ALiVE.OS · ALiVE 3 Development

Patrol Reports

Lets players file an in-mission patrol report that becomes a pair of map markers, a diary entry, and a saved record.

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 Patrol Reports does

Patrol Reports gives players a way to log what happened on a patrol without leaving the game. Open the report from the ALiVE Action Menu, click a start point and an end point for the patrol on the report's own map, then fill in a short form covering things like callsign, task, patrol composition, enemy contact and battle damage, results, ammo used, casualties, support called in, and vehicles involved. Submitting the form drops two markers on the main map (start and end of the patrol) and writes an in-game diary entry that other players can open from their notebook, with clickable links back to those markers. With the ALiVE Data module also placed and running as the server (a dedicated server or a hosted listen server), the report is also saved so it survives a server restart. Who can see a given report depends on how it was filed: to everyone, to the whole side (the default), to a single group, to a faction, or just kept private to the reporting player.

This sits alongside the wider C2ISTAR command and control tools, acting as the "after the fact" reporting piece rather than a live tracking system: it is a way to hand information forward once a patrol is done, not a way to watch the patrol happen in real time.

Capabilities

What it handles

Report form

Guided patrol report dialog

A dialog captures callsign, task, start/end times and grid locations, patrol composition, enemy contact and battle damage assessment, results, ammo, casualties, support, and vehicles, plus any SPOTREPs or SITREPs picked from lists.

Map markers

Click-to-place start and end markers

Clicking the map while filing a report places a start marker, then an end marker, automatically filling in the grid reference fields. The markers stay on the map once the report is submitted.

Diary entry

Automatic journal entry

Submitting a report writes a formatted diary entry into the player's in-game notebook (under a PATROLREP subject) summarising the whole report, with clickable links that jump to the start and end markers on the map.

Sharing scope

Choose who sees the report

Each report can be shared with everyone, the whole side (the default), a single group, a faction, or kept local to the reporting player, controlling who else gets the markers and diary entry.

Persistence

Reports survive rejoining

Players who join in progress get existing reports restored on their map. With the ALiVE Data module also placed and running as the server (a dedicated server or a hosted listen server), filed reports are also saved so they survive a server restart. Each report comes back for the players its Eyes Only choice covers.

Map readability

Satellite/schematic map toggle

A toggle button on the report map screen switches between the satellite view and the cleaner schematic view, matching the toggle now available on other ALiVE tablet map screens.

How to use it

Getting started

Nothing to placePatrol Reports has no module in the editor. The Player Command/Control (C2ISTAR) module starts it, so place that and the reports follow. It has no settings of its own.
Add the Data module for persistencePlace the ALiVE Data module if you want filed reports to survive a server restart; it doesn't need syncing. Players who join in progress get existing reports without it.
Open a report from the ALiVE menuAs a player, make sure you're carrying an access item (a laser designator by default, or the Combat Support Tablet), then open the ALiVE Action Menu, select Commander Actions and pick Send PATROLREP (with the ACE self-interaction menu it's C2ISTAR, then Reporting). The report opens with its own map. Click one point on it to set the patrol start location.
Click an end point and fill in the formClick a second point to mark the patrol end location, then complete the report fields: callsign, task, patrol composition, enemy contact and battle damage, results, ammo, casualties, support, and vehicles, plus any SPOTREPs or SITREPs.
Choose a sharing scope and submitPick the Eyes Only option: everyone, the whole side (the default), a single group, a faction, or private to you. Then press Send PATROLREP and confirm a start marker, an end marker and a PATROLREP diary entry appear. BACK, beside CANCEL, clears the report's markers and takes you to the C2ISTAR menu.
Check the Terrain buttonOn the report screen, use the Terrain button to switch the map between satellite and schematic views and confirm it switches cleanly without a stuck label.

Recent work

What's changed lately

Eyes Only now decides who sees a reportBefore, every report went to the sender's whole side whatever was picked. Public, faction, group and private reports now reach, and come back after a rejoin for, only the players they're meant for. Only the report's author or a server admin can delete it, and its markers go for everyone who could see it. Reports saved before this keep the old behaviour.
Saved PATROLREPs come back for every playerPlayers who start with the mission, and players who join one already running, now get the saved patrol reports back once their side is known. Before, many of them missed the reports.
Deleting your last report sticksDeleting reports one at a time worked until the last one, which came back after a restart. It stays deleted now.
A BACK buttonThe report form has a BACK button beside CANCEL. It clears the report's map markers and opens the C2ISTAR menu.
Satellite/schematic toggle added to the report mapA new button lets players switch the report map between satellite imagery and a schematic line-map view while placing patrol start and end points.
Patrol report screen no longer stretches on wide displaysThe report screen is now drawn at a fixed shape and centred, with text scaling along with the panel, so it looks the same at any resolution or aspect ratio. Before, it was sized from screen width, so on ultrawide monitors the artwork, fields, buttons and patrol-point map were pulled sideways. On an ordinary widescreen monitor the layout is unchanged apart from sitting slightly larger.

