Tracks Problem in 1.5.4 Release

[LeCuvier]

I was under the impression that the tracks problem was solved in 1.5.4 because I looked at some tracks and they were ok.

But today I played the Furball mission several times, and used both the saved tracks and the instant "watch track" in the debrief.

Some looked ok during the initial part of the mission, even beginning to pursue an enemy but then behaved more or less random, zoomed to nowhere and shooting at absolutely nothing. In one case the track even showed me exploding in the take-off run while I had taken off ok and shot down two enemies in the real mission.

I'm going to try more, but I can say with certainty that the Tracks issue is not solved.

[Art-J]

Only tested 109 so far (as DCS warbirds seemed to be the most affected by track replay issues) and indeed, for this plane, tracks are still corrupted.

 

Tracks for MiG-21 in 1.5.4.OB are fine though, so I guess the problem is still module dependent.

[WinterH]

Gazelle L seem to be hit and miss with tracks. 109 doesn't seem to work with tracks. Suprised about MiG-21, I didn't even bother trying tracks when I fly the MiG, as it has been the most reliable in not working at all with tracks :) gotta try that :).

[Art-J]

I based my MiG observation on short flight in OB with takeoff, climb, multiple spins in both directions (to provoke track playback cluster...ck :D) separated by climbs, then approach and landing. Playback worked flawlessly. Didn't bother to test any combat action and time accelerations though.

[LeCuvier]

More testing for Tracks

 

I have re-played the attached track recorded on 11-JUL-2016 7 times today. The first time it started inventing its own action after one or two minutes, climbed vertically and fired into the blue sky, then descended steeply and ended up drilling for oil.

The following 4 replays showed the action as I remembered it ending with a downed P-51. TrackIR was not active.

Test 6 with TrackIR active on my head, but my head movements not having any effect as I did not use the F2 view. The action re-played correctly.

Test 7 with TrackIR activated, and after hitting F2 the first time I could look around with TrackIR both in F2 and F1 view. Again the action re-played correctly.

So the re-play worked ok 6 times and failed once, without any clue while it failed in the first run. This is ugly from a testing point of view as it gives no clue as to what's wrong.

Test 8: After exiting from DCS repeated the re-play, TrackIR not active. Failed in the same way as in Test 1.

Test 9: Re-played again in same DCS session, TrackIR active. Action re-plays correctly.

Test 10: Flew same mission again and saved new track "Bf-109K_Stalk_Kill_P-51_20160713.trk". Hit "Watch Track" from the debrief screen. TrackIR was still active. Action re-played correctly.

Test 11: Back to the main menu -> Replay and ran the new saved track with TrackIR active. Re-play was correct.

This is testers nightmare!

Edit: There may be a logical conclusion from Tests 1...9: If the track file as such were corrupted, I could not have seen correct re-plays in tests 2..9. This would indicate that the problem is in the Re-Play function and not in the recording. So I will not delete my earlier track files.

Bf-109K_Stalk_Kill_P-51_20160711.trk

Edited July 13, 2016 by LeCuvier

[Doum76]

Using DCS 1.5.4.55584 Update 3.

 

Flying the M-2000C for these days and tests are done using it. So far, the way i got less replays errrors, is by Saving the track when mission is done, i don'T watch is from the end mission menu, but i save the track, leave all menus and quit the sim. wait a few minutes, then go back in the Sim, load replay from replay menu. So far, i'Ve done this precedure for 4-5 times, all no error on replays for any of those, and i don't take any chances, each time i want to load a track, i quit game, wait a few menu and get back in game a load replay, for exemple, if i can't to record once in cockpit, then record in F2 view, well i quit sim and wait a few minutes before reloading the track for both view replays. So far, with all the tests i'Ve made, it's the only way i get more than 4 times in a row with proper replay, usualy on the other test, out of 4 replays, i only get 1 godd and sometimes none.

[Art-J]

I'd say waiting "a few minutes" is going a bit too far, unless You run DCS on computer from 1950s :D. A few seconds at most should be enough to write any data on disk. Out of curiosity, however, I tried that "save-exit-enter-load" sequence with a short Bf-109 cold start, take off and landing mission. That always resulted in clusterF. during previous playback attempts. This time, I also made sure to load another mission at first and moved all controllers within their full ranges ('cause DCS is unable to recognize controllers position reliably after fist loading). The result - whole track played perfectly. I'm surprised, but damn happy! Tested in 1.5.4 U3 here as well.

[metalfan_6666]

The problem is still here even after the official release of the module. Wondering if this will ever be fixed?

[Mud]

Art-J, I owe you a beer!

 

Had a track which had me taxi off into the grass and end up in a fireball. Went through the controller ranges in a simple TE, loaded the track, went through the ranges again and played the 1 hour long track and it played perfectly.

 

Thank you!

 

Mud

[NineLine]

I have better luck with tracks by letting them play for a minute with out changing any views or anything. After that I can get away way with moving around or changing views it seems. But yea, they still seem really prone to going off the rails...