at Basic and Partial. On shows them at every level and Off hides them. A mission saved with Yes or No reads it as On or Off.
AffectsOnly AI groups managed by ALiVE's Virtual AI (profile) system are shown, and only within 8 km of a player on that side. Groups kept out of profiling and the AI in a player's own group don't appear.
Choices: Auto (follow COP Mode) / On / Off
Forces the dashed arrows from friendly forces to attack objectives on or off; Auto follows Commander Intel Mode, which only shows them at Advanced.
Choices: Auto (follow COP Mode) / On / Off
Forces the enemy contact markers on or off whatever the detail level; Auto follows Commander Intel Mode, which only hides them at Basic.
COP Insurgency Layers
3 settings
Choices: No / Yes
When Yes, the COP also shows insurgent activity zones and civilian sentiment shading. Insurgent infrastructure (IEDs, factories, HQs and the like) has its own switches that stay off unless a mission script turns them on.
AffectsNeeds an AI Commander (OPCOM) set to asymmetric in the mission, and does nothing when Commander Intel Mode is Off.
Choices: Auto (follow COP Mode) / On / Off
Forces the civilian sentiment heat map on or off; Auto follows Commander Intel Mode.
AffectsNeeds Commander Intel Asymmetric set to Yes.
Choices: Auto (follow COP Mode) / On / Off
Forces the insurgent activity zones on or off; Auto follows Commander Intel Mode.
AffectsNeeds Commander Intel Asymmetric set to Yes.
COP Markers
17 settings
Choices: Yes / No
Shows objectives the AI commander is attacking on the COP overlay.
AffectsOnly when Commander Intel Mode isn't Off.
Choices: Black / Grey / Red / Brown / Orange / Yellow / Khaki / Green / Blue / Pink / White / BLUFOR / OPFOR / Independent / Civilian / Unknown side
Colour of the Attack objective ring.
Choices: None / Cross-in-circle / Dot / Flag / Box / Installation / Warning
Optional icon in the middle of the Attack ring. None shows just the ring and label.
Choices: Yes / No
Shows objectives the AI commander is defending on the COP overlay.
AffectsOnly when Commander Intel Mode isn't Off.
Choices: Black / Grey / Red / Brown / Orange / Yellow / Khaki / Green / Blue / Pink / White / BLUFOR / OPFOR / Independent / Civilian / Unknown side
Colour of the Defend objective ring.
Choices: None / Cross-in-circle / Dot / Flag / Box / Installation / Warning
Optional icon in the middle of the Defend ring. None shows just the ring and label.
Choices: Yes / No
Shows the objectives the AI commander is scouting before it attacks, as Recon rings.
AffectsOnly when Commander Intel Mode isn't Off.
Choices: Black / Grey / Red / Brown / Orange / Yellow / Khaki / Green / Blue / Pink / White / BLUFOR / OPFOR / Independent / Civilian / Unknown side
Colour of the Recon objective ring.
Choices: None / Cross-in-circle / Dot / Flag / Box / Installation / Warning
Optional icon in the middle of the Recon ring.
Choices: Yes / No
Shows objectives the AI commander is holding in reserve on the COP overlay.
AffectsOnly when Commander Intel Mode isn't Off.
Choices: Black / Grey / Red / Brown / Orange / Yellow / Khaki / Green / Blue / Pink / White / BLUFOR / OPFOR / Independent / Civilian / Unknown side
Colour of the Reserve objective ring.
Choices: None / Cross-in-circle / Dot / Flag / Box / Installation / Warning
Optional icon in the middle of the Reserve ring. None shows just the ring and label.
Choices: Yes / No
Shows objectives your side currently holds on the COP overlay.
AffectsOnly when Commander Intel Mode isn't Off.
Choices: Black / Grey / Red / Brown / Orange / Yellow / Khaki / Green / Blue / Pink / White / BLUFOR / OPFOR / Independent / Civilian / Unknown side
Colour of objectives held by BLUFOR.
Choices: Black / Grey / Red / Brown / Orange / Yellow / Khaki / Green / Blue / Pink / White / BLUFOR / OPFOR / Independent / Civilian / Unknown side
Colour of objectives held by OPFOR.
Choices: Black / Grey / Red / Brown / Orange / Yellow / Khaki / Green / Blue / Pink / White / BLUFOR / OPFOR / Independent / Civilian / Unknown side
Colour of objectives held by Independent forces.
Choices: Cross-in-circle / Dot / Flag / Box / Installation / Warning
Icon drawn on held objectives. Unlike the other objective types, there's no None option.
Overhaul
What changed
- Players can request CAS from the tabletThe C2ISTAR menu has Request CAS whenever the mission has an Air Component Commander. Click the target on the map and the request goes to the commander that flies for your side, or an allied one if yours has none. The side hears the answer on the radio.
- Enemy soldiers can surrender and be questionedThe new AI Surrender Chance sets how likely beaten soldiers are to give up. Talk to soldier (scroll wheel or ACE menu, set by Talk to Soldier Interaction) opens a window for a prisoner or a friendly AI soldier. A prisoner questioned at a prison always talks, and one questioned in the field can lie if Field Questioning Lies is above 0. What a prisoner gives up at a prison can become a task for his captors' side.
- Any object of a class you name can be a command pointList object classes in Command Point Classes and every object of those classes opens the C2ISTAR, Combat Support and Player Combat Logistics menus to a player within Command Point Radius (10 m by default). It works however the object got there: Eden, Zeus, a script or a FOB.
- Players are told about the air warAn Air Picture page and short notices say when an enemy aircraft goes down, when enemy aircraft kill your side's men, and who holds air superiority. Report Enemy Aircraft Losses, Report Enemy Air Attacks and Report Air Situation turn each on or off, and the air situation notices only come when an air commander flies for an enemy side.
- One automatic task at a timeTwo triggers close together could each start an automatic task, so a side got two at once. Each side now builds one at a time, and a type it already has isn't picked again while another type can be. An HVT task's "Eliminate the target" now always sits under "Assassinate the HVT".
- Every C2ISTAR screen has a Back buttonInside a tablet it steps back a page, and on the first page it opens the C2ISTAR menu, so you can go from one tablet to another. Logistics, the Combat Support radio, SITREP and PATROLREP gained one too, and clicking the C2ISTAR icon in the ACE self-interaction menu opens the menu.
Status
Where it stands
Fully overhauled
This module has completed its overhaul pass: faction filtering, civic tasks, player orders, the task-generation crash, the task-area circle and map-intel visibility are all in and considered stable. The settings for player-designated objectives and Automatic Player Tasks have names and tooltips in English and Spanish only, and the newer settings (the air picture reports, Air Situation Counts, Task Blacklist, Ask Soldiers About Friendly Units, AI Surrender Chance, AI Takes Over Slow Tasks, Generate Briefing and Pilot Rescue Timeout) are English only. Players can also request CAS from the tablet, question surrendered soldiers with Talk to soldier, and read an Air Picture page, and Back buttons are on every C2ISTAR screen.
Testing
How you can help
Place a C2ISTAR module synced to an OPCOM module for a side, along with the faction and terrain objects that side needs. Check that auto-generated tasks appear at a sensible pace and complete correctly, that the optional task-area circle draws around the objective, and that with 'Display Map Intel' switched on and 'Commander Intel Sides' set to a side, 'Map Intel Visibility' limits the AI commander's objective, kill and logistics markers to the players it should, while that commander's spot reports reach only its own side. If running civic state, watch for civic tasks appearing and civic values changing after tasks resolve. If testing as a command role, try issuing orders and switching OPCOM stance from the tablet, and check the Common Operational Picture overlay renders and its layer toggles work. Request several different OPCOM Orders for the same group one after another: each should replace the previous task rather than add to the list, and the objectives and task types offered should vary rather than repeat. With an air commander in the mission, open Request CAS from the C2ISTAR menu and click a target: the radio should acknowledge or turn it down. Set 'AI Surrender Chance (%)' to 100, kill half a squad and check the survivors give up and Talk to soldier works on them. Report the map, what units or players were doing, and include an RPT log if anything looks wrong. Leave Auto Task Factions alone in a mission with no CSAT and check each task's enemies come from the hostile AI Commander's faction; then pick CSAT in that Enemy slot and check a Defence task's waves still come from the hostile commander's faction. With a Military Air Component Commander on your side, finish a Recon task with enemy vehicles in view and watch for the strike it asks for.
Spotted a problem? Please report it on the ALiVE issue tracker on GitHub, with the map, rough location and what the units were doing so it can be reproduced.
Changelog
Updates to this page
- 2026-11-03When a Recon task reports, the side's Air Commander (or an allied one) is asked for a strike there and then: a Strike on up to three of the vehicles seen, or CAS on up to three groups on foot when no vehicle was seen. A recon the AI Commander asked for with Find Out Before Attacking leaves the strike to that commander.
- 2026-11-03A task's Enemy pick that no AI Commander in the mission fields is now swapped for the factions of the commanders hostile to that side, so defence waves and Exfiltration hunters stop turning up as vanilla CSAT in a mission with no CSAT (seen by NeisAEL). A pick that is in play is kept, and a mission with no hostile commander keeps its pick as it is.
- 2026-11-02In Eden, the COP Display Sides row shows its own title and sides and saves them; before, it showed and changed Commander Intel Sides.
- 2026-11-01In Eden C2ISTAR shows only the settings for the parts that are switched on: the task, civic, tablet and map marker rows wait until their switch is on.
- 2026-11-01Admins, the host and a singleplayer player get a Start the war entry in the C2ISTAR menu while a commander is set to Hold Until Go, whatever the Commander's Picture setting. It goes once the war starts.
