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Post by Dutch Owen on May 27, 2020 14:30:25 GMT -5
Testers,
I know many of you are waiting on the next release and it's taking a while. There's a reason for that.
The technology the AI can use against you is currently more or less in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s minus radar vectoring and radar guided missiles.
Release 0.12.0 will bring us up to about 1999!
It's such a big set of upgrades that I'm considering calling it the "Fourth Edition".
This means that AI ground stations (if placed in a mission) can detect enemy aircraft at long range and will be able to vector defensive aircraft to the enemy's projected location if any area available. This also means that if so equipped (and there will be more weapons and radar equipment available for AI use) an enemy aircraft can lock you and launch BVR missiles at you. A radar warning receiver that you can install in any aircraft will be provided to help you in the new threat environment (Tacpack RWR will not detect FSCAI threats.) You will be concerned now with IFF and the transponder code you set will matter to determine friend from foe. (You will want your friends to identify you from BVR, right?) You may also be concerned with jamming, both the enemies jamming and your own. And perhaps biggest of all: certain aircraft can have a "Stealth Rating" which will determine how invisible they are to radar.
All this has caused necessary changes to the databases and accommodating these (and automatic conversions to preserve any user weapons or aircraft) will take some time.
I think you'll agree it's worth it.
Thanks for helping test FSCAI!
Dutch
PS. If anyone knows how Tacpack encodes threat information onto AI aircraft data (it must, to detect multiplayer threats) then let me know and we'll talk. I'd like to code FSCAI AI controlled aircraft and ground units to trigger Tacpack RWR seamlessly, if possible.
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Post by hajolippke on May 27, 2020 14:56:55 GMT -5
Sounds great!
The RWR will be a pop-up-window? I ask because many current panels are VC, and it´s quite hard to update them with new gauges. Some are even a "full gauge", where the whole panel is not consisting of several gaugs placed on a .bmp, but the whole cockpit is a single gauge.
HAJO
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Post by StuB on May 27, 2020 21:02:42 GMT -5
Working IFF, RWR and ECM......fantastic!
Two questions....
1) Will it be possible to have aircraft perform in a stand-off jamming capacity? For example, have an EB-66C (or EF-10B or EA-6A) provide stand-off jamming protection for for aircraft flying withing a certain distance of it?
2) Will formation jamming be possible. For example, if an F-105D equipped with a QRC-160A pod is flying close to another F-105D that does not have one, will both airplanes be covered by the QRC-160's "noise"?
I think both could be done if there were an invisible "secondary jamming gauge" that can be installed in any airplane....but it would only work if it's within certain proximity of an airplane equipped with a "primary jamming gauge" that is active (i.e. powered on and transmitting).
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Post by hajolippke on May 28, 2020 11:51:19 GMT -5
This sounds as if flying will be a lot of work when using FSCAI...  HAJO |
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Post by Dutch Owen on May 28, 2020 14:34:02 GMT -5
Some answers to the questions above:
RWR will be a screen display gauge (based on the one in the A-10) that can be pasted into a VC or placed in a pop-up.
Stand-off jamming capability is something I hadn't thought of, but I'm glad you mentioned it - it can and will be done such that any jammer can have a radius of effect defined on its weapon entry.
Yes, things will be more work (and more dangerous) if you choose to fly in a high-threat environment!
