[FIXED + NEED MORE INFO][1825.15] Serious AIM-120D DB error

[erick33]

I have discovered a significant bug regarding the AIM-120D AMRAAM in the current Build 1825.15.

As you can see in the provided picture, the maximum speed of the AIM-120D is listed as 1395 kts in the DB viewer. Meanwhile, the maximum speed for other missiles in the AIM-120 series is correctly displayed as 2650 kts.

What confirms this figure is a bug is the following behavior: when you first launch a scenario and open the DB viewer, the missile's maximum speed correctly shows as 2650 kts. However, when opening the DB viewer for a second time, the speed drops to 1395 kts, as shown in the screenshot.

The reason this is a critical issue is that it is not merely a visual UI bug; it actively impacts the missile's actual speed within the scenario.
Based on my testing:

Firing the missile in the previous build resulted in a speed of 2450 kts.

Firing the missile under the exact same conditions in Build 1825.15 resulted in a maximum speed of only about 1700 kts.

This confirms that the corrupted DB value is directly affecting the simulation.

For context, in the immediately preceding beta (version 1825.11), the missile's speed was not displayed in the DB viewer at all. However, that did not negatively impact the missile's actual speed in the scenario.

I initially suspected this might be an isolated issue tied to a specific scenario, but after testing, I confirmed that the problem occurs consistently across multiple scenarios.

Currently, I cannot verify if this issue is strictly limited to the AIM-120D, but I strongly suspect that similar problems might be affecting other weapons as well.

[Dimitris]

Thanks for the heads up. I think there are two related but distinct potential issues here, both caused by the new variable burnout-speed feature in v1.09.

1) How the weapon performance stats are displayed on the DB-viewer.

2) How the weapon actually performs within the simulation.

For the first item, there was indeed a subtle bug on the way that the stats were displayed on the DB viewer. This has now been fixed for the next update.

(Background: When displaying platforms, weapons etc. on the DB-viewer, we actually create unique instances of them rather than simply performing a DB "data dump". Specifically for weapons this makes it necessary to assume certain things about the context of their creation, since an aerospace weapon's performance depends critically on the circumstances of its launch. There was a false assumption in part of that context.)

For the second item we'd need much more information, and definitely at least a pre-fire save, to investigate. The significantly reduced (vs nominal) performance of AAW missiles when launched under less-than-nominal conditions (nominal: M1.5 at 36000ft) was something that caught us by surprise too, even though we were mentally expecting it. We checked the math & physics repeatedly and we think we're on the right track, but of course there is always room for error. So, help us help you.

Thanks.

[erick33]

Thanks for the heads up. I think there are two related but distinct potential issues here, both caused by the new variable burnout-speed feature in v1.09.

1) How the weapon performance stats are displayed on the DB-viewer.

2) How the weapon actually performs within the simulation.

For the first item, there was indeed a subtle bug on the way that the stats were displayed on the DB viewer. This has now been fixed for the next update.

(Background: When displaying platforms, weapons etc. on the DB-viewer, we actually create unique instances of them rather than simply performing a DB "data dump". Specifically for weapons this makes it necessary to assume certain things about the context of their creation, since an aerospace weapon's performance depends critically on the circumstances of its launch. There was a false assumption in part of that context.)

For the second item we'd need much more information, and definitely at least a pre-fire save, to investigate. The significantly reduced (vs nominal) performance of AAW missiles when launched under less-than-nominal conditions (nominal: M1.5 at 36000ft) was something that caught us by surprise too, even though we were mentally expecting it. We checked the math & physics repeatedly and we think we're on the right track, but of course there is always room for error. So, help us help you.

Thanks.

Thank you for checking. To provide more information, I created a test scenario and conducted some experiments.

As a result, I confirmed that between versions 1825.11 and 1825.15, there is an actual difference in missile speeds, in addition to the DB display issue. I ran the exact same scenario under the exact same conditions, and as the photos show, there is clearly a significant difference.

Furthermore, I verified that the DB display issue is not limited to the AIM-120D, but occurs across all other missiles as well. I tested this by using the different game versions, and I am attaching the photos along with the test scenario I created.

As you can see in the photos, in version 1825.11, the missile's speed reaches up to 2474 kts—which falls slightly short of the DB value. However, in version 1825.15, I was able to confirm that it only reaches 1712 kts under the exact same conditions.