Sim Update 2 - Still nearly impossible to complete SAR hoists from cockpit view w/o assists.
According to the Changelog:
Search & Rescue – Hoist (Rotorcraft)
- Added target kneeling animation when on liferaft
- Changed area detection to start hoisting
- Changed hoist actions to improve mission’s flow
- Added dialogs when detecting the wrecked boat to remind that the objective is to find the lifeboat
- Fixed cabin service state after back on track during hoist
- Fixed hoist step not validating before leaving hover area
- Fixed back on track not teleporting the target
- Added visual feedback for hover area
- Added step to show rescuer proximity to target
These last two points are present, but from a gameplay point of view insufficient to make these hoist missions more realistic. Below my opinions:
1 - The massive blue zone around the liferaft
The blue circular zone around the liferaft serves no function in cockpit view. Once a stable hover above the target is achieved, it cannot be seen from the pilots seat (considering I am not on VR) Therefore it does not provide any reference to the current position.
For 3rd person view, it was unneccessary to begin with. Additionally, the massive blue circle is quite immersion breaking, but that is subjective.
2 - The rescuer proximity step
I do not understand how this bar works at all. It is static while approaching the patient and then ramps up only if the Rescuer is touching the patient. Thus, it does not provide any information while it is required during the approach, making it a useless addition.
The concept of heli hoist rescue requires a lot of skill not only from the pilot but from the hoist operator. They have to communicate the current position and status to the pilot so that the aircraft can be positioned to a suitable position in relation to terrain and patient. Since the hoist operator is missing, another way to indicate this is necessary to make these hoist missions playable.
Circling back to P1 and P2:
P1 is the equivalent of a hoist operator telling the pilot “hey, theres the target, look!”, which is good on approach, but useless in the final stages.
P2 is the equivalent of “We are ready to pull them up!”, which, once again, is good to know.
Without all the other information such as relative position to the target and altitude, these two callouts are without any value.
So please integrate a UI system that gives us these informations.
5 Likes
The SAR Hoist is weird after SU2 update. You can hover over the life raft and lower the rescuer all the way to the water just as before. I think once you maneuver close enough to the life raft, the rescuer will start to move towards it, that’s an improvement. But, if you descent, all the slack in the line will be taken up by the hoist operator. If you ascend, the rescuer will not be lowered down any further. It creates short of a ratcheting mechanism with the line, and once it gets too short there’s no way to reset the mechanism. I haven’t figured out a way to get the rescuer back in the heli without the patient.
If you try to fly away , the mission fails saying you’ve crashed. I think that’s their solution for all the bugs in the game…
3 Likes
Tired it again and it seems completely broken, not sure what I’m supposed to do.
1 Like
Still the same in SU3 - unfortunately
2 Likes
Still almost unplayable to actually unplayable in SAR Hoist mission:
1 - Where is my rescuer?
2 - Why is my rescuer, whom i assumed to be a trained rescue swimmer, unable to swim even if he actually makes it out of the cabin?
3 - Why is there nothing even trying to emulate the behaviour of a winch operator?
4 - Am I actually expected to do something that even experienced professional heli pilots need aditional eyes for entirely on my own without even being able to properly judge depth of field or movement of the helicopter?
Honestly, the SAR missions are the biggest disappointment for me in the entire career mode and, judging by the votes, it won’t change for the forseeable future…
4 Likes
This element is so frustrating for the helo career side, to the point where I don’t even bother with sling loading or hoist missions.
DCS has a much better system, there are voice call outs from a crew chief and a visual display indicator if you wish to use it that gives positioning over the object and altitude.
What we also need is a crew member that moves or swims once they are on the ground or in the water, them being just a dead weight is stupid.
5 Likes
It’s pretty amazing that they made helicopter SAR and hoisting the main mission mode for Stranger Things and didn’t add any of this support. They took the time to make all new atmospheric and environmental effects, cinematic sequences, all kinds of new mission triggers with custom logic and NPC interactions. But could they make a floating indicator of where you need to hover? Nope. Hoist crew verbal instructions? Nope. Some sort of 2D overhead indicator? Nope. And because it’s set in the 1980s and the game mode is locked down from the rest of the sim, you can’t use the EFB to see the target either. I tried setting up a second window with the camera pointing down, and this might help if you’re using an external view, but since you can only rotate the second camera, you still can’t see the target from the cockpit view, so that’s pretty much worthless.
There are missions triggers for sitting idle too long, or if you get out of the helicopter, with voice actor recordings chiding you for it even. But when it’s go time during the hoist, they just sit there silently as you flail around wondering what to do. What’s supposed to be the main part of gameplay just becomes an exercise in frustration that makes you want to quit.
It’s clear now that this was intended to be an arcade game, played from the external view with the assists on, and probably an x-box controller. That they hold your hand, guiding you as you take your first baby steps flying a helicopter, but then throw you in the deep end of hover hoisting with insufficient reference, tells me it’s also a half-baked arcade game.
4 Likes
I voted, but I would prefer (the more realistic) scenario of being talked onto the correct position by the crew chief/winch operator.
3 Likes
