IL-2 Mission Editor Help Needed: Intercept Template (LW fighters vs IL-2 + escort)

[AndyJokerr]

  Hi everyone,
  I’m working on LWCG (Luftwaffe Career Generator) focused on a realistic Luftwaffe fighter career simulation, and I’m currently building and tuning reusable mission templates.

  I’m stuck on an intercept template and would really appreciate technical advice from experienced IL-2 mission builders.

  Desired behavior (mission flow)

  1. Player LW fighter flight intercepts an enemy package (IL-2 attackers + escort fighters).
  2. LW AI should first prioritize attacking IL-2 attackers.
  3. Only after that phase, LW should transition to general air combat / deal with escort.
  4. Escort is implemented as a separate flight (not via Cover command).
  5. After a defined number of shoot-downs/losses (counter threshold), the fight should break off and flights should disengage to RTB according to mission logic.

  Current implementation

  - Player flight (LW fighters).
  - Enemy attackers (IL-2) + separate escort flight.
  - Logic uses spawners, check zones, AttackTarget, AttackArea, timers, counters, ForceComplete, and RTB waypoints.

  Main problems

  1. IL-2 attack behavior is inconsistent: they fly to the area but often orbit instead of making effective ground attack passes.
  2. Player AI behavior is inconsistent: after attack trigger they may climb/circle instead of committing properly to attacker interception.
  3. Break-off/transition behavior is unreliable: AttackTarget -> ForceComplete -> follow-up behavior does not always produce expected tactical flow.

  What I already tested

  - Different spawn delays and waypoint timing.
  - Outer enemy activation trigger + inner CAP trigger.
  - AttackTarget on attacker leader + fallback logic.
  - AttackArea on leader-only vs full attacker group.
  - Different priorities/radii/timers.
  - Different IL-2 variants and loadouts.
  - Cover/ForceComplete/counter chains similar to working patrol template logic.

  I’m attaching the .Mission file (and can provide .Group logic too).
  If you see likely MCU/linking mistakes or known AI limitations in this pattern, I’d really appreciate guidance.

test9.Mission test9.msnbin

[Jaegermeister]

8 hours ago, AndyJokerr said:

   Main problems

  1. IL-2 attack behavior is inconsistent: they fly to the area but often orbit instead of making effective ground attack passes.
  2. Player AI behavior is inconsistent: after attack trigger they may climb/circle instead of committing properly to attacker interception.
  3. Break-off/transition behavior is unreliable: AttackTarget -> ForceComplete -> follow-up behavior does not always produce expected tactical flow.

 

These are pretty much known AI flaws at the moment. Hopefully they will be addressed in the future. I see the same behavior.

[AndyJokerr]

 

10 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

 

These are pretty much known AI flaws at the moment. Hopefully they will be addressed in the future. I see the same behavior.

So is this some kind of a bug after the recent updates? I don't remeber this behaviour when I was playing stock careers in the last...

Edited February 15 by AndyJokerr

[Jaegermeister]

8 hours ago, AndyJokerr said:

 

So is this some kind of a bug after the recent updates? I don't remeber this behaviour when I was playing stock careers in the last...

 

The lack of compliance to a deactivated Attack command and "force complete high" usually has to do with waypoint priorities and making sure all previous waypoints are deactivated. Even then, AI will frequently not break off an attack or defense situation. You will have to put in redundant check zones or proximity triggers to keep trying to break their attention within 10 km of enemy AC.

The random circling behavior is generally only an issue with the "Attack Area" and specifically "Attack Ground Targets" MCU. That has gotten worse over time with a few AI updates a while ago creating random circling before an attack or after dropping the first set of bombs. The AI formations also break apart and attack separately. I only use "Attack Ground" if I don't mind some circling before, during and after the attack.

Attack Ground works fine, depending on waypoint distance. The bombers drop on your attack icon.

When the "Attack" MCU is used, you have to specify a group of linked targets for dive bombers like Stukas, Ju-88s or Pe-2s. and put the attack altitude at ground level. This also works well for rockets. Then you would have to disable that MCU, and trigger a new Attack command with a new set of targets for the AC to move on. If they still have ordnance and there are no linked targets vehicles, guns, etc, they will just circle until whatever timer you have set up expires.