Pointless patrol: wastin' away in the Marshalls

Mios 4Me · 03-13-19, 06:10 PM

It's February 1942 and, following an excellent first patrol, we have been assigned a sector of the Marshalls 200 km NE of Kosrae. That island is Japanese territory, but we've seen nothing but British ships in almost three weeks of patrolling. I've hung off giving up in hopes of incipient fleet action, assuming the game isn't going to leave me in a friendly backwater for long, but am becoming quite bored.

So, is this a glitch or should I stick around? I haven't saved any part of this patrol yet.

Sniper297 · 03-13-19, 06:55 PM

I real life it was "stay in your patrol area", but a request to try elsewhere was considered and usually granted. In the game they don't care, if you're assigned to patrol the Java Sea you can drive down where the star is and sit for the required time, then refit and motor on up to Tokyo to sink ships there. Even if your assignment is (1) Patrol Luzon Straits then (2) Sink enemy merchant shipping (specifically has to be merchants, 10,000 tons of merchants, sink the Yamato and no merchants it doesn't count, yes it's silly), you can proceed to the star and get credit for the first part, then sink a large tanker 5000 miles away, the second part doesn't specify WHERE you sink 10,000 tons merchant shipping so you're not required to stay in the area.

If you've ever been in the military this kind of lunacy actually seems normal.

Mios 4Me · 03-13-19, 08:06 PM

Aha, thanks for clarifying that. Tokyo or Luzon Straits, here we come.

Mios 4Me · 03-13-19, 08:16 PM

Uh-oh. I restarted the game to recover the lost weeks and of course it sent me to the Marshalls again. However, the orders received via radio once I reached the area and the star greyed out explicitly state "Engage enemy merchant shipping in area Marshall Islands".

Time to disobey orders I guess.

Sniper297 · 03-13-19, 08:40 PM

Try it. Honestly the game doesn't care, after reaching the star it doesn't care where you go to sink merchants, as long as you sink 10 thousand tons of enemy merchants they could be anywhere in the world. Ridiculous part is the parameters for keeping command (a few bad patrols will actually end a career) or getting promotions and medals are actually based on renown alone - and the most renown comes from tonnage.
Browse through some of the .mis and .cfg files, they're all readable in notepad, you'll see what I mean.

Stock game you get 200 points for completing the assigned mission, 1300 points for ignoring the mission and sinking a FUSO class battleship. They send you someplace where there are no targets, don't go there, you only lose 200 points from the total. Find and sink five NOL_Nippon large tankers, 1000 points each, so 5000 points versus 200? If they're gonna make the rules silly I'm gonna play silly.

I actually did try this once, played an entire career from 1941 to 1945 without ever getting credit for any mission - doesn't matter as long as the tons add up.

Mios 4Me · 03-15-19, 11:33 PM

Thanks for the details there - I'd wondered how much I was losing in my last career when I blew off six or seven consecutive assignments to commit suicide reconnoitering Singapore and BSB.

Your suggestion led to a bizarre end. Off Luzon I encountered a large, fast convoy which displayed only three sonar contacts. The camera though showed columns of single-type DDs stretching from horizon to horizon. When I attacked (heh), the game crashed. Twice.

I started again but transferred to Surabaya, where I soon sunk two Hiryus, only for a zombie one to appear later trailing its original TF. I caught and sank it, but didn't get any credit.

I wonder if the Marshalls assignment was a glitch too.

Sniper297 · 03-16-19, 12:16 AM

You must be running one of the super mods, I've heard of that million destroyer bug but never saw it.

As for the phantom reappearing ship bug, I haven't seen it in a while, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in the mission file. I used the mission editor to hack EastAsiaCampaign.mis in particular, because that one was the cause of all those screwy invasion forces with the teeny troopships forgetting where they were going and chasing each other around in random stop-start circles.

Some of the other campaign missions might have the same sort of problem, but that one was infested. The reappearing targets that you sink twice with no credit for the second one may be related to the "delete on final waypoint" check, haven't been able to positively either confirm or disprove that.

propbeanie · 03-16-19, 03:50 PM

Mios 4me, are you running mods? The run-a-way DD spawn issue is symtomatic of FOTRS.

The ship sinking thing can happen when you leave the area of where a ship is sinking, and the game will regenerate it when you come near it again. The game doesn't track the damaged condition of ships, so it's undamaged when it spawns again, though already sunk, even though it didn't... clear as mud, eh? Stick around where a ship is sinking, if possible, until it is sunk...

Mios 4Me · 03-16-19, 07:45 PM

Yes, I'm running a new career in 1.5 with most of Berbster's mega mod as well as the Balao Midway and Cheap & Early Torpedoes mods. I don't recall leaving the crippled Hiryu still afloat but I was in a hurry to get back to the TF to finish off a stopped Akitsu Maru.

The zombie Hiryu spawned probably 100 km behind me coming down the Makassar Strait. At first I assumed it might represent Akagi or Kaga but it never joined the TF running a few km ahead of it, so I assumed the game required it for participation in a historical battle. If so, it's going to have to reconstitute most of the Davao invasion fleet very soon too.

As long as we're discussing glitches, one early attack in this career left a merchant listing heavily but with no visible damage. When I accidentally brought up an UW image of the Balao, there was a torpedo hole blown cleanly through the lower hull. No actual HP were lost however.

