Long-standing and Repeatable Trim Bug when Using Active Pause

[Typhonus]

This bug has been reported for two years or so and remains unfixed, and renders the active pause feature for learning skills completely useless.

 

When you put the aircraft in Active Pause for an extended period of time, the trim slowly creeps down the axis until the plane is wildly out of trim. This can easily be duplicated by simply jumping into single player, turning on the Ctrl-Enter controls that let you see your stick positions, placing the plane in active pause, and then accelerating time. You can watch the small trim diamond slide slowly down the axis until it's pegged at the bottom. Likewise, and external view shows the tailerons pitched max down.

 

The moment you leave active pause, the aircraft wildly pitches, goes into a stall, and basically almost always crashes. Your trim button won't work in active pause, as even holding it down doesn't seem to move the indicators at that point. Nor is there a trim reset. The AI can't manage to get it together either. This happens again and again, and can be easily seen by anybody.

 

This renders active pause while sitting in the RIO cockpit, trying to learn the LANTIRN pod for example, basically impossible. 

 

Given that it's been happening for years, is easily repeatable, and can be visibly watched happen, I'm shocked it hasn't been dealt with at this point. Can anyone help? It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would be hard to fix.

[Typhonus]

With further experimentation, more data is available.

 

This is associated with autopilot, or autopilot-like elements.

 

If you simply sit in the pilot's seat, active pause the game, and do not have the autopilot turned on, this behavior never happens.

 

But, if you first turn on the autopilot and have it running BEFORE you active pause, it does happen. Likewise, if you go into the backseat, so that Iceman is flying the plane, it likewise happens.

 

The trim can go in either direction, for reasons I'm unaware of. When the nose is trimmed down, it's a mess but more manageable. But when it's trimmed up, it's a disaster.

 

Hope that extra data helps. It's why it happens so often while trying to use RIO functions - Iceman is flying, and apparently using the autopilot code in some manner, or something similar.

[Typhonus]

I've found a rather weak work-around for this. If you start in the pilot's seat, you can active pause the game WITHOUT activating the autopilot and then jump into the backseat. Leave the control panel open where you can see the trim. As you work, watch it slide up or down slowly. When it hits the middle of the bar, jump into the front seats, where you can use trim hats while still paused to move it back to where it began. You can't do this in the back seat, as the RIO has no mappable control to manage trim. Wash and repeat.

 

A more simple cure is just turn off Jester and Iceman entirely, and don't use autopilot when active pausing.

[Hillman]

I get this problem often even though I'm not jumping to the back-seat. Anoying when you try to study some feature etc....

[Silhou]

14 hours ago, Hillman said:

I get this problem often even though I'm not jumping to the back-seat. Anoying when you try to study some feature etc....

Hey! Thank you for the details and the heads up. I'll add it to the report.

[Hillman]

On 12/4/2023 at 1:25 PM, Silhou said:

Hey! Thank you for the details and the heads up. I'll add it to the report.

Happens every single time in any instant action mission: activate the autopilot and press active pause - you see the trim is pulling the stick back constantly. You see it on the controls indicator and the trim instrument also. (MT and VR)

[Typhonus2]

This still continues, in exactly the same manner as reported, two years after the initial report. Is it ever going to be addressed? I mean, we now have an exciting visual of a non-functional TARPS pod, but can't use active pause to train in the backseat after all this time. That seems a real mis-prioritization.  And it was reported as early as 2019, actually making this now four years without a fix.

Edited December 29, 2023 by Typhonus2

[draconus]

On 12/29/2023 at 7:27 PM, Typhonus2 said:

I mean, we now have an exciting visual of a non-functional TARPS pod, but can't use active pause to train in the backseat after all this time. That seems a real mis-prioritization.

1. 3D modelers don't work on the code.

2. TARPS is way more useful than some unrealistic game mode.

[Typhonus2]

Sigh. Actual pilots being trained in real simulators have "instructor freeze" modes specifically to help them learn, analyze, and improve in such environments.

Whether an actual, functioning TARPS and associated workflows and capabilities would be more valuable than fixing this bug isn't really up for debate, since an inert graphic model of a TARP pod is no such thing, and adds nothing but eye candy. But you do you.

[draconus]

I have nothing against your favourite bug fixed but whenever you think it's more important than other planned features that get added I'll happily remind you that other users may think otherwise.