Merchant ships - how do you see flags at night?

[notanameleft]

Hi everyone! I'm just getting back into this game having not played it for some time - incredible work you guys have done on GWX and the OLCE ubermod.

As GWX doesn't show on the map if a merchant is allied or enemy - could anyone tell me if i'm doing something wrong, I'm having difficulty when lining up an attack at night. I have to get pretty close to be able to see the flag at all but in particular I'm finding it difficult to tel the difference between Irish, French and Italian. In the daylight it would be easy but in the dark the colours don't show up - I torp'd an Irish merchant by mistake thinking it was french. As it was going down i surfaced right by its stern and still couldn't properly make out which flag it's mean to be. Almost feel like my watch crew could do with a torch - although i suppose that's not very stealth like!:rotfl:

Is this just one of those situations where the game is just being realistic? Or is there something I'm missing?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!!

[nirwana]

At night depending on the actual weather and ure speed u can get close (400-2000m) enough to read the flag without being detected by the merchant. Last resort would be to get into the path of it, submerge and use ure scope, surface again after the distance is large enough and run ure attack if its an enemy.

[notanameleft]

thanks! I have been about 2 metres from the flag though and because it's dark it's really hard to make out the colours i.e. the orange in the irish flag doesn't look orange because it's dark. Kind of like trying to look at colours under a different coloured light

the british flag is easy but the shape of the irish is exactly the same as the tricolore french flag or Italian. Is it just me? how on earth can you tell in the dark especially from a couple of hundred metres away

maybe i should follow the vessel for a few hours and then look again when it's lighter?

[G.K.]

In GWX neutral ships have their lights on... when the ship is darkened, sink it...

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by G.K.

In GWX neutral ships have their lights on... when the ship is darkened, sink it...

the are neutrals and friendly ships without lights on... i promise

at night you just have to close the range and take a look... thats all you can do.

and it is important... renown is everything when it comes to upgrading your boat and acquiring new officers and crew... make mistakes at sea, and you lose renown... this is a bad thing!

[sharkbit]

the are neutrals and friendly ships without lights on... i promise

How true....

I try to identify the nationality of all targets when possible, however....

I stalked a darkened ship out in the Atlantic at night, got into firing position from less than 1000m and hit her with a torpedo. I was going to wait around and see if she needed to be finished off with the deck gun and was looking at her with the external camera and noticed the Brazilian flag flying. This is mid '41 and Brazil becomes an allied unit in '42. Oops .

Well, I beat it out of there as quick as I could so if/when she sank, I wouldn't get nailed for sinking a neutral and I can tell Bdu "Ummm.....it wasn't me. We weren't even in the area at the time."

Now, neutrals in convoys...that's a different matter. If a neutral happens to be sailing in a convoy, protected by English warships, they're fair game in my book, renown be damned. :p

[Letum]

Ideally you should pick your targets in the day and attack at night.

[G.K.]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

the are neutrals and friendly ships without lights on... i promise

Yes, but not so often. Either way you can simply recognize enemy from a neutral or ally by appaering ,,merchant spotted!" window with options - it appears only when the ship is enemy...

[Sailor Steve]

In my research of ship names, guess what I've come across? A whole lot of neutrals sunk because the captains misidentified them. I found references to several Spanish ships sunk by u-boats just in the last two days.

It happened. It stinks. Best advice: attack convoys by night and lone ships by day.

[STEED]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

the are neutrals and friendly ships without lights on... i promise

And Allies.

I made it up with Marshal Mannerheim.

[Chisum]

Few days ago, august 1940, I meet an american cargo all light off...
Order from Bdu says in that case we may open the fire.
When I watch she is american, I stop the fire and she don't sunk(but was in flames)...

But if she sunks, what's happend after ??

[meduza]

Originally Posted by Chisum

Few days ago, august 1940, I meet an american cargo all light off...
Order from Bdu says in that case we may open the fire.
When I watch she is american, I stop the fire and she don't sunk(but was in flames)...

But if she sunks, what's happend after ??

Nothing much . You will lose some renown (the amount is equal to the amount you would get for sinking the same ship if it was enemy), and the nation whose ship you sank will be hostile to you for 24 hours.

Regarding the lights, they are not the accurate method for recognizing friend or foe. Many neutrals sail darkened, they can be found in convoys too. And when a nation joins the Allies, its ships who are already at sea with the lights on, will not turn them off. I sank a large number of American ships with the nav lights on in December 1941, just after they entered the war.

The only method of identification is the flag, which obviously doesn't work very well at night, and you will sometimes sink a wrong ship. Just try not to sink one of ours.

[Blacklight]

If it's not lit, you must shoot it.

[Chisum]

GWX team must gives us a spotlight to identified the flag !
:p

[Jimbuna]

Not all neutrals are lit up....ensure a positive ID before despatching