- 2026-11-01The Commander's Picture setting's tooltip names the Strike button, and the mission briefing gives an Assault commander's side its own line instead of 'hold what your AI Commander holds'.
- 2026-11-01The Wiretap task's comms camp now needs 30 m clear of any building, so it no longer goes up through a shed or a house.
- 2026-10-31The stance menu offers Assault (waves), and the status says the commander is attacking one objective at a time.
- 2026-10-31New setting Commander Controls: who may pause the AI Commander and change its settings from the tablet. Admins only by default.
- 2026-10-31The server now checks a stance change itself: it's refused unless OPCOM stance changes are allowed and the player carries a C2ISTAR access item.
- 2026-10-31New setting Commander's Picture: Off, Read only, or with orders, for who may tell the AI Commander to go now, look again or strike.
- 2026-10-31New Commander's Picture entry under Intel in the C2ISTAR menu, for the same players as Intel.
- 2026-10-31Each Enemy slot in Auto Task Factions now starts on The mission's enemy (its AI Commanders), so tasks no longer bring vanilla CSAT into a mission without it. A faction picked on purpose is kept.
- 2026-10-31An Enemy pick that no AI Commander in the mission uses gets a note in the Eden picker and a hint to admins at mission start.
- 2026-10-31The tablet offers Dug In as a fourth stance. A Dug In commander turns down Recon, Search and Destroy, Ambush and new objectives.
- 2026-10-30New Recon OP Hold Time setting: 1 (the default), 2, 3 or 5 minutes at each observation post, and the task text says how long.
- 2026-10-30Task titles now name the nearest town, as in Destroy the convoy near Agia Marina, instead of a label like military.
- 2026-10-30New Recon Task OPs setting: 2 (the default) keeps both observation posts on your side of the objective; 4 puts them all round it, at least 45 degrees apart. You can man them in any order, a minute at each, and Move a recon OP moves the nearest one you haven't used yet.
- 2026-10-30The Radio Log is now one scrolling page with the last 100 messages in full, newest first, instead of a cut-off list of entries. The Air Picture page works the same way with the last 50 reports, and both lose the capitals.
- 2026-10-30You can now question an enemy you've cuffed or tied up yourself, not only one who surrendered. Talk to soldier opens on the prisoner buttons, and an active FOB within 100 m counts as a prison for a second questioning.
- 2026-10-30New Move a recon OP entry in the C2ISTAR menu: click the map and the nearer OP moves there. The spot has to be on land, 250 to 900 m out, see the objective and sit at least 60 degrees round from the other OP.
- 2026-10-30A Recon task's two observation posts are now picked on the rally point's side of the objective, so you don't have to cross it to reach them. Neither the rally point nor an OP sits within 50 m of the map edge.
- 2026-10-29Task updates are kept on the map's Radio Log page. The Hearts and Minds hold countdown stays off it, so it can't push real traffic out.
- 2026-10-29Logistics Hub, FOB and rally point markers are no longer hidden at mission start, and tasks are no longer sent to a hub as if it were a Task Pin.
- 2026-10-27The tablet now looks like kit from the mission's war: a modern tablet, a Cold War field terminal, a Vietnam map case or a 1943 map case, picked from the mission's terrain and units. Addon Options -> ALiVE -> Game -> Tablet style overrides it.
- 2026-10-27In Eden this module's settings now sit under shorter headers, at most 8 settings in a group, and the Settings section here follows the same headers. Every setting keeps its name and default, so saved missions load as before.
- 2026-10-25The tablet's Terrain button now lines up with the right edge of the map and sits on the top edge of the screen, on both the toughbook and the map bag.
- 2026-10-25The same installation revealed again is counted ("reported 3 times") instead of listed twice. Each side keeps its last 150 reports.
- 2026-10-25New setting Tablet Intel Log (off by default). An Intel Log button on the tablet's Intel page lists the intel your side has been given, with its time and grid, even after the map marker has gone.
- 2026-10-25A Supply Convoy no longer delivers to where it set off on a small map. With a Minimum Task Distance no spot on the map can meet, the drop-off ended up within metres of the pickup (18 of 18 on Stratis with 5 km). Now only a spot out at that distance counts; failing that the distance is halved, down to 500 m, and the same convoys run 2.9 to 5.2 km. Default settings are unchanged.
- 2026-10-24The Alt+click hint on the tablet's Generate Task screen, for where a Rescue or hand-over task ends, now shows in full instead of being cut off after one line.
- 2026-10-24New task Stop the Saboteur: a man in a bomb vest walks into a town to blow up a building, and you have to kill or detain him before he sets off his charges. It's in the default list of tasks to auto-generate.
- 2026-10-24The Talk to soldier window's buttons now fit inside it with even gaps, and a friendly soldier's three are twice as wide. Where to? now reads Where are you headed?
- 2026-10-24New setting HVT Manhunt Chance (%): that share of HVT tasks start with the man hidden in a 1500 m search area. Clues from civilians, his men, prisoners and informants shrink it, until a Wiretap tells you where he'll be and when.
