Some missing features

[BoFrost]

So, got time to fly the first mission in VR.

First of all, on my System with my default settings, the campaign runs smooth.

As I fly in VR only, I can confirm, that planning is not the big issue as I first thought. You can do it easy in VR. But what I am missing, are some Kneeboard pages. It would be good to have at least the overview Maps in the Kneeboard where the different CAP, CAS, SEAD areas are located and their names. Had always to switch back to the briefing page which is really anoying. Also the holding Alt and some Frequenzies would be nice. Maybe you can add this to an Update ? 

Thats my very first findings on the campaign, which totally fixed me after the first mission already.

 

Regards Frank

[Sandman Simulations]

52 minutes ago, BoFrost said:

So, got time to fly the first mission in VR.

First of all, on my System with my default settings, the campaign runs smooth.

As I fly in VR only, I can confirm, that planning is not the big issue as I first thought. You can do it easy in VR. But what I am missing, are some Kneeboard pages. It would be good to have at least the overview Maps in the Kneeboard where the different CAP, CAS, SEAD areas are located and their names. Had always to switch back to the briefing page which is really anoying. Also the holding Alt and some Frequenzies would be nice. Maybe you can add this to an Update ? 

Thats my very first findings on the campaign, which totally fixed me after the first mission already.

 

Regards Frank

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback. Nice to hear you find planning with VR easy to do.

Because there is about 70 pages of planning charts in documentation I first thought it wouldn't help at all to put few of those in kneeboard. But maybe it could be like you said if I add maybe most important charts like operation areas and frequencies.

I'll do that. Can't promise it will make it to next update.

[BoFrost]

One more thing I stumbled over is, that if you for example choosed SEAD for Devil 2, but you wanted to choose CAP, it is not possible to go one step back. Maybe it could be possible to reset the task for an group, so it can be reassigned? 

 

Regards Frank 

[Sandman Simulations]

2 minutes ago, BoFrost said:

One more thing I stumbled over is, that if you for example choosed SEAD for Devil 2, but you wanted to choose CAP, it is not possible to go one step back. Maybe it could be possible to reset the task for an group, so it can be reassigned? 

 

Regards Frank 

At least at the moment it's not possible. You just need to start mission again if you give wrong task. I did that many many times while testing the campaign and I couldn't find easy way to give player opportunity to take one step back.

When you choose task for flight a new group with that task will spawn on deck. I'm not sure would it work if I add possibility to remove already spawned flight and set new one on deck. Already there is a risk of AI colliding on deck if player starts taxiing wrong time and I'm bit scared it would mess up AI getting air even more. It was quite a job to get it work like it works now. 

[BoFrost]

vor 3 Minuten schrieb Sandman Simulations:

At least at the moment it's not possible. You just need to start mission again if you give wrong task. I did that many many times while testing the campaign and I couldn't find easy way to give player opportunity to take one step back.

When you choose task for flight a new group with that task will spawn on deck. I'm not sure would it work if I add possibility to remove already spawned flight and set new one on deck. Already there is a risk of AI colliding on deck if player starts taxiing wrong time and I'm bit scared it would mess up AI getting air even more. It was quite a job to get it work like it works now. 

OK, understand. Thought already that this would be difficult. 

However, a great campaign and planning works great! Have to be more careful then and thinking twice

 

Regards Frank 

[Falken2]

On 5/21/2023 at 6:53 PM, BoFrost said:

It would be good to have at least the overview Maps in the Kneeboard where the different CAP, CAS, SEAD areas are located and their names.

I concur. We really need this. And maybe the channel frequencies chart. 

Other issue, but this is DCS not the campaign I guess : the wingman refuses to "engage my target" despite repeated orders and repeated acknowledgements. From BVR to merge. 

 

[Sandman Simulations]

3 hours ago, Falken2 said:

I concur. We really need this. And maybe the channel frequencies chart. 

Other issue, but this is DCS not the campaign I guess : the wingman refuses to "engage my target" despite repeated orders and repeated acknowledgements. From BVR to merge. 

 

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback.

I have already made update and included most important charts in kneeboard. I try to get it in the next DCS update.

Unfortunately I can't do anything about wingman behavior. I usually use "engage my enemy" and it has worked at least until now.

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by Sandman Simulations

[BoFrost]

Hi, 

I can confirm that the commands towards the Wingman is working well. Even with Vaicom, which I use for several commands. 

Looking forward to the Kneeboard, in maybe, the next update. 

