By default I get a hint pop up saying ALiVE is saving, and then Save Complete or something similar.

Autopause in the module should be fine yeah

Engima's Traffic Script is another really great script for providing ambient civilian traffic. There's also an example in that thread where you can have a small percentage of the traffic be OPFOR, which is great if you want more patrolling technicals etc

I also use KP Fuel Consumption to make fuel consumption actually a thing and make refuelling something the players need to consider.

I also like to use the tpw_air script from TPW mods While tpw doesn't support multiplayer I've found the tpw_air script runs fine separately and will provide you with some ambient flybys of whichever aircraft you choose.

If you're using a headless client it appears autopause doesn't work so you have to use the code dixon13 posted in the script snippets portion of the wiki in your initSever.sqf

["someId", "onPlayerConnected", {
	if (({isPlayer _x} count playableUnits) > 0 || OPCOM_TOGGLE) then { ["ALIVE_MIL_OPCOM"] call ALiVE_fnc_unPauseModule; OPCOM_TOGGLE = false; };
}] call BIS_fnc_addStackedEventHandler;
 
["someId", "onPlayerDisconnected", {
	if ( ({isPlayer _x} count playableUnits) == 0 ) then { ["ALIVE_MIL_OPCOM"] call ALiVE_fnc_pauseModule; OPCOM_TOGGLE = true; };
}] call BIS_fnc_addStackedEventHandler;

I use 10800 call ALiVE_fnc_AutoSave_PNS; in my init.sqf and that seems to work fine for autosaving every 10800 seconds

What extra bits and pieces do you find yourself always adding to your missions?
Here's a few I keep coming back to after building many many missions.

Obviously VCOM AI some prefer ASR AI but personally after watching VCOM driven units in Zeus for longer than I care to admit, it's hard to go past VCOM for AI improvements.

I use rafael09ed's Survivable crashes script in just about every one of my missions. Getting shot down behind enemy lines, or seeing one of your pilots go down and knowing that it's actually worth sending an element to rescue them adds a lot to a mission.

I also use phronk's Simple IED Script . I've found ALiVE's insurgency takes a while before IED's become a factor, so using phronks script just to sprinkle a few across the map keeps the players on their toes from the start of deployment.

If you're not using musucra's Guilt and Remembrance mod (requires ACE) then I really think you're missing out. Designed with ALiVE in mind it creates a mechanic around the death of civilians. As well as the loss of rep you get from ALiVE, Guilt and Remembrance can be set up to allow you to return that dead body to the deceased family or simply bury the body outside of town to reduce the effects of your civilian slaying. Event handlers allow you to customize the effects your actions have, and any punishments you want to dish out for potential war crimes.

Finally this one might not appeal to everyone but I put off using it for ages and regret doing so, and that's Jokoho482 and LAxemann's Suppress mod. No more can your players just stand there and go toe to toe with the enemy, the suppression effects while "gamey" do a great job, and will have your players looking to break contact and find cover rather than trying to rambo assault the enemy.

Has anyone else got any scripts or mods they always find themselves adding to missions?

They most certainly do pull weapons on you, but not really on mass that I've seen.

are awesome! The whole civilian update has got me using ALiVE in some missions just for the civilian ambience, it's great.

Now the one question I have is can I call a function to specifically create a crowd? Eg if I have a mission where players have to tend to an accident at a local village, it would be great if I could place a couple of markers around the accident and then via trigger call a function to cause a crowd to gather there for x amount of seconds or something like that.

Also some way to make the crowds go from friendly to angry/throwing rocks could be really useful
I suppose [getPos player, [side player], 100] call ALIVE_fnc_updateSectorHostility; would work for that wouldn't it?

Yes ALiVE does manage HC's but there's an issue where some units (specifically in my experience the 3CB factions mod) appear undressed, or vanilla when you use the ALiVE HC manager.

The ACEX HC has a workaround for that (which is being applied to the ALiVE version I believe) however it renders the combat supports fairly useless.

I use 10800 call ALiVE_fnc_AutoSave_PNS; in the init.sqf

That saves the mission every 10800 seconds (3 hours)

@Churlish Church So I was reading that Vcom causes long save times and even longer load times.

Complete nonsense. We've been using VCOM for years now and have no issue with load or save times.

Just a quick tip if you have changes that you'd like made.
I've found the best way is obviously to open a ticket on Github, but also to provide possible solutions.

Eg the ticket I made for Static weapons suggested a field be added to the module which allows the mission makers to define the static weapon themselves.

I'm not sure if they went that direction, but as in all facets of life coming with a possible solution to a problem you see is much more likely to see that problem solved than if you just point and say "that's broken".