Constructive explanation of issues

[Bobb4]

Not sure in which thread to post this...
But has anyone noticed on an arcade server the game just ignores the instruments. I am talking tem guages here. So instead of a player learning how to fly and what temps work, in arcade mode the game just ignores temps altogether.
If this is the solution for a human pilot does that mean the AI ignores engine temps as well?
I have noticed ai just spool up and take off, no engine management at all
Just wondering

[klem]

Originally Posted by Bobb4

Not sure in which thread to post this...
But has anyone noticed on an arcade server the game just ignores the instruments. I am talking tem guages here. So instead of a player learning how to fly and what temps work, in arcade mode the game just ignores temps altogether.
If this is the solution for a human pilot does that mean the AI ignores engine temps as well?
I have noticed ai just spool up and take off, no engine management at all
Just wondering

That's the opint of CEM on or off. In Arcade servers it will be off so no adverse effects on the engine.

You're right about the AI at least in the off-line campaign. While I have CEM on and wait patiently for my engine to warm up the AI just start up and blast off down the runway.

[Bobb4]

Originally Posted by klem

That's the opint of CEM on or off. In Arcade servers it will be off so no adverse effects on the engine.

I understand that no adverse effects part, but why not have the plane automatically start with perfectly warmed engine and then maintain it for you, in other words nothing you can do will go beyond the planes performance. You at least then see near perfect engine management and can learn from the games ai.
Currently an arcade pilot just rushes off. If he looks at his guages he will think it is okay to take-off with a water temp of 15 degrees...
RoF deals with this by allowing pilots to start with warm engines

[klem]

Originally Posted by Bobb4

I understand that no adverse effects part, but why not have the plane automatically start with perfectly warmed engine and then maintain it for you, in other words nothing you can do will go beyond the planes performance. You at least then see near perfect engine management and can learn from the games ai.
Currently an arcade pilot just rushes off. If he looks at his guages he will think it is okay to take-off with a water temp of 15 degrees...
RoF deals with this by allowing pilots to start with warm engines

Its a good point because in real life pilots on standby would have their engines warmed by the groundcrew and be immediately available for takeoff. Indeed thats what the AI seem to have.

I've added my vote for pre-warmed engines here.....
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=23405

you can add yours too by adding a post.

[Blackdog_kt]

Enabling CEM for the player's own aircraft costs about 10 FPS on most rigs.

Enabling it for every other AI aircraft would grind the sim to a halt, so the way the AI works is different: instead of monitoring the complete set of CEM parameters, they just follow a set of predetermined procedures and power settings.

This is done to prevent them from "cheating" without having to calculate everything and overload the CPU (this was said in one of Luthier's Q&A sessions some time before release).

In short, the AI doesn't look at gauges and decide what to do because decision making costs CPU cycles.

What the AI does is being fed a list of settings to use and following these checklists for their engine operation, dependent upon the phase of flight and maybe their skill levels.

So, on takeoff they will get to the appropriate manifold pressure/boost and RPM, then they will reduce power to climb or cruise, then they will go to combat power once they spot enemy aircraft and so on. They don't know about or even "feel" the limits like a human player does, they just follow a set of restrictions that prevents them from getting an unrealistic advantage.

Somewhere along the list of those restrictions there needs to be added a bit of extra code that follows this logic:
If AI Level = rookie then warm-up time = X seconds +/- 5%
If AI Level = veteran then warm-up time = Y seconds +/- 2%
etc,

and everything would be fine

[klem]

Good idea BD and we need something like that but why would a veteran's engine warm up faster than a rookies? Does he carry a blow torch?

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by klem

Good idea BD and we need something like that but why would a veteran's engine warm up faster than a rookies? Does he carry a blow torch?

Not really, he can just do an accelerated warm up without breaking the engine

If you notice, i also gave them some "wiggle room" in the amount of time needed but once again, more experienced AI would be more consistent to reflect the fact that an experienced pilot could get to the engine's limits of what was possible within realistic terms.

So, if the default warm up time for a particular aircraft with a rookie AI behind the controls was 2 minutes, there would be smarter rookie AI pilots getting it done in 1min 30seconds and there would be worse rookie AI pilots getting it done in 2 min 30 seconds.

They wouldn't actually be smarter, they would just appear that way using that little trick with the randomized percentages, so this can give some realistic randomness and non-uniformity without once again costing CPU cycles

In a similar fashion, if an ace AI pilot would have a default warm-up time of 30 seconds, the "smarter" ones would do it in 20 seconds and the "dumber" ones in 40 seconds: they are ace pilots after all so they shouldn't be too late even if they are having a bad day, but they wouldn't be able to exceed what the engine was capable of either, so they get a smaller "range of randomness" than the lower level AI.

As for how to do an accelerated warm-up, it's pretty simple especially on fuel injected aircraft like the 109. I've managed to get it up and running within seconds and take off right after the AI leaders (CEM and temp effects enabled in the realism settings).

You just turn the engine on, hold the brakes, close the rads and advance the throttle until the engine starts "complaining" (the shaking effect), then back off a little. Once you see the temps rise a bit advance throttle a bit more until you get shaking again and back off a bit once more.

As long as you keep an eye on your temp gauges and oil pressure, you can warm-up the engine really fast without causing damage. If temps start getting too high just open the rads and pull the throttle back a bit, if oil pressure is rising too much just back off on the throttle a bit. Before long you'll be at the proper operating temperatures, so you can now open the rads fully, release brakes, go throttle wide open and take off.

I also do this in the Blenheim because it takes ages for the radials to warm up if they are simply left idling, but it takes a lot more care and attention to prevent breaking anything.