Repeat Patrols....

[Ducimus]

Sorry JCC, but im going to put you on the spot, primarly because i think your right.

Originally Posted by John Channing

This is only a theory I am developing but based on the fact that I am on my 10th patrol, never had a retirement, on my 3rd sub and never had a repeating objective I think I may be getting an idea of how the game mechanics work.

Once you complete an objective you should always radio in. This lets the game know what your status is and will either assign you a new objective (if you have ordanance left) or allow you to return home and move to the next mission/objective. If you don't it appears that the game does not recognize the completed objective and re-assigns it.

Now we can all sit around saying the game should do this and the game should do that... and we could also recognize the fact that if my Granny had wheels she would be a Buick, but my reality is that this way has worked flawlessly for me since 1.0.

It is also important to remember that there are two measurement systems running. One is overall tonnage for which you earn "renown" points. The second is completing objectives (and getting that recognized) which keeps you from being retired. This part is not a theory, but a fact.

Try it out and see if it works for you.

JCC

By the way... simply being sent to the same patrol area is not a repeating mission. Historically lots of boats were sent where the action was. Being sent to the exact same spot would be a repeated objective. And more that three times to the same area, or 3+ insertions/recons would be as well.

I thought this information, deserved to be brought to the front. Now in TM1.5, sink missions were reduced to 2,000 tonnage required (as opposed to the stock 10,000 tons), so you should have no problem completing those. Where as before, they were damn hard to complete, and most of the time you probably didn't.

So Im almost willing to bet money, that when i return to port after a mission like this:


That i will probably be assigned a new area. Now keep in mind that any given boat in a flotilla typically has like 5 areas or so that it can go to, each area with its own set of missions assigned to it. So yeah, you have a 1 in 5 chance of getting the same area again, so it will happen on occasion, but i strongly suspect that if you follow JCC's advice, you wont be stuck in a loop.


( On a side note, TMaru's "repeat patrol fix", to be honest, i don't use it myself, and personally i would love to stop supporting that modlet because any bugs in the scripting are absolutly hell to find. )


Now the question probably still remains, is all this information correct? I'm hoping others will follow the above quoted advice, and find out for sure.

[SteamWake]

My observations have been similar to the quote Ill try to sum it up briefly.

If you complete a 'patrol area A' mission and phone home you will recieve new objectives if you still have munitions on board. If you are out of torps you will not recieive new orders not even an "atta boy".

So take matters into your own hands and sail to a tender and re-fit. Call in another report and you WILL recieve new orders. This can be repeated seemingly indefinatly however the loading times grow and grow. I typically do this 3 or 4 times before 'returning home'. I very rarely get repeat missions and when I do there never in the same location. My current carrier has something in the order of 18 missions and last time I went home was offered a new boat... not retirement.

Evidently there is a tie to your current munitions level and missions given.

BTW more or less stock ver 1.3 minor mods which would not effect this aspect of the game (green buttons and the like).

[John Channing]

Well... nothing scientific and no insider information here, just observation and gameplay.

JCC

Oh.. and thanks!

[Ducimus]

One thing i noticed a bit ago, but never really followed up on it, (im telling on myself here) was this little file:
data/campaigns/campaign/DnyamicMiss.cfg

In it, is contained the parameters for missions you recieve while at sea, after sending off a status report, or a contact report.

Heres an example:

[Section 135]
FileName=data/Campaigns/Campaign/PatrolObjectives/Sink South China Sea 01/Sink South China Sea 01.mis
StartDate=19420201
EndDate=19450901
GameModes=Career
InclusionProbability=100
MinimumDifficultyRating=0
MinimumPlayerRating=-3
EntryFocalPointLong=14213567.000000
EntryFocalPointLat=2240200.000000
MaximumDistanceFromStartPoint=1500
ExclusiveLayer=Yes
ExclusiveLayerID=215
EvaluationReason=StatusReport
AllMatch=PrimaryObjCompleted
PartialMatch=
PartialMatchingMinimumPercentage=
MinimumFuelPercentage=35
MinimumAmmoPercentage=60

The min fuel and min ammo parameters are what really caught my eye, and made me think that the devs orginal assigned statistic of 15,000 NM @ 10 kts might need to be put back in. IE, 35% of 12,000 @ 10.95 kts vs 35% of 15,000 NM @ 10 kts. (edit truth be told, i think thers only a 1,000 NM difference between the two honestly.)