General Discussion (dev branch)

[Grumpy Old Man 3545]

14 hours ago, Rich_R said:

DATA 

Tweaked: The vehicle number on the nose and fins of the Blackfish VTOL can now be re-textured 

 

ENGINE 

No EXE changes

 

Finally we can get rid of the vehicle number on the Blackfish! Well, when it makes its way to the main branch :)

 

Thank you BI!

 

It's kinda weird though, since it works different than any other plane from the jets DLC.

Every plane that supports vehicle numbers has a config entry like this:

configfile >> "CfgVehicles" >> "B_Plane_Fighter_01_F" >> "hiddenSelections"

which contains

hiddenSelections[] = {"Camo1","Camo2","CamoGlass","camo_cockpit_1","camo_cockpit_2","camo_cockpit_3","camo_cockpit_5","number_01","number_02","number_03"};

in case of the black wasp. Now using number_01 to number_03 lets you apply a custom number to the aircraft, which doesn't work with the blackfish, since the blackfish hiddenSelections config looks like this:

hiddenSelections[] = {"Camo_1","Camo_2","Camo_3","Camo_4","Camo_5"};

Camo_5 is the selection of the vehicle numbers, you can basically just disable it with

MyBlackfish setObjectTextureGlobal [4,""]

and that's it.

 

So the technology is actually in game and used by various assets, why not just go a step further and apply it to the blackfish while you're at it?

 

Cheers

[2nd ranger 282]

I know this is trivial but I'd like to make a special request for someone to bring "Land_Metal_wooden_rack_F" into the 21st century. It is hideous. It looks like it was the very first object made for Operation Flashpoint. I want to use it when placing furniture but it just looks so bad I can never bring myself to do it. Please, somebody, give it a lick of paint. :P

[lex__1 422]

Quote

 

ENGINE 

Added: The 'Shots' diagnostic was enabled for the Diagnostics Executable 

 

It is absent on

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3_Diagnostics_Exe

[R3vo 2654]

Getting tons of CfgArmorSimulations config errors. Guess that's a good thing ;)

 

Btw: I tested the new "Shots" diag parameter and it didn't work even though diag_enabled returned true.

[Strike_NOR 898]

"ENGINE

No relevant EXE changes today"

 

Maybe not relevant today. But tomorrow :)

 

19 hours ago, R3vo said:

Getting tons of CfgArmorSimulations config errors. Guess that's a good thing ;)

 

These are signs of the prophecy of true armor simulation for ArmA3. 

[da12thMonkey 1943]

Quote

• Tweaked: Lock-on After Launch for Laser Guided Bombs (just drop the bomb roughly at a laser target and the bomb will find its way)

Does this improved LOAL capability apply with the laser-guided and Guided/sensor-fuzed/SADARM artillery shells as well?

Terminal guidance on arty shells/submunitions doesn't seem to have been functioning all that well for a while. Certainly less than I remember it in A2/OA

 

Also, are there new params or is just using existing autoSeekTarget+lockSeekRadius mated to sensors?

[Imperator[TFD] 444]

The laser guided bombs are now broken.  Cannot fire the GBU-12 at all, weapon simply won't fire while the cluster bombs just threw a config error and game froze.

 

Edit: checked the CSAT laser guided bomb and its broken too.  Cannot fire the weapon.

[dragon01 902]

Well, it'd certainly be a good addition... after the bombs are fixed. :) I'd also like to see this on Scalpel, as well. Does (will) it work even when the target does not exist at the moment of launch?

 

BTW, @oukej, what's the status on the weapon variants that you mentioned at some point? Is that still in the pipeline, or was this idea scrapped?

[oukej 2910]

1 hour ago, da12thMonkey said:

Does this improved LOAL capability apply with the laser-guided and Guided/sensor-fuzed/SADARM artillery shells as well?

Terminal guidance on arty shells/submunitions doesn't seem to have been functioning all that well for a while. Certainly less than I remember it in A2/OA

 

Also, are there new params or is just using existing autoSeekTarget+lockSeekRadius mated to sensors?

Sorry guys, not working yet :) (and some parts can be broken)

2 hours ago, DnA said:

We've discovered these changes are not yet operational due to other parts of the data not having been published yet (WIP):

 

[x3kj 1247]

Tried the "Shots" diag mode... it doesn't do anything, at least nothing that i can see. The only effect it has that when in Eden, going to preview and then going back to editor takes longer and showes some weird "intermediary" screen in VR

 

3 hours ago, oukej said:

Sorry guys, not working yet :) (and some parts can be broken)

 

Yeah, but with this "announcement" i'm happy nontheless

 

 

 

 

[oukej 2910]

1 hour ago, x3kj said:

Tried the "Shots" diag mode... it doesn't do anything, at least nothing that i can see.

1

It should look like this (bullet tracing + some targeting, flight and impact info)

[x3kj 1247]

1 hour ago, oukej said:

It should look like this (bullet tracing + some targeting, flight and impact info)

 

Not seeing anything like that unfortunately. When i use:  diag_list "toggle";   it shows "Shots". But doesn't matter if i toggle it or diag_enable true it - no effect, other than the time going from editor preview back to editor beeing longer than usual and showing a blurred screen briefly (only with Shots enabled). So it appears to have some effect, but not what you show. Revision 144205

 

[dragon01 902]

8 hours ago, oukej said:

Sorry guys, not working yet :) (and some parts can be broken)

Would be great if it wasn't on friday... Now we have to wait two whole days for a fix! :) 

[tpw 2315]

With the last couple of dev updates I'm constantly getting the error:  no entry "bin\config.bin\ConfigArmorSimulations"

[teabagginpeople 398]

6 minutes ago, tpw said:

With the last couple of dev updates I'm constantly getting the error:  no entry "bin\config.bin\ConfigArmorSimulations"

Revo noted same few posts up. So not to worry .

