ALiVE.OS · ALiVE 3 Development

Find Out Before Attacking

Have the AI Commander scout an objective, and show players what it found, before its assault goes in.

New in the dev build

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 Find Out Before Attacking does

Normally an AI Commander sends its first groups to look at an objective and attacks straight after. With Find Out Before Attacking on, an Invasion, Occupation or Assault commander holds the assault until it knows what's waiting. Its own recon groups, a recce flight and the players can all report, and what they saw decides when the assault goes in and what its airstrike aims at. Once the objective falls, it works out what became of the enemy there and moves on knowing more. Military planners call this kind of cycle F3EAD: find, fix, finish, exploit, analyse, disseminate.

It's off by default and takes three settings on the Military AI Commander module, plus a fourth to show players what the commander knows. A Military Air Component Commander and a Player Command/Control (C2ISTAR) module each add a source of intel, but neither is needed. Players can watch it all on the tablet's Commander's Picture, which the C2ISTAR module's Commander's Picture setting controls.

Find Out Before Attacking

How the AI Commander finds out before it attacks

With Find Out Before Attacking on, an Invasion, Occupation or Assault commander holds each assault while its recon, a recce flight and the players report what's at the objective. How sure it is decides when the assault goes in, and Intel Markers and the tablet show players the same picture. Once it takes the objective, it follows up on the enemy it saw there.

Picks an objectiveAn Invasion, Occupation or Assault commander with Find Out Before Attacking on picks an objective to attack and sends its recon groups to look, as it always has. Its assault groups then hold where they are.
Gathers what it canIts recon groups report what they saw. With a Military Air Component Commander in the mission, a recce flight reports once a minute while it's over the objective. With a C2ISTAR module, players on its side get a Reconnoitre Objective task there.
Works out how sure it isIt's fully sure when what it has seen in the last 10 minutes covers at least half the ground round the objective, such as two of its four sides. With Intel Markers on, players see a yellow area, a label such as Intel: 2 seen, 25% sure, and a dot for each group seen.
The assaultOnce it reaches Intel Needed Before Attacking the area turns red. The assault goes in then, or as soon as everyone it sent has reported. An airstrike it calls on the objective aims at up to three of the vehicle groups it saw, the newest first; with none seen it hits a building. A player can also order Go now from the tablet's Commander's Picture.
Out of timeIf Intel Wait (minutes), 20 by default, runs out first, the assault goes ahead on what is known. With a recce flight coming, it counts from when the air commander accepted it.
Follows upWhen the objective is taken, the commander goes over each enemy group seen there: destroyed, falling back toward another objective, or not accounted for. It tells the side on the radio, such as "At Agia Marina, 3 enemy groups were seen: 1 destroyed, 1 last seen falling back toward Kamino, 1 not accounted for. Kamino is next.", and moves on to where most fell back, its recon there starting from what's already known.
DoneAn objective lost or given up while it waits is let go. Its markers go once it's taken, lost or given up.

Worth knowing. With the setting off, nothing changes. A recce flight is waited for up to Intel Wait, counted from when the air commander accepted it, and it's over once the flight is home or lost; one it never answers is given up after 10 minutes. On an Assault commander, a wave that falls due while it's still finding out goes in anyway. What the commander finds joins what it knows of the enemy, so Tasks Only Against Known Enemy can use it. A mission that limits remoteExec must allow ALiVE_fnc_OPCOMIntelMarkers for clients, with jip on, or players see no markers.

What it does

What changes when it's on

Ground

Its recon groups look first

The groups the commander sends to look at an objective, its SpecOps groups first, report what they see. With the setting off it attacks as soon as they've looked; with it on, the assault waits, its groups holding where they are, until the commander knows enough.

Air

A recce flight reports from overhead

With a Military Air Component Commander in the mission, the commander asks it for a recce flight. Once the aircraft is over the objective it reports, once a minute, any enemy it can see clearly. Intel Wait counts from when the air commander accepts the recce, so a slow flight that's coming still gets its full wait; one it never answers is given up after 10 minutes. The recce is over once the flight is home or lost, and a late report doesn't reopen it.

Players

Players get a Reconnoitre Objective task

With a C2ISTAR module placed and Automatic Player Tasks on, players on the commander's side are given a Reconnoitre Objective task at the objective. What they report from its observation posts counts like the commander's own recon.

Decide

It attacks when it's sure enough

The commander is fully sure when what it has seen in the last 10 minutes covers at least half the ground round the objective, such as two of its four sides. The assault goes in once it reaches Intel Needed Before Attacking, everyone it sent has reported, or Intel Wait runs out, whichever comes first. On an Assault (waves) commander, a wave that falls due while it's still finding out goes in anyway.

Strike

Its airstrike goes for the vehicles it saw

An airstrike the commander calls on the objective aims at up to three enemy vehicle groups its recon saw there, the most recently seen first, at their last known position. If it saw no vehicles, it strikes a building as before.

Map

Players see what it knows

With Intel Markers on, players on the commander's side see an area round each objective it's finding out about, a label such as "Intel: 1 seen, 25% sure" and a dot for each group seen. The area turns from yellow to red once the commander is sure enough, and the markers go when the objective is taken or the attack is given up. The tablet's Commander's Picture shows the same positions; with Intel Markers off it shows counts only.

Follow-up

After a capture it checks what became of the enemy

When it takes an objective it was finding out about, the commander goes over each enemy group its side saw there, judged only from what the side knows: destroyed (gone from where it was last seen), falling back toward one of its other objectives (seen again further off), or not accounted for. The side hears it on the radio, such as "At Agia Marina, 3 enemy groups were seen: 1 destroyed, 1 last seen falling back toward Kamino, 1 not accounted for. Kamino is next." An objective it held through a fight is reported only when the enemy lost groups there.

