Introduction mission Part 1 and campaign progression (no spoilers)

[Chipwich]

@Reflected, the atmosphere in MiG Killers is really fantastic, especially the skins and the coms, which don't sound scripted.  Really looking forward to all that lies ahead.

The first time through the intro mission, the scenario did not end well for my RIO and I.  Let's just say that our fuel management could have been better, which resulted in a very long walk to the O club.  I chose to refly the mission, landed, parked at Alpha in what was the obvious spot, and used the checklist for shutdown.  But when I chose End Mission, received a 50% score and could fly the mission again or Skip.   Do you think that this because I chose to refly without ending the mission first time through, or did I miss a task the second time through?

 

Edited August 17, 2024 by Chipwich

[Rudel_chw]

14 minutes ago, Chipwich said:

did I miss a task the second time through?

 

Here is a mission walk-trough, so you can see how it differs with yours:

 

 

[Indianajon]

I had a similar issue with being given 50%. I jettisoned the drag chute as Jester called chute but he didn't continue and even if i cycled I couldn't get him to continue and mission to finish?

[Oesau]

12 minutes ago, Indianajon said:

I had a similar issue with being given 50%. I jettisoned the drag chute as Jester called chute but he didn't continue and even if i cycled I couldn't get him to continue and mission to finish?

I had the same thing with the drag chute, but no matter what I did I couldn't get the mission to proceed so had to end it and do it again (I needed the landing practice anyway ) 

[Gretsch_Man]

1 hour ago, Oesau said:

I had the same thing with the drag chute, but no matter what I did I couldn't get the mission to proceed so had to end it and do it again (I needed the landing practice anyway ) 

That happened to me at first, too (I was just pulling the handle, which does cuts off the drag chute). What you need to do is pressing a button on the drag chute handle. That'll do the trick. Here is an excerpt from the HB manual:

Drag Chute Handle
Additionally, it features a handle on the left side to control the drag chute.

The chute is applied to reduce landing rollout, or as an aid in spin recovery, the drag chute handle is pulled back to deploy the chute, and, once deployed, a button on the handle is pressed while pulling the handle back further to jettison the chute.

Edited August 15, 2024 by Gretsch_Man

[Reflected]

1 hour ago, Gretsch_Man said:

That happened to me at first, too (I was just pulling the handle, which does cuts off the drag chute). What you need to do is pressing a button on the drag chute handle. That'll do the trick. Here is an excerpt from the HB manual:

Drag Chute Handle
Additionally, it features a handle on the left side to control the drag chute.

The chute is applied to reduce landing rollout, or as an aid in spin recovery, the drag chute handle is pulled back to deploy the chute, and, once deployed, a button on the handle is pressed while pulling the handle back further to jettison the chute.

 

This

[Mnemonic]

Honestly one could easily land without using chute at all, in this case pilot should automatically say “didn’t use it” or something like that, otherwise it’s strange to pull the chute while taxiing just to satisfy checklist.

[Reflected]

1 hour ago, Mnemonic said:

Honestly one could easily land without using chute at all, in this case pilot should automatically say “didn’t use it” or something like that, otherwise it’s strange to pull the chute while taxiing just to satisfy checklist.

Real life SMEs told me they ALWAYS used it. Also, the landing checklist is already around 40-50 complex triggers especially the drag chute because you may have jettisoned it before the checklist item came up. Already pretty complex, and I don’t intend to add to that complexity because it will only make the mission easier to break and harder to maintain. 

[Chipwich]

Dad flew the F-4C, D, and E during my teenage years.  They always used a drag chute that I remember.

[cptsolo]

I played the mission and managed to fullfill all tasks, but then when I get asked about my fuel, I choose "I have enough" and then nothing happens in the mission since then. I RTB and the mission is counted as a failure, although everything went fine. I even had the after flight "pin attachment with hands up" but nothing happens then. Seems I have missed some kind of trigger. Should I have reported back, that I have no fuel left?

