Feedback Thread F-14 Tomcat Patch November 2023

[IronMike]

Dear all,

the recent patches contain only minor fixes, but as always we would kindly like to ask you for your feedback.

The slowdown in patches for the F-14 and Viggen are due to us undertaking a more holistic approach in order to make both aircraft beneficiaries of various new features introduced with the F-4, but we'll be aiming to ship various changes and fixes in the December patch before some of these features make their way back into the aircraft. Thank you all for your very kind patience, for your continued kind support and feedback!

I would also like to add my personal thanks to both Rokkett and Rick_NSX, who so kindly helped to fix Reforger II and with that took a huge burden off my shoulder and allowed us to finally ship fixes and not make everyone wait longer. It is much appreciated!

DCS F-14 Tomcat by Heatblur Simulations

• Fixed Operation Reforger II Missions 2-5 not progressing correctly, thanks to @Rokkett and @Rick_NSX!
• Fixed random bulletholes to pop up on fuselage.

[hreich]

Ok...i am having few issues...Nevada quick takeof flight is unplayable for me - FPS in low digits...Although i have rtx 3060, amd ryzen 3600, 32 gb ram...Also, when trying to takeoff my f-14 rolls to the side and performs 180 turn...No problem like that when flying F-18...I ll post link to video showing problems of F-14 doing u-turn on takeoff...

Ok first problem with fps is fixed after pc restart....

https://clipchamp.com/watch/SBMrBbhgObB

 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by hreich

[IM0001]

I would like to just check in and see if there was any guidance or assistance when flying both the F-14 and the Viggen with my Logitech G940 Force Feedback joystick, the feedback feels great, however the Autopilot features are completely unusable. No matter how much I try to trim the stick center before activating AP, once enabled it continues to feel like the trim then swings way forward, and even if I was trimmed up, the AP will now try and dive me into the ground in both the Tomcat with ACLS and the Viggen for anything outside of the basic SAS sort of assistance. I thought I was just doing something wrong at first, but after multiple attempts I just have not been able to get the AP to function as it should compared to how it appears it should from others without FFB sticks.

Other planes with AP seem to work normally as I would expect with FFB. FC3 planes, The A4E, etc all grab the stick and move it with the stick ingame and matched visually but will let go if you put enough torque on the stick to override the AP. Even the Heli AP and Trim works with FFB within reason (Little wonky at holding the actual new center position, but I've been able to train around that.)

 

*Edit* Seemed to have possibly figured out the Viggen with the Swap Y Axis option under FFB Tune, however the Tomcat continues to evade me with the wimpiest AP hold on the stick for something as simple as ALT Hold.  

Edited November 18, 2023 by IM0001

[draconus]

@hreich parking brake?

@IM0001 did you try F-14 ffb special option?

[Jayhawk1971]

Am 17.11.2023 um 23:51 schrieb IM0001:

I would like to just check in and see if there was any guidance or assistance when flying both the F-14 and the Viggen with my Logitech G940 Force Feedback joystick, the feedback feels great, however the Autopilot features are completely unusable. No matter how much I try to trim the stick center before activating AP, once enabled it continues to feel like the trim then swings way forward, and even if I was trimmed up, the AP will now try and dive me into the ground in both the Tomcat with ACLS and the Viggen for anything outside of the basic SAS sort of assistance. I thought I was just doing something wrong at first, but after multiple attempts I just have not been able to get the AP to function as it should compared to how it appears it should from others without FFB sticks.

Other planes with AP seem to work normally as I would expect with FFB. FC3 planes, The A4E, etc all grab the stick and move it with the stick ingame and matched visually but will let go if you put enough torque on the stick to override the AP. Even the Heli AP and Trim works with FFB within reason (Little wonky at holding the actual new center position, but I've been able to train around that.)

 

*Edit* Seemed to have possibly figured out the Viggen with the Swap Y Axis option under FFB Tune, however the Tomcat continues to evade me with the wimpiest AP hold on the stick for something as simple as ALT Hold.  