- 2026-10-24A Task Pin placed in Eden, say Aid Delivery (BLUFOR), is where the next automatic task of that type and side goes, instead of round a player. The pins are hidden from players when the mission starts.
- 2026-10-24Target tasks of one kind now share one entry in the task list: air defences to suppress, HVTs, vehicles, infantry and insurgent assets. Each target's line names its town or grid. Group target tasks in Addon Options turns it off.
- 2026-10-24A CSAR rescue no longer writes four lines to the server RPT each time a pilot is rescued.
- 2026-10-24Task pins are now Arma's own icon for each kind of task in white on your side's NATO frame, replacing the 4 styles and 4 symbol sets. A soldier's map answers use ALiVE's pins too.
- 2026-10-24A rescued CSAR pilot gets out of the panic kneel, takes his gun in hand and follows the player who leads the group.
- 2026-10-24Asking a friendly soldier what he's seen or where he's headed shows his answer instead of leaving "He checks with his squad leader..." on screen. The buttons read Friendlies near?, Enemy seen? and Where to?, with tooltips, and asking again replaces that question's marks instead of adding more.
- 2026-10-24A Kill HVT briefing names the 1 km grid square when there's no named place nearby, instead of reading "near !".
- 2026-10-23A Player Orders task no longer lets the same kind of task be handed out again while the group still has one open.
- 2026-10-23New setting Tasks Only Against Known Enemy aims tasks against enemy vehicles, air defences, infantry, buildings and installations only at what your side's AI Commander knows of: its units' sightings plus spot reports and what prisoners, civilians and informants tell you. Open Asset Tasks Cap limits how many of those tasks a side has open at once. Both are off by default.
- 2026-10-23New setting Maximum Task Distance (m) keeps generated tasks within that distance of the player they're built round, and the next auto task starts from the player nearest the last one. 0, the default, changes nothing.
- 2026-10-23New setting Informant Extraction makes Extract Informant hot (enemy already in his town), timed (a hunter team and a clock, set by Informant Hunt Time) or cold (he's debriefed at the hand-over), or picks one at random. Classic, the default, is the task as before. Questioning Reveals Hostages and HVTs (20% by default) lets a prisoner or informant give up a hostage or an HVT instead of a destroy task.
- 2026-10-23Preparation tasks still open when the AI Commander's assault goes in are cancelled, with a warning from HQ two minutes before.
- 2026-10-23A recon task's two observation posts can be manned in either order. A minute at OP 2 ticks it off straight away, and OP 1 then closes the task.
- 2026-10-23If a Destroy AA site you were given is destroyed by someone else, HQ says who did it ("destroyed by friendly A-164 Wipeout (CAS)") and there's no reward. Your own kill, or no known killer, is the usual success.
- 2026-10-23Task pins are about 30% bigger on the map, so the drawing on each disc reads at normal zoom.
- 2026-10-23With Tidy map labels on, a task's name is written in black beside its pin by ALiVE, clear of other names, instead of by a second marker 30 m to the east.
- 2026-10-23The tablet's auto-task buttons read Enable Tactical, Disable Tactical, Enable Strategic and Disable Strategic, so the text fits the button instead of being cut off.
- 2026-10-23Every task type has its own pin, Arma's icon for it on your side's NATO frame, on the map and heading the task in the task list. Each player picks ALiVE's pins or Arma's own in Addon Options, ALiVE > Game > Map pins and markers, and mission makers can place the pins from the ALiVE Task Pins group in the marker list. See the Task Pins page for all 33.
- 2026-10-23New setting Delivery Destination decides where hand-over tasks end. Informant Exfiltration and VIP Escort can finish at the nearest Player FOB or friendly base, Aid Delivery and Supply Convoy can set off from one, and Rescue and CSAR bring their people back to one. Alt+click on the tablet's task map picks the point for any of these tasks, not only Rescue.
- 2026-10-23A task pin now follows the informant, the VIP, the aid vehicle or the aid crate when it moves, for the Informant Exfiltration and VIP Escort pickups, the Aid Delivery rally and the Medical Outreach crate. The pin moves again once the target is 20 m away from it, with no popup.
- 2026-10-23New setting Tablet Task List. With Only the picked task types, the tablet's Generate Task list offers just the types ticked in Override Auto-Generated Tasks. It works on a dedicated server, and with nothing ticked every type is listed.
- 2026-10-23On a dedicated server the tablet's task generator now lists only the enemy factions when the enemy faction filter is on. It used to list every faction there, though it worked in the editor.
- 2026-10-23The OPCOM Orders menu gets 2 new entries while an AI Commander with Choice After Recon is waiting for an answer: Take the Targets Ourselves, and Hand the Targets to the Commander.
- 2026-10-22Reconnoitre Objective is now a real recon: reach an FRV short of the objective, then man two observation posts on different sides of it for a minute each. Only enemy you actually spot is reported, vehicles included.
