ALiVE.OS · ALiVE 3 Development

Advanced Markers

Persistent, shareable map markers with optional spot reports, drawn straight on the map screen.

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 Advanced Markers does

Advanced Markers lets players mark the map without opening the mission editor. Hold CTRL and ALT and left-click the in-game map to open a marker dialog, where you pick an icon or shape and a colour. Tick the ADD spotrep box to attach a written spot report with a callsign, date-time group, grid location, enemy size and type, and remarks. That panel also holds the Eyes Only list that sets who can see the marker (everyone, your side, your faction, your group, or just you); if you never open it, the marker goes to your side. Markers can also be drawn on the map as lines, arrows, boxes, ellipses or free draw lines using keyboard shortcuts. Dialog markers, quick markers and drawn lines, boxes and ellipses are saved to the mission database, when database saving is enabled and a save has actually run, so they survive a server restart and reappear for players who join in progress. Drawn arrows and free draw lines aren't saved. Standard, non-ALiVE markers placed with the game's built-in tools are not saved by this system.

Capabilities

What it handles

Placement

Place and edit markers on the map

CTRL+ALT+left-click opens the Advanced Marker dialog to create a new marker, or edit one that already exists at that spot. CTRL+ALT+right-click deletes a marker. Quick markers can be dropped without opening the dialog by holding CTRL and pressing a shortcut key: one for a dot, one for an objective mark, and CTRL with SHIFT for an unknown mark.

Spot reports

Optional spot report on a marker

Ticking the spot report checkbox in the marker dialog adds fields for callsign, date-time group, location, enemy faction, size, activity, and remarks, building a proper spot report tied to that marker.

Visibility

Control who sees a marker

Each marker can be shared with everyone (unclassified), just your side, just your faction, just your group, or kept private to you, matching a simple classified-style labeling scheme in the dialog.

Drawing

Freehand drawing on the map

Cycle through drawing modes with the bracket key to draw lines, arrows, rectangles, ellipses or free draw lines directly on the map. Arrow keys adjust width or angle and change colour or fill while drawing; pressing END exits drawing mode.

Persistence

Markers persist and restore for late joiners

With the ALiVE Data module running, Advanced Markers (icon, shape, or spot report, plus drawn lines, boxes and ellipses) are written to the ALiVE database and restored automatically on mission restart. Players who join an already-running session get the markers their visibility setting covers, with or without the database.

How to use it

Getting started

Nothing to placeAdvanced Markers has no module of its own in the editor. The ALiVE (Required) module every ALiVE mission already has switches it on, so it's active as soon as your mission runs ALiVE. To turn it off, set Disable Adv Markers on that module to Yes.
Preview or host the missionAdvanced Markers only works once the mission is actually running, since marker placement and saving happen through in-game key combinations, not editor tools.
Place a marker in gameOpen the map, hold Ctrl and Alt, and left-click a spot to open the Advanced Marker dialog. Pick an icon or shape, a colour and an optional label.
Choose who sees it, add a spot report if wanted, and confirmTick ADD spotrep to show the spot report fields (callsign, DTG, location, enemy faction, size, type and activity, remarks) and the Eyes Only list: everyone, side, faction, group or private. The marker goes to your side unless you pick otherwise. Untick the box to keep your choice without a spot report, then confirm.
Delete or edit a markerHold Ctrl and Alt and right-click a marker to delete it, or left-click it to reopen the dialog and edit its details.
Confirm markers persistSave the mission (or wait for an autosave, if the mission has the ALiVE Data module and persistence set up), then restart it or have another player join in progress, and check that previously placed markers reappear on the map according to their saved visibility setting.