03-13-19, 06:10 PM	#1
Mios 4Me Sonar Guy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 394 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Pointless patrol: wastin' away in the Marshalls It's February 1942 and, following an excellent first patrol, we have been assigned a sector of the Marshalls 200 km NE of Kosrae. That island is Japanese territory, but we've seen nothing but British ships in almost three weeks of patrolling. I've hung off giving up in hopes of incipient fleet action, assuming the game isn't going to leave me in a friendly backwater for long, but am becoming quite bored. So, is this a glitch or should I stick around? I haven't saved any part of this patrol yet.

03-16-19, 03:50 PM	#8
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 10,117 Downloads: 451 Uploads: 2	Mios 4me, are you running mods? The run-a-way DD spawn issue is symtomatic of FOTRS. The ship sinking thing can happen when you leave the area of where a ship is sinking, and the game will regenerate it when you come near it again. The game doesn't track the damaged condition of ships, so it's undamaged when it spawns again, though already sunk, even though it didn't... clear as mud, eh? Stick around where a ship is sinking, if possible, until it is sunk... __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayers" - Jimbuna

03-13-19, 06:55 PM	#2
Sniper297 The Old Man Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philadelphia Shipyard Brig Posts: 1,386 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 19	I real life it was "stay in your patrol area", but a request to try elsewhere was considered and usually granted. In the game they don't care, if you're assigned to patrol the Java Sea you can drive down where the star is and sit for the required time, then refit and motor on up to Tokyo to sink ships there. Even if your assignment is (1) Patrol Luzon Straits then (2) Sink enemy merchant shipping (specifically has to be merchants, 10,000 tons of merchants, sink the Yamato and no merchants it doesn't count, yes it's silly), you can proceed to the star and get credit for the first part, then sink a large tanker 5000 miles away, the second part doesn't specify WHERE you sink 10,000 tons merchant shipping so you're not required to stay in the area. If you've ever been in the military this kind of lunacy actually seems normal.

03-13-19, 08:06 PM	#3
Mios 4Me Sonar Guy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 394 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Aha, thanks for clarifying that. Tokyo or Luzon Straits, here we come.

03-13-19, 08:16 PM	#4
Mios 4Me Sonar Guy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 394 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Uh-oh. I restarted the game to recover the lost weeks and of course it sent me to the Marshalls again. However, the orders received via radio once I reached the area and the star greyed out explicitly state "Engage enemy merchant shipping in area Marshall Islands". Time to disobey orders I guess.

03-13-19, 08:40 PM	#5
Sniper297 The Old Man Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philadelphia Shipyard Brig Posts: 1,386 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 19	Try it. Honestly the game doesn't care, after reaching the star it doesn't care where you go to sink merchants, as long as you sink 10 thousand tons of enemy merchants they could be anywhere in the world. Ridiculous part is the parameters for keeping command (a few bad patrols will actually end a career) or getting promotions and medals are actually based on renown alone - and the most renown comes from tonnage. Browse through some of the .mis and .cfg files, they're all readable in notepad, you'll see what I mean. Stock game you get 200 points for completing the assigned mission, 1300 points for ignoring the mission and sinking a FUSO class battleship. They send you someplace where there are no targets, don't go there, you only lose 200 points from the total. Find and sink five NOL_Nippon large tankers, 1000 points each, so 5000 points versus 200? If they're gonna make the rules silly I'm gonna play silly. I actually did try this once, played an entire career from 1941 to 1945 without ever getting credit for any mission - doesn't matter as long as the tons add up.

03-15-19, 11:33 PM	#6
Mios 4Me Sonar Guy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 394 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Thanks for the details there - I'd wondered how much I was losing in my last career when I blew off six or seven consecutive assignments to commit suicide reconnoitering Singapore and BSB. Your suggestion led to a bizarre end. Off Luzon I encountered a large, fast convoy which displayed only three sonar contacts. The camera though showed columns of single-type DDs stretching from horizon to horizon. When I attacked (heh), the game crashed. Twice. I started again but transferred to Surabaya, where I soon sunk two Hiryus, only for a zombie one to appear later trailing its original TF. I caught and sank it, but didn't get any credit. I wonder if the Marshalls assignment was a glitch too.

03-16-19, 12:16 AM	#7
Sniper297 The Old Man Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philadelphia Shipyard Brig Posts: 1,386 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 19	You must be running one of the super mods, I've heard of that million destroyer bug but never saw it. As for the phantom reappearing ship bug, I haven't seen it in a while, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in the mission file. I used the mission editor to hack EastAsiaCampaign.mis in particular, because that one was the cause of all those screwy invasion forces with the teeny troopships forgetting where they were going and chasing each other around in random stop-start circles. Some of the other campaign missions might have the same sort of problem, but that one was infested. The reappearing targets that you sink twice with no credit for the second one may be related to the "delete on final waypoint" check, haven't been able to positively either confirm or disprove that.

03-16-19, 07:45 PM	#9
Mios 4Me Sonar Guy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 394 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Yes, I'm running a new career in 1.5 with most of Berbster's mega mod as well as the Balao Midway and Cheap & Early Torpedoes mods. I don't recall leaving the crippled Hiryu still afloat but I was in a hurry to get back to the TF to finish off a stopped Akitsu Maru. The zombie Hiryu spawned probably 100 km behind me coming down the Makassar Strait. At first I assumed it might represent Akagi or Kaga but it never joined the TF running a few km ahead of it, so I assumed the game required it for participation in a historical battle. If so, it's going to have to reconstitute most of the Davao invasion fleet very soon too. As long as we're discussing glitches, one early attack in this career left a merchant listing heavily but with no visible damage. When I accidentally brought up an UW image of the Balao, there was a torpedo hole blown cleanly through the lower hull. No actual HP were lost however.