F-15C Flight Qualification Campaign

[Lino_Germany]

Nope. You have to listen to the FE and your only valid landing for this mission is at the X airfield as per the mission briefing:

 

FE Instructs: "Now steer towards the Emergency Divert Airfield identified in the briefing and attempt to land on the runway."

 

There are no triggers at Kobuleti. Later on in BFT08 - Emergencies you can land at either the X airfield or Kobuleti.

 

Thanks for the reply. I´ve to improve my training period.

[Chipwich]

Sorry it's a simulated engine failure (yes in a simulation) so you need to manually shut it down.

 

The FE says:

"Your EFATO test starts now.

 

Shutdown your right engine and make a controlled landing back at Batumi.

 

The Hard Deck Restriction is terminated."

 

Since it's only the 2nd mission we felt the user should be in control of the engine. Later in BFT08 - Emergencies you will get to deal with a real (simulated) engine problem.

 

I worried that we're giving away spoilers here, but since it's been discussed in the thread already, I noticed a pretty cool thing in BFT02. When I shut down no. 2, it wouldn't spoil down below around ~ 14 % and I was stressing that maybe I hadn't shut it down correctly. But once cleared the active, I looked and sure enough it was 0 %. I think that the turbine windmilling is being simulated.

 

Did anyone else notice this?

 

So far very happy with the F-15 Flight Qualification Campaign. Thanks.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Chipwich

[SDsc0rch]

yes.. the engine that's shut down turns at a reduced RPM in flight

[rrohde]

I feel kinda silly as this is the first time I have bought one of these Qualification campaigns, but while sitting on the tarmac getting ready to start-up the F-15, I first hear "You've damaged the aircraft", followed by "You've got 5 minutes to get the bird started" to "You've failed".... lol.

I am not exactly sure what's going on here....

[Sabre-TLA]

We had another user report that. It appears that the bird does some kind of bounce at mission start that trips the damage model.

 

We reported it as a bug here but have yet to find a solution. We may have to update the mission to not check for damage until the bird is actually moving.

 

You can test it on your system by downloading the test mission and running it.

 

We can't reproduce it in testing and most users don't have the problem. I suspect it is something related to the wind effect shaking the aircraft or a controller issue.

 

Please report your DCS World version and if it's not the latest, try updating or a DCS Repair and see if the problem still occurs.

[rrohde]

It's the latest 1.2.15; I've ran repair already as I had some issue with the Mig-21 module.

 

I notice that every time I start a mission on ramp or runway, that every plane does a little bounce, but it's very mild. Almost as if hitting the brake, diving mildly into the suspension. Never caused any issue and is hardly noticeable. Always thought that was a nice touch. :)

 

EDIT: I tried the test mission with the same results. See screenshot attached.

Edited March 1, 2015 by rrohde

[Sabre-TLA]

We expedited version 1.2 to fix this start-up issue.

 

The installer was also updated to install to both the Flaming Cliffs install path and the new C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\aircraft\F-15C folder for those users who purchased the F-15C module but not Flaming Cliffs.

 

The updated package is available from our Google drive here.

 

Just un-install the old package and re-install this one. Your existing mission keys and passwords will work with this updated package.

 

For those users having the start-up problem, please report if this package fixes it.

 

I'll submit the package for updating on ED's User Files section tomorrow.

 

Thanks for your patience with this strange problem.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Sabre-TLA

[rrohde]

Okay, so I uninstalled ver. 1.0 and installed ver 1.2, restarted the campaign, and I still get the same "You've damaged the aircraft" issue.... :(

[Sabre-TLA]

Now I'm confused. Is that after you start rolling?

[Sabre-TLA]

I just noticed we didn't update the mission briefing pages to show the new version.

 

I've update the package and will update the Google Drive link above when it's uploaded.

 

The fix we put in was to set a flag once the bird started rolling (so after start-up). The damage trigger can only be true if that flag is true and the bird gets damaged after you start rolling - hopefully avoiding whatever is causing the damage at start-up.