- 2026-10-22A new task type, Reconnoitre Objective, given by an AI Commander with Tasks Only Against Known Enemy before an attack: overwatch, then a minute watching the objective, and the enemy groups there are reported.
- 2026-10-22The tablet's C2ISTAR menu has Request CAS whenever the mission has an Air Component Commander: click the target on the map and the request goes to the commander that flies for your side.
- 2026-10-21Holding Distribute Aid on an aid delivery task, or Unload Supplies on a supply convoy, no longer pops up a "Picture ... not found" error. Both now show a box icon.
- 2026-10-20The AI Commander can now hand out two kinds of task when its new settings are on: clean-up tasks (remove IEDs, destroy vehicles, or an aid delivery and a meeting with the local leader) round an objective it has just taken, and a wiretap task at an enemy-held objective before it attacks. A wiretap task can now be pointed at a given comms building.
- 2026-10-20A kill-the-recruiter task no longer points at the Recruitment HQ. It has no marker until your side has spotted him or one of you is within 200 m, then it points at him and follows him. Questioned, he names his own HQ first.
- 2026-10-20Prisoner intel lists groups holding their ground first. A moving group's mark reads enemy moving and follows the group for its ten minutes, with a second mark where it's heading.
- 2026-10-20A prisoner left tied up where he was taken is now removed once no player is within the spawn radius (1,500 m by default). One tied up at a prison stays.
- 2026-10-19A prisoner left tied up and released later is now removed once no player is within 1 km. Before, he was only checked once, so one released after that check stayed for the rest of the mission.
- 2026-10-19Typed number settings show their unit: AI Takes Over Slow Tasks (min), Command Point Radius (m), COP Anchor Distance (m), COP Update Interval (s), Player Objective Cooldown (s) and AI Surrender Chance (%).
- 2026-10-19Every C2ISTAR screen has a Back button: inside a tablet it steps back a page, and on the first page it opens the C2ISTAR menu, which now reopens in the ALiVE menu's grey style. Logistics, the Combat Support radio, SITREP and PATROLREP gained one; clicking the C2ISTAR icon in ACE opens the menu too.
- 2026-10-18A side gets one automatic task at a time, and not two of the same kind while another can be picked. An HVT task's "Eliminate the target" now always sits under "Assassinate the HVT", and finishing a task clears its subtasks from the list.
- 2026-10-18Every task target carries a Wallet (ID): the high value target, the hostage, a downed pilot, and the VIPs, informant, local leader and contacts of the Hearts and Minds tasks. Take it from his body, or from him as a prisoner, and a hint says who he was.
- 2026-10-18A prisoner who talks at a prison also gives his captors' side a task: destroy an insurgent installation he knew of within reach, else the nearest group he named. One per prisoner and one per side every 20 minutes, and none while Automatic Player Tasks is off.
- 2026-10-18The Intel, Operations, Tasks and Personnel tablets show Back on their first page too. It closes the tablet and opens the C2ISTAR menu again at its list of tablets. Logistics and the Combat Support radio stay as they were.
- 2026-10-18A question that can't be answered now replies "has already told you what he knows".
- 2026-10-18New setting Field Questioning Lies (%), default 0. A prisoner who lies in the field marks positions 800 m to 2 km off and gives up no installations. Never at a prison, never a captured recruiter.
- 2026-10-18A prison is a map marker placed in the editor with "prison" as the first word of its name or text. A prisoner must be inside an area marker, or within 50 m of any other. Players can't make one by drawing a marker.
- 2026-10-18A prisoner questioned at a prison always talks: he marks up to 6 of his side's groups within 3 km of where he was taken and reveals installations. One questioned in the field can be questioned once more at a prison.
- 2026-10-17Allow Player Objectives now covers obj recon markers too: the commander sends a foot group to scout the place.
- 2026-10-17The crate version of the Aid Delivery task now says to deliver the crate, by helicopter or in a vehicle, instead of calling it an airlift; the setting is now Aid Crate Chance.
- 2026-10-17New Command Point Classes and Command Point Radius settings: every object of a listed class, however it was placed (Eden, Zeus, a script, a FOB), opens the C2ISTAR, Combat Support and Player Combat Logistics menus to a player within the radius (10 m by default).
- 2026-10-17Allow Player Objectives is now on by default, and covers objectives set from the map as well as the tablet.
- 2026-10-16Any object can be a command post. Mark it with this setVariable ["ALiVE_accessPoint", true, true]; in its init, and a player within 10 m gets the C2ISTAR, Combat Support and Player Combat Logistics menus without carrying a tablet. A number instead of true sets the radius in metres.
- 2026-10-16A Defensive Counter Air task no longer goes out with a blank target and "NaN" bearings on the radio. No task is made for an aircraft that's already gone.
- 2026-10-16The BRAA bearing in the radio call is now a compass bearing from you, not relative to the way you happen to be facing.
- 2026-10-16Static AT launchers (Titan AT, Mini-Spike, AT-3) no longer produce Suppress or Destroy Enemy Air Defence tasks. Titan AA and the AA guns still do.
- 2026-10-15Attack waves in Military Defence, Checkpoint Partnership, Market Reopening and Secure Community Event stay out of simulated combat for 15 minutes, or until players are near enough for them to spawn, so they're not wiped out unseen.
- 2026-10-15The task screens on the tablet (Current Tasks, the add, edit and generate buttons, the field labels, the auto-task buttons) now follow the game's language, in all 7 languages. Worth a look with the game set to something other than English.
- 2026-10-14AI task takeover (minutes, 0 never) and COP update interval (seconds, 15 to 120) are now typed numbers instead of a few fixed choices (#1083).
- 2026-10-14A VIP you escort now gets on with their job at the destination before the trip back, and the task waits for them (#1082).
- 2026-10-14Aid Delivery can now give you a relief crate to sling-load under a helicopter (or carry in a vehicle) instead of a van. Set how often with the new Aid Airlift Chance on C2ISTAR, 0 by default. A pickup with no road nearby is always an airlift.
- 2026-10-14SEAD, air defence and destroy tasks no longer send you after the same target twice: a target already in a live task is skipped for 30 minutes.
- 2026-10-14Hearts and Minds tasks now end with players holding the area for the Civic Hold Time, 120 seconds by default.
- 2026-10-14Task updates can reach you as subtitles, ALiVE hints or chat lines, set in Addon Options.
- 2026-10-13Air situation notices only come when an air commander flies for an enemy side. New setting Only Against An Enemy Air Commander, on by default.
- 2026-10-12C2ISTAR messages (the air picture, Talk to soldier, player orders, automatic tasks switched off) now show in the ALiVE message box, with the logo and the module's name as the title, instead of a plain hint.
- 2026-10-12New Talk to Soldier Interaction setting: open Talk to soldier from the ACE menu, the scroll wheel or both. Auto (the default) keeps ACE when it's loaded and the scroll wheel when it isn't.
- 2026-10-12The side briefing lists ground transport among its Combat Support.
- 2026-10-12The Talk to soldier window, its answers and the markers they leave follow the game's language.
- 2026-10-11Random soldier picks for CQB, IED bombers and Rescue tasks always finish, and skip spawner, base and UAV AI classes.
- 2026-10-11AI Surrender Chance takes any percentage from 0 to 100; missions saved with one of the old choices keep their value.
- 2026-10-11Talk to soldier: a window like Civilian Interaction for prisoners (question, restrain, follow me, stay here, search, release) and friendly AI soldiers (friendly units, what they have seen, where they are headed), from the scroll wheel or the ACE menu.
- 2026-10-11A group that opts out of the AI Commander's automatic orders on the tablet stays out after a persistent mission is reloaded. Before, a restart put every group back in.
- 2026-10-10A task that is cancelled or fails gives back the friendly group sent to help with it, as a finished one does.
- 2026-10-10New setting AI Takes Over Slow Tasks: a task still open after 15, 30 or 60 minutes gets the nearest idle friendly AI group sent to it, and HQ says so on the radio.
- 2026-10-10Asking about friendly units marks tracked APCs as mechanised, not armour.
- 2026-10-10Pressing Auto Generate while automatic player tasks are off now says why nothing arrives.
- 2026-10-10A soldier who surrenders leaves his old unit for good: it no longer brings him back armed when it respawns.
- 2026-10-10Enemy soldiers can surrender once their group is broken, and players can question them for intel.
- 2026-10-10Friendly AI soldiers can be asked where the other friendly units are; they're marked on your map for two minutes.
- 2026-10-10New Task Blacklist setting keeps generated tasks out of marked areas, such as your base.
- 2026-10-10Air superiority can be judged on fighters alone with the new Air Situation Counts setting.
- 2026-10-10The Air Picture page now says who holds the air: us, the enemy, contested, or a clear sky.
- 2026-10-10Players are told when enemy aircraft kill their side's men or vehicles, on the Air Picture page.
- 2026-10-10Each Enemy slot in Auto Task Factions now takes several factions; each auto task goes after one of them.
- 2026-10-10Players are told when an enemy aircraft goes down, on a new Air Picture page in the map diary.
- 2026-10-10New Generate Briefing setting writes each side a briefing in the map diary from the mission's own modules.
- 2026-10-10Generate Task: pick Rescue, then Alt+click the map to set where the hostage is brought back.
- 2026-10-09Eliminate HVT's meeting is held indoors when a building within 50 m has room, on the building's own floor positions.
- 2026-10-09Eliminate HVT's target and his guard no longer end up under a house's raised floor; with no building nearby the meeting is held in the open.
- 2026-10-09Attack waves in Checkpoint Partnership, Market Reopening and Secure Community Event start at least 300 m from your side's groups.
