Darbar problems

[Lusche]

At least on Mindanao, we still have some irregularities with the darbar shown on map.

Today, there was a bomber mission of 6-7 formations .reported out of A8 going south. I immediately took off to intercept them. As there was only a very small darbar on the map I (and others) assumed a NOE raid with a lone straggler somewhere in the sector.
Only when the mission was about to enter the dar circle,  and I had crossed into the same sector as the buffs, the darbar suddenly jumped to full length. A few moments later I spotted the bombers and several escorts - at 8K! I wasn't the only one: Several players asked "how did they climb that fast?" - Having seen no darbar either, they wondered how the bombers could suddenly pop up to altitude.

Yesterday Rolex, Mosq and me did a few tests with inconsitent results. When I took off from a base and climbing above 500ft I was not showing any darbar for Rolex. We switched roles, and when he did climb over 500, I saw his darbar.
We continued to test dot & dar at a different location on the map, with Rolex being on the enemy side. Dot dar always worked as expected, but again darbar was giving erratic results. Sitting in the tower of a CV, I didn't saw the darbar an enemy fighter should have caused in the adjacent sector. Mosq, being in the same sector had that darbar, and it also showed as a green darbar for Rolex. On the other hand I saw the darbar caused by a single enemy con two sectors away.
Then a friendly contact passed through my sector, but never showed any darbar for me, but the other two guys saw it. All tests had been conducted in a quiet corner in a very lightly populated offpeak arena. I'm not sure if in this case it can be of any help, but I had recorded the whole test session and could send it in if required.

[Chalenge]

I like it just like it is and I dont think it needs to change a bit. 

[Rolex]

We're trying to confirm how radar functions in the game, not whether the heights are good or bad for game play. New people ask the question all the time and there is no clear answer to give them. I'm unable to see a pattern with bar dar.

The introduction of random events in the game would be a significant change in philosophy.

[Jayhawk]

We had a few bombers in formation in Mindanao the other night, with me escorting.  I was paying close attention to dar bars and we had a single dar bar in the sector in front of us.  I went ahead into the sector looking for the con, however, I then hear on channel a P-51 had showed up at the 6 o' clock of the bombers following them.  No dar bar at all, not long after a 109 that was showing the dar in front of us showed up as well.  It was very clear to use that the P-51 was not showing dar for whatever reason.

My biggest issue is, how are we suppose to show this is happening?  Will saving the films show HTC anything?

[Chalenge]

Radar still covers down to 65 feet. I confirmed that chasing a 51 on the deck last night. As to the rest of it being random I cant say. I like it as a representation of radar failings of the war era but you are right about it being the first sign of it if thats so. I would love to see "random" problems hit home upon the perk rides and yes even the Tigers. 

[Baumer]

Snailman, Rolex,

One important arena setting to keep in mind is RadarUpdateRate. Testing with the CM team has shown that the actual updates are not in sync between players and this can lead to some very confusing radar discussions. I would suggest if you are going to do further testing that you both attempt to log into the arena at exactly the same time. This gives you the best chance of seeing radar updates at the same time. This applies to both dotdar and bardar btw.

[Lusche]

Snailman, Rolex,

One important arena setting to keep in mind is RadarUpdateRate.

We had taking that into account. A lot of effects could have been related to update rate, like some time of "radar lag". That had always played a role, though it seems to have been increased compared to the past before last summer.
But the things observed went far beyond that. See the enemy mission in my first example - it was flying more than one sector at several K altitude without causing darbar on several player's screen. And when we did our tests, an enemy plane cruised several minutes in a sector well above dar altitude, with dar showing to Rolex (green) and Mosq (Red), while I never had one visible.

[Baumer]

I understand what you are describing and didn't mean to make it sound like the update time was the problem. I agree that there are some unusual radar issues and they seem to have increased over the past year.