ETA on ground crew acknowledging static objects.

[Tom P]

It has been 3 months now that we have had to make the carrier decks empty so the ground directors can function without crashing a player. Is there an ETA on when the AI will detect the static objects or some solution so we can add some live to the now empty deck. Is this a going to be a in the near future, or a 2025 fix or is this a team knows the issue and will fix it when it comes next on the priorities of work.

Single Player. Campaigns and user file missions that use the super carrier are now bugged
Multiplayer. Users are racking up penalty points as they collide with a static object that the ground director guides them into. Squadrons are going back to the stennis to simulate carrier operations. 

[Mav87th]

Hmmmmm i think they do - at least aircrafts on parkingspots

[BIGNEWY]

They will see statics in parking locations, but keeping areas like the six pack clear and routes to and from cats and parking areas is important for keeping things running smooth on the deck. 

[Tom P]

4 hours ago, BIGNEWY said:

They will see statics in parking locations, but keeping areas like the six pack clear and routes to and from cats and parking areas is important for keeping things running smooth on the deck. 

But do we have a ETA on when can we put static aircraft parked back in the Cat 1 area and other static objects around the tower? Or this now going to be a forever norm?

I followed the diagram from the manual and still have/had to unban players from accidently running into a static objects while looking at the directors. My decks are completely empty now. Users are going back to the Stennis because it visually sells carrier operations.

[Minsky]

On 3/13/2025 at 1:25 AM, Tom P said:

Single Player. Campaigns and user file missions that use the super carrier are now bugged

1 hour ago, Tom P said:

My decks are completely empty now.

The deck crew definitely has its issues, especially in multiplayer. Can't argue with that. And populating the deck is even more of an art form now than it was in the days of yore when AI pathfinding was our only concern.

Yet, I believe you're exaggerating saying that all old missions are now bugged and that the deck must be completely empty for the crew to function at all.

Here's one of my old missions, created long before the crew introduction, and hasn't been edited since.

My AI wingman and I were able to follow the directors and launched from cats #1 and #3 without any issues. Recovery also went uneventful.

Perhaps the stars just aligned for me.

Edited March 14 by Minsky

[Tom P]

nullSo about those static objects. 

[draconus]

10 hours ago, Tom P said:

So about those static objects. 

You spawned from the spot assigned to cat 1 (1, 5, 9, 11, 14) and that is how it will end.

[Dragon1-1]

This has a fairly simple solution, actually, just make sure the only allowed spawns are assigned to cats that aren't blocked. 

Myself, I think ED should prioritize a small feature: require a "salute" before magically turning the jet around in the parking spot. That would help immersion in SP, or simply when you want to shut down.

[Tom P]

Some other options for a quick fix until this is fixed.

1) the mission maker has the ability to select the spawn slots like the airfields. 

2) A F10 comms menu option for the carrier spawns to select a cat if the ground crew is directing them towards a cat that has vehicles parked. Example cat 2 is blocked, divert to cat 1.

Edited March 22 by Tom P

[Tom P]

On 3/20/2025 at 3:20 AM, draconus said:

You spawned from the spot assigned to cat 1 (1, 5, 9, 11, 14) and that is how it will end.

This is irrelevant, I just went on a multiplayer server and proved this by reslotting into 8 different hornet spawns, all starting in same spot. I never heard anyone say while on the carrier. "Oh I spawned on slot 11", and I have been making missions for awhile now. The average DCS player is not going to know what the slot number is. They're going to slot in and take what they get, or they will reslot and keep spawning on the ramp.  They are also not going to know because they are in slot 5 that they're going to cat 1, they will just follow the ground guides.

I'm not starting a fight or any drama I'm just pointing out the obvious.

The super carrier is a $50 USD product and is a super small niche mainly aimed at 2 aircraft and there is an issue that needs be addressed and fixed. Not sit on the burner. 

[Minsky]

1 hour ago, Tom P said:

Some other options for a quick fix until this is fixed.