 

If that still doesn't fix it then we may have to remove the damage checks all together. :cry:

[Sabre-TLA]

Link above has been updated to the latest V1.2 package. To confirm when you start the mission check the briefing screen and at the bottom it should say V1.2.

 

I just tested the mission on my current DCS World Version 1.2.14.36041 and had no issue.

 

Once we update our system to 1.2.15 I'll retest there as well.

 

This seems to be specific to the F-15C as our other campaigns have not experienced this issue (A-10A, A-10C and MiG-29G).

[rrohde]

Now I'm confused. Is that after you start rolling?

 

No; the damage report comes in as soon as the F-15 is placed into the 3D environment.

[Chipwich]

It's the latest 1.2.15; I've ran repair already as I had some issue with the Mig-21 module.

 

I notice that every time I start a mission on ramp or runway, that every plane does a little bounce, but it's very mild. Almost as if hitting the brake, diving mildly into the suspension. Never caused any issue and is hardly noticeable. Always thought that was a nice touch. :)

 

EDIT: I tried the test mission with the same results. See screenshot attached.

 

That almost looks like the gear is retracted or that it is resting on a power cart. What about an external screenshot to get an idea of what the aircraft is resting on?

[rrohde]

Link above has been updated to the latest V1.2 package. To confirm when you start the mission check the briefing screen and at the bottom it should say V1.2.

 

I just tested the mission on my current DCS World Version 1.2.14.36041 and had no issue.

 

Once we update our system to 1.2.15 I'll retest there as well.

 

This seems to be specific to the F-15C as our other campaigns have not experienced this issue (A-10A, A-10C and MiG-29G).

 

 

Okay, I've downloaded the updated 1.2 package of the campaign, and now the mission seems to work -- the "damaged airplane" message is gone, and the instructions continue with contacting the tower for start-up clearance next. That's a step in the right direction. Thanks for fixing this.

 

FYI - the briefing still says V1.0, btw.

[rrohde]

That almost looks like the gear is retracted or that it is resting on a power cart. What about an external screenshot to get an idea of what the aircraft is resting on?

 

The missions seems to be fixed now. :)

[Sabre-TLA]

That's great. Hopefully I'll hear from the other user that reported the problem as well.

 

I updated the V1.2 package briefings so they all say V1.2 and that's what I'll submit to ED for their User Files page.

 

The latest version in our Google Drive has the updated briefings.

 

If you encounter the same issue with any of our other campaigns please report it. I'll put the same fix in those if the problem occurs there too.

[rrohde]

Well, now I have another "You've damaged the aircraft, Cadet" issue as soon as I start rolling in order to follow the Humvee... oh well.

[Sabre-TLA]

Ok I'll create a package that doesn't have any damage checks. What a PITA!

 

At least you will then be able to bump into things and it won't affect your rating. :thumbup:

 

I'll post a link for it when it's ready.

[Sabre-TLA]

Ok - Damage Check Free package is available from our Google Drive here.

 

V1.2.1 and I updated the mission briefings so we can be sure of the version you are running.

 

The only thing I can think of is if your system has a memory problem in that it's setting bits incorrectly and the programs are reading them as true (when in game clearly you are not hitting anything to get damaged). I'd run a memory scan and look for any memory related errors as you might see this problem occurring in other games or missions.

 

Please report any other problems you encounter and we will do our best to fix them.

[rrohde]

Ok - Damage Check Free package is available from our Google Drive here.

 

V1.2.1 and I updated the mission briefings so we can be sure of the version you are running.

 

The only thing I can think of is if your system has a memory problem in that it's setting bits incorrectly and the programs are reading them as true (when in game clearly you are not hitting anything to get damaged). I'd run a memory scan and look for any memory related errors as you might see this problem occurring in other games or missions.

 

Please report any other problems you encounter and we will do our best to fix them.

 

Thank you for the support. Going to try this out asap.

