Training Mission 17: Mavericks and Sidearms - bugs and feedback

Hey guys, please post your feedback or bugs here. Enjoy!

great missions really helping - thanks very much

cant wait for the carrier based lessons :)

Thanks! I am half way through the NATOPS for carrier ops, it will be interesting!

You mention that if you increase the qty of mavs it will auto uncage the next missile, tested this and you have to re-uncage.

Don’t think it is implemented yet..

Think of this as a constructive criticism, and expressed opinions here are mine only. I did enjoy these missions but overall I would prefer a more simplified and hand-holding approach when it comes to training/tutorial like this that would assume the audiences have little knowledge in these topics and terminologies. It seems your missions are geared more toward experienced players who are already well-versed in DCS and these planes, and potential newcomers might find them too complex.

A good training example, IMO, would be those Hornet tutorial missions which other than texts disappearing too quickly is just about perfect for beginners. Pacing, imo, is important. Wags speech in those tutorial is also clear, concise, and slowly paced which is more appealing in general. Liberal use of auto-pauses also helps.

In the Mav training mission, instead of having you fly to WP1 then to WP2 then back and forth it might be better to just do fly directly toward the target and auto pause right there while going over the instructions. This way players could just sit back and relax and it cuts out the confusion of trying manipulating the speed/altitude/distance of the aircraft while trying listen to or read the instructions.

I have to admit that I didn’t go through the full Mav mission, got bored, but I did go through those short daytime versions. If I remember correctly in the short version of LMAV mission the instructor said to press OB7 to select LMAV (with guiding bracket) when it was actually OB6 in Stores page.

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Hey Supmua, thanks for these remarks. Actually the auto pause is a good idea, I never really thought about using it, but I will. I know there is a lot of things to cover and I try to omit the most obvious / rudimentary stuff, which one can check in the manual...

I'll keep your remarks in mind while building remaining missions and may revisit the earlier ones to upgrade them too.

Cheers,

BD

Thanks for listening. As I said, keep the tutorials simple. For real complex stuffs you can probably turn them into paid missions/campaigns, l would buy.

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Yeah that is an option, but on the other hand I’d like to give people flying the Harrier more than just the basics. That is why most of the missions are split to shorter parts where you can return to the things that interest you and go through them again. Also all depends on the topic. Just finishing he Navigation one which is pretty complex but then again you have all the time in the world to try stuff out, so it should be different than Mavericks. Still, I will take onboard your pointers and try to simplify things whenever possible.

I certainly like the more detailed training missions very much, I learn a lot more than just "click here". Also splitting them up in short versions next to the detailed main one and presenting alternative challenges in these (e.g. night version) is really a great idea!

Thanks for all the effort!

I'M not sure now, whether the tutorial using TVV or INS, but when it tells you to switch to A/G Master Mode, I do that with a switch on my throttle, which doesn't register to the tutorial. I had to actually click on the A/G button to continue.

Also, in the INS tutorial you say to press "button 5", which left me pondering, until I realized you meant OSB 5.

I noted a strange thing in the INS tutorial. The tutorial starts with the Velocity Vector Ghost offset from the VV. I've seen this happen when AFC is on, and you use rudder trim to slew your course left or right. The VV Ghost goes offset from the VV, although as far as I can tell, the actual rudder trim is not set. I think this is a bug in the AV-8B in general, which may have carried over into the tutorial somehow while saving it.

Hey! Thanks for the feedback - I will see what I can do with the master modes. The INS as far as I know is still being worked on and things will get updated.

Think of this as a constructive criticism, and expressed opinions here are mine only. I did enjoy these missions but overall I would prefer a more simplified and hand-holding approach when it comes to training/tutorial like this that would assume the audiences have little knowledge in these topics and terminologies. It seems your missions are geared more toward experienced players who are already well-versed in DCS and these planes, and potential newcomers might find them too complex.

I tend to agree with these opinions.

When the Harrier was first released, the Tutorials seems far easier to follow. I know systems were limited but I could follow the instructions.

I prefer voice-over tutorials myself over reading text in a tutorial, especially when you are approaching a target; having to read the instructions; and having to execute the requirements to get all set up. I went through the Training Mission 17 today and had difficulty executing an attack. I know that much of my problem is trying to remember how my Hotas is configured and that will come in time. But I couldn't seem to get a sense of the exact procedures to follow to attack and repeat attacking using the Mavs (today is the first time I ever fired Mavs).

I think I'd almost be happy with a simple, step-by-step List of Procedures in the Kneeboard (which btw doesn't seem to be working on my system ... I can't change pages ... 1 page only).

All that said, I appreciate that so much time has obviously been put towards creating and developing these Tutorials, so trust that I am very grateful for all the efforts. I just wish they were a little bit simpler (if that's possible) and had voice instead of just text. And yes, if I wasn't a classic ADD'r all of the training would likely be simpler for me.

Thanks for all you do.

Hey Snow Tiger! Maybe I misread something, but are you saying that you have no VOs in Mavericks mission? It is fully voiced over, and in addition it has all the steps described in a simple way in kneeboard and additional pdf document (you can download the whole set in the main thread / first post). But everything you see on the screen does have its VO.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

It's true I had no VO's during the IR Mavs Tutorial. I thought it was odd but not unheard of.

But thanks for letting me know. I will most certainly look into this in the morning. At the very least I will do a Repair on my install.

I'll let you know the results as soon as I can try it out. I'll try to navigate my way back to the main thread to find that post to see if I've missed something or failed to do something correctly.

Thanks again.

Do let me know - make sure to grab the docs from the first post in this thread.

hey

grabbed the newest updated file (26/4) and still no voice in this traning

Thanks will check tomortow!

I should mention that the last 2 times I tried this Tutorial, I got the initial/first comment or statement via voice-over and then squat after that. But both times I heard a single comment at the beginning of the tutorial and then silence forever after that.

Perhaps something breaks in triggering the VO's? I have been running this today and for me it also only been partially voiced...

The second attack seems to need so e systems that arent implemented yet... maybe an F 10 menu thing to akip it?

I should mention that the last 2 times I tried this Tutorial, I got the initial/first comment or statement via voice-over and then squat after that. But both times I heard a single comment at the beginning of the tutorial and then silence forever after that.

Yep, same here. a couple of minutes in, I get 'OK, first thing you need to do.....' and after that, nothing. No VO at all.

DCS sometimes just removes voice files from missions, just like that :) I will fix thos, no worries guys!

Hey guys, tested it - seems like a DCS bug, "Sound to Country" trigger does not seem to work under latest Open Beta. Already reported to ED.

OK, after trying this mission several times, I am confused by a bunch of stuff relating to it.

1) the IR Mavs don't lock on the tank targets until about 5-6 miles away. Surely this can't be right!

2) pressing the TDC button to cycle through the tanks till I reach the one I want to target doesn't work. That button does nothing for me in that context.

3) I never see 'IN RANG' message, and never see any target info on the HUD either.

4) the small flashing crosshair on the MPCD IRMV video never goes away.

Despite all this, when I get a lock and press pickle, the target is always destroyed.

The only difference between what I observed and that which imacken mentioned is with regards to imacken's #4 observation.

I could always easily get back to the DMT on the Right MPCD by pressing Sensor Select Aft 2 times (or 1 time when the tracker crosshair is showing).

I'm guessing the Tutorial Procedures are correct even if some of the Tutorial Mission Scripting isn't working. I'm betting the issues are related towards something lacking in the Harrier's programming or DCS's.

In the meantime, I have parked my enthusiasm for the Harrier (again) for a while until a few more things are working correctly. I look forward to a day when most things work so I can really enjoy this aircraft.