Dutch
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Post by StuB on May 28, 2020 22:05:14 GMT -5
Some answers to the questions above: RWR will be a screen display gauge (based on the one in the A-10) that can be pasted into a VC or placed in a pop-up. Stand-off jamming capability is something I hadn't thought of, but I'm glad you mentioned it - it can and will be done such that any jammer can have a radius of effect defined on its weapon entry. Yes, things will be more work (and more dangerous) if you choose to fly in a high-threat environment! Dutch Well, this absolutely makes my day!  Soon, it will be possible to fly in the following scenario as either a F-105D pilot, or as an F-100D or a F-4C pilot flying escort. After tanking over northern Thailand, flights of Takhli based F-105D's, in pod formation, continue on their way to deliver M117's on the Hanoi thermal power plant. As they ingress the target area, EB-66C's are orbiting NW and SW of Hanoi, providing them with stand-off jamming. After making their bombing runs, the F-105's re-form back into pod formations and egress to the South East. Marine EF-10B's orbiting 40 miles West SouthWest of Thanh Hoa, provide them with stand-off jamming, as they make their way to the tankers orbiting over the Gulf of Tonkin. Once refueled, they cross the coast just south of the DMZ, and return to Khorat. Very cool. |
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Post by denisgerard on May 29, 2020 1:18:16 GMT -5
Cool, nices features, too bad tack pack rwr can't detect any threats may be you can can ask them? Who know…  |
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Post by smegal86 on May 29, 2020 4:15:39 GMT -5
Dutch, Have you checked the VRS TacPack SDK wiki? It explains how to access the components of the VRS .dll module. It’s mainly in XML but also mentions C/C++. I’m not sure what you are using to code FSCAI? forums.vrsimulations.com/support/index.php/TacPack_SDKAs above be great if you can incorporate the VRS RWR/Radar aspects as well. |
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Post by Dutch Owen on May 29, 2020 6:07:47 GMT -5
Dutch, Have you checked the VRS TacPack SDK wiki? It explains how to access the components of the VRS .dll module. It’s mainly in XML but also mentions C/C++. I’m not sure what you are using to code FSCAI? forums.vrsimulations.com/support/index.php/TacPack_SDKAs above be great if you can incorporate the VRS RWR/Radar aspects as well. I understand how the Tacpack RWR feature works and it's well within the realm of possibility to query the Tacpack DLL using Cvars and get any threats it is reporting and put them on the FSCAI RWR mixed in with the threats from FSCAI radar objects. So the FSCAI RWR will show everything that's painting you whether from FSCAI or Tacpack. What I'm investigating is how to go the other way - get FSCAI threats to show up on a Tacpack RWR. The only way to do that is to get FSCAI objects to mimic the behavior of Tacpack objects (like for instance the SA-2 missile sites, or multiplayer aircraft) so that any RWR in a Tacpack-enabled aircraft will show the threat on its display. This may or may not be practical, at this point I'm not sure. I'm learning a bit about how Tacpack does it and will eventually understand the system. If I end up having to create a surrogate invisible simobject for each and every radar-equipped aircraft or ground unit FSCAI is controlling just in order to do this, it may not be practical to do. It's not crucial or necessary this be done, it would just be a cool feature that would make life better for Tacpack users. It's not a top priority item. I'll probably look into it seriously once the next release is out. Dutch |
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Post by xpel on May 31, 2020 3:21:14 GMT -5
I find this feature very interesting, since I guess, I'll have the ability to take off with an AI that
will lead our pair intercepting flight towards the invading aircraft pair and then have an engagement
at the area.
The interesting thing is that without using any other aid, by just following the friendly AI in formation
flying, we'll reach the area of engagement. Ie, immersion.
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Post by hajolippke on May 31, 2020 3:53:33 GMT -5
Will the GCI also guide AI-aircraft of "my" team to hostile contacts? Can we see big Air-to-Air-engagements by AI?
HAJO
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Post by Dutch Owen on May 31, 2020 9:30:11 GMT -5
I find this feature very interesting, since I guess, I'll have the ability to take off with an AI that will lead our pair intercepting flight towards the invading aircraft pair and then have an engagement at the area. The interesting thing is that without using any other aid, by just following the friendly AI in formation flying, we'll reach the area of engagement. Ie, immersion. I'm not sure how I will implement wing-men receiving GCI instructions. Most likely not until the GCI can direct you. They should be following you as flight lead, not you following them. I had planned for this phase to only allow remote targeting via ground station detection to AI, then next phase to add GCI interaction with the user pilot. Dutch |
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Post by Dutch Owen on May 31, 2020 9:31:11 GMT -5
Will the GCI also guide AI-aircraft of "my" team to hostile contacts? Can we see big Air-to-Air-engagements by AI? HAJO Yes, if there are friendly GCI radar stations they will direct friendly AI to enemy intruders if they meet the parameters. They will not direct your wing-men or you in this first release, but later they will. Whether big engagements result depends on many factors. In order to be remote-targeted an aircraft will have to be available (not on any other combat task except) and within the control zone of the radar, and within practical interception range. GCI radars may not vector everyone, they will likely want to hold back some potential defenders as a reserve. I haven't started testing this yet and when I do I'll know more details about how it will work. Right now it's just theory. Dutch |
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Post by xpel on May 31, 2020 11:38:33 GMT -5
That's what I'm talking about... Not FSCAI spawned Wingmen.
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Post by djt1601 on Aug 24, 2020 12:14:06 GMT -5
Hey Dutch I know its a bother but can you give any indictation when the next edition is coming out ,I fear all this msfs 2020 hysteria is going to derail this project?
Thank you for your time.
Dean Thiessen
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