reported ACLS F18 CPL Autopilot not working as intended....my fault ?

[Darkenmass]

Hi there,

i was trying the new ACLS in the F18 and i tried to follow the video instructions found on youtube but when i press the a/p cpl mode instead of a p/r indication on the hud i have a hdg indication and after some correction the a/p indication in the hud disappear with a Master Caution ligh on, on the mfd a/p is still visible the plane glide out of course....from there i can only take control of the plane if i want to land, what am i doing wrong ?

AL.trk

Edited April 28, 2022 by Darkenmass

[fjacobsen]

I have tried using ACLS, but once I engage it, it disengages shortly after.

With gear down, full Flaps, ATC engaged On speed (Amber Donut), etsblished in the ICLS, I press CPL....

It engages, but despite both Lcalizer and Glideslope are aligned, it starts weaving and shortly after it disengages.

I have set a rather high Deadzone for my stick, just to ensure that Stick input don´t interfer.

[fjacobsen]

Think I found the reason...

I was way over max allowable landing weight of 33.000 Lbs

[Foka]

My only thought is joystick movment. My ACLS didn't disengage, but my landing is... bolter, bolter. bolter...

[Willdass]

Same here

[[ED]Ben]

Odd one - i can not replicate in a new mission, but i can by taking control of your track file. Reported to find the problem

[Zodiacc]

I encounter the same problem in my first try.Try not to use AP while descending etc. until 6nm and then hand-over it should work.

[[ED]Ben]

can i just check that you have the supercarrier module installed? 

 

[Willdass]

 I have have the Supercarrier, but I have only tried this on a old mission file (if that has any effect?), I added the Link4 and ACLS in the ME ofc.

Experiencing the same thing as OP. Engaging ATC in approach mode when on-speed at 1200ft and 6nm, then engaging CPL. I get the HDG indication in the HUD, not p/r.

Seems to work fine up until that point.

[[ED]Ben]

Ok, thanks. can you try it in a new mission? see if it works.

 

Its a really odd one - we never saw this once in testing. 

[Damned - Gh0st]

I have a very odd bug happening.

When a mission is hosted locally (singleplayer) ACLS works perfectly as intended, but when the same mission is hosted on a dedicated multiplayer server the ACLS "DATA" never gets transmitted to the aircraft.

EX: Singleplayer local host, feature works as intended.

       Multiplayer Dedicated Server Host, in the F/A-18C the "DATA" popup on the HUD never occurs so the ACLS CPL cannot be used.

 

 

When doing some digging and troubleshooting (I spent ~6hours on this so far) I found that in the multiplayer dedicated server the kneeboard for the Link4 appeared different than in the singleplayer local host and this might be the cause of the issue. (Keep in mind this is the same mission file, just different hosting methods)

 

Singleplayer Local host (working as intended):

Here we can see the name of the carriers in the quotation marks

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multiplayer Dedicated Server host (Not working, no "DATA" appears in the HUD) :

Here there is no name for the carriers in the quotation marks.

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

This is the ONLY difference I can spot between the two hosting methods and might be causing the bug.

(again, it is the same exact .miz; just run 2 different ways)

 

Has anyone experienced the same/have a solution?

 

-Thanks!

Edited April 29, 2022 by Damned - Gh0st
formatting

[BIGNEWY]

please confirm the server is updated, and please attach a mission example

In our tests all seems fine

thank you

[Damned - Gh0st]

44 minutes ago, BIGNEWY said:

please confirm the server is updated, and please attach a track replay example thank you

Thanks for the quick response @BIGNEWY, the server is updated and attached are the tracks. Please forgive the flying; it's 3am and I'm setup for VR flying but just used my monitor to grab the tracks

 

Uploaded with drive as the multiplayer track was too large to add here.

 

LocalHost Track:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RisxrSotnbXcKh07BYT1qTt7NO09d2L4/view?usp=sharing

DedicatedServer Track:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lxNtTFACyyorzhIQtpsDUG7NGFmhrzVs/view?usp=sharing

 

On the dedicated server the "DATA" never appears so the rest of the ACLS starts behaving oddly, i flew it through so you can see how it goes into CPL TCN at the end rather than CPL P/R. I also showed the kneeboards in each.

