Mjolnir Campaign Mission 3: AI wingmen randomly exploding

[Machalot]

Tonight I have played mission 3 of the Mjolnir campaign multiple times.  When I start to engage the ships, I would notice that one or more of my wingmen were randomly gone.  I assumed they got shot down somewhere.  But when I check the debrief, it just says they crashed and died.  There were no enemy fire event recorded.  The fifth time I flew the mission, I kept a close eye on them as we approached waypoint 2.  I saw all three of them explode in midair, one by one, as we were about to cross the river. 

 

So is this actually due to enemy activity that I'm somehow missing?  Or is this a bug?

[Flappie]

Hi Machalot. I've just made a run on Mjolnir campaign mission 3. The AI Viggen did not crash and were able to attack ships once we passed WP3.

Track attached.

 

(only I crashed while watching them)

Mjolnir3_no_issue_with_AI_AJS37.trk

Edited December 17, 2020 by Flappie

[Machalot]

I wish I had saved the track when they all exploded. 

 

Are there any enemy SAMs or AAA near waypoint 2?

 

The other weird thing that happens is AI wingman 3 launches his RB04s well outside their maximum range, and they just fall into the sea. I wonder if there is some kind of internal position bug causing both issues, and the AI aircraft are falsely colliding with a nearby hill even though they appear to be clear of the terrain. 

[Flappie]

To be frank, I've seen AI Viggen crash on the ground a number of times when I first played the campaign. But it was back in 2018.

Today, I've tested mission 3 with previous open beta. Which DCS version are you on?

[Machalot]

Latest OB.  These guys aren't crashing on the ground, they are exploding in mid-air, at a few hundred meters altitude over flat terrain. 

[Flappie]

Next time it happens, please Save the track and attach it here.

[Machalot]

Just to clarify, I meant latest OB as of Dec 15, 2020, not including the December 2020 update. 

[Flappie]

Another user saw aircraft exploding in mid-air without explanation. He didn't say if they were Viggen. You two should have a little talk. Are you using mods?

[illern]

I often has my AI viggen crash in the campain and from what I can see they are hitting trees when flying over ridges.

[Machalot]

4 hours ago, illern said:

I often has my AI viggen crash in the campain and from what I can see they are hitting trees when flying over ridges.

I fly low but my AI wingmen fly up at a few hundred meters for some reason.  And when I watched them explode there were nowhere near a ridge or obstacles.  So I don't know what it was.

[Woolfe]

I ran the track and the Viggen turned to taxi to 07 instead of 25 and crashed head first into a F5 on the ground!

Mjolnir3_no_issue_with_AI_AJS37 (1).trk

[HB_Zander]

I am seeing the same issue, except I am creating a mission for A-10A's, and one of my F-16 AI aircraft always explodes midair somewhere over Batumi right before or after engaging enemy cargo ships, it's always the wingman and never the lead.

[Machalot]

When it happens to me it's generally not repeatable in the track files either.  What about you? 

[HB_Zander]

I am very sorry for my late reply but I don't get any indication when someone replies even though I am following this. What do you mean by track files? The video recording you can save when ending the mission?

I have managed to solve that issue with my F-16 by adding the "React to threat" option to the group and set it to "Evade". I also played with RoE option but I believe it was the react to threat one that changed the behavior. Now when I return to one of my earlier missions that has worked perfectly before, but not after some update between few months ago and now I am seeing the same issue with one of my AI F-15's, also always the wingman on exactly the same spot and none of the mentioned options changes that so I'm stuck again, this happens north of Novorissiysk.

[Machalot]

48 minutes ago, TheEscapist___ said:

What do you mean by track files? The video recording you can save when ending the mission?

In the debrief there is an option to save the track. It's not a video, it's an attempt to record a replayable sequence of input commands that can be used to resimulate the mission in DCS's engine. It's not completely reliable though. 

[HB_Zander]

Oh right, I forgot it's not a video, I only use them to record a video that's why I thought it was a video. I will check a few times and come back

[HB_Zander]

https://web.tresorit.com/l/w2wSM#FelTFsWkUgNgUalYUIo9hw

Here is a link to a track where my F-15 explodes. I have played it at x16 speed where I could but it's still too big for a direct upload, although I don't think the speed at which I recorded it would have an influence on the file size. I have played the replay and the same thing happens.

After watching this I started to wonder, maybe it's going off course for some unknown reason, and when it rejoins formation it encounters some weird unexpected state and DCS doesn't know what to do so it kills it? The F-16 problem I had showed similar symptoms, the wingman gets separated too far due to constantly flying with after burner and increasing the turn radius making a wiiiiiiiiide circle, then explodes when getting close to the lead before rejoin happens.

[HB_Zander]

This seems to be fixed for me in the latest release. I also don't see the weird behavior of AI aircraft before they exploded anymore.