- 2026-10-09VIP Escort and Informant Exfiltration complete when you bring the VIP or informant to the drop-off by vehicle; boarding threw a script error that stopped the task.
- 2026-10-09Deleting your last tablet task now clears it from the save, so it no longer comes back on the next load.
- 2026-10-09Automatic orders skip a player whose group is already on a task, or who holds a task they asked for, so a task you chose is no longer replaced.
- 2026-10-09Settings that do nothing until their switch is on now say so first in their tooltip: the Commander Intel (COP) settings and the six civic multipliers.
- 2026-10-09The Setup Wiretap action appears for a player carrying S.O.G.'s toolkit as well.
- 2026-10-09T.R.A.C.E. squares a side has cleared stay green after a reload. Before, every square started red again.
- 2026-10-09The commander map marks an objective as held only where the side has units. An objective nobody had visited, even one out at sea, used to show as held.
- 2026-10-09In a game hosted by a player, task markers reach every player. The host used to draw them all on its own map.
- 2026-10-07When every military site nearby is already held, a defence task's new site is now put down at least 500 m from other defence tasks.
- 2026-10-07Two players or groups are no longer sent to the same objective. Capture and defence tasks pick a place no other task of their side holds, and give it back when they end.
- 2026-10-06Combat Search and Rescue comes from real AI pilots now: when one ejects from a plane and lands alive, the task is raised where the pilot came down.
- 2026-10-06New setting, Pilot Rescue Timeout, 30 minutes by default. When it runs out the task is cancelled and the pilot, marker and strobe are cleared.
- 2026-10-06A rescued pilot joins your group without leading it. Rescue is no longer in the random task pool or the tablet's request list.
- 2026-10-04Opening the C2 tablet no longer writes the whole C2ISTAR code into the RPT three times (#1064).
- 2026-10-03The COP now shows objectives the AI Commander is scouting as Recon, so Show Recon Markers, Recon Marker Colour and Recon Marker Icon take effect. Scouted objectives showed as Attacking.
- 2026-10-03A C2ISTAR module made by script now allows Spectate, Join and IMINT and has full Intel Coverage, as one placed in the editor does.
- 2026-10-03Installation icons now appear on the COP map, both the Installation choice for an objective's centre icon and the insurgent factory icon. They pointed at a file the game doesn't have.
- 2026-09-28The T.R.A.C.E. tooltip now says each square is 100 m. On maps wider than 10 km two squares no longer share a name, so every square is drawn and tracked.
- 2026-09-28A player joining late now gets one T.R.A.C.E. message per square rather than every colour change since the mission started.
- 2026-09-28An enemy sitting in a vehicle now counts as an enemy nearby, so a T.R.A.C.E. square no longer turns green with an enemy crew parked beside it.
- 2026-09-28Every player now sees the COP detail for the mode that's set. Only the host did before; everyone else got Advanced trails, rings and arrows from Partial up.
- 2026-09-28COP contacts count 1 per group, where an 8-man squad showed x8, and a movement arrow only shows when a group is heading for a waypoint.
- 2026-09-28The COP's friendly layer no longer draws a label over your own name.
- 2026-09-28COP text is one plain face with a thin dark outline, and the A, D and R letters beside enemy symbols now show.
- 2026-09-28Marker labels on the main map and every ALiVE tablet use the COP's plain face now, where they were bold.
- 2026-09-28Task and destination pins are drawn flat, with no drop shadow.
- 2026-09-28The COP overlay now tells vehicles apart: tracked APCs and IFVs show as mechanised, self-propelled guns as artillery and mobile AA as AA. All of them used to show as armour.
- 2026-09-28Artillery, AA and anti-tank groups now get their own COP markers instead of the unknown one, and static AA and AT weapons and boats are recognised. AT shows as infantry, labelled AT.
- 2026-09-28Mechanised groups are now always shown on the COP, but without the threat ring tanks carry.
- 2026-09-28A task's target vehicle marker now shows cars and trucks as motorised and boats as naval, where they had the recon and unknown markers.
- 2026-09-28Map Intel markers now keep each side's own colour, BLUFOR blue, OPFOR red and Independent green, as on the rest of the map. They used to be blue for your side and red for everyone else.
- 2026-09-28The tablet's Strategic button now starts and stops Strategic tasks for your side, whatever the editor set. A press while Automatic Player Tasks is off counts once it's back on.
- 2026-09-28In a game hosted by a player, everyone on a task now hears its radio lines, once each. They used to play only on the host's screen, once per player. A mission with its own CfgRemoteExec needs to allow
ALIVE_fnc_radioBroadcast. - 2026-09-28Kill, civilian casualty and logistics markers now follow Map Intel Visibility instead of showing to every player, and a kill also shows to the side that made it. Friendly Coverage shows each side's units only to that side and the sides friendly to it.