It moves on knowing what's there

The objective most of them fell back toward goes to the front of its list, and its recon there starts from what's already known ("Moving on Kamino. 2 enemy groups are already known there."). The attack uses the picture too: capture targets are the groups it knows are there, where they are now; preparation fire hits groups seen within 250 m in the last 10 minutes; and how dangerous it looks counts groups seen in the last 15 minutes, including what the air recon saw. Destroyed groups are never aimed at or counted.

Tablet

Players watch it on the Commander's Picture

The tablet's Commander's Picture, opened from its own C2ISTAR menu entry or the Commander button on the Intel page, lists each objective the commander is finding out about: how sure it is, whether it's looking, going in or has taken it, where air, ground and player recon have got to, and what happened to the enemy once it falls. Pick a row and the map goes there. With C2ISTAR's Commander's Picture on Read and orders, players allowed to give orders also get Go now, Look again (up to 10 more minutes, twice per objective) and Strike (close air support on the latest vehicle seen there).

How to use it

Getting started

Place an Invasion, Occupation or Assault commanderSet up a Military AI Commander as usual, with objectives from Military Placement modules. Asymmetric and Dug In commanders don't use this. On Assault (waves), a wave that falls due while it's still finding out goes in anyway.
Turn it onOn the commander, under PLAYER TASKS, set Find Out Before Attacking to Yes. Leave Intel Needed Before Attacking on 0.5 to start with, or lower it for a quicker assault on less.
Set how long it may waitIntel Wait (minutes) is 20 by default. The assault never waits longer than this, so a short wait suits a fast campaign and a long one a slow, careful enemy.
Add the extra sources (optional)Place a Military Air Component Commander for the same side so the commander can ask for recce flights, with Recce among its allowed missions. Place a Player Command/Control (C2ISTAR) module so players on its side get a Reconnoitre Objective task.
Show players what it knows (optional)Set Intel Markers to Yes. If your mission limits remoteExec with CfgRemoteExec, allow ALiVE_fnc_OPCOMIntelMarkers for clients, with jip on, or no markers are drawn.
Let players watch it on the tablet (optional)On the C2ISTAR module, Commander's Picture is Read only by default; Off hides it. In game, open it from the C2ISTAR menu entry Commander's Picture, or the Commander button on the tablet's Intel page. Read and orders adds Go now, Look again and Strike for players allowed to give orders. Positions show on its map only with Intel Markers on.
Play and watch an objectiveJoin the commander's side and open the map. Each objective it's about to attack gets a yellow area that turns red once it's sure enough, then its groups move in. Once it's taken, listen for the radio report and watch the commander move on to where the enemy fell back.

Recent work

Where it stands

In the dev build since 31 October 2026Scouting before the assault, the recce flight's reports, the airstrike on known vehicles and the Intel Markers all went in together. Each was tested on Stratis, some with RHS.
Follow-up and the tablet, from 31 October 2026After a capture the commander now reports what became of the enemy and moves on to where they fell back, and players can watch and steer it on the tablet's Commander's Picture.

Status

Where it stands

Delivered

Find Out Before Attacking

Recon groups, recce flights and the players' recon task feed one picture per objective, and the assault waits on it, up to Intel Wait.

Airstrike on known vehicles

The commander's airstrike aims at up to three vehicle groups it has seen at the objective.

Intel Markers

Players on the commander's side see what it knows of each objective on their map.

Follow-up after a capture

Destroyed, falling back or not accounted for, told on the radio, with the next objective starting partly known.

Commander's Picture on the tablet

Players see what the commander knows, and with Read and orders can tell it Go now, Look again or Strike.

In progress

Testing in missions

Checking the wait feels right in longer campaigns, and that markers and assaults line up on dedicated servers.

Testing

How you can help

Place an Invasion commander with objectives, set Find Out Before Attacking and Intel Markers to Yes, and play on its side. Watch an objective it's about to attack: a yellow area should appear with a label, its dots should grow as reports come in, and the area should turn red before the assault goes in. Add a Military Air Component Commander and look for a recce flight over the objective first; add C2ISTAR and you should get a Reconnoitre Objective task there. Set Intel Wait to 2 on a map where nothing can see the objective and check the assault still goes in when the wait runs out. Report the map, the commander's settings and the RPT lines starting [OPCOM INTEL] if anything looks wrong. Take an objective it was finding out about and listen for the radio report of destroyed, falling back and not accounted for groups, then check the next attack goes where they fell back. Open the Commander's Picture from the C2ISTAR menu and check the rows, and with Read and orders try Go now, Look again (a third time is turned down) and Strike with a vehicle known there.

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

2026-11-03
The groups the commander sends to look at an objective are now its SpecOps groups first, nearest first, with ordinary groups filling any places left. A side with no SpecOps groups picks as before.
2026-11-01
In Eden the AI Commander's intel and scouting settings only show for the control types that use them.
2026-10-31
From the Commander's Picture players can order Go now, Look again (up to 10 more minutes, twice per objective) or Strike (close air support on the latest enemy vehicle seen there).
2026-10-31
The C2ISTAR tablet's Intel page has a Commander button: the Commander's Picture lists each objective the commander is finding out about, how sure it is, and shows the groups seen there on the map when Intel Markers is on.
2026-10-31
Once an objective it was finding out about falls, the commander tells its side what happened to each enemy group seen there, and moves on to where most of them fell back, starting its recon with what's already known.
2026-10-31
Page first published, covering Find Out Before Attacking, recce flight reports, airstrikes on known vehicles and Intel Markers.