Thanks 

Frank 

[Diablo 1-1]

@Sandman Simulations First off great campaign, it feels pretty dynamic in the DCS sense and doesn't feel empty. I do have an issue with SEAD at point bravo. Devil 3 was supposed to do SEAD on the SA-6 at Bandar-Lengeh, but decided to attack the AAA that are stationed on the little islands in between. Sirri and Abu Musa I believe. I was under the assumption that the AI SEAD would choose the largest air defense target to conduct SEAD on.

Me: OCA/ Lar AFB

Devil 2: CAP B

Devil 3: SEAD B

Devil 4: Ship Strike

Devil 5: OCA/ Bandar-Lengeh

 

Air Superiority: 50-60%

Air Defense: 60-70% 

5 hours ago, Falken2 said:

I concur. We really need this. And maybe the channel frequencies chart. 

Other issue, but this is DCS not the campaign I guess : the wingman refuses to "engage my target" despite repeated orders and repeated acknowledgements. From BVR to merge. 

 

I usually just tell them to engage bandits and follow up if they need it.

[Sandman Simulations]

1 hour ago, Diablo 1-1 said:

@Sandman Simulations First off great campaign, it feels pretty dynamic in the DCS sense and doesn't feel empty. I do have an issue with SEAD at point bravo. Devil 3 was supposed to do SEAD on the SA-6 at Bandar-Lengeh, but decided to attack the AAA that are stationed on the little islands in between. Sirri and Abu Musa I believe. I was under the assumption that the AI SEAD would choose the largest air defense target to conduct SEAD on.

Me: OCA/ Lar AFB

Devil 2: CAP B

Devil 3: SEAD B

Devil 4: Ship Strike

Devil 5: OCA/ Bandar-Lengeh

 

Air Superiority: 50-60%

Air Defense: 60-70% 

I usually just tell them to engage bandits and follow up if they need it.

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback.

Flight tasked to SEAD area Bravo should attack SA-10 west from Bandar Lengeh as priority and if SA-10 is out of operation (like it is in your situation) they should attack SA-6 at Bandar Lengeh. Only after SA-6 should they attack against AAA and Rapiers on smaller islands.

Just tested it and they are acting just as you said. But when I set one flight simultaneously commit OCA strike to Bandar Lengeh, SA-6 started shooting at them and at the same time SEAD-flight reacted, shot HARMs and destroyed SA-6. They of course didn't do that if they already had shot all HARMs to other targets.  I'm not sure what causes it and it wasn't like this during tests. I'm not sure if SA-6 with skill level high can be using radar only when engaging threat and only then can be engaged with HARMs? 

Cost of dynamic features is that there is much more dependency on AI than in normal scripted campaign. And as we all know DCS AI sometimes does something very stupid. I'm sure there will be lots of AI-things I need to fix. Because in this situation flight seems to do their job in the end I will not change things at least for now. 

Tacview-20230529-231416-DCS-STAGE 4 90 perf.zip.acmi

[Diablo 1-1]

1 hour ago, Sandman Simulations said:

 I'm not sure what causes it and it wasn't like this during tests. I'm not sure if SA-6 with skill level high can be using radar only when engaging threat and only then can be engaged with HARMs? 

 

 

I just did my own SEAD/DEAD on the SA-6 and I believe this is the issue. They didn't turn on the radar til I was roughly 30KM from Bandar Lengeh. Devil 3 probably didn't see the SA-6 on so it went after the AAA and Rapiers. Just looking to help make the campaign better with feedback on what I see.

 

Also I watched as a squad of A-10s all die to the same AAA gun one after the other lol. So yeah DCS AI can be pretty stupid lol

[Sandman Simulations]

7 hours ago, Diablo 1-1 said:

I just did my own SEAD/DEAD on the SA-6 and I believe this is the issue. They didn't turn on the radar til I was roughly 30KM from Bandar Lengeh. Devil 3 probably didn't see the SA-6 on so it went after the AAA and Rapiers. Just looking to help make the campaign better with feedback on what I see.

 

Also I watched as a squad of A-10s all die to the same AAA gun one after the other lol. So yeah DCS AI can be pretty stupid lol

All feedback and remarks are warmly welcome. I will put them all to my notes and if I can find I good resolution without breaking something else I'll try to fix also AI-problems if possible. 

About A-10s. Need to take a look to it. I had big challenges to balance A-10s not to be too efficient. Can you specify what was name of that mission and how many missions being flown before it. I tested few missions and it seems that at least there A-10s are still doing a good job. Even little bit too good 

[Falken2]

14 hours ago, Sandman Simulations said:

Unfortunately I can't do anything about wingman behavior.

Oh yes I know. I replayed the same mission. Didn't encounter the same bandits but the wingman engaged. He even saved my a*s when a bandit managed to get behind me. The problem is AI behavior is really "unpredictable".  

