Learning Mission Editor...Frustrating

Issues

1)Harriers takeoff from Tarawa runway hot. Flt of 4. First 2 always crash on take off. They do not do a STOL takeoff, rather they go to half flaps and nozzles to the rear like a regular takeoff. Also, they do not spawn in on any instruction other than take off from runway hot.

2)Deep into building a scenario, elements that were established as following routes, attacking desired targets as ordered, doing CAS etc, just suddenly break after several test runs through the mission. Like they just say "F" it, I'm not doing what you told me to anymore.

3)Cobras are about 50/50 on returning to the Tarawa and landing. Half the time, same parameters for every mission, the fly out near the Tarawa, climb to 12,000ft and fly circles until they run out of fuel and crash into the ocean.

4)A-10's that were flying into CAS for an airfield capture suddenly make one pass with mavs then book it home or turn away short of the target zone and rtb. They previously would stick around causing mass devastation and expend all ammo.

While I do make changes to elements or add new ones in the mission, I do not alter those that were established as working. build one Group, test then when t works, add another. Then, $h1t just stops working.

What am I missing? is this a quark of the AI or am I inadvertently changing parameters that I'm not aware of?

Issues

 

1)Harriers takeoff from Tarawa runway hot. Flt of 4. First 2 always crash on take off. They do not do a STOL takeoff, rather they go to half flaps and nozzles to the rear like a regular takeoff. Also, they do not spawn in on any instruction other than take off from runway hot.

 

2)Deep into building a scenario, elements that were established as following routes, attacking desired targets as ordered, doing CAS etc, just suddenly break after several test runs through the mission. Like they just say "F" it, I'm not doing what you told me to anymore.

 

3)Cobras are about 50/50 on returning to the Tarawa and landing. Half the time, same parameters for every mission, the fly out near the Tarawa, climb to 12,000ft and fly circles until they run out of fuel and crash into the ocean.

 

4)A-10's that were flying into CAS for an airfield capture suddenly make one pass with mavs then book it home or turn away short of the target zone and rtb. They previously would stick around causing mass devastation and expend all ammo.

 

While I do make changes to elements or add new ones in the mission, I do not alter those that were established as working. build one Group, test then when t works, add another. Then, $h1t just stops working.

 

What am I missing? is this a quark of the AI or am I inadvertently changing parameters that I'm not aware of?

1. There are on going changes being made with regard to how the Harrier operates on the Tarawa. I seem to recall that the behaviors changed at one point and now the AI harriers are quite broken.

3. Helicopters in general seem to have some odd behaviors with the Tarawa last I tried. At one point wheeled helicopters were fine but ones with skids don't work. I don't have a great answer for you. Maybe try adding a 2nd Tarawa and make one only used by helicopters?

2, 4, and your final question. Changing elements within a mission can change desired AI behaviors. When its just a CAS mission it will work fine but if you added a threat the AI don't like they can abort the mission. If the behavior change is drastic from one test to the next you can always try restarting the game to see if the behavior reproduces. This goes for especially if you didn't really add anything that different from what already exists. The behavior should be relatively consistent for each test run.

1. There are on going changes being made with regard to how the Harrier operates on the Tarawa. I seem to recall that the behaviors changed at one point and now the AI harriers are quite broken.

 

3. Helicopters in general seem to have some odd behaviors with the Tarawa last I tried. At one point wheeled helicopters were fine but ones with skids don't work. I don't have a great answer for you. Maybe try adding a 2nd Tarawa and make one only used by helicopters?

 

2, 4, and your final question. Changing elements within a mission can change desired AI behaviors. When its just a CAS mission it will work fine but if you added a threat the AI don't like they can abort the mission. If the behavior change is drastic from one test to the next you can always try restarting the game to see if the behavior reproduces. This goes for especially if you didn't really add anything that different from what already exists. The behavior should be relatively consistent for each test run.

Appreciate the quick response and help. Guess I'll just keep experimenting and eventually get it figured out. I have about 20 pages of notes and scratch outs and revisions. Trying to put something together for the OH-58D as I was a scout in the Army 88-93. I've actually been so wrapped up in world building that I haven't flown in 3 weeks.

FYI, I came over from decades of MSFS and P3D, flying tubes in the simulator. DCS is proving to be a much, much better community! Super helpful people, higher level of maturity. P3D peeps are fairly toxic, especially in the forums. The PMDG forum is full of people just waiting for someone to refer to something by the wrong nomenclature or not signing their posts(God forbid) so they can pounce with some venomous remark. This includes developers who are just as toxic.

Much thanks!

Edit: Sorry, one more thing. I'm at a point now where the AI won't even engage. I did notice that on occasion, the shoot down of a friendly will get the other friendlies to go to work but for the most part they circle a few miles out side the engagement zone for a while then RTB. Previously, they were messing dudes up! ROE, maybe a threat in the area they don't like? If I put "no reaction" to threat, doesn't help.

Edit: Sorry, one more thing. I'm at a point now where the AI won't even engage. I did notice that on occasion, the shoot down of a friendly will get the other friendlies to go to work but for the most part they circle a few miles out side the engagement zone for a while then RTB. Previously, they were messing dudes up! ROE, maybe a threat in the area they don't like? If I put "no reaction" to threat, doesn't help.

It might depend on the weapons they currently have and the targets they are wanting to attack. So there is a behavior AI have when attacking targets that they try to be efficient with their munitions to the point where it effects other things. I'd have to delve into it to test any particularities that might have changed with regard to CAS and multiple CAS targets.

An ultra simplified explanation is easiest to describe with a SEAD task. Say you have 4 aircraft armed with HARMs and there are two SA-15s in their target area. One or two of the aircraft will fire off 1 HARM per target. The rest of the flight will orbit and wait for the HARM to be destroyed either by hitting the target or being intercepted by the SA-15. Once a missile was destroyed an aircraft with a HARM remaining would proceed to engage.

In the context of CAS it could be that the AI are waiting for the one aircraft to kill a target. I donno its hard to say without looking at the mission file and experimenting with it because I don't know the exact tasking, weapons, and threats that are in the mission.

AI behavior can be downright confounding as it is influenced by weapons, fuel, main tasking, threats, homeplate distance, waypoint tasking and task priorities, not to mention bugs. That makes a matrix of at least 8 parameters, any one of which can alter the behavior. Search this forum for the several other threads analyzing AI behavior, because it is LARGELY rational, once you understand it.