Feedback Thread F-14 Tomcat Patch July 24th 2023 + Hotfix 28/07/2023

[IronMike]

Dear all,

as always we would like to ask you for your kind feedback. This patch includes new missions for the DCS: Sinai map, improvements to the AIM-54 Loft and notch behavior (with a big thanks to ED who facilitated the fixes!) as well as further improvements to ground handling. We hope you enjoy the patch and thank you for your kind feedback and continued support!

Team Heatblur

 

DCS F-14 Tomcat by Heatblur Simulations

 

• NEW: Added Quickstart Missions for DCS: Sinai map.
• Improved AIM-54 loft. 
• Improved AIM-54 notch behavior. 
• Fixed laser issues with painted objects.
• Possible fix to INS readout bug on TID.
• Refined gearing ratio between pedals and commanded NWS angle for better ground control.
• Reduced pitch trim actuator speed by 25%.
• Reduced carrier catapult shot speed target by 15 knots to be more realistic.
• Increased possibility of compressor stall in MCB region while MCB is inactive (CB pulled) by 300%.
• Increased volume of DLC deploy sound.

 

EDIT:

Hotfix 28/07/2023

DCS World

• Weapons. AIM-54 loft trajectory adjusted

•  

Edited July 28, 2023 by IronMike

[Scotia]

17 minutes ago, IronMike said:

• Improved AIM-54 loft. 
• Improved AIM-54 notch behavior. 

Any details on this item?

[DD_Fenrir]

38 minutes ago, IronMike said:

• Improved AIM-54 notch behavior. 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by DD_Fenrir

[IronMike]

34 minutes ago, Scotia said:

Any details on this item?

These fixes were primarily on ED side, and should improve the overlofting as well as looping during lofts, and the erratice post-notch behavior as the missile pitches up instead of trying to re-acquire the target. We had very good results during testing. It is possible that ED/we may follow up with further improvements as a small part of the fix did not make it in yet, but will be included in the next patch, hence the careful wording of "improved" instead of "fixed" for this patch.  

Edited July 24, 2023 by IronMike

[Scotia]

14 minutes ago, IronMike said:

These fixes were primarily on ED side, and should improve the overlofting as well as looping during lofts, and the erratice post-notch behavior as the missile pitches up instead of trying to re-acquire the target. We had very good results during testing. It is possible that ED/we may follow up with further improvements as a small part of the fix did not make it in yet, but will be included in the next patch, hence the careful wording of "improved" instead of "fixed" for this patch.  

 

That is all very welcome news!

Thank you all for the hard work!

[Sideburns]

Great news on the phoenix, also pilot body as per settings menu now?

Edit: Had more time to test. Pilot body as per settings single player, multiplayer it still appears regardless of setting.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Sideburns

[Dannyvandelft]

Tested the Phoenix at 34000 feet, M0.9 at an enemy MiG-23 nose on at same altitude.
Rookie AI got shot down at 75, 65, and 50nm with ease.
Veteran AI defeated each missile at same distances.
The missile seems to be working as intended, and the probability of hit or miss seems to be at the enemy AI level.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[IronMike]

10 minutes ago, Dannyvandelft said:

Tested the Phoenix at 34000 feet, M0.9 at an enemy MiG-23 nose on at same altitude.
Rookie AI got shot down at 75, 65, and 50nm with ease.
Veteran AI defeated each missile at same distances.
The missile seems to be working as intended, and the probability of hit or miss seems to be at the enemy AI level.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

Thank you for the feedback!

[Up_Above]

m.9mk47rng60.acmim.9mk47rng60update.acmiHello, thank you for telling us about the updates, however for long range shots this patch seems to have done the opposite of fix energy wise. Below are two tacviews with almost identical initial values. The new update (m.9mk47rng60update) decreases the loft for long range shots, which in turn decreases the terminal velocity when the missile goes active. In the picture attached the phoenix on the bottom is around 0.1-0.2 Mach slower (post update) that the one on the top (pre update). This might seem a small discrepancy, however this directly impacts what defensives the AI can get away with. I have not tested <30NM shots where this lower lofting behavior may be preferential, however as the AIM-54 is a long range missile I find this change to be important enough to point out to you guys. Thank you for your hard work.nullnull

[IronMike]

57 minutes ago, Up_Above said:

m.9mk47rng60.acmim.9mk47rng60update.acmiHello, thank you for telling us about the updates, however for long range shots this patch seems to have done the opposite of fix energy wise. Below are two tacviews with almost identical initial values. The new update (m.9mk47rng60update) decreases the loft for long range shots, which in turn decreases the terminal velocity when the missile goes active. In the picture attached the phoenix on the bottom is around 0.1-0.2 Mach slower (post update) that the one on the top (pre update). This might seem a small discrepancy, however this directly impacts what defensives the AI can get away with. I have not tested <30NM shots where this lower lofting behavior may be preferential, however as the AIM-54 is a long range missile I find this change to be important enough to point out to you guys. Thank you for your hard work.nullnull

Thank you, this should hopefully be fixed in the next patch with the final bit missing, I mentioned above.

