Feedback Thread - F14 Tomcat Patch July 21st 2022

[Shadok]

Testing with my FFB stick:

The ACLS is working now but I still have to keep my hand on the stick because for some reason the plane suddenly climbs during the approach. This seems to be more accentuated when the plane is in the bubble effect of the aircraft carrier (catching the third string is not easy).

Edit: For now, I can't land on the carrier with actif ACLS, alway have to finish in manual.

Re-edit: with correct loadout (I have tested with over-loadout before), I can land with active ACLS if I stay vigilant.

However, it is impossible to make the Alt Hold work. A/P Ref stays on (even if it can go off for a micro-second from time to time).

Thanks

Edited July 22, 2022 by Shadok

[JupiterJoe]

• HEADING HOLD doesn't seem to do anything. I've removed the deadzones that were a workaround after the last patch.
• Engaging AP on the ground makes the plane trim all the way aft.

Edited July 23, 2022 by JupiterJoe

[XCNuse]

18 hours ago, IronMike said:

NEW: Added the ability to remove the refuelling probe door by triggering Argument 1616.

Can we get a little better description on what this means?

What is Argument 1616 and how exactly does one trigger it.

[HeavyGun1450]

Mike, has there been any news regarding the F14 causing the game to freeze issue?

[IronMike]

2 minutes ago, HeavyGun1450 said:

Mike, has there been any news regarding the F14 causing the game to freeze issue?

No, we haven't found anything on our side so far, and are not even sure if this is really F-14 related. There are reports of this also happening in the F-18. Our hunch is that it is maybe F-14 AI related, but we were unable to even reproduce it so far. For instance I never had, nor seen that myself. We are continuing to investigate though.

[Noctrach]

It's impossible to capture with a screenshot but since last patch there's a seam running down the line of the F-14A cockpit which deforms/warps the view when you move the camera.

It looks like a screen tear which is what caught my attention initially, but it's exactly down the centreline of the canopy.

[Flash_111]

21 hours ago, IronMike said:

That is a known bug and only affects the flags, unfortunately we were not able to get that in before cutoff anymore.

As for oversweep - are you sure you are waiting till the light comes off? That may explain the 10 seconds.

So here's a bit more info. When the key bindings for e-sweep were first added back a few months ago I mapped those functions to a 3 position switch with a press (Win Wing wing fold switch). I had raise/lower handle toggle mapped to the press and sweep/unsweep mapped to fold/unfold respectively, with the middle position of the 3 pos switch being unbound. Back then you could just raise the handle, flip the rotary to sweep and leave it there- handle would move to 68, then wait for the oversweep checks, then without any additional input continue into oversweep. That behavior changed I think in the June patch, maybe the one prior. I have successfully bound it to a spare axis which has a detent (which I can curve to the 68 position), but that sometimes causes problems with hot starts if the axis is not always in the aft position as soon as I spawn in the wings will unsweep to where the axis is, possibly hitting other planes on the deck. I can get in the habit of pushing that all the way back before loading in. But I can't quite get the keybindings to work reliably for over sweep since the last patch, only an axis works (or scrolling the mousewheel on the control itself- not ideal during taxi/parking). I'll keep looking at it because theoretically it's something that should be happening every flight prior to shutdown.

I also noticed that you guys have recently looked at landing gear traction/friction for the Viggen- any chance of that coming to the Tomcat sometime? On a dry runway brakes should be able to hold the F110 at mil, and TF-30's through zone 1. In game right now brake friction gives out at around 90%RPM. Ground friction generally feels just weird in the F-14. Pubs suggest that both engines idling should be ample power for taxi (once in motion). Viper rolls around like its on ice skates whereas the F-14 taxis around like it is driving through a thick layer of mud.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Flash_111

[cw4ogden]

Fuel dumping graphics seems to have gotten messed up this patch.  Dumping fuel now, I get a big puff of smoke and then no other effects.

[Shadok]

ACLS still doesn't work with the FFB stick. The first tests I did were with the FFB trim option disabled, resulting in a strange behavior of the plane. With the FFB trim option on, the plane reacts as before the patch (the plane goes into the sea).