 

I also have the G940, and have the same problem as you. The G940 stick is "top-heavy", meaning it tends to pitch down due to its own weight, which in turn registers as a control input with the game. I have the same problem in pretty much every module wrt autopilot. The only solution I can think of is to keep the stick from moving forward, by either slightly holding it in place (which defeats the purpose of an autopilot somewhat), or maybe mount the base slightly tilted upward, so that the the stick is more "balanced". 

Or fiddle around with the centering strength of the motors. Unfortunately, if you make the centering stronger, you'll then need to apply more input force when flying, which I personally do not like at all, since especially the Tomcat requires a very light tough on the stick (I really only use two fingers when cruising or AAR-ing)

Edited November 20, 2023 by Jayhawk1971

[WarthogOsl]

On 11/17/2023 at 2:51 PM, IM0001 said:

*Edit* Seemed to have possibly figured out the Viggen with the Swap Y Axis option under FFB Tune, however the Tomcat continues to evade me with the wimpiest AP hold on the stick for something as simple as ALT Hold.  

 

I was just using the AP in the F-14A, and it worked fine for me (though I don't have an FFB stick).  One thing to keep in mind with altitude hold is that you should not engage it if you are above around Mach .9, as it tends to get confused.  Also, if I have AP engaged, but I'm not using alt hold, I tend to set the pitch by moving the stick forward or aft and then letting go when I reach the desired angle...I do not use the pitch trim.

[Lt_Jaeger]

There are (some) known issues with the F-14 and FFB, e.g. ACLS flys you straight into the drink. At least this one is tracked by HB, as far as I know.

Another thing would be the run away trim as soon as you jump in the back, but I believe that will happen also with "normal" sticks.

Exept for the ACLS thing, I'm quiet happy with the FFB implemantation.

[IM0001]

On 11/18/2023 at 2:27 AM, draconus said:

@IM0001 did you try F-14 ffb special option?

Yes, that's been on since the start.

 

Overall FFB feels great in the Cat, it's just the AP implementation that, doesn't seem to work. At least I can manually fly her just fine, it would just be nice to go hands off doing a long cruise or have some landing assistance in bad weather is all. 

[captain_dalan]

Hey guys and @IronMike, is this just me? Latest OB, MT. When the Phoenix goes active, the flashing numbers are now more like blinking. If so, is this a feature or a bug? Also, the carrier flashing lights no longer work, so may be related? 
Made a short video as a showcase:

 

[captain_dalan]

On 11/21/2023 at 2:14 AM, captain_dalan said:

Hey guys and @IronMike, is this just me? Latest OB, MT. When the Phoenix goes active, the flashing numbers are now more like blinking. If so, is this a feature or a bug? Also, the carrier flashing lights no longer work, so may be related? 
Made a short video as a showcase:

 

@all
Really? No one is flying the F-14 anymore? 

[NeedzWD40]

38 minutes ago, captain_dalan said:

Really? No one is flying the F-14 anymore? 

I've been in a few hops here and there but haven't seen this behavior. My countdown and active timers retain the usual behavior.

[captain_dalan]

28 minutes ago, NeedzWD40 said:

I've been in a few hops here and there but haven't seen this behavior. My countdown and active timers retain the usual behavior.

Good to know! Thanks mate, could be something on my side then. Also, i just noticed a new patch came out, i'll run the updater first, and try again.

Cheers! 

[WarthogOsl]

On 11/20/2023 at 5:14 PM, captain_dalan said:

Hey guys and @IronMike, is this just me? Latest OB, MT. When the Phoenix goes active, the flashing numbers are now more like blinking. If so, is this a feature or a bug? Also, the carrier flashing lights no longer work, so may be related? 
Made a short video as a showcase:

 

I'm not sure what the distinction is between flashing and blinking ...but definitely with dlss patch, the numbers don't so much blink as they do smoothly fading on a off, making it less noticeable.

[draconus]

2 hours ago, WarthogOsl said:

I'm not sure what the distinction is between flashing and blinking ...but definitely with dlss patch, the numbers don't so much blink as they do smoothly fading on a off, making it less noticeable.

There's ghosting and smearing on MFDs with DLSS/DLAA and probably TAA too. I asked the devs if they can tweak it somehow:

[hreich]

On 11/18/2023 at 11:27 AM, draconus said:

@hreich parking brake?

@IM0001 did you try F-14 ffb special option?