[WarthogOsl]

5 hours ago, Sideburns said:

Great news on the phoenix, also pilot body as per settings menu now?

Not in multiplayer, no.  Same issue as before with the pilot body.

[Karon]

12 hours ago, Up_Above said:

m.9mk47rng60.acmim.9mk47rng60update.acmiHello, thank you for telling us about the updates, however for long range shots this patch seems to have done the opposite of fix energy wise. Below are two tacviews with almost identical initial values. The new update (m.9mk47rng60update) decreases the loft for long range shots, which in turn decreases the terminal velocity when the missile goes active. In the picture attached the phoenix on the bottom is around 0.1-0.2 Mach slower (post update) that the one on the top (pre update). This might seem a small discrepancy, however this directly impacts what defensives the AI can get away with. I have not tested <30NM shots where this lower lofting behavior may be preferential, however as the AIM-54 is a long range missile I find this change to be important enough to point out to you guys. Thank you for your hard work.nullnull

Yep, I have noticed the same, with a loss in the order of 15%/20%. No chances pre-loft (<21nm), but then the loss is really evident. Manual loft helps a bit.

Hopefully ED will sort out the missing bit in an hotfix.

EDIT: added some stuff here: https://flyandwire.com/2023/07/25/aim-54-phoenix-post-2-8-7-42583-24-07-2023/

Edited July 25, 2023 by Karon

[Zabuzard]

Great news on the phoenix, also pilot body as per settings menu now?

You will see it in the patch notes once its fixed

We try to avoid having ghost changes. Unless someone did a honest mistake, the changelog reflects all that has been changed

[WarthogOsl]

11 minutes ago, Karon said:

Yep, I have noticed the same, with a loss in the order of 15%/20%. No chances pre-loft (<21nm), but then the loss is really evident. Manual loft helps a bit.

Hopefully ED will sort out the missing bit in an hotfix.

Another confirmation here.  Made four launches, all from over 40k with 15 deg manual loft, and all the missile only barely got over 70k, tops.  OTOH, I did git a Pk of .75 on a TTI server.

In other news, the ground handling seems very nice and smooth.

[JNelson]

1 hour ago, WarthogOsl said:

Another confirmation here.  Made four launches, all from over 40k with 15 deg manual loft, and all the missile only barely got over 70k, tops.  OTOH, I did git a Pk of .75 on a TTI server.

In other news, the ground handling seems very nice and smooth.

Yes unfortunately a change that was a part of the overall fixes did not make it into this patch. As a result the loft will be lower, the original loft however will be restored in the future patches. 

[McVittees]

22 hours ago, IronMike said:

Reduced carrier catapult shot speed target by 15 knots to be more realistic.

@IronMike could you explain what this change means please?

[IronMike]

30 minutes ago, McVittees said:

@IronMike could you explain what this change means please?

It means that you shoot off the catapult 15 kts slower, which is more realistic, is all.

[Bosun]

Would that alleviate blacking out on launch?

[joker62]

17 minutes ago, Bosun said:

Would that alleviate blacking out on launch?

After the patch I no longer had this problem with F-14

[fat creason]

52 minutes ago, joker62 said:

After the patch I no longer had this problem with F-14

It definitely seems to have helped, which is awesome.

[FusRoPotato]

So what exactly is the problem here? It's not clear.

Do they not have enough power? Too much drag? Lack burn time? Maneuvering too quickly at apex?

Did anyone make graphs of the expected behavior (and with axis labels)?

[IronMike]

17 hours ago, FusRoPotato said:

So what exactly is the problem here? It's not clear.

Do they not have enough power? Too much drag? Lack burn time? Maneuvering too quickly at apex?

Did anyone make graphs of the expected behavior (and with axis labels)?

The issue is really only the loft being lower as it should, which will be fixed as soon as the missing piece gets added.

[WarthogOsl]

On 7/25/2023 at 9:22 AM, joker62 said:

After the patch I no longer had this problem with F-14

I've not seen the black out issue yet either (but that's a sample size of maybe 5 launches).

[Temetre]

Am 25.7.2023 um 19:15 schrieb fat creason:

It definitely seems to have helped, which is awesome.

I havent blacked out on my last launch, that was a quite welcome and nostalgic experience

Idk if it was my imagination, but the F-14 also felt a bit more stable after launch. (then again I sometimes launches with parking break on because im a derp)

Edited July 27, 2023 by Temetre

[fat creason]

41 minutes ago, Temetre said:

Idk if it was my imagination, but the F-14 also felt a bit more stable after launch.

We had too much energy coming off the cat before, which may have caused excessive pitching or rolling right off the cat. At this new slower speed, the whole airplane is more sluggish right after it leaves the boat. Also gives you more time to get the flaps up.