Bushmanni

This was originally about the purpose of the flaps.

You don't fly the plane with flaps but with elevator, rudder and ailerons. While it's true that you would need to descent (steer the plane into a steeper dive using previously mentioned control surfaces) steeper to maintain same airspeed at the same thrust setting flaps aren't built primarily for that purpose. While the pdf gives an interesting point about the effects of flaps it doesn't describe a landing technique. Interpreting it like that will make your life unnecessarily complicated.

I'm getting the 5-8 second freeze during entering Su-27 cockpit. Not sure if I would get the crashes as I have done airstarts only on servers with few pilots. My system.nfo in the rar file. Bushmanni.rar

Updated the bubble rules script with changed logic after discussion with 51st. Now 5 min. rule only applies to the round start. If all the bandits have been shot down or exited the bubble and no other bandits are eligible to enter the bubble, bubble control is awarded immediately and winning team can RTB without needing to wait for the 5 min. This change requires the script to be reset with mission reload after each round. This is not completely tested yet (requires multiple people to do it) so if anyone finds bugs please report. Also warnings about entering or exiting the bubble stop after winner and RTB is declared. I also added game master slot for referee so he can monitor the battle. I'm still using the older version of the script in the training mission so the script and hence mission doesn't need resetting. I added extra Flanker slots with more chaff (120 chaff, 72 flares) to the training mission. SATAC 2016 training version.miz SATAC zone check_5-9-2016.lua SATAC 2016 mission.miz

Giving pilot a chance to not flip some switch doesn't make a plane less effective. Going through a startup makes you less reckless only if you have unlimited lives. It still takes far more longer to reach combat than starting up the jet. Besides, attitude is something you have, not something the sim imposes on you. FC3 jets are only better than the real planes in one aspect, radar scan rate (F-15 has about twice the rate of the real thing). In every other way they are "bare bones" models lacking many features that would make them more capable and also easier to use (excluding the startup). More features doesn't necessarily mean more complex usage wise. F-15 for example would have much better RWR but it wouldn't impose any more extra work on the pilot but actually make it easier to decipher the reality behind the signals shown. Radar modes would work in a more practical manner and there would be more of them to deal with some special situations. You would have more control over the weapons system if you wanted but it would still work essentially same if you didn't bother with the extra stuff. Imagine a FC3 MiG-21 (no change in flight model) and then consider how much easier it would be to maneuver in firing parameters (maybe lock a target) and pull the trigger? Or change weapons that currently can be done with a single click of a HOTAS button. Then consider that M-2000C is essentially no different to use in combat than the FC3 F-15 switchology wise.

-Fixed bubble timer not resetting after one side has bubble control and both sides have vacated the bubble -Fixed error in log message time codes -Changed M-2000C to start hot to enable it to take-off as quick as FC3 planes. SATAC zone check_3-9-2016.lua SATAC 2016 mission.miz SATAC 2016 training version.miz

One round would take about 25-30min minimum (about 15-20min for take-off, transit there and back and landing, 10min for combat). So one match takes about 1-1.5 hours minimum. If the fight isn't a pushover, it could take 20-30 min for the fight part which adds 30-60min at worst to the total match duration (2.5h at worst). Maybe about 2h per match would be a realistic average duration. You need a break between matches, maybe 20-30 min, so two matches a day would require about 4.5h (6h at worst). Especially on 17th when there's another event happening where people might need to be able to get, over scheduling should be avoided. I updated the script a bit (doesn't need mission restart between rounds anymore) and created a beta version of the final SATAC competition mission. I also created a training version of the same mission with airstart 40 NM away from bullseye. As per instructions from Frostie, I made the bubble slightly smaller, it now having 90km inner radius instead of 110km (ie. it's now different from the mission Frostie posted). SATAC zone check_2-9-2016.lua SATAC 2016 mission.miz SATAC 2016 training version.miz

Here's also the latest version of the script file. I added check for landing inside combat zone to immediately remove ditched planes from the area to keep the script working in case someone crashlands but doesn't explode on impact. Script also adds script events into the dcs.log in the users folder with timecode so referee can check times when pilot enters/exits the battle area, etc. The lines are hidden amidst all other game engine activity so all lines from my script have text "SATAC" in them so they can be found with text search. SATAC zone check_30-8-2016.lua

Here you are. I just made a quick test to see that the script runs in this mission but more extensive testing was done on a different mission. You can add or remove plane slots into this missions as you see fit, they can also airstart from inside the bubble. AI planes probably don't work but I haven't tested. SATAC 2016 comp6_script_version.miz

I used 4.2.66. You need 4+ for DCS 1.5. Latest version: https://github.com/mrSkortch/MissionScriptingTools/releases

It's very hard to shoot down a skilled player in BVR so staying out of WVR will limit your ability to kill bandits. The trick is to arrive into VWR with an advantage, ie. make the bandit defend against your missiles while you maneuver into his six. If you get a kill in BVR it's more because the bandit made a mistake than you were good. When you are behind a bandit it doesn't matter which plane he's flying as Eagle has all the tools and capabilities to shoot down any aircraft from that position.