[tpw 2315]

Just now, teabagginpeople said:

Revo noted same few posts up. So not to worry .

Cheers mate. I did a search for ConfigArmorSimulations and got nothing. 

[jone_kone 158]

Any clues on what is causing the RPG-7 issue? I would be neat to have RPG-7 offroads (technicals) working when the Tanks DLC launches. :)

 

https://feedback.bistudio.com/T127007

 

 

[HaseDesTodes 62]

Quote

Tweaked: Laser-guided bombs are now fully LOAL (lock-on after launch) and no longer lock on targets 

 

just tested the LOAD a bit and it looks really nice. you can now drop bombs from extreme distances into the target area, and it will hit the target.

BUT

i also tested without the laser, and you can still drop bombs on static targets with 100% accuracy.

can we expect this to change to a more balanced method?

[Alwarren 2767]

Would love to see LOAL extended to missiles for things like accurate Hellfire simulation. Lasing targets by infantry while firing a Hellfire from behind a mountain ridge would be great.

[bars91 956]

1 minute ago, Alwarren said:

Would love to see LOAL extended to missiles for things like accurate Hellfire simulation...

 

Yes please. BI don't be afraid to exploit the crap out of the new engine functions!

[ski2060 167]

We know it's doable as Firewill has LOBL/LOAL weapons as well as dual use GPS/Laser guidance in his mod.

Having it in Vanilla would be freaking awesome.

 

[Imperator[TFD] 444]

So with the LOAL for the GBU-12's how exactly does this function now?

I've tried using the laser designator in my Black Wasp II to find a target, turn on the laser, point aircraft in general direction and fire the weapon.  Result: bomb just glides to the ground with zero guidance.

 

The only way I can get the bombs to land on target is to select my laser target as my active target and then fire the bomb while in the general direction.  This is no different to how it was prior to LOAL?

 

Some insight would be greatly appreciated. :)

[da12thMonkey 1943]

35 minutes ago, Imperator[TFD] said:

So with the LOAL for the GBU-12's how exactly does this function now?

I've tried using the laser designator in my Black Wasp II to find a target, turn on the laser, point aircraft in general direction and fire the weapon.  Result: bomb just glides to the ground with zero guidance.

 

The only way I can get the bombs to land on target is to select my laser target as my active target and then fire the bomb while in the general direction.  This is no different to how it was prior to LOAL?

 

Some insight would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

Bomb still has to be tossed somewhere relatively close to the region where a laser is illuminating. Judging by the config parameters, the bombs search a 180 degree arc (+/-90 degrees) for laser targets within 300m, when the bomb descends to a 300m altitude

So you should use the CCIP indicator in the HUD or TGP view to lob the bomb roughly where the target is, and then it'll do the rest by itself.

[Strike_NOR 898]

@Imperator[TFD]

 

While I can't speak for in-game mechanics like @da12thMonkey here can, I can speak for some real life counterparts:

 

Fact: Generally speaking, GBU-12's are dropped as if they are stupid bombs. In other words, they are manually aimed at the target by pilot. Given that altitude, wind, computer inaccuracies, pilot inaccuracies all come into effect when dropping bombs, the laser guidance is only there for "extra accuracy".

 

The bombs are often dropped in CCRP or CCIP mode, which you can equate to level bombing vs. dive bombing. CCRP is not simulated in vanilla Arma, but CCIP is. 

 

In real life, if the laser designator is in the aircraft Targeting pod, the laser will in fact remain off for the entire bomb flight, until the last few seconds. The computer calculates time to impact, and the laser automatically switches on just before. There are two major reasons for this:

 

1. Enemy with laser-detectors will have very little time to react.

2. Lasing the entire time, will often cause the bomb to correct itself constantly. This means small maneuvers up and down, left and right, which ultimately costs energy. This, in turn, reduces the bomb glide range.

 

If you are lasing a stationary target, switching the laser on in the last 5-6 seconds is often good enough.

If you are lasing a moving target, it may be necessary to lase much earlier, because predicting lead can be difficult. 

 

In ArmA however, I would expect them to work like @da12thMonkey says. The bomb sensor has X meters range, and X degrees sensor field of view. If the laser is visible within this area,  the bomb will automatically pick up the laser and start guiding towards it.

 

Remember that the bomb has to physically "see" the laser. This means you have best chances of hitting targets if:

 

• Attack run is being made from the same direction that the laser is emitted (this way the laser spot will be on the same side of the target as the bomb).
• Laser spot is on the top/side of the target.
• There are no obstacles between launch vehicle and laser spot.

This is why the top-attack mode for hellfires and javelins are so good, because they can fly over hills, bushes, buildings, trees etc and dive down once they pick up the target. Hoping for LOAL mode for laser-guided missiles too!

 

[Imperator[TFD] 444]

1 hour ago, da12thMonkey said:

 

Bomb still has to be tossed somewhere relatively close to the region where a laser is illuminating. Judging by the config parameters, the bombs search a 180 degree arc (+/-90 degrees) for laser targets within 300m, when the bomb descends to a 300m altitude

So you should use the CCIP indicator in the HUD or TGP view to lob the bomb roughly where the target is, and then it'll do the rest by itself.

 

Why not just lock onto the laser at that point?