Exorcet

I am currently testing a mission. I launched it through the ME and for no particular reason I opened the mission planner before launching. I noticed on the map that I forgot to hide a couple of enemy static objects. When I clicked on one I found that I could move it, even place it in the water (it's a building). This is obviously problematic. So far this seems limited to static objects. I could not move friendly or enemy groups. I did not test on friendly statics. The repositioning of objects is not limited to the planner either, they were relocated in the mission as well. No track since the cause is outside the mission.

Just FYI here, this shouldn't cause any problems until the game is updated. Recording inputs is standard for video game replays and many many developers have systems that don't go wrong except for extremely rare occurrences. This is also nothing new, reliable track style replays go as far back as PS1 games and probably even earlier.

Boom is pretty much exclusively the USAF. F-15, F-16, A-10.

Yes, I agree that there is a problem here. I think it comes down to over effectiveness of chaff in DCS for the most part.

I'm mostly SP and use Stable. While many people just treat the OB as default, I find that ED's intended use cases make more sense. I see a lot of people complaining about bugs and such when new updates arrive, but I very rarely have this problem as I just keep my stable install on whatever patch it happens to be on until I have a reason to update. My OB install is usually updated as soon as possible so I can test new features. Not every change is positive, but since I don't use OB seriously, I'm not often impacted by major issues.

Eh, we have forecasting. Basically there is a link between what is likely in terms of weather and how the mission is planned. If weather were truly random and unpredictable, flying would be very different. We can't predict the weather perfectly of course, but it's unlikely that if the forecast is a clear day, and the mission is planned around that, that a hurricane will move in and make flying impossible, which is a possibility with uncurated live weather.

If the ranges are wrong, you might want to submit a bug report (with evidence) instead of a wish list item.

It's always good to be careful when flipping a default setting, especially one that has existed for a long time. It might be better as a checkbox in the ME instead of a change to the default. Or just give the AH/KA their own checkbox. The hidden on MFD thing came about because of the F-16/18.

For me some of the big items: Triggers and trigger conditions: Detection triggers (Unit/Group/Country/Coalition detected and Unit/Group/Country/Coalition detected in Zone and Unit/Group/Country/Coalition detected by Unit/Group/Country/Coalition) Add generic classes to missile/bomb in zone (ie ANY MISSILE, ANY AAM, ANY BOMB, ANY GUIDED BOMB, ANY BLUE MISSILE, etc, also allow ANY for quantity of bomb/missile/etc) Task ended trigger (ie trigger activates when a specific AI task is complete, so if AI is set to orbit for 10 minutes, this trigger would go off after 10 minutes) New random trigger variant that rolls just once, not once per second (I don't want one to replace the other, having both is best) Flag between values (example ONCE > Flag value between 6 and 10 > AI Task push...) Disable civilian traffic in zone Switch waypoint on group alive less than and RTB on group alive less than (So if a group takes a certain amount of losses, they can be commanded to RTB or change route) Add a delay option to all triggers, where it makes sense (example delay 20 seconds to RTB on group alive less than 50%, group will only RTB 20 seconds after they take 50% losses) More detailed trigger event checks (currently triggers can be evaluated on events like SHOT, EJECT, etc. This could be expanded to include SHOT by BLUE SIDE or SHOT by Group X, etc) Losses and kills trigger (simply count the losses to or kills made by a given group/country/coalition) Outside of triggers, some new features would be really nice User placed airfields Wingmen obeying tasking set in the ME (when you order them to engage mission in flight) Control over individual active runways without needing to edit wind Neutral Coalition treated as neutral, right now AWACS will declare it hostile which is not right SAM improvements - ideally this means IADS but some quick simple things can be added if that is too complex a goal, namely SAM radar flashing on/off with the ability to set timings and tying SAM to EWR/AWACS so they only use radar for attack (like fighters) until the EWR or AWACS they are linked to are destroyed. Also the capability for SAM's to detect, hopefully realistically and not just by missile in zone, SEAD launches and shut down to try to prevent their destruction. Realistic detection is key here for two reasons: reaction time and the SAM should sometimes fail to detect the incoming missile and be destroyed. Greater Command and Control elements, especially from AWACS and GCI Some more ground unit automation, give them a goal in the ME but make them a little smarter than just rushing to a waypoint no matter the threat New RoE option, Visual ID New minimum range before extend option for fighters (ie if set to 20 nmi, AI will try to extend when less than 20 nmi from enemy, instead of flying into WVR) Change Air to Air missile range option for fighters to be a slider Tweak airbase capture settings - Force airbase to remain with a given coalition even if enemy ground units enter the base, also have the ability to close a base off to specific coalitions (so for example neutral bases can be set so as not to be valid for Blue or Red fighters to land at) Automated airbase defense task - Similar to GCI task from LOMAC, place fighters at a base and when given this task they will automatically takeoff an intercept enemy aircraft at a specified distance in the ME. Also consider having two specified distances, one that will trigger takeoff and then orbit around the airbase and a second distance that will trigger engaging enemies, this may be needed because of the time it takes to get fighters off the ground. Common radio frequencies - currently AI only use one freq at a time, but something like AWACS should be on a common freq and the AI should switch channels as appropriate to communicate with desired parties. This would also allow things like groups calling for help (example Strike group is attacked by fighters, it would call for help on the common AWACS frequency)