Spiral fights (also rolling scissors) are pretty much impossible to escape as the bandit only needs about 90 degrees to turn to be in your tail. There's a way to gradually increase misalignment in the spiral axes so that you end up with nearly neutral merge and then escape is possible. You do this gradually by lowering your turn rate at one point to create little separation and then using the energy saved to turn harder to take back the angles you lost. Repeat this a few times and you have redefined the fight into flat scissors that you can escape. If you make too big maneuvers you most likely turn the geometry too flat and the bandit gets an opportunity to shoot at you. This maneuver is hard to pull off and if you screw it up you give the bandit a shot at you but it's the only (that I know of) way to disengage from spiral geometry.

That's my thinking also. But from my experiments if you can judge the bandits turn circle correctly a no-respect lead turn seems pretty safe as the bandit will overshoot you as he has too much speed (or a plane that can't turn) and has no other option to get his nose on you but to first create separation. I haven't tested yet if the no-respect lead turn would expose you to enemy weapons before merge more than waiting until merge.

I was experimenting with lead turns and managed to find parameters where I get inside the faster bandits turn circle to stay safe but never managed to get so close that I couldn't use missiles. As long as you can get your nose in front of the bandits flight path and get a lock on the bandit, you can shoot a missile that will hit if you time it right. Lead turn also opens more possible tactical options for both planes that I haven't explored yet so I'm not sure what to think about lead turning yet. Nevertheless the lead turn starting distance is long to get the desired result and hence I'm yet unsure if it works in any other setting than no shooting until merged. You need to lead turn early because bandit bleeds his speed during this turn and his turn radius gets smaller towards the end of the turn. This moves his final turn circle away from the merge that you compensate by starting your own turn earlier. While high instantaneous turn rate always helps to bring you closer in 1C fight, it's the bandits turn performance that mostly dictates the lead turn timing if you want to get inside the bandits turn circle, not your own. Other thing is that bandits fuel weight affects his turn radius and speed bleed which must be factored in the lead turn timing. I haven't tested yet how much impact weight has but I'd suspect it's going to be a factor. Nevertheless, thanks for a good tip.

What I see is that Tek went for energy and Stuge didn't roll for lead when nose up and hence didn't get/take the opportunity to shoot that he could have had. In DCS you can relatively easily shoot missiles with high Pk from one circle flow as long as you lead the target properly. With good lead for the missile, Rmin is much less than advertised (even more so for the R-73). Other thing is that if the bandit comes to the merge little faster (like 500 kts) and then makes a max performance turn the resulting turn looks more like a hook than a semi-circle which creates enough separation to deny attempt to min range a missile. Getting inside Rmin is possible but I haven't figured out a reliable way to force it but it always requires co-operation from the bandit.

With missiles involved, going for any other tactic but pointing your nose on the bandit as fast as possible is gamble with bad odds. You can pull it off but most of the time you don't. In gunzo energy tactics and setting up nose high merges is very important but it's only possible because it's not almost certain death if the bandit gets his nose pointed at you.

Having voice activation on intercom would be nice.

Beta of SATAC bubble script. It requires MIST and you need to edit in the relevant trigger zone and sound file names. More precise instructions are in the script file. SATAC zone check.lua

I just tested the bubble script in MP and it seemed to work well. It still needs some cosmetic tweaks but should be good to go for beta release tomorrow.

CH ministick requires much less force than gamepad ministick which makes it more accurate. Gamepad ministicks tend to have the same problem as Warthog in their gimbal that it's very stiff in the center and hence imprecise which is not a problem in CH. The actual resolution in CH ministick is less than 8bit as the values change in increments of two or three instead of one but it's still precise enough that you don't feel the difference. Maybe if it had a longer shaft and hence physical travel you could be more precise than the stick electronics but for a ministick 8bits seems to be more than enough.

CH ministick is only poorly constructed so it doesn't center reliably and has relatively low resolution potentiometers (not that you notice it though), otherwise it's pretty good and best ministick you have in any current HOTAS. CH (now Apem) makes a better ministick for professional use that uses Hall sensors. It's not cheap but still in a price range you can actually afford. I'm planning on getting one of these some day myself but don't have any personal experience so far. If anyone knows how they are IRL I'd like to know. http://www.apem.com/files/apem/brochures/Joysticks_2015/APEM-TS-ThumbControls.pdf

SF Squadron Mig29 yes Su-33 yes Mirage 2000 yes

Agree. Developing stuff takes it's time but breaking the game with unfinished or broken features is frustrating as you can't enjoy the game without maybe somehow circumventing the problem or you just don't play.

I'm building a relatively simple script for our training mission that automatically applies bubble rules to all aircrafts in the mission. It's not finished yet and as with coding I can't say when it's ready and how well it's going to work but I can offer it to be used for the competition mission if it provides some advantage over the ME trigger logic.

Is this 5 min rule only applied to the start of the round ie. if the bandits don't show up inside the bubble 5 min after you have entered, they will lose? Bandits who have left the bubble are permanently out of the fight so you shouldn't need to wait in that case. You could send solo ship into the bubble to fulfill the rule and scramble the rest only when necessary to possibly buy big advantage in fuel. There's also possibility to land on a road and wait for the bandits to run out of fuel and then take-off again. I suppose there's going to be some kind of system or rule to prevent this also?