Issue with Altitude AFTER an attack

[DWReese]

I believe that this was reported before, and perhaps it's working as designed, but I don't think so.

A plane is approaching a target using its designed flight path. It's a simple attack.

1.) At waypoint 4, the plane is supposed to drop to 1000 feet. It wants to come in low. (This works fine.)
2.) At waypoint 5, the plane is supposed to launches its missiles at the target. (This works fine.)
3.) At waypoint 6, the plane is supposed to climb up to 36k feet as it heads home This is the part that isn't fine.

Instead of waiting to reach waypoint 5, the plane starts climbing immediately after firing its weapons. So, instead of being 50 miles further away when it was suppose to climb, the plane alerts the enemy by immediately climbing.

The attack has nothing to do with fuel. The target is only 120 miles away from the base at the start, and the fuel is at 75 percent remaining when it lands, so it isn't adjusting the altitude due a fuel shortage.

This happens with every scenario. Even though it's slated to climb at waypoint 6, it starts climbing immediately after firing its weapons.

As I said, I believe that someone already reported this, but I can't find it. If not, then I will report it and provide a save, etc.

Doe anyone know if it was reported? Is it slated to be fixed? Is there a workaround?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[DWReese]

I tested this again. This time I inserted another waypoint in between 5 and 6.

This is what it looked like before:
1.) At waypoint 4, the plane is supposed to drop to 1000 feet. It wants to come in low. (This works fine.)
2.) At waypoint 5, the plane is supposed to launches its missiles at the target. (This works fine.)
3.) At waypoint 6, the plane is supposed to climb up to 36k feet as it heads home This is the part that isn't fine.


The new waypoint made the old waypoint 6 into waypoint 7.

With this version I was attempting to get the plane to stay at 1000 feet so that it could leave the area undetected. So, waypoint 6 (after the attack was also still listed as 1000 feet, and waypoint 7 was listed at 36k feet.

(Note: The game made me geographic spread the distance between waypoint 5 and 6 because the distance was too close. I don't know why since they were both going to be at 1000 feet.)

The results:

Once again, immediately after releasing its ordinance, the plane started to climb toward 36k feet. But, because waypoint 6 was close by, after it climbed a few thousand feet, it started to dive back down toward the designated altitude of 1000 feet. The plane stayed at 1000 feet until waypoint 7 (as designed) when it climbed to 36k feet.

So, it's obvious that the game is programed to ignore the path altitude and immediately climb to its cruising altitude AFTER IT RELEASES ITS ORDINANCE. Had it not had the new waypoint so close, it would have gone all the way to 36k feet, as it did in the first test.

I don't believe that this is how it should work.

Again, I'm not sure if this has already been reported. I seem to remember that it has, and it was either already fixed (allegedly), or it was slated to be fixed in the next release. In any case, I am unable to find that report, so I will list it here until someone advises me if this is a new bug or not, at which time I will report it as new, and provide a save.

[JFS737]

The plane is probably rtb Winchester after it fires weapons., and in this game, that means climb to 36k ft! This is something that I think is broken, as you have no control. Looks like you found a semi decent work around, I requested a "feature" that would address this but not sure we will ever see it.

[thewood1]

We'll never know what the settings are because there is no save to reproduce it exactly.

[DWReese]

The plane is probably rtb Winchester after it fires weapons

Nope. It still shows on its preset course, i.e., the return to the base via is path. There is no mention of Winchester.

I have tried two different scenarios this morning, with at least two different aircraft, and they are all doing the exact same thing. I sincerely remember this being reported before. Possibly three or four months ago, maybe more.

Perhaps this was something that was previously broken, subsequently fixed, and after some recent changes is now broken again. I don't know.

Hopefully others will remember.

[DWReese]

I found it. It was LAST reported by BDukes on December 22, 2023 under the heading "Re: 1328.12 Strike Editor/Planner Issue: Waypoint with altitude change missed" He provided many saves.

This is the same thing that I was talking about.

I believe if I look further I will be able to locate this same issue, although I don't know how far back.

As BDukes mentioned, having the plane climb to a cruising altitude on the way home is not the way to survive in a SAM-rich environment.

[BDukes]

Yeah its here
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... e#p5140321

It's a very simple flight plan with some altitude edits. Probably a good typical use case.

I don't mind helping out, producing files, and doing some due diligence but no plans to make a hobby out of it. I trust the report and the outcome are in good hands.

Mike

[blu3s]

I used the thread provided by BDukes to create the report on this issue,

was logged as 0015461

Thanks guys

[rvseydlitz]

The plane is probably rtb Winchester after it fires weapons

Nope. It still shows on its preset course, i.e., the return to the base via is path. There is no mention of Winchester.

I have tried two different scenarios this morning, with at least two different aircraft, and they are all doing the exact same thing. I sincerely remember this being reported before. Possibly three or four months ago, maybe more.

Perhaps this was something that was previously broken, subsequently fixed, and after some recent changes is now broken again. I don't know.

Hopefully others will remember.

It is at Winchester if it delivered its ordinance.
I too, have never yet found a way to alter that Winchester RTB logic without the same "shortcut" that you employed.
It has been really the only annoying issue in the sim for me for years ..not enough of an annoyance to stop playing lol, but I do hope they fix that at some point. It's aggravating to conduct a perfect strike then have your aircraft climb and get shot down right away.

[DWReese]

It's aggravating to conduct a perfect strike then have your aircraft climb and get shot down right away.

This is so true. And, since we as game players can do something to keep that from happening, it would seem like it should be a relatively easy fix to implement. It's important because this is what your AI-controlled enemy will have to deal with if this action is designed in a scenario.

BTW, yes, a plane without its ordinance is Winchester, that is true. But, what I was referring to was what was being displayed.

If we manually launch an attack the plane will be listed as WINCHESTER after it releases its weapons. But, if the plane was involved in pre-set attack established through the Mission/Flight Planner, then the plane will still be listed as being on course. It will make no reference to being WINCHESTER, even though it is. It does this because it is still using the same designed path. And this is why this issue is so strange.

The plane follows the path, but loses its mind with regard to its return altitude. I have theorized that it has something to do with weird behavior that occurs after the original LEADER is destroyed. It seems as though the boys successfully fixed the part leading UP TO the attack, but the back half (or the return) is not fixed, otherwise the planes wouldn't be climbing in altitude for the trip home when the Mission/Flight Planner indicates that it should be doing something different.