Recent work

What's changed lately

Saved markers reach players who join mid-missionPlayers who joined a mission already running used to get the saved markers and reports hit and miss. Now, as soon as a player's side is known, everything saved for that side goes back on their map. The same applies to players who start with the mission, who no longer depend on the briefing screen coming up in time.
Saved markers wait for ALiVE Data everywhereOn a hosted game or in singleplayer, saved markers used to start loading before ALiVE Data had finished starting, so they could miss the save. They now wait on every kind of server.
Deleting your last marker sticksWith persistence on, deleting your very last marker and restarting brought it back. An emptied marker store is now saved properly.
Free Draw worksFree Draw can now be reached when you cycle draw modes with the [ key; before, the cycle stopped at Ellipse and went back to Off. Strokes keep the colour you picked and no longer throw errors partway through. It has had little real use, so give it a go.
Messages show in the ALiVE message boxAdvanced Markers messages, such as the draw mode name and "not authorized", now appear in the ALiVE message box with the logo and the module's name as the title, instead of a plain hint.

Status

Where it stands

Delivered

Core marker placement, editing, and deletion

Creating and editing Advanced Markers with CTRL+ALT and left-click works on the in-mission map; on the briefing screen the marker dialog doesn't open. Deleting with CTRL+ALT and right-click works on both.

Spot reports and sharing rules

Markers can carry a full spot report (faction, size, activity, remarks), and visibility can be set to global, side, group, faction, or private, with restore respecting that setting.

Save and restore across restarts and late joins

With the ALiVE Data module running, markers are saved to the database and reappear after a restart. Players joining an already-running session get the markers they are allowed to see.

Working help hint

The double-click hint shows once per map (lobby and in-mission separately) with the correct controls.

Free Draw reachable and stable

Free Draw can be selected when cycling draw modes, keeps its colour and no longer throws errors. It still needs more real use.

In progress

Freehand drawing rough edges

The freehand line, arrow, box, ellipse and free draw tools are marked in the code as needing cleanup. Arrows and free draw lines in particular aren't saved between sessions and can't be deleted like other markers, and free draw lines only appear on your own map.

Permission checks are placeholders

The authorization check that is meant to restrict who can edit or delete someone else's marker currently allows any player to do so; only the basic "must be a player" check for creating a new marker is enforced.

Testing

How you can help

Place, edit, and delete markers with CTRL+ALT and left/right mouse click on the in-mission map, and check the double-click hint appears correctly on both the in-mission map and the briefing/lobby map. On the briefing/lobby map only deleting works; the marker dialog doesn't open there. Create a marker with a spot report attached and confirm the fields save correctly. Try each visibility option (global, side, group, faction, private) with more than one player connected and confirm only the intended players see each marker. Restart the mission or join in progress and confirm previously placed markers reappear as expected. Try the drawing shortcuts (bracket to cycle mode, arrow keys, END to exit) to draw a line, arrow, box, ellipse and a free draw line.

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

2026-10-23
A spot report now also makes the enemy near it known to your side's AI Commander, so C2ISTAR tasks set to known enemy only can be aimed at it.
2026-10-19
Players who join a mission already running now see the saved markers too, once their side is known; it used to be hit and miss.
2026-10-17
Saved markers now show for every player who starts with the mission, as soon as their side is known, not only when the briefing screen came up in time.
2026-10-12
Advanced Markers messages (draw mode, not allowed to edit or delete) now show in the ALiVE message box, with the logo and the module's name as the title, instead of a plain hint.
2026-10-03
On a hosted game or in singleplayer, saved markers now wait for ALiVE Data to finish starting before they load.
2026-09-28
Free Draw strokes now keep the colour you picked and stop throwing errors partway through. Deleting your last map marker now sticks after a restart; it used to come back.
2026-09-22
The map's own header is readable again while you're drawing. The draw mode name was printing on top of it, and the ALiVE panel names the mode anyway.
2026-09-22
Drawing in Free Draw mode stops throwing Not a Number errors into the log.
2026-09-22
Free Draw can be selected. Cycling draw modes with [ stopped at Ellipse and wrapped back to Off, so Free Draw was never reachable. Worth a look: it has never actually been used.
2026-08-06
The marker hint entry now states the outcome, without an explanation of the cause that didn't match the code.
2026-08-06
Corrected the quick marker shortcuts: they need CTRL rather than CTRL and ALT, and the unknown mark needs CTRL and SHIFT.
2026-08-06
Page corrected: this is not a module you place. Advanced Markers is switched on automatically by the ALiVE (Required) module.
2026-07-27
Page first published.