Yep, found the parking brake was on ...i was away from dcs for a bit, and didn't remember that parking brake was on by defult in runway start missions...

[Stratos]

One question, is the TARPS for the 14A still planned?

[draconus]

3 minutes ago, Stratos said:

One question, is the TARPS for the 14A still planned?

Still on the list:

https://trello.com/c/zbpdJnS1

[Stratos]

52 minutes ago, draconus said:

Still on the list:

https://trello.com/c/zbpdJnS1

Thanks!!

[SparrowLT]

Phoenix missile is completelly broken and useless

 

Fired 4 just in a flight before and non hit.. not just they didnt hit... 3 of them just flew past the target doing no atempt to intercept whatsoever

[KoN]

Been flying this bird cat , this week, few things I've noticed

Auto pilot seems touch and go . Alt hold and course hold . Sometimes it works some times not . Seems mushy . I don't remember it being like this . I used to be able to dogfight quite well but seems off . Can't put my finger on it . It's like the airframe isn't reacting to my inputs . 

But I do have a new joystick and 2.9 is buggy . ???

Big fps drop when switching on lantern. This is in VR . ???

Switching pilot seats from front to rio you can't get back into pilot seat using hotas button I have to use keyboard. ???

[draconus]

11 hours ago, SparrowLT said:

Fired 4 just in a flight before and non hit.. not just they didnt hit... 3 of them just flew past the target doing no atempt to intercept whatsoever

You expect them to always hit, no matter what? We need a lot more info.

9 hours ago, KoN said:

Switching pilot seats from front to rio you can't get back into pilot seat using hotas button I have to use keyboard.

Remember that in the back seat only the F-14 RIO controls work. No bug here.

[SparrowLT]

1 hour ago, draconus said:

You expect them to always hit, no matter what? We need a lot more info.

 

I have more than 150 hours in the Tomcat..  i dont expect them all to hit but we are talking about firing in TWS Auto at a single AI target and the missile going just by the side of the AI

 

For example one of the 5 events yesterday (yes i flew more after this post with identical results..phoenix just flew to the target and jut flew by)

 

]

Here i am facing 2 SU-33s ..closest one is about 30nm .. i got him as number 1 and the second as num2 .. i pull up 30º to loft the missile and fire

 

 

then the missile goes loft as espected.. i keep the bandit in TWS to update it.. but missile just goes by doing nothing..i even wondered seeing the tacview if it was going for the second flanker but no.. second flanker keep straight...phoenix fly over it as well doing no dive at all

 

 

 

 

I adjunt the tacview if you want to take a look

Tacview-20231124-234707-DCS-Client-4YA_Cau_PVE2_V2.67[01_JAN_FEW].zip.acmi

Edited November 25, 2023 by SparrowLT

[captain_dalan]

On 11/24/2023 at 5:02 AM, WarthogOsl said:

I'm not sure what the distinction is between flashing and blinking ...but definitely with dlss patch, the numbers don't so much blink as they do smoothly fading on a off, making it less noticeable.

Also @draconus and @NeedzWD40
I ran the update, and the issue seems to have gone away, but i didn't fly all that much. Will try more this weekend. 

[NeedzWD40]

7 hours ago, SparrowLT said:

i pull up 30º to loft the missile and fire

You overlofted. This has happened to me a couple times recently as well, sending my missile to the moon. I brought the nose down for closer targets and the missile gets in the basket every time. This is where I'm usually missing, as the AI's magic awareness means they turn cold and dive as soon as the missile is a set distance away. I've been using AIM-54C Mk47 almost exclusively as well, since the mission has been sniping high value assets from far out, where occasionally I've had to leverage a missile or two on a fighter. Shots have ranged from 90nmi to 20nmi, with a hit rate of around 70%.

[KoN]

13 hours ago, draconus said:

You expect them to always hit, no matter what? We need a lot more info.

Remember that in the back seat only the F-14 RIO controls work. No bug here.

So I can't jump back into front seat from Rio seat . ???

Even though I can jump into rio seat from pilot seat . But can't jump back into pilot seat . Using HOTAS key bind . ???

I'll have to test in single player . 

Edited November 26, 2023 by KoN