Defect Name: Aircraft stuck at waypoints

Build: HCE 2007.031 GE

Repeatable: Yes (can be provoked but is occasional)

Operating System: Win XP SP2

DB used:

Scenario used: Purpose Built - Air_Test.sc1 (savegame and .sc1 attached to post)

Battleset: GIUK

Long Description: When aircraft is moving along a plotted course, on occasion it will get stuck on waypoints that require a roughly 90 degree turn, the aircraft will change course back and forth for several game minutes until it eventually rights itself and continues on course.

 

Process:

 

- Open GE

- Load save *Air_testsave1.hp1* from GIUK battleset

- Observe pre-plotted course

- Run game time at 30sec slow to 10sec near waypoints to observe affects

- At waypoint note behaviour

(The most consistant waypoint is waypoint 3, if it does not happen first time round load the save again and run the above process)

 

Expected Behaviour: Aircraft reaches waypoint and immediatley turns towards the next waypoint in the course.

 

Exhibited Behaviour: Aircraft reaches some waypoints and becomes stuck for several minutes switching direction before continuing course.

 

Workaround: Delete the waypoint the aircraft is currently stuck on and it continues its course to the next waypoint.

 

Previous Versions?: Behaviour was first noticed and is true of the release build of HCE

AIR_TEST.zip

Air_testsave1.zip

I have found a simple workaround to *unstick* the aircraft.

 

Process:

 

- Select unit in group window

- Click *Course*

- Select *Waypoint One*

- Click *Delete* and confirm the deletion

 

Result: Unit now continues on the rest of the ordered course.

Does simply clearing and making a new course fix it as well? It is certainly a strange behavior.

 

Also, if the group was launched as a patrol, by default the group will go to loiter at its first WP, you will have to clear it and reset to prevent that. The patrol launch over-rides any course you add past the patrol point, you have to clear it to keep it from going to loiter, in my experience.

Hi Akula,

 

Does simply clearing and making a new course fix it as well? It is certainly a strange behavior.

 

Yes that will fix it, but there is nothing stopping it happening on the new course you have set and will very likely happen again if you have course changes that are close to right angles.

 

Also, if the group was launched as a patrol, by default the group will go to loiter at its first WP, you will have to clear it and reset to prevent that. The patrol launch over-rides any course you add past the patrol point, you have to clear it to keep it from going to loiter, in my experience.

 

Yeah I first noticed this problem midway through a MAD sweep to which I had a *ladder* style course set with 90 degree course changes, which was well into a sortie with several courses used already well out of the original patrol point.

 

So you are perfectly right about the loiter thing, but im very sure this doesnt relate to this one in any way. If you load up the save that I posted with the message, you can see just how bizzare this is, you can watch the plane flick back and forth for quite a while on some occasions before it continues.

 

I even had one, at one point where it was still doing it after 5 minutes and then deleted the waypoint before it would continue on course.

 

Thanks for the your thoughts Akula on this truely bizzare little bug!

 

Cheers