I'm not against live weather as an option, it's just that despite so many requests for it, there doesn't seem to be much consideration for the problems it causes in mission building. If a mission is set to just copy realtime weather, the weather in the mission effectively becomes random, and this could make the mission unreasonable or impossible to complete. I just wanted to point this out so that it's taken into consideration with the live weather feature. For example things like wind speed/temperature/cloud density limitations that can be turned on or off as needed.

It sounds like you're making missions already. The ME has all the tools needed for a dynamic experience, it just comes down to how you design the mission. For example instead of placing a single enemy CAP flight in your mission you can place multiple and then randomize what spawns via triggers. If you want to go to the next level scripting allows even more precise control and there are tools like MIST/MOOSE/etc that are designed to make harnessing the power of scripting a bit easier. You can also try making larger missions that make use of DCS's airfield and warehouse system if you want to feel more like you're fighting a war. With triggers or scripts you can automate airbase defense and unit reinforcements. Then as you fly mission across the map you can target airbases and other facilities to influence enemy force strength, basically similar to what Liberation does, but the goal would be to have very large mission instead of multiple smaller ones. The DCS ME is very flexible and powerful when you learn all of its ins and outs.

The plane has to be capable of being a tanker. Countries also only have access to certain planes, except Combined Task Forces, UN, and USAF Aggressors, which can fly any plane. If you have historical mode on (watch icon at the bottom of ME) this limits your plane selection according to the mission year. Tankers in DCS include: KC-135 (boom) KC-135 MPRS (drogue) KC-130 (drogue) S-3 Tanker (drogue) IL-78 (drogue) I may have forgotten one or two, but I think that's most of them. They should all works like the KC-135.

Next time, post your mission for people to look at. There are multiple ways to do this, the simplest is probably: ONCE > Group Dead (the AI group) > End Mission

Possible work around, place copies of your planes in formation with the tanker and when you go to refuel, you can leave your current plane slots and switch to the copies. If they are all set to client you won't need to fiddle with late activation or anything.

Perhaps something is up with Switched Condition. I think I made a unit spawner that had to randomize the order of 4 groups, but it used Continuous Action if I recall. Maybe that trigger type will work as expected?

If we were to have defaults for 1C1F, Program 1/2 wouldn't be the way to go. It would require you to switch programs. Prog 1/6 would map both to the HOTAS at once and remove any need for switching while also retaining the slap button for flare dump in a WVR emergency.

Until it changes because the weather is dynamic. AI override makes sense as an option.

The AI knows how much energy a given missile has. That decides whether they split S or not. There might be some other factors, but I think that's the primary.

Until the GFM is released, do not expect the AI to fly within realistic limits.

It's interesting that according to this video the F-4 has better radar lookdown performance than the DCS F-16 or F-18.

Were weapon restrictions on? Were AMRAAM in limited supply?

I don't know where we are exactly with Phoenix lofting at this point since I've been distracted by other things, but while I agree that a high loft is good - and you can clearly see the effects of a steep dive angle on energy when the missile decides to maneuver in a specific way - steep climb angles combined with aggressive steering logic do cause the missile to bleed a lot of energy. I guess it's possible that a steep climb out is fine if the missile is less aggressive when turning into its terminal phase. From memory I don't think I've seen many recent launches end at or above 30 degrees dive. 40-50 degrees, I think, will allow the missile to actually accelerate as it comes down from ~100k feet. It's an issue very similar to that of HARM missiles when they were being tweaked. They would take a shallow dive and lose all their speed trying to glide through thick air instead of coming down vertically. Anyway, this might all be besides the point, was the real Phoenix loft "perfect" in the first place? That I don't know, although I'd like to think it would be slightly more effective than it is now. Indeed, the acceleration of the Phoenix is very low in thick air. All the thrust goes toward fighting drag rather than imparting kinetic energy to the missile. Not to mention that part of lofting is energy conversion. What you put into potential energy, you get back in the end, minus drag losses.

So I've noticed the whales are still under "Structures" as static objects. Unless they're supposed to be robots, can we move them to the animals category?

The in game tutorials are meant to be stepped through slowly. After watching them a couple of times, it might be better to switch over to Youtube tutorials that will let you skip over parts that you don't need to see.

While AI sensors are a significant issue that needs to be addressed, the engagement range and fuel conservation problems are more because you're using a general CAP task I assume rather than Search Then Engage, which places range limits on the AI. Any remotely realistic mission would need to use Search Then Engage type tasks. CAP/Fighter Sweep/etc are for simple missions where you just want the AI to shoot stuff ASAP.