[Sandman Simulations]

40 minutes ago, Falken2 said:

Oh yes I know. I replayed the same mission. Didn't encounter the same bandits but the wingman engaged. He even saved my a*s when a bandit managed to get behind me. The problem is AI behavior is really "unpredictable".  

That is true. If you use "engage bandits" command AI will engage what ever enemy it thinks is the greatest threat and might help you spontaneously. But you never know and often you end up shooting missiles against same enemy.

If trying split to our forces and save some missiles I usually use "attack my enemy" command so I have some idea where my wingman is going. But then after killing enemy I have pointed wingman usually won't engage other enemies and might not save my butt.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Sandman Simulations

[Diablo 1-1]

15 hours ago, Sandman Simulations said:

All feedback and remarks are warmly welcome. I will put them all to my notes and if I can find I good resolution without breaking something else I'll try to fix also AI-problems if possible. 

About A-10s. Need to take a look to it. I had big challenges to balance A-10s not to be too efficient. Can you specify what was name of that mission and how many missions being flown before it. I tested few missions and it seems that at least there A-10s are still doing a good job. Even little bit too good 

Yeah I kinda agree, they are really good and I believe its because they just have so many AGM-65s. I would look at the F10 map and see like 10+ AGM-65s flying in the air. The name of the mission I believe was Taking Back the Harbor. Not including the training mission, there were 5 missions before it. They just like flew right over. They could have been out of Air to Ground Ordinance but it didn't look like they were going into a dive for a gun run.

 

Whether you do something or not the A-10s are great for the mission imo, they ensure you don't get major losses on the front line. It allows you to focus on another mission if need be. For me the only time we ever really pushed the frontlines was when I sent 1-2 units to provide CAS. They probably just need to be toned down a little but idk. I'll have to give it another run when I'm done with this campaign. It's really fun and I'll be on the lookout for more of your work.

 

I'll say one of the best/funniest moments I saw was early in the campaign I saw a refueler on the north side of UAE dodging missile after missile from a MiG-29 with no flares. It was after I landed on the carrier and was watching the debrief.

PS: is it required to land on the carrier or can I land on any friendly air field?

[Sandman Simulations]

11 hours ago, Diablo 1-1 said:

Yeah I kinda agree, they are really good and I believe its because they just have so many AGM-65s. I would look at the F10 map and see like 10+ AGM-65s flying in the air. The name of the mission I believe was Taking Back the Harbor. Not including the training mission, there were 5 missions before it. They just like flew right over. They could have been out of Air to Ground Ordinance but it didn't look like they were going into a dive for a gun run.

 

Whether you do something or not the A-10s are great for the mission imo, they ensure you don't get major losses on the front line. It allows you to focus on another mission if need be. For me the only time we ever really pushed the frontlines was when I sent 1-2 units to provide CAS. They probably just need to be toned down a little but idk. I'll have to give it another run when I'm done with this campaign. It's really fun and I'll be on the lookout for more of your work.

 

I'll say one of the best/funniest moments I saw was early in the campaign I saw a refueler on the north side of UAE dodging missile after missile from a MiG-29 with no flares. It was after I landed on the carrier and was watching the debrief.

PS: is it required to land on the carrier or can I land on any friendly air field?

I couldn't find the A-10 suicide site but there are lots of things that may affect. Like is that certain AAA alive. Anyway it's just like you said. As told in mission briefing, if you take care of air superiority, Air Force will provide some CAS power so you may use your squadron somewhere else.

You may land anywhere you want. Of course in real life it would be good to return to the carrier but in emergency you may use any available place. Actually for campaign progression it doesn't matter if you land or get shot down. Campaign will progress to the next stage anyway. You will return to the same mission only if you end the mission without going through the debriefing part. Losing your aircraft will of course have an affect on air superiority calculation as losing any of you squadron aircrafts.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Sandman Simulations

[Diablo 1-1]

@Sandman Simulations Air refueling seems to be an issue. I have lost at least 1 hornet per run on my attempts on the counterattack mission. It seems when 4 flights try to refuel it causes issues. I didn't see what happened since I was doing my own thing. When I send Devil 2 and 3 at the same time, it always seems like Devil 2 is way ahead and dies. It seems Devil 2 will pick the closest refueling aircraft while Devil 3 has to go far. I don't know maybe I'm doing something wrong.

[Sandman Simulations]

7 hours ago, Diablo 1-1 said:

@Sandman Simulations Air refueling seems to be an issue. I have lost at least 1 hornet per run on my attempts on the counterattack mission. It seems when 4 flights try to refuel it causes issues. I didn't see what happened since I was doing my own thing. When I send Devil 2 and 3 at the same time, it always seems like Devil 2 is way ahead and dies. It seems Devil 2 will pick the closest refueling aircraft while Devil 3 has to go far. I don't know maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Hi,

It was year ago when there was a huge AI Hornet AAR problem. If F-18 had to make too steep turn when meeting the tanker they lost their airspeed and stalled all the way to the ground. ED mostly fixed that so it only happened sometimes.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Just hope that bug is not coming back. I will check that.  

