Can't Rescue Aviators - what am I doing wrong?
 

:damn:

I am running stock v1.4 SH4

I got an S-boat mission out of Bisbane to stand lifeguard off Guadalcanal. Departure date is Aug 5 (days before the Marines land) and the mission orders state to be on station no later than October 9. The first time I played this mission I got on station August 12th (being forced under during the day by aircraft) I got there and found the aviators in the water, got so close they could touch the pressure hull and stopped engines. Sighted the survivor thru the binoculars but can't get the life preserver to light up to rescue them.

So I thought that maybe there was a typo and I needed to be on station by August 9th (not October 9th) so I risked ship and crew to stay on the surface and get to the area on August 9th. I did this and now get to the survivor who had popped smoke and again..... really close(can barely depress the binoculars enough to see the survivor) ..... speed under 1 knot and survivor in the cross hairs. STILL THE LIFE PRESERVOR WILL NOT LIGHT UP TO ENABLE THE RESCUE!

This is frustrating... what am I doing wrong?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

you can only rescue friendly aviators.

Curious response. How do you know friend from foe in the water? I assume by your resonse that it is possible they are Japanese aviators? I need to move on and keep looking for others to see if they are US aviators?

This is the most frustrating mission in the game.

The problem is that the map contacts are dated and the downed pilots believe it or not can scoot around at nearly 10 knots. There never quite where they are indicated on the map.

I remember using sonar :o to find them.

They pop smoke when you get close to them sail up to them and look through the binocs and tap the space bar if I remember correctly. I havent had one of these missions since I modded to RFB

Ill edit in the how to link in a minute.

Well the guide only said "pick up 5 pilots for 250 renown'

:hmmm: If you see smoke and a head/body bobbing around in the water, you're in the right place. The crosshairs in the binoculars will also light up, telling you that you're on the mark ... so swing the binoculars around and watch the crosshairs flicker. It can get to be quite a goat rope, timing it so your binoculars are exactly "on target" (which dosn't necessarily mean they're centered on the flailing airman) then clicking on the life preserver icon ... before the pilot drifts away.

Yea thats right thanks for filling in the details. Thank god the mod's took this stinker out.

Is it true that some of these might not be American aviators and can't be rescued as Pabbi suggests or if they have smoke should I able to rescue them?

Guess I need to consider modding up my game after this career is over.

I tried this again last night.... no luck!:wah:

I pulled up to the aviator. Stopped engines. Even reversed to get to zero knots. Look at the survivor close up in the binaculars and can't get any highlight in the view or the life preserver to light up so I can rescue. This aviator was next to a blue square on the map so I am pretty sure this is one I am supposed to be able to rescue.......

I really hate to trash this career so I am hopping to find a way to complete this mission.

If anybody has any other ideas let me know! Thanks!

You dont have to trash the carrier. Just go out and sink some stuff (or not) and return to base and dock.

You wont get the measly 250 renown and left them all out there swimming. If it was me I would ignore the mission do my own thing and return to base.

They aint going to court martial you :salute:

Thanks for the advise SteamWake. There are some juicy targets sitting at the port on Guadalcanal (Called Honiara in the game map but the name during WWII should have Matanikau) guarded by a Jap destroyer but worth the risk. I will just leave the bloody aviators out there if they don't want to be rescued!

Did you try the sonar trick? Dip down to around periscope depth, man the sonar station, pan the sonar around (home/end keys) find a contact note its direction, surface and haul ass in that direction ;) But again to me its more hassle than its worth its just a game.

Good catch on the map names you can find quite a bit of debate over that topic. I'm pretty sure the developers are aware of it.

I didn't use the sonar trick as I am not having problems finding them.... just getting them rescued. I am sitting right next to one. Of course it frustrates me that I was given and order that I can't carry out but will just have to live with this and move on. I wonder if it is a problem because I am on Vista or some other bug with graphics card or something. Sounds like others get this to work.... but like you said... not sure it is worth putting much more time or effort into this mission. My concern is that I will get more of these later in the game as lifeguarding was a fairly common mission later in the war.

Time to look into modding ;)

Steamwake to my chagrin, is not kidding. they do move around at about 10 knts :shifty:. try lifeguard duty in a sugar boat on rough seas for some real excitement. Find and foloow the pink smoke, use binoculars, then when crosshairs change to red, click the life ring button while the crosshairs are red and the pilot will disappear and then the smoke will too, then you know you got him

Thanks TwinStack

I can catch them - just can't get the cross hairs to turn red for some reason. I am right on top of them and I slow down to a stop but no luck on getting them picked up. I don't need to submerge and surface do I? I have tried eveything I can think of.