HawgsLIHV Fall Campaign for A-10C

[shyjonathan1588]

NOTE: SEVERE PERFORMANCE ISSUES REPORTED IN RECENT VERSIONS OF DCS (I.E., 1.2.9 and 1.2.10)

 

Available Now: Large SP campaign focusing on long duration on-call CAS flights where infantry radios you their JTAC requests. Lots and lots of randomness. LIHV = "low intensity, highly variable."

 

More features and a download link at my website: http://hawgslihv.com/downloads-2/

Edited September 9, 2014 by shyjonathan1588

[MacEwan]

Fantastic, always nice to see new campaigns. Looking forward to trying this out. Thanks for the upload.

[Chainman31]

Excellent news, I can't wait to give it a try!

[WolfK33]

It sounds absolutely great, but unfortunately when I just tried the first mission it was unplayable with about 1-2 frames per second. :cry:

 

PC is a i7-3770 3.4 GHz, 16GB RAM and a GTX 660 Ti.

[Dauntless]

Downloading!! :joystick:

[shyjonathan1588]

Interesting and disappointing... What version of DCS are you running? Low FPS at or above airports?

 

I've registered my complaints about how performance of this campaign gets worse with every update (http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=2105259#post2105259), and that thread has some discussion of the airfields/objects issues.

 

Since then, I actually downsized the number of triggers/conditions in the campaign itself, lowered some of my settings (the usual mirrors, water, etc.), and added some fans and memory to my system. I also made this tweak to the high.lua file, and it gave me a boost: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1970664&highlight=config#post1970664.

 

I built it on version 1.2.6. It is tolerable for me playing in 1.2.8 right now, but I haven't updated beyond 1.2.8 yet out of fear of continued performance loss. :(

 

Curious about what kind of performance others are able to get, and on which versions of DCS...

[shyjonathan1588]

Also (if anyone gets in the air with tolerable FPS), don't be discouraged if you finally get a JTAC request, but they respond to your availability with "no further tasking available." The JTAC tasks are all "enroute" tasks requiring real situational awareness. Everyone is on the move down there, going into and out of JTAC range, and terrain occasionally blocks line of sight.

[MacEwan]

Im also having trouble with fps. I tried multiple missions in the campaign (by restarting) and they all yield the same fps problems. The missions start out fine but 2-5 minutes into the mission (while still starting up the aircraft) the fps will drop to 2-3 fps. I tried some other campaigns and missions (including a quick multiplayer session) to make sure that it wasn't on my end but they all ran fine. I don't usually have bad fps since I have a decently powered system. Nevertheless, I think the idea for the campaign is awesome and would really like to give it a go once I can run it properly. I'm available to help test if needed.

[WolfK33]

Hi shyjonathan1588,

 

I´m running DCS 1.2.10.

The mission I got was "Sortie 728".

The first try I wasn´t even able to start up the Hog in the hangar.

I just tried again, the same mission, and this time it was still bad but I could get the bird up in the air. The flight then was ok, maybe a bit sluggish, but when I arrived on station at WP3 it got very bad again after a minute or two of orbiting, down to 1 fps or even lower.

 

It´s a real pity as your campaign sounds exactly like what I´d love to play.

Thanks a lot nonetheless for making it ! With EDGE around the corner maybe it will be better.

 

Greets,

 

Wolf

[shyjonathan1588]

Thanks for all the feedback and words of encouragement!

 

Looks like it struggles HARD with recent versions of DCS, so I will:

 

(1) add a big, ugly disclaimer to the announcement post, and

(2) not update my own version beyond 1.2.8 so I don't suffer the same fate!

 

Thanks again guys.

[pj]

Hi and thanks for the campaign. I read the posts about low frame rates, so I tried opening each mission in the editor and then saving them (I'm on version 1.2.10).

 

I flew sortie 812 for about 2 hours. My frame rates were mostly between 20-30, but for about the last half hour dropped to 14-17 or so.

 

I didn't get any JTAC calls but the missions seem very interesting. The mission debrief showed activity from other flights, maybe they didn't need any help...

 

thanks again!

[WolfK33]

I tried opening each mission in the editor and then saving them (I'm on version 1.2.10).

 

 

I just tried that, but no luck. :(

[xentxo]

Some questions:

-Which mission is the campaign start? Is it random within Stage 3?

-What's the meaning of Initial Point "MAZDA'?

-So you wait until v3.x is out. What would you do if the performance will not get any better? You have to redesign 80 - 100 missions. So another 6+ months of work or will you throw everything and will start a new campaign?

 

Tip: Normaly audio-files are converted into ogg-files and not wav-files. This will shrink the whole Fall campaign to a tenth of its original size.

Edited September 11, 2014 by xentxo

[shyjonathan1588]

All missions are random within the stages.

I created IPs in all missions. They are just arbitrary points but JTAC communications utilize them to relay positional information.

 

I have low expectations for any of this working well in future versions, EDGE, etc... everything is subject to change, and I accept that. I have no plans to try to keep pace with the updates because you're right; I can't. I just wanted to share this with the world and let others do with it what they wish. If nothing else, the names and scoring system could be fun for other builders to have laying around.

 

Special hugs and kisses to anyone who can figure out why sometimes infantry starts shooting and my triggers activate (they clearly have situational awareness and are performing JTAC/CAS enroute task as intended), yet they insist "no further tasking available" when the player radios them. See http://youtu.be/LdzxhH1kfl0.

 

Thanks for the tip about ogg. I'll be sure to do that in the future.

[Rivvern]

Yep. Also noticed very low framerates. You you know why?

[shyjonathan1588]

Yep. Also noticed very low framerates. You you know why?

 

 

My guess is the combination of the many thousands of trigger conditions and starting on the ground at Kolkhi stresses the CPU? Take a look at the infantry detection triggers (5-10 toward the bottom of the triggers list-I think?-with American names). I KNOW those take a toll on CPU resources because each one has 700 conditions.

 

I play on a pretty unremarkable system. Using version 1.2.8 (and recording on fraps), my anecdotal experience has been stable framerates around 17-25 for hours at a time, except during startup, taxi, and takeoff, when it gets as low as 0-5.

 

Example with links to fps checks in description:

 

Not sure if there really is a performance hit on which versions, but again, anecdotally, I noticed a huge hit going from 1.2.6 to 1.2.8. For example, I was getting the same fps testing my master unit library (10x as many platoons and 10x as many trigger conditions) in 1.2.6 as many people are now reporting on the taxiway in normal missions in 1.2.10.

[Sabre-TLA]

I haven't had a chance to check this out yet but how many units are in the missions?

 

I know that someone was trying to determine the unit limit before the CPU was bogged down calculating waypoints and actions.

 

If possible you could late activate the units when the player gets closer to the action to reduce the CPU load or only activate those units close to the player.

 

I'll check this out as soon as I get a chance as I think the concept is awesome and the randomness of the playability is a step towards the dynamic campaign which we all long for.

 

It would be spectacular if we can get it to work in the current version (I love the breath effects when pulling G's that was missing in the older versions).

 

:thumbup:

[DayGlow]

Have the same issue, slows to less than 1 fps while trying to start up.

 

Noticed when I hit the pause key it speeds right back up, but unpause the mission and it slows to a crawl. Don't know if that helps troubleshoot at all.

[Rivvern]

Looking forward to run these missions. Coop if possible. Good luck fixing it!

[samueel]

Looking forward to run these missions. Coop if possible. Good luck fixing it!

 

I am also having frame rate issues (5-10fps) despite having a good gaming rig.. Looking forward to play it if you get it to work though! :joystick:

 

(Rivvern, vi på MA borde köra denna på MP när den funkar! Har varit upptagen senaste tiden dock. Saknar att flyga med alla)

[pj]

If anyone's still interested in this, I've played the first 2 missions in beta 1.5 and the framerates have greatly improved!

[Hobbnob]

I don't suppose anyone has a download for this? The original site is down and I can't find it anywhere else :)

[pj]

here's a link

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oehxi18nej2fe7g/HawgsLIHV%20Fall%20Campaign.zip?dl=0

Edited November 15, 2015 by pj

[Gibo]

Hi pj. I was interested in the campaign and i downoaded it a cuople of weeks ago. Wiht 1.5 the frame rate are ok (at least for me) but almost all the mission are without any action. I can see that the ground unit are in contact with enemy but during the CAS flight no one call me in. Is it the same for you?