I would like to hear that Heatblur is going to work on this problem in some next patch.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Shadok

[sLYFa]

One more minor thing regarding oversweep:

While holding the handle at 68°, the OVSP flag should appear after the wing bags are deflated and the hz tail auth light going out, advising the pilot that the handle can be moved past 68deg into oversweep. This used to be the case prior to the wingsweep update but now the OVSP flag appears only after putting the handle past 68°

[IronMike]

On 7/23/2022 at 5:22 PM, Shadok said:

ACLS still doesn't work with the FFB stick. The first tests I did were with the FFB trim option disabled, resulting in a strange behavior of the plane. With the FFB trim option on, the plane reacts as before the patch (the plane goes into the sea).

I would like to hear that Heatblur is going to work on this problem in some next patch.

 

We are, in fact @Super Grover acquired a FFB stick so we can finally test FFB issues on our own and debug the issues properly. Our apologies for all the incoveniences, but it is quite the rabbit hole we have to go through to get everything working. Thank you for your tremendous and kind patience with us @Shadok. It is much appreciated.

[LanceCriminal86]

2 hours ago, Бойовий Сокіл said:

Are the new liveries and fixes that didnt make it last patch in today's patch?

Apparently not, don't know if the hotfix/patch was communicated or not. Hopefully we can get this ironed out to have some stuff ready for the next one to also take advantage of the new probe door feature. Also time to give the F-14A+/B some love again too. 

[IronMike]

2 hours ago, Бойовий Сокіл said:

Are the new liveries and fixes that didnt make it last patch in today's patch?

Unfortunately not, we did not participate in the hotfix.

[fghidalg]

43 minutes ago, IronMike said:

Unfortunately not, we did not participate in the hotfix.

Friend, when you think we'll have that big upgrade package where it's added to the pilot's body and hgu-55 helmets to give some examples, thank you.

[IronMike]

2 hours ago, fghidalg said:

Friend, when you think we'll have that big upgrade package where it's added to the pilot's body and hgu-55 helmets to give some examples, thank you.

With a big caveat: if all things go well within the next two patches. It is a bit unpredictable atm, as we are trying to tie up many lose ends and thus it is an extremely busy time, working on several things at the same time. But pilot body has one of the higher priorities currently, we know how much you guys have been waiting for it.

[RustBelt]

Agile development, it’s like being on fire all the time, except people keep yelling at you to be on fire harder the whole time.

[Shadok]

18 hours ago, IronMike said:

 Thank you for your tremendous and kind patience with us @Shadok. It is much appreciated.

My apologies if I appear impatient and thank you for your response.

[IronMike]

2 hours ago, Shadok said:

My apologies if I appear impatient and thank you for your response.

You absolutely do not, to the contrary. No worries at all.

Edited July 29, 2022 by IronMike

[SuperOldGuy]

This is the tiniest of nitpicks, and probably only stands out to me, but...

"NEW: Added AFAC Role assignable from the mission editor."

AFAC is not a thing, it's called FAC-A

Edited August 1, 2022 by SuperOldGuy

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

Just notice that both HUD and VID showed the plane was not horizontal, but the analog ASI and my Mk.1 eyeball disagreed. I may have touched a button I should not have.

[Golo]

12 minutes ago, VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants said:

I may have touched a button I should not have.

Probably not a button but a stick (in a manner you should not have) since your accelerometer is pegged at 10. Unless that was for something like last ditch missile defense you need to be more gentler.

[Spurts]

I was going to say "First thought is over-G'ed INS" but @Golo beat me to it.

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

This was after an amazing BFM session against a veteran MiG-29S which did vertical loops over and over...

[draconus]

1 hour ago, VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants said:

This was after an amazing BFM session against a veteran MiG-29S which did vertical loops over and over...

So? No reason to pull over 10Gs - broken INS will also mess your calculated gun sight.

[Spurts]

I recently did a 1v4 (2 Ace MiG-29 and 2 Ace Su-27) while in the F-14A and I think I hit 8G at the initial break... maybe.  Most my time was spent under 250KIAS.