taxing on runway

[kaizerhund4]

dont know if its normal but when i started a campaign i always started on runway, now my new airfield i have tot taxi to position, i do not cre, my ai pilots do not taxi well,so out of 5 planes only 1 or sometimes 2 get up in the  air.. again normal or bug?

[Stonehouse]

I can only guess that you have accidently changed one of the campaign configuration parameters. Default is start mission on the runway but you can choose air start or cold start. Cold start will mean taxiing to the runway. See pic. Issues with AI taxiing is a IL2 issue not PWCG as I understand things. Cold starts are there as an experimental option only and doesn't always work for every airfield. Additionally even if starting on the runway if there is heavy snow cover AI will sometimes have problems taking off. Essentially you switch to air starts until you move bases or the ground conditions improve or switch units to a base that works. 

[354thFG_Leifr]

AI is super unreliable and cannot always guarentee that it will make basic manoeuvres. I'd say around 60% of all cold starts are somewhat reliable, although sometimes it takes a couple of minutes for the AI to work itself out and get aligned on the run way - the remaining 40% are total write offs, eternal ground loops, taxiing in to paddocks, etc etc.

 

For all the great work done to BoX in recent years, it's pretty sad to see the AI struggle with basic Point A --> Point B --> Point C.

[SYN_Vander]

It's definitely something that can be improved by the devs. As a mission designer you can carefully setup waypoints for taxi path, but it's impossible to make it work for all the planes. For example, I find if a bomber is heavily loaded it can't make the final adjustments to line up with the leader on the runway and the aircraft may be stuck there for ever....