Lock drops after latest patch and hotfix

[captain_dalan]

Hey guys? Have you changed anything about how the radar works in the later patches? Not necessarily the last one, but some of the later ones? I haven't flown in over a month and tonight's session was....well.....erratic to say the least. Nothing fancy mind you, just some home made training missions, to work on intercept geometries.

 

The thing is, i can no longer maintain any lock against maneuverable targets. Anti notching maneuvers no longer works. Being nose high doesn't seam to work either. AWG-9 drops locks even at targets over 45 degrees over the horizon. And that is all in STT. Firing in TWS is out of the question. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me?

 

Oh, and another thing. Have you changed the buffet onset again?

 

Thanks in advance.

[r4y30n]

P-STT or PD-STT? I’ve only done short range practice since Wednesday’s patch but pilot lock-on modes all worked fine.

[CommanderRabb]

I can't be certain of anything, but tonight I did kill two ("superior") JF-17's flying at roughly the same altitude as myself (40,000 ft). Both missiles fired from about 50 miles in TWS mode found their targets.

Edited December 21, 2019 by CommanderRabb

[captain_dalan]

P-STT or PD-STT? I’ve only done short range practice since Wednesday’s patch but pilot lock-on modes all worked fine.

 

Both, which is why it's an ouch-y. The lock on modes work fine, it's just that the locks don't hold anymore if the target starts maneuvering around. They work fine sub 5 NM, but anything above that....... nadda

 

I can't be certain of anything, but tonight I did kill two JF-17's flying at roughly the same altitude as myself (40,000 ft). Both missiles fired from about 50 miles in TWS mode found their targets.

 

Did they perform any evasive action? MP or SP.

 

My experience is just from last night and from SP only. I have this set of training missions against hard and excellent set AI's. The most simple one is 1 F-15C, 3 bags, 4XC's and 4XM's VS 1 F-14B, 2X54's (any, either A mk60 or C mk47), 3x7M (or MB's) and 2x9C's. The last time i flew these missions i had over 90% chance of maintaining the lock all the way to missile intercept and about 50-55% of hitting the target, mostly depending on weather or not the missile ate CM. Last night the %'s were abysmal. I flew for 4 hours, over 50 sorties. My ability to maintain the lock dropped to bellow 40% and the missile hit ratio to bellow 95%. I virtually need to fire everything i have at that Eagle, starting at 45 NM (first Phoenix STT) and then continue firing to keep him defensive (doesn't always work with the new 120C FM). I end up usually getting him with a Winder.

 

I know the DCS AI is omniscient and goes defensive the instant you fire at them, but it has always been so. And yet, with proper techniques, at least against the AI, it was possible to fight effectively. So, what gives?

 

EDIT 1. apologies, the details of the engagement are:

25000ft co-altitude, Nevada map, Standard day, starting separation 70 nautical miles. Eagles heading 180, Tomcat heading 000.

 

EDIT 2. the weirdest detail is that the closure rate scale on the HUD and the closure vector on the TID repeater show very different values. The HUD shows closure of over 1000 knots while the vector is almost always tiny, as if the radar is about to be notched (after launch). Which is odd, for another reason. Maneuvering to counter the notch doesn't change the vector length AND keeping the target above the horizon should disable the Doppler filter anyways. Neither of which works. :(

Edited December 21, 2019 by captain_dalan

[CommanderRabb]

Did they perform any evasive action? MP or SP.

 

 

They did do some mild evasive maneuvers. Mostly dropping altitude rapidly. This was in SP. Caucasus map. 250 miles feet wet. Two armed Tomcats vs two armed JF-17's. Both closing and probably starting about 150 miles apart. Difficulty: High.

 

 

And IIRC Jester does seem to continue to have a problem with losing STT locks. Been like that for months. It's pretty annoying. Even when flying straight and level at a target about 20 miles away. He'll just lose the lock sometimes.

Edited December 21, 2019 by CommanderRabb

[captain_dalan]

They did do some mild evasive maneuvers. Mostly dropping altitude rapidly. This was in SP. Caucasus map. 250 miles feet wet. Two armed Tomcats vs two armed JF-17's. Both closing and probably starting about 150 miles apart. Difficulty: High.

 

 

And IIRC Jester does seem to continue to have a problem with losing STT locks. Been like that for months. It's pretty annoying. Even when flying straight and level at a target about 20 miles away. He'll just lose the lock sometimes.

 

The thing is i could actually maintain STT locks quite nicely the last time i flew. You just had to maneuver in ways that keeps the closure rate high enough. Not really an issue unless a target is heading away from you. Last night though..... that Eagle was doing anything except heading away, and i still couldn't maximize his closure vector :joystick: despite keeping the closure rate the highest possible. :helpsmilie:

[IronMike]

no, we changed nothing of that sorts.

[Eagle7907]

no, we changed nothing of that sorts.

 

 

 

Hey Mike,

 

Any news about fixing the problem with Jester not switching to PSTT when told to? It seems he’s still having that issue. Usually that results in a free kill for a bandit, if you know what I mean.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[captain_dalan]

no, we changed nothing of that sorts.

 

Hmm, could be something else has been change then. Maybe DCS wide.

 

I tried some more hops this afternoon, same mission just added more adversary options, like Mirage 2000's and F-16's. Turns out the other planes are a bit easier to keep hooked. Eventually i ended up being able to keep the Eagle locked as well, almost until merge, however in order to this i had anti-notch almost all the way to gimbal azimuth limits. So i guess it is possible.

 

Missile performance was still abysmal. Out of two dozen Phoenix shots, only one homed in. The rest still (most likely) ate chaff. :thumbup: