ALiVE.OS · ALiVE 3 Development
Intelligence
Automatic battlefield intel markers for enemy contacts and friendly orders, with older placeable intel modules now deprecated
In development · 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 Intelligence does
This addon provides the map-marker layer that shows intelligence about the battlefield: enemy contact reports and friendly attack, recon and capture markers. None of it is on out of the box. Once a Player Command/Control (C2ISTAR) module is synced to an OPCOM with Display Map Intel set to Yes and that OPCOM's side ticked under Commander Intel Sides, the layer runs in the background, feeding markers to players on the matching side as orders are issued and contacts are spotted. The addon also still contains three older modules (Military Intelligence, Military Sector Display, and Player Sector Display) from an earlier design. All three are now hidden from the editor and cannot be placed at all, and their in-game names carry a warning to remove them from any mission that still has one; their old settings (random intel chance, a friendly-unit display radius, and periodic sector marker updates) have moved to the Player Command and Control module.
The markers won't appear on their own. Sync a Player Command/Control (C2ISTAR) module to your OPCOM, set Display Map Intel to Yes, and tick that OPCOM's side under Commander Intel Sides. Both default to off, and if either one is left alone no intel markers are drawn at all. Mission makers who still have the old Military Intelligence, Military Sector Display, or Player Sector Display modules in existing missions should remove them, since the game itself now flags them as deprecated.
Capabilities
What it handles
Enemy contact reports on the map
When enemy units are spotted, a marker showing their approximate type, position, and heading appears on the map for the matching side, in the enemy side's colour. Confidence fades over about three minutes, and the marker fades and disappears if the contact goes stale, so old sightings do not linger as if they were current. With the Command overlay (COP) on, the overlay draws the contacts instead.
Friendly attack markers
When a commander orders an attack on an objective, a labelled circle marker (for example "BLUFOR Attacking") appears over that objective for players on the matching side, and clears automatically once the objective is captured or the attack is called off.
Recon and capture approach markers
During a recon or capture order, a shaded line and advance arrow show the direction friendly forces are pushing in on the objective, then disappear once that order finishes.
Older intel modules (deprecated and hidden)
Three older modules from this addon, Military Intelligence, Military Sector Display and Player Sector Display, are still shipped but are hidden from the editor and cannot be placed. They also do nothing if an old mission file still contains one, so remove them. Their settings now live on the Player Command and Control module.
Recent work
What's changed lately
- Friendly order markers now say whose order it isAttack markers over an objective are now labelled with the acting side, for example "OPFOR Attacking" instead of just "Attacking", so it is clear at a glance which side issued the order.
- Attack markers clear correctly when an objective is capturedPreviously a stale attack marker could be left sitting on ground that had already been captured. It now clears as soon as the capture completes, not just when the whole attack is called off.
- No more duplicate enemy markers when the Common Operating Picture overlay is onIf the Command overlay (COP) is switched on, by setting Commander Intel Mode (COP) on the Player Command/Control module to anything but Off, it draws its own richer enemy contact markers. This addon's older marker style then steps aside instead of drawing a second, duplicate marker on top. The recon and capture lines still show.
- Fewer wasted marker updates on empty mapsThe system that draws friendly order markers now skips sending an update when there is nobody on the matching side to see it, cutting down on unnecessary network chatter for smaller sides or missions with few or no players.
- Each side keeps its own colourContact markers and the commander's recon and capture lines now use each side's colour, BLUFOR blue, OPFOR red and Independent green, as on the rest of the map. They used to be blue for your own side and red for everyone else, so an OPFOR commander's lines looked like the enemy's.
- No script errors when an order's groups are goneAn attack or recon order whose groups were all killed or merged by the time it was drawn used to give every player on the side a run of script errors. Its front line is now left out.
Status
Where it stands
Automatic enemy contact markers
Spotted enemy groups get a marker showing rough type and heading, with confidence that fades and eventually removes the marker if the sighting goes stale.
Automatic friendly order markers
Attack, recon, and capture orders from the Command system are shown as markers on the map for the matching side, and clean themselves up once the order concludes.
Side-labelled attack/defend markers
Attack markers now state which side is attacking, and the attack marker is correctly cleared the moment an objective is captured rather than lingering.
No duplicate markers with the newer Command overlay
When the Command overlay (Commander Intel Mode on the Player Command/Control module) is on, this addon stops drawing its own overlapping enemy contact markers. The recon and capture lines stay.
Retiring the old placeable modules
The three legacy Eden modules in this addon are hidden from the editor and their init functions exit immediately, so they don't do anything, even for backward compatibility with older missions. They have not yet been removed outright.
Testing
How you can help
Set the markers up before you test them, they're off by default. Place a Player Command/Control (C2ISTAR) module, sync it to your OPCOM, set Display Map Intel to Yes, and tick that OPCOM's side under Commander Intel Sides (tick every side you want to test). Miss either setting and the map stays bare, which is the configuration and not a fault. Watch the map during a mission with active AI commanders: enemy contacts spotted by a ticked side should appear as fading markers for players on that side, and any attack, recon, or capture order should show a matching marker that disappears once that order is finished. Defend orders do not draw a marker. If Commander Intel Mode (COP) on the Player Command/Control module is set to anything but Off, confirm enemy contacts are not shown twice, and that the recon and capture lines still draw. Separately, if a mission still has the old Military Intelligence, Military Sector Display, or Player Sector Display modules placed, note that these are flagged deprecated in game and mission makers should be encouraged to remove them.
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
- 2026-10-28An "Attacking" circle now goes when the AI Commander drops the attack, for example after losing its attacking groups or when the objective is reset. Before, it could stay on the map, so a map could show more circles than the AI Commander's Max. simultan attacks setting allows.
- 2026-10-24ALiVE's own map pins (Addon Options, Map pins and markers) now cover the enemy units on spot reports, grouped into one pin with a count when close together.
- 2026-10-20An attack or recon order whose groups were all gone by the time it was drawn no longer gives every player on the side a run of script errors (a zero divisor, then a marker with no position). Its front line is left out.
- 2026-10-19Typed number settings now show their unit in the label, for example Friendly Radius (m) and Update time (min).
- 2026-10-15Friendly Intel set to No now turns it off. It stayed on whatever was picked.
- 2026-09-28Intel markers now keep each side's own colour and frame, BLUFOR blue, OPFOR red and Independent green, as on the rest of the map. They used to be blue for your own side and red for everyone else.
- 2026-09-28The commander's blocking lines and advance arrows now take its side's colour, and boats get the naval marker instead of the unknown one.
- 2026-09-18Enable Debug now starts off on the legacy Military Intelligence module. The option reported Yes as its default, but that module is hidden from the editor and its init exits immediately, so this setting had no effect either way.
- 2026-08-10A vehicle crew whose vehicle no longer exists is reported the same way dismounted troops always were, instead of dropping out of intelligence altogether. Worth watching for groups that go missing from reports after their vehicle is destroyed.
- 2026-08-06Page corrected: the three older intelligence modules are hidden from the editor and do nothing even in an old mission that still has one.
- 2026-08-06Page corrected: the three older intel modules are hidden from the editor and can no longer be placed, rather than merely discouraged.
- 2026-07-27Page first published.