AI ditching in water - bug or feature?

[Qiou87]

Hi,

 

In 2.7 OB, I saw the AI (Ju-88) ditch into the sea and survive for the first time yesterday. In the Channel map quick mission (something about escorting merchant ships in a P-51D Mustang), I spawned 3x Bf-109 and 3x Ju-88. One of the Ju-88 was damaged, went down low over the water and ditched. There was a nice splash effect (I was circling to make sure he died). The plane was not dead (visible in F10 view + when cycling F2). He went low and slow to make a smooth touchdown, as if the ditching was intentional.

 

Later in the same mission, a Bf-109 damaged by flak went over the coast and crash landed into a field/forest. Same thing: the plane was not dead, only damaged. I actually took a couple of straffing runs at him just to make sure, and yes, it could be damaged further.

 

I don't remember this being a feature, did I just miss it? Granted I haven't played thousands of hours in WWII, but in my experience damaged AI planes either RTB, eject or simply crash. Ditching and crash-landing is news to me (and kind of awesome).

 

PS: sorry for the lack of a track file, I forgot to save it and it was 30min long, didn't think it was necessary as I wasn't sure if it was a feature or bug).

[StevanJ]

Its a feature..

[Qiou87]

36 minutes ago, StevanJ said:

Its a feature..

Thanks for your confirmation. Great feature indeed, as far as I knew water landing was not possible in DCS. Only possible in WWII planes for now due to the new damage model?

[StevanJ]

Yeah, they ditch where possible.
Before 2.7 they'd ditch in open spaces ie a field.. Now theyve gotten a little dumber, and ditch into trees.
Hopefully another patch will solve it..

[bell_rj]

On 4/20/2021 at 2:53 PM, StevanJ said:

Yeah, they ditch where possible.
Before 2.7 they'd ditch in open spaces ie a field.. Now theyve gotten a little dumber, and ditch into trees.
Hopefully another patch will solve it..

Yeah 2.7 has gone backwards in regards to AI crash landing behavior. I watched numerous German warbirds gliding with engines out and then attempt to either bail out at 50ft or mostly crash into trees instead of picking a nearby empty field. One pilot even glided parallel to his own runway and then crashed into the ground instead.

[StevanJ]

2 minutes ago, bell_rj said:

Yeah 2.7 has gone backwards in regards to AI crash landing behavior. I watched numerous German warbirds gliding with engines out and then attempt to either bail out at 50ft or mostly crash into trees instead of picking a nearby empty field. One pilot even glided parallel to his own runway and then crashed into the ground instead.

YES! Ive seen that.. I watched my bombers come into land yesterday, And a fighter jumped in front as they approached. The bombers just ruddered right and said, 'Hmmm, This is a minor inconvenience, I should go around, Or land somewhere else.. Yup- This line of trees will do just fine!'
Then gave a massive thumbs up and saluted out the window.

The minute he realises he cant land in a tree, he climbs by 20 ft and said 'Hmmm, This is a minor inconvenience, Im on fire, I should get some altititude or bail.. Yup- This altitude gives me enought time for me and my gunner to safely escape'
Then tries to bail.. From 40ft.

[rayrayblues]

Now we need player aircraft to be able to ditch in the water. I too saw the Ju-88 ditch and float for several minutes before sinking

in a mission I created trying out torpedo runs on ships. Water ditching would be a nice (and more realistic) feature for players.