 

Thanks!

[Damned - Gh0st]

On 4/29/2022 at 2:19 AM, BIGNEWY said:

please confirm the server is updated, and please attach a mission example

In our tests all seems fine

thank you

Just saw you edited the comment asking for a mission example instead of tracks; Attached the mission from the track files here.

 

Thanks!

 

edit- the password for the test aircraft i added is "admintest123"

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Damned - Gh0st

[BIGNEWY]

thanks

 

[[ED]Ben]

Hi - Moose and CTLD are loaded in the .miz.

 

Can you remove them, and then check if the problem persists? 

[Foka]

I also encountered that problem. In this same mission (my own Case 3 training) and sometimes ACLS enters HDG mode, sometimes works ok... ish. I had a bolter with ACPL P/R mode.

[Damned - Gh0st]

19 minutes ago, [ED]Obi said:

Hi - Moose and CTLD are loaded in the .miz.

 

Can you remove them, and then check if the problem persists? 

Hi!

I removed all script elements and performed another test, the behavior from the previous dedicated server track is still apparent.

Also, the issue with the kneeboard not displaying correctly from the initial post screenshots is still there.

Track for the no script test is attached.

 

Thank you for your help and looking into this!

NoScripts.trk

[Razgriz27]

It happened to me as well. I tried to adapt the official case 3 mission and at 6 miles from the carrier the ACLS DDI keeps showing T/C (and not mode 1) and when engaging it says CPL HDG. However when I created a new mission from scratch it worked fine. The only difference that I can see between the two of them is that in the official case 3 mission there was another hornet in the marshall stack and I didn't wait for my push time.

[Darkenmass]

Tried to make a brand new mission just one F18 and a carrier, first go i managed to use the the ACLS without any issues, then i added some flights and stuff to the mission, when i go to the stack to land again same bug....note it was the same mission i just added something to do instead of just landing.

So i think i can exclude is a matter of "old" or "new" missions.

At the moment looks random to me.

[LR.Jpatty]

Same for me.  it worked once,   got the tadpole a couple other times. but always getting master caution AUTO PILOT and no CPL.  with all other indications there.  tried in old and new mission.   

[marzzz]

is the ATC approach necessary before using ACLS mode 1 ?

thks

[WOPR]

21 minutes ago, marzzz said:

is the ATC approach necessary before using ACLS mode 1 ?

thks

I don’t know, but I suspect it is.  Managing the throttle is a necessity if you want to stay on glide slope with the correct AoA.  

[AG-51_Razor]

Hosted the mission for my squad last night after everybody (including the server) was patched up. Small, relatively simple mission involving a Case III recovery. There were 4 of us in the Hornet and not one could get the ACLS to lock on at 6 miles. At no time did any of us receive a flashing DATA message in the HUD nor did any of us get the "tadpole" symbology on the HUD.

Afterwards, I ran the mission on my gamer in single player and everything works as it was supposed to - just exactly as it did in Wags' video. If I get some time today, I'll try to get some track files put together. The mission had no scripts running at all and the Military Aircraft Mod is the only mod running. The server is just a regular version of DCS, not a dedicated server.

This has all been reported by another squad member who said his mission ran as advertised in single player.

On a brighter note, the light wands are AWESOME!!

[timtierney]

I have a very similar experience.  I tried Wagner's procedure twice on my custom mission.  No luck.

For me, I get to the point where needles start to come down and meet my aircraft.  I'm gear down, 1200' AGL, approach ATC enabled in stable flight, ACL page says ACL RDY.  However, when I go A/P -> CPL, it get's into an ocilation trying to stabilize and and auto pilot eventually kicks-off.  I think I'm around 3,200 lbs of fuel with a clean configuration.

One thing I noticed is when I couple, it says CPL HDG in the HUD instead of CPL P/R, which I'm guessing is the root problem. @fjacobsendo you have a similar experience?