1) the mission maker has the ability to select the spawn slots like the airfields. 

2) A F10 comms menu option for the carrier spawns to select a cat if the ground crew is directing them towards a cat that has vehicles parked. Example cat 2 is blocked, divert to cat 1.

Let's not forget that the deck crew isn't powered by AI, but follows a relatively simple script.

Asking it to magically work its way around randomly placed obstacles while directing randomly spawned players to random catapults of their choice is simply unreasonable, not to mention unrealistic.

[Dragon1-1]

The latter part is not unrealistic, just more work. It would be perfectly possible to create additional paths from every parking spot to every catapult. It's just a matter of adding switches to disable each cat (which the mission creator would have to select according to where the statics are) and switching the patching to the next option if the preferred one is blocked. Of course, actually doing that would require making a lot of paths, four for each parking position. It'd probably be a lot of work to make and test them, but given how patching works on deck, many would overlap.

Patching around obstacles is a difficult problem, but on a realistic carrier deck, you won't have obstacles where the planes are moving about.

Edited March 23 by Dragon1-1

[Esac_mirmidon]

Selectable Carrier Spawn Points is my wet dream.

Cant understand the sorcery around why this is impossible.

[Dragon1-1]

Agreed. Currently it can be "hacked" by blocking out the spots that would taxi to the blocked cat, but this is not exactly optimal.

[Czar66]

After landing. Director wanted to make my Hornet kiss the static Tomcat. I had to disregard him and taxi myself towards starboard. I placed the statics, so likely that's a horrible spot and that plane shouldn't be there. Directors are unaware of statics position, but that's maybe asking too much of the system at the moment, just pointing it out.

Edited March 24 by Czar66

[Nealius]

It seems like they only acknowledge static Hornets and Tomcats. For instance, if you park Hornets in the junkyard and next to the island (where they shouldn't be in real life) the taxi directors will not direct you to park there. However if you fill the same spots with a Hawkeye, forklifts, and helos (where they should be in real life), the taxi directors try to get you to park right in the middle of them.

[draconus]

On 3/22/2025 at 12:59 AM, Tom P said:

I'm not starting a fight or any drama I'm just pointing out the obvious.

You asked and I answered. It can be done and you as mission maker should follow the hints. If the mission works then the player slots will not matter. I'm just pointing out the obvious.

[Dragon1-1]

On 3/24/2025 at 1:43 AM, Czar66 said:

Directors are unaware of statics position, but that's maybe asking too much of the system at the moment, just pointing it out.

They will know if the parking spot itself is blocked, not if the path leading to it is. Any static outside the parking spots will be ignored. I suspect some statics may not block the parking spot correctly, too.

[rwbishUP]

Basically the only way they're not a hindrance, is if the carrier deck is a baron wasteland.

[Tom P]

7 hours ago, rwbishUP said:

Basically the only way they're not a hindrance, is if the carrier deck is a baron wasteland.

Just like real carrier operations!

[PhantomHans]

On 3/21/2025 at 6:31 PM, Tom P said:

Some other options for a quick fix until this is fixed.

1) the mission maker has the ability to select the spawn slots like the airfields. 

2) A F10 comms menu option for the carrier spawns to select a cat if the ground crew is directing them towards a cat that has vehicles parked. Example cat 2 is blocked, divert to cat 1.

I really like these suggestions. 

When building missions I often wish I could organize the deck behavior, for example to have certain jets sent to cats 1 and 2 after startup and others sent back to 3 and 4.

 

Seems like I always get sent back to 3 and 4.

 

There are currently so many problems I usually just spawn on the cats.

[Tom P]

Yeah on our servers our $50 super carrier has a empty deck. If players want a busy deck they go to the Stennis. 

[rollnloop]

I just recovered on a pitchblack deck following a Case 3 approach after a mission, followed ground crew's orders and.... immediately crashed into a SH3 that I couldn't see, we both exploded.

Delightful experience, thanks ED.