Can't find Kido Butai at Midway...and other problems

[SaltyWaffles]

Currently running the TMO/RSRD mods. I've showed up at what I've checked to be the right place and at the right time (IIRC, 179 degrees by 31 degrees, just over 200nm away from Midway, between 7-8 AM on June 4th, 1942), but I continually fail to find any ships. I've even save-loaded to try checking other areas nearby, and still haven't found anything. Even waiting an entire day or two in all of those spots yields nothing.

Could someone please explain what I'm doing wrong? This same method worked just fine for the Battle of the Coral Sea, but for some reason, there aren't any ships to find at Midway.


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Another problem I've had is that, upon refitting my boat between patrols, my crew slots for my deck gun just disappear. The first time, the entire row (even its header) was just gone. The second time, in which I had equipped a newly-available 4-inch gun, the row header was there, but the crew slots were not. I could man the gun manually both times, but nothing more.

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Lastly, I haven't been able to find any info/guides about what the various stats mean for each crewmember. What "efficiency" means, what the "+4" (or whatever integer) means, whether "Leadership" has any effect when not in the Control Room, why I can't give out promotions to anyone but the very highest ranking kind of officer in my crew, what kind of effect "specialty" has, etc.

[fireftr18]

Welcome aboard SaltyWaffles!
Sounds like you would make a good cook in The Bilge. We've been needing a new one.

I can't help you with your first question. I normally don't go out and look for the historically large battles.
The second question. It's a known bug. You should have the option to move your gun either fore or aft. Simply move it to the other position.
The third question. That one has baffled us since the beginning. Ubisoft didn't publish a detailed enough guide on what everything means.
"Efficiency" means just that. It is how well the crew members work. There is a bar above each compartment showing how efficient the crew is working. The more green, the more efficient. You won't get full efficiency with just the watch crew on duty, but under battlestations, you should at least get close to full efficiency.
"Leadership" has an effect in all compartments. It has positive effects on morale and efficiency.
"Specialty" Do you mean skill in a certain area, or the extra special skill some crew members get? The skills a crewmember gets upon promotion to a petty officer has a positive effect in the appropriate compartment. The special skill that a crewmember may get has whatever effect the message says.
You may be able to find a more comprehensive explanation here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=108931
or here:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=221540

[aanker]

Originally Posted by SaltyWaffles

.............. Another problem I've had is that, upon refitting my boat between patrols, my crew slots for my deck gun just disappear. The first time, the entire row (even its header) was just gone. The second time, in which I had equipped a newly-available 4-inch gun, the row header was there, but the crew slots were not. I could man the gun manually both times, but nothing more.

Regarding your deck gun crew, here are some links to possible 'fixes':

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=222887

and Coletrains:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=121472

also neumanf15's:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=121460

Coletrains (post #14) in this thread:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=121472

You'll need to get your hands dirty and use Notepad NOT Word to edit your Saved Game file like this post explains:

from: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=222887
wolfeinsamer's fix for deck gun crew slots disappearing:
"After digging around I have found a really simple method to fix the problem of the deck gun crew slots disappearing."

"Simply open the ActiveUserPlayerUnits.upc file in a text editor, and remove all instances of "AdditionalRepository". I was able to do this with 1 easy find and replace command. The file can be found in the SH4 folder in your documents. ../SH4/data/cfg/SaveGames/*/ActiveUserPlayerUnits.upc "

"What you are doing is changing the lines like:
[UserPlayerUnit 1.Compartment 9.CrewMemberSlotAdditionalRepository 1]
to read.....
[UserPlayerUnit 1.Compartment 9.CrewMemberSlot 1] "

Don't worry too much about Crew Efficiency.... as long as you can dive in less than a minute you're OK. As you patrol your crew will gain efficiency, but it isn't that important imo. I put higher ranking high IQ guys in leadership positions, mechanical in the engines & torpedo compartments, higher electrical and watch in the 'radar and sonar compartment' and on Watch.

I don't play RSRD or the big battles either, unless I stumble upon them during my patrols.

Good luck and Happy Hunting!

[SaltyWaffles]

Originally Posted by fireftr18

Welcome aboard SaltyWaffles!
Sounds like you would make a good cook in The Bilge. We've been needing a new one.

I can't help you with your first question. I normally don't go out and look for the historically large battles.
The second question. It's a known bug. You should have the option to move your gun either fore or aft. Simply move it to the other position.
The third question. That one has baffled us since the beginning. Ubisoft didn't publish a detailed enough guide on what everything means.
"Efficiency" means just that. It is how well the crew members work. There is a bar above each compartment showing how efficient the crew is working. The more green, the more efficient. You won't get full efficiency with just the watch crew on duty, but under battlestations, you should at least get close to full efficiency.
"Leadership" has an effect in all compartments. It has positive effects on morale and efficiency.
"Specialty" Do you mean skill in a certain area, or the extra special skill some crew members get? The skills a crewmember gets upon promotion to a petty officer has a positive effect in the appropriate compartment. The special skill that a crewmember may get has whatever effect the message says.
You may be able to find a more comprehensive explanation here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=108931
or here:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=221540

How do I switch the position of the deck gun to bow or stern? I can't recall seeing such an option; when upgrading the gun, the options were both "bow deck gun".

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by SaltyWaffles

How do I switch the position of the deck gun to bow or stern? I can't recall seeing such an option; when upgrading the gun, the options were both "bow deck gun".

Usually, before you start your patrol in Campaign mode click on the Submarine on the desk and on one of the screens you'll see different armaments you can add to your sub. You'll find the options for a stern deck gun and the forward deckgun there. Usually.

Sometimes there are limited options with you can add to your sub as you've already found out.

[CapnScurvy]

I've showed up at what I've checked to be the right place and at the right time (IIRC, 179 degrees by 31 degrees, just over 200nm away from Midway, between 7-8 AM on June 4th, 1942), but I continually fail to find any ships.

The game will not spawn ships if you're within 20 nautical miles of the spawn point. The game was designed to not have the player witness a spawn right before your eyes! That's one reason. The second can be as simple as finding out that the spawn point is not exactly at the historical point of reference.

You can check what's what by leaving the mods in-game, then starting the mission editor to open the Midway battle that's in the campaign folder. Yep its cheating, but since you asked....there's your answers in the .mis file.

You have to keep something in mind. In order to get the Task Force to arrive at a certain time, at a certain place, doing something expected, is very hard to do exactly as historical events occurred. For example, having the planes to arrive at a certain time means you have to time the plane arrival to the launch time and distance they will cover. Not an easy thing to do! I've looked at the various spawn points for certain events in the Midway battle and I can tell you there are lots of shortcuts that had to be made in order to get most of the placement features somewhat correct. I've seen one of the TF's just stop in its tracks, waiting on the right time to disappear, then reappear at a point that set's it up for a historical event later on. It's not historically accurate but its the only way you can get it to play as it does.