[Fixed] Air Operation Bugs // v1.09.1825.2

[databomb]

Bug Report
Game Version: Beta 1.09.1825.2 (and earlier)
I've been previously encouraged on Discord to post bug reports to this forum if I'm serious about fixes, so after trying the latest beta build on Steam and seeing a lot of the same bugs appearing, I thought I'd file a report.

Subject
There are four bugs reported here related to air operations. These bugs have been largely present since the large update that added air complexity with the Air Tasking Order and Flightplans features.
1. Unexpected aircraft speed changes during RTB orders
2. RTB orders being skipped
3. Units break formations in flights
4. Refueling doctrine not obeyed

Issue #1 Description
When a player is managing flights outside of a planned mission, issuing an RTB order results in an air speed increase (which could have drastic impacts to fuel consumption). For example, when a manual RTB order is issued to Flight 853, the game remains at flight level 550 but changes the speed configuration to Military. In the F-22A Raptor Flight Group, this increasing fuel consumption to ~202kg/min, almost a full order-of-magnitude difference, which is highly unexpected behavior. This contributes to a higher liklihood of loss of the aircraft due to fuel starvation and an increase in micromanaging any such flights.

Issue #1 Expected Behavior
When a player manually initiates a Return to Base (RTB) order then the Fuel Consumption after adjusting for RTB configuration should not exceed current Fuel Consumption.
For example, in an F-22A Raptor Flight Group (Flight 853) which is flying at flight level 550 at Cruise speed is consuming ~31kg/min of fuel. So, issuing an RTB order would be expected to stay around ~31kg/min or less.

Issue #2 Description
An issued RTB order is being cancelled by the game at regular, periodic intervals. For instance, select Flight 853 and manually issue an RTB order using the B key. After ~10-15 seconds of game simulation time passes then the flight group transitions from RTB (As ordered) to Unassigned Status and then sometimes starts to head to the refueling point.

Issue #2 Expected Behavior
A manually-issued RTB order should have one of the highest priorities. Absent evasive action needed for incoming enemy fire or positioning for re-fuel in a multi-leg journey home, there game should not be disrupting these RTB orders.

Issue #3 Description
In a flight group (e.g., 2 or more aircraft grouped together), sometimes orders set at the flight group level are not being obeyed by all units contained in the group. This issue does not happen consistently but it can lead to significantly different fuel levels and loss of aircraft due to fuel starvation. This commonly happens when the player has their view set to GROUP view, one aircraft in the group has their afterburner engaged and is flying an opposite course, which is masked by the lead aircraft following the given orders for course and speeed.

Issue #3 Expected Behavior
Units in a flight group should be flying in strict formation unless circumstances dictate otherwise.

Issue #4 Description
If a flight group has their doctrine set to Never under Refuel operations and remains actively heading toward refueling operations, users can attempt to cancel this by issuing the Unassign Unit(s) under Unit orders. This has no change and the flight group continues towards refueling. For example, Flight 852 has their doctrine set to Never under Refuel and is continuing to head towards the refueling point. Select Flight 852 and hit the U key to issue the Unassign Unit(s) orders and observe the Status in Group Status.

Issue #4 Expected Behavior
A unit which inherits Never under Refuel operations should switch to Unassigned status when being ordered to Unassign.

Additional Notes
The time to investigate and fix these bugs is much appreciated! I much miss the days of Command: Modern Operations before ATOs were added as that build had a level of consistency to air operations, and hopefully with some of these fixed it will make the game more enjoyable again.

[databomb]

These bugs are still occuring in v1.09.1825.11.

[Dimitris]

1) WAD, aircraft speeding up when RTBing is the expected behavior.

This [throttle-up on RTB] contributes to a higher likelihood of loss of the aircraft due to fuel starvation

This is true, strictly speaking, but not throttling up when RTB presents the significant risk that an enemy catches up with you and uses you for target practice. The current behavior is partially the distilled wisdom of endless "bug reports" going like this: "My stupid planes leisurely head back home and the enemy runs them down and kills them".

(An additional factor: The sooner your plane gets back home, the sooner it can begin and complete the readying cycle that will render it ready for operations again.)

The pilot AI is usually smart enough to determine when the throttle up is feasible (fuel permitting etc.) while also sticking to fuel-efficient cruise when this is not an option. If you have consistently observed a case where this is not true, feel free to share a save that illustrates it.

[rosarioed]

Nothing to add on #1, Dimitris said it better than I could.

Regarding Issue #2:
I agree that the manual RTB order should take precedence over automatic refueling attempts, a fix has been made, though with some additional considerations and exceptions to the rule.
An aircraft in Manual RTB will head to base without refueling if there is enough fuel to reach it, even when in Bingo/Joker fuel, this will prevents the "fighting with the sim when ordering manual RTB" that you were experiencing. Of course if there is not enough fuel to reach the base, Then a refuel scheduling attempt will still be made.
This is quite risky as it effectively makes the AC avoid aerial refueling even when below reserve fuel as specified by the Bingo/Joker doctrine, as you mentioned the AC might have to evade threats when goin back to base and that could further deplete the fuel reserve to the point of not having enough to reach base.

Regarding issue #3:
We have made multiple improvements recently on how units stay together in a group, mostly in the context of AAR but for other parts of the flight as well. We might have addressed the issues you encountered, but without any further detail or a more specific scenario it's hard for us to address this kind of issue.
If you happen to encounter this kind of issue, of course a scenario right before it happens would be the best, but I can do even with one right after you notice the separation, possibly accompanied by an explanation on how you got there.

Not much to say on Issue #4, It has been already fixed, you should see this in the Next CMO release

[Nikel]

Regarding issue #3:
We have made multiple improvements recently on how units stay together in a group, mostly in the context of AAR but for other parts of the flight as well. We might have addressed the issues you encountered, but without any further detail or a more specific scenario it's hard for us to address this kind of issue.
If you happen to encounter this kind of issue, of course a scenario right before it happens would be the best, but I can do even with one right after you notice the separation, possibly accompanied by an explanation on how you got there.

This is an example.


https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 2#p5265902

[rosarioed]

Great, thank you, that will definitely be of help.
Someone from the team will get back on the other thread once that is addressed.