 

   https://forum.dcs.world/topic/300277-question-mission-10-waypoint-2-rendezvous/?do=findComment&comment=4989904

[Sandman Simulations]

16 hours ago, Diablo 1-1 said:

@Sandman Simulations Air refueling seems to be an issue. I have lost at least 1 hornet per run on my attempts on the counterattack mission. It seems when 4 flights try to refuel it causes issues. I didn't see what happened since I was doing my own thing. When I send Devil 2 and 3 at the same time, it always seems like Devil 2 is way ahead and dies. It seems Devil 2 will pick the closest refueling aircraft while Devil 3 has to go far. I don't know maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Tested it and it seems to be like that old problem is still there but fortunately not as bad as year ago. Still if F-18 has to make a steep turn to catch the tanker it may stall until hit the ground. I tried with three two ship flights simultaneusly at tanker station and lost usually one F-18. That sucks but won't ruin the mission. I will report the problem to ED but can't promise they will make it better. 

[Diablo 1-1]

55 minutes ago, Sandman Simulations said:

Tested it and it seems to be like that old problem is still there but fortunately not as bad as year ago. Still if F-18 has to make a steep turn to catch the tanker it may stall until hit the ground. I tried with three two ship flights simultaneusly at tanker station and lost usually one F-18. That sucks but won't ruin the mission. I will report the problem to ED but can't promise they will make it better. 

okay cool, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. I've played DCS long enough to know the AI isn't all that great. Fingers crossed they improve it before they release their own dynamic campaign.  I've also found out you have to be careful tanking yourself. I've had the AI run into me while trying to refuel. It's like they give priority to AI even if I'm in the process already.

Stupid question though. If I take off and then land immediately but don't do the debrief until after Devil 2-5 complete their mission, will what they do matter or does it save when you first land?

Edited June 3, 2023 by Diablo 1-1

[Sandman Simulations]

3 hours ago, Diablo 1-1 said:

okay cool, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. I've played DCS long enough to know the AI isn't all that great. Fingers crossed they improve it before they release their own dynamic campaign.  I've also found out you have to be careful tanking yourself. I've had the AI run into me while trying to refuel. It's like they give priority to AI even if I'm in the process already.

Stupid question though. If I take off and then land immediately but don't do the debrief until after Devil 2-5 complete their mission, will what they do matter or does it save when you first land?

 

Everything what happens after mission start and before (actually during) debriefing will affect. Point of the campaign is not what you do as a single pilot but what your decisions are. So you you can stay on the deck during whole mission but because of AI restrictions D4 won't launch if you won't. 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Sandman Simulations

[Wiggo]

Hi! I´m more or less new to dynamic campaings, but idea of this seems nice. Umm. This maby stupid question, but how do I change my OWN wings task? Is it just by changing loadout, and leave it just as "CAP"? And btw, there is restriction for no AG attacks in wp0 , does that have effect in every waypoint? 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Wiggo

[Sandman Simulations]

1 hour ago, Wiggo said:

Hi! I´m more or less new to dynamic campaings, but idea of this seems nice. Umm. This maby stupid question, but how do I change my OWN wings task? Is it just by changing loadout, and leave it just as "CAP"? And btw, there is restriction for no AG attacks in wp0 , does that have effect in every waypoint? 

 

Hi,

Thank you for your message. Not stupid question at all because this campaign is not what DCS is designed for. It is why there is lots of limitations for this kind of campaign. You unfortunately can't change your and your wingmans tasking like from CAP to CAS. But in mission planner view you can select suitable CAS or SEAD loadout for your wingman and then during mission you can task him to attack ground targets or air defense. Unfortunately if you want to commit some more complicated task (like OCA strike) with your wingman you need to do it by yourself and wingman is pretty much there to protect you from enemy air units.

[Wiggo]

2 hours ago, Sandman Simulations said:

Hi,

Thank you for your message. Not stupid question at all because this campaign is not what DCS is designed for. It is why there is lots of limitations for this kind of campaign. You unfortunately can't change your and your wingmans tasking like from CAP to CAS. But in mission planner view you can select suitable CAS or SEAD loadout for your wingman and then during mission you can task him to attack ground targets or air defense. Unfortunately if you want to commit some more complicated task (like OCA strike) with your wingman you need to do it by yourself and wingman is pretty much there to protect you from enemy air units.

Ok. Thank you!