Status

Where it stands

Delivered

Filing a patrol report

Players can place start/end markers on the map, fill in the report form, and submit it to create markers, a diary entry, and a saved record.

Diary entry with marker links

Submitted reports generate a readable diary entry that links back to the exact patrol start and end points on the map.

Sharing scope and persistence

Reports can be scoped to side, group, faction, or the individual player, and are restored automatically for players who join a mission already in progress, when the ALiVE Data module is placed and running as the server.

Map toggle and readability pass

The report map screen now supports the satellite/schematic toggle and the shared texture fixes used across ALiVE's other tablet maps.

Report deletion permissions

Only the player who filed a report, or a server admin, can delete its markers with the delete key.

In progress

Admin bulk-clear

A planned function to let an admin clear every patrol report from the map in one go is present but not yet implemented, so it currently does nothing if triggered.

Testing

How you can help

There is no Patrol Reports module to place. Put down the ALiVE (Required) module and the Player Command/Control (C2ISTAR) module, which starts the patrol report tool for you, and add the Data module if you want reports to persist across a server restart. In mission the report is reached from the ALiVE Action Menu, not the map, and only by a player holding an access item: a laser designator by default, or the Combat Support Tablet. Give yourself one, open the ALiVE Action Menu, select Commander Actions, then Send PATROLREP, and click a start point then an end point on the report's own map before filling in the form fields and submitting. Confirm: two markers appear at the chosen points, a PATROLREP diary entry appears in your notebook with working links to those markers, and the report reappears if you leave and rejoin the server. Try the satellite/schematic toggle button on the report map to confirm it switches cleanly without flashing or a stuck label. With a second player on your side but in another group, file a report with Eyes Only set to your group and confirm they don't see it. Then file one for the whole side and, with the second player's cursor over its marker on the normal map, confirm the delete key shows 'You are not authorized to delete this report'.

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

2026-10-29
The PATROLREP form's labels and boxes now show their text in full, and the labels beside the dropdowns no longer run under them.
2026-10-27
The PATROLREP screen now uses the same era-matched tablet and font as the other ALiVE tablets.
2026-10-25
The tablet's Terrain button now lines up with the right edge of the map and sits on the top edge of the screen.
2026-10-24
ALiVE's own map pins (Addon Options, Map pins and markers) now cover PATROLREP markers.
2026-10-19
Players who join a mission already running now get the saved PATROLREPs too, once their side is known.
2026-10-19
PATROLREP has a BACK button beside CANCEL that clears the report's map markers and opens the C2ISTAR menu.
2026-10-17
Saved PATROLREPs now come back for every player who starts with the mission; they were put back before the player's side was known and were lost.
2026-10-12
The Patrol Report delete refusal now show in the ALiVE message box, with the logo and the module's name as the title, instead of a plain hint.
2026-09-28
PATROLREP start and end pins are drawn flat, with no drop shadow.
2026-09-28
Marker labels on the tablet map aren't bold any more: they use the same plain face as the main map and the COP.
2026-09-27
Deleting your last patrol report now sticks after a restart; it used to come back. On a dedicated server, deleting a report also removes its database record.
2026-09-26
Eyes Only now works: a public, faction, group or private report reaches only those players, and comes back for them after a rejoin. Older saved reports keep the old behaviour.
2026-09-26
Only the player who filed a report, or a server admin, can delete it now, and its markers go for everyone who could see them.
2026-08-06
Page corrected: this is not a module you place. Patrol Reports is started by the Player Command module.
2026-08-06
Panels line up consistently across every tablet display, and Mapbag scaling now matches the reworked tablet. Worth reporting any panel that looks misaligned or clipped.
2026-08-02
The patrol report screen now holds a fixed shape and sits centred, so it no longer stretches on wide and ultrawide displays.
2026-07-27
Page first published.