 

EDIT: V1.2.1 works flawlessly so far. Thanks again for making this work.

Edited March 1, 2015 by rrohde

[Sabre-TLA]

Thanks rrohde.

 

If you don't mind helping out some more, one test that would be interesting is if you opened the F-15C -Test Start-Up.miz file in the ME and change the aircraft type to a different aircraft. That mission only has one trigger check (for damage) and nothing else.

 

Somehow the damage bit is set on your system at mission start so I'm curious now to know if it's set for all aircraft or just the F-15C.

 

I can't say it's a Game Engine problem at this point as I can't reproduce it so I'm thinking it's more a stuck bit in your memory that isn't cleared when the mission starts. Only the ED Devs would know for sure as in the ME I can only test if you are damaged.

 

I don't know if anyone knows the answers to these questions:

 

Does the Game Engine clear memory before it runs or does it assume the memory is cleared?

What are the conditions the Game Engine is checking to determine and set the damaged condition?

[rrohde]

and change the aircraft type to a different aircraft

 

Alright, I tested with all my modules (besides the F-15, as we're already aware), and here are screenshot of those aircraft that exhibit the same behavior (Your Aircraft is Damaged!); see attached. All other planes I've tested didn't have the issue (none of the helos, either).

Edited March 1, 2015 by rrohde

[Sabre-TLA]

Surprising that so many would have the issue but not so surprising if the Game Engine uses the same memory to detect the damaged condition across the various modules.

 

I was thinking about this more and the other likely culprit could be another program. Some programs develop memory leaks where they leak out of their assigned memory area and trample other programs memory.

 

Try reducing the number of concurrent programs you have running when DCS is running and see if that makes any difference. It could be a red herring or we might get lucky and find the program that is conflicting.

 

I looked in the test mission file and here is the line that is producing the issue:

 

["trig"] = 
   {
       ["actions"] = 
       {
           [1] = "a_out_text_delay(\"YOUR AIRCRAFT IS DAMAGED!\", 10);",
       }, -- end of ["actions"]
       ["events"] = 
       {
       }, -- end of ["events"]
       ["custom"] = 
       {
       }, -- end of ["custom"]
       ["func"] = 
       {
           [1] = "if mission.trig.conditions[1]() then mission.trig.actions[1]() end",
       }, -- end of ["func"]
       ["flag"] = 
       {
           [1] = true,
       }, -- end of ["flag"]
       ["conditions"] = 
       {
           [color="Red"][1] = "return(c_unit_damaged(1) )",[/color]
       }, -- end of ["conditions"]
       ["customStartup"] = 
       {
       }, -- end of ["customStartup"]
       ["funcStartup"] = 
       {
       }, -- end of ["funcStartup"]
   }, -- end of ["trig"]

 

This is showing that it's the Game Engine reporting back to the mission on the damaged condition and to execute the trigger that displays the message. We would have to look into the c_unit_damaged function code to see how it determines the damaged state which unfortunately is something only the DEVs have access to.

 

Recognize that you will have issues with those other modules in missions or campaigns that use the damage trigger. Watch out for other strange behavior in the sim too as it could be other memory locations that are also getting corrupted.

[rrohde]

I think I've found the issue:

 

I have my Gameplay Settings typically set to "Immortal" to avoid overall frustration. Well, get this -- when I disable that setting, and I am no longer immortal in the sim, *none* of the previously tested aircraft display the "YOUR AIRCRAFT IS DAMAGED!" status.

 

On the other hand, as soon as I enable the "Immortal" setting again, the "YOUR AIRCRAFT IS DAMAGED!" status message is back!

 

Interesting, isn't it?

[Sabre-TLA]

That is very interesting! Great find! Looks like it's a definite bug in the game engine.

 

I'll check with the other user that reported the similar problem and see if that fixes his issue.

 

I'll also test that scenario on my system. If I can reproduce it then I'll report it as an official bug.

 

The original mission package should play properly now if you have the Immortal setting disabled.

 

Good work!