[Reflected]

38 minutes ago, cptsolo said:

I played the mission and managed to fullfill all tasks, but then when I get asked about my fuel, I choose "I have enough" and then nothing happens in the mission since then. I RTB and the mission is counted as a failure, although everything went fine. I even had the after flight "pin attachment with hands up" but nothing happens then. Seems I have missed some kind of trigger. Should I have reported back, that I have no fuel left?

1) which mission? 
2) the jester fuel question is part of the HB module it has nothing to do with the campaign

3) see the other pinned thread I opened in case people get stuck. Without that screenshot I can’t figure out what you missed. 

[Phantom12]

TBH the intro threw me off as well. I "briefed" for the Fam flight expecting to start there and was then confused by the airstart... Ok looked through the kneeboard and figured out what was going on... more or less. I think it might have gone better if the ingame brief referenced the info docs and kneeboards rather than suggesting to read the briefing docs (which dont exist for the intro). Like I said I read the FAM flight brief instead. A fuel ladder or a quick "you are nearing the end of your crosscountry flt to go to TOPGUN etc etc etc" might have helped.

 

I decided to accept the surprise

Spoiler

challenge from USAF pilot "pudknocker". Id like to ask him at the Oclub where he got those 9Ms from in 1969 but I suppose he has to win for narrative purposes

but struggled to find lead again afterwards. Classic DCSism in that he told me to find him outside the range... Is that outside the entire range area? Or just the range that we were in when we started. In hindsight I had guessed correctly where he was but since jester is muted and spotting is marginal in DCS I flew right past him without spotting him....

I was relatively certain I was in the right spot at the next steerpoint (and tacview showed that I was) but given you're not supposed to mess with jester and i wasnt sure what steerpoint he had selected anymore I decided to go to piute and see if he was there. Piute also has a Tacan fix so theres no risk of INS issues etc. No luck and fuel was very critical at this point. IRL I would have just landed or used the radio to talk to lead, but thats no bueno in DCS. In the end I went back and forth and after trying to find him with the radar or IFF I used the f2/f10 view to find him and rejoin but I flamed out as I got into formation. Ill admit I should have knocked off a bit earlier during the surprise but bingo was a guessing game given the brief was a 30 second squint at the kneeboard. I guessed wrong. Had something like 3-4000 lbs left which I figured would be more than enough to make it to indian springs. Just not enough to do it 3 times.

2nd attempt went much better but even then I actually flamed out upon rolling into the chocks.

Hope the above doesnt come off  too much as a rant. I get that designing triggers to be idiot proof makes life difficult in DCS. Havent made it much further yet but apart from the initial hiccup things seem very promising. Certainly whatever you've done to the dogfighting AI seems pretty nice. 

[Reflected]

Your wingman is literally waiting for you at the next waypoint. Outside the 2508 range that you are crossing (you checked in with Joshua at the start). If you ooen the F10 map you can even see the borders of the range - as well as your wingman. 

Edited August 17, 2024 by Reflected

[Phantom12]

Yeah thats what I guessed at the time. Just wasnt 100% sure as that WP is still within the shoshone range. I flew there and passed within a mile of him without seeing him. Since I didnt trust the INS, didnt know any visual landmarks at that WP and didnt want to screw with the jester menu to reselect that WP I went to Piute to use the tacan and cover all my bases.

It wouldnt be a problem except I cant call him and ask what he meant, nor did I have the fuel to spend a long time looking for him (a least partially my fault, but not unexpected). Ofc I can cheat with F10 but the whole point of a campaign like this is not to

Edited August 17, 2024 by Phantom12

[Reflected]

I appreciate you not using the F10 map  althought it would have helped this time

[RimanDk]

On 8/17/2024 at 4:46 PM, Reflected said:

I appreciate you not using the F10 map  althought it would have helped this time

I just flew it for the first time and I'll admit I leaned on the F10 map - only, it confused me that lead was marked as hostile and not friendly? I was hesitant to join up on him until I noticed he was just doing circles and put 2 and 2 together. No problems from then on.