- 2026-09-28COP Friendly BFT is now Auto, On or Off; on Auto, friendly positions show only at Full and Advanced. Automatic Player Tasks on No stops Constant tasks too, and Strategic tasks come from every faction of the chosen commander. An IED Disposal task whose IED has gone is called off, and unticking every civic family turns them all off.
- 2026-09-25Failing a hearts-and-minds task now costs you: the town turns more hostile and loses support. Before, most failures won the town over just as a success did.
- 2026-09-25Each task result now counts once, so a success gives half what it did, and repeating the same task in one town gives less each time.
- 2026-09-25Duplicate Task Penalty, the failure multipliers and civic retaliation now take effect. Retaliation only follows a success.
- 2026-09-2514 settings, including Access Item Categories and Minimum Task Distance, have tooltips that now match what they do. In the access list, ALiVE Tablet is now Combat Support Tablet and the ACE radios entry lists the 2 ACRE radios it takes.
- 2026-09-25In a hosted game, the reinforcement level message after a task reward now reaches every player on that side once, instead of repeating on the host.
- 2026-09-24Leaving one Auto Task Factions slot blank no longer throws away the other five picks, and reopening the module keeps every pick in its own slot.
- 2026-09-18With Friendly Coverage switched on, system chat no longer fills with "creating debug markers". The friendly markers themselves are unchanged.
- 2026-09-16Every player gets the access item the mission chose, not just the host. Access Item Categories decides what you have to be carrying to open the tablet.
- 2026-09-16On a dedicated server everyone but the host quietly fell back to the Laser Designators default, so a mission asking for radios or binoculars had its choice ignored. In game it read as only the host having a tablet.
- 2026-09-16Combat Support had the same fault and was fixed earlier; the tablet is now in line with it.
- 2026-09-16Worth a look on a dedicated server if you set the categories to anything other than the default.
- 2026-09-15The commander map now marks an objective an allied faction holds. On missions with a friendly second faction those objectives were left unmarked.
- 2026-08-27A capture order now sends you to the objective the AI Commander actually chose. It could previously point you at the edge of a different one entirely.
- 2026-08-26Capture orders no longer dry up part way through a mission. The commander used to run out of places to send you the longer the mission ran.
- 2026-08-19Tasks that ask you to bring a building down now finish when you bring it down. On a dedicated server they stayed open for the rest of the mission. Affects Sabotage Installation, Destroy Building, Insurgency Destroy Assets and Support the Air Strike.
- 2026-08-18Tasks no longer stop being handed out for the rest of a mission, with every task frozen at whatever stage it had reached.
- 2026-08-18Asking the commander for a different order no longer risks tasks drying up for the rest of the mission.
- 2026-08-15Asking for a different order no longer costs you the one you had. If nothing can be found to replace it, you're told your current order stands.
- 2026-08-15Turning down a request no longer hands you an order anyway, and you're offered the nearest free objective rather than the furthest. A new setting decides how many requests must pass before the same kind of order can come back, two by default.
- 2026-08-14Requesting an order from the commander is more reliable; groups that should have been eligible were all being treated as busy. Worth reporting any request that still comes back with nothing.
- 2026-08-14A new Automatic Player Tasks setting stops everything arriving unprompted: no rescues, air taskings, counter battery, convoy protection or commander orders. The commander menu can switch it mid-mission, and orders you ask for from the tablet still work with it off.
- 2026-08-14Opting a group out of automatic orders now stops every kind of automatic task. Rescues, air taskings, counter battery and convoy protection all still arrived before.
- 2026-08-14The two OPCOM order options grey out when they can't do anything: Request Order while your group is already busy, Request Different Order when there's nothing to replace.
- 2026-08-14Asking for a different OPCOM order no longer walks in circles. Each group now remembers its last four orders and steers away from all of them, so repeated requests stop cycling between the same two or three.
- 2026-08-13Asking OPCOM for a different order now replaces your group's current task instead of adding another one alongside it.
- 2026-08-13A reroll no longer hands you the same objective and the same task type again.
- 2026-08-13Units the cancelled task had reserved now return to the pool. If your group holds a task that didn't come from the tablet you'll be told it can't be rerolled there, which is expected.
- 2026-08-13Worth retesting: request several different orders in a row and check the list replaces rather than grows, and that the objectives vary.
- 2026-08-10Taking over an AI unit through Operations can be undone. Operations now shows whatever you're carrying while a takeover is active, and its Cancel Instant Join button puts you back in your own body. The other commander entries still need the tablet.
- 2026-08-06Noted that the three player-designated-objective settings are not yet translated, so the delivered lane no longer claims full translation.
- 2026-08-06Panels line up consistently across every tablet display, and Mapbag scaling now matches the reworked tablet. The mission log no longer fills with automatic task position lookups. Worth reporting any panel that looks misaligned or clipped.
- 2026-07-31A new task asks players to mark an air strike target with a laser designator while the aircraft runs in, and new settings let mission makers allow players to designate objectives for the AI commander.
- 2026-07-27Overhaul briefing first published.