Pixel of Death close encounter

[specterx]

Had a strange occurrence in the air tonight.

http://csr.wwiionline.com/scripts/services/persona/sortie.jsp?sid=1288965&pid=112207&page=1

At the end of this sortie I was about halfway between Wiltz and Sprimont, flying southeast towards Wiltz on the deck, max/max/wep.

I was being chased and plinked by 109s, couldn't outrun them so I decided to turn and fight, pulled back on the stick as hard as I could and at that moment my plane exploded. I got that view where you're in the pilot's POV but the fuselage is in the burned-out hulk state.

Figured I just got killed and despawned, but my killer was listed as "-" in the AAR, and as you can see CSR says I had no crit damage - and bizarrely, that the outcome was a RES. I definitely did not hit a tree or the ground.

Sounds like the infamous POD...

[Tigger6]

What is also interesting is that they plinked you..

Yesterday I had a HO merge with a 109 in which I hit him with .50s and he then managed to ram me and explode, but I got no kill awarded. He came straight from the airfield, I'm pretty sure that he hasn't been hit by anyone else. These reports are quite common. (It might not be a bug of course if it is meant to be like that.)

[juuba]

I rammed a H81 in a F1 a few days ago. Initial merge, I rolled and evaded, he plinked me a bit. We scissored a few times and on the third scissor merge I managed to crash in to him, while he escaped unscathed.

I said on TS "fck, I rammed, gave a free kill to the hawk."

Alas, No killer recorded on AAR nor the CS&R.

[ghostrider]

I've had many head-on, hits all over 109s and then they explode and I dont get the kill since 1.31 came out

[specterx]

I'm not talking about ramming or collisions. Not sure how that came up.

The bug being reported here is that I blew up in midair for no reason - I didn't hit the ground, didn't ram anything, according to the game I wasn't killed by anyone (and in fact wasn't killed at all).

[DOC]

We don't know exactly why you "blow up" in mid air in cases where the "Pixel of Death" is cited as the cause. We do know that you did not hit a random pixel in mid air because the PoD (as an actual pixel in the sky you can collide with) does not in fact, exist.

Random "blow up in mid air" has been reported of course, and PoD is how they describe it, but it is misleading in that the cause is NOT a collision with a random invisible collider pixel as described in the players reports.

Additionally, it's worth noting that the only reason we have never figured out what it is (rather than what it isn't) is that we have never trapped it. It has never happened to a CRS employee with a debug client while flying and there is no way to MAKE it happen on purpose.

Until we can trap it it will remain ... in all liklihood, an enigma.

[OLDZEKE]

Fuel vapor buildup+spark=boom!!

Seriously though, I used to get that regularly flying south out of bert may years back. Built a new rig back then and no more "POD".

It's a mystery.

As to plink+headon ramkill=no killer. Can be that the plink did not result in a crit. No crit = no killer.

[specterx]

We don't know exactly why you "blow up" in mid air in cases where the "Pixel of Death" is cited as the cause. We do know that you did not hit a random pixel in mid air because the PoD (as an actual pixel in the sky you can collide with) does not in fact, exist.

Random "blow up in mid air" has been reported of course, and PoD is how they describe it, but it is misleading in that the cause is NOT a collision with a random invisible collider pixel as described in the players reports.

Additionally, it's worth noting that the only reason we have never figured out what it is (rather than what it isn't) is that we have never trapped it. It has never happened to a CRS employee with a debug client while flying and there is no way to MAKE it happen on purpose.

Until we can trap it it will remain ... in all liklihood, an enigma.

Well, the exact same thing just happened to me twice more tonight, in two consecutive sorties, both in the Nandrin area.

Same pattern each time. I was flying in a Hawk 87, maneuvering, being trailed by a 109. Suddenly I hear a single "plink" sound, get a "crew 1 hit in legs" message, and my plane blows completely apart (all wings etc. off, just the flaming hulk is left). OK - but the despawn box comes up and says "RES," and my killer is listed as "-" in the AAR.

In one case I'd received some damage beforehand, in the other I hadn't been plinked at all until the explosion. In both cases I was at medium to high alt. The only crew damage message was the single "hit in legs."

Sortie reports in CSR:

http://csr.wwiionline.com/scripts/services/persona/sortie.jsp?sid=1363999&pid=112207

http://csr.wwiionline.com/scripts/services/persona/sortie.jsp?sid=1364477&pid=112207