Survivors/Lifeguard Duty

spock1898 · 06-28-07, 02:23 PM

Running Lifeguard duty near the Solomons just after Guadalcanal, and I'm having a hard time telling the difference between Japanese and Allied pilots. Anyone have any tips?

switch.dota · 06-28-07, 02:35 PM

Try to rescue each one. If it won't let you, it's a Jap'. If using less than 100% realism (i.e. No Map Contact Update set to ON) you can check the map to see if the marker for the pilot is either red or blue.

SteamWake · 06-28-07, 02:47 PM

This has got to be the most frustrating mission given out.

Good luck with it. The advice given above is solid.

I got this mission once and chased those swimmers around for hours and never found any !

I gave up and went and blew up a few sampans out of frustration.

switch.dota · 06-28-07, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

I gave up and went and blew up a few sampans out of frustration.

With torpedoes set to influence detoantions, right?

SteamWake · 06-28-07, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by switch.dota

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

I gave up and went and blew up a few sampans out of frustration.

With torpedoes set to influence detoantions, right?

LOL I dont even know if a torpedo will work on a sampan never even tried.

spock1898 · 06-29-07, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

This has got to be the most frustrating mission given out.

Good luck with it. The advice given above is solid.

I got this mission once and chased those swimmers around for hours and never found any !

I gave up and went and blew up a few sampans out of frustration.

AGREED! Frustrating indeed.

I think the Jap pilots appear to be wearing the more silvery-looking suits, while the Allied pilots are wearing darker colored, leather suits. In any case, the tactic of running by all pilots spotted and trying to pick them up worked for me, but I was trying to save time. The best solution I had was hanging around the radar station, range set at 40K, following blips. Just make sure you know where the islands are - I almost ran aground following a huge group of contacts! Unfortunately, this tactic is also frustrating, as the radar only seems to work at headings between roughly NW and NE?! In any case, I used the mission editor to determine that 5 was the objective, though I don't know if that meant 5 pilots or pickups from 5 "groups" of pilots - I ended picking up about 6 or 7 guys anyway. Also interesting, the use of 50-mile-radius patrol areas seems to still hold true in this scenario. Nonetheless, I got through the mission in about a day, headed off to the Tulagi tender, and then went off to the Bismarck (notably misspelled "Bismark" in the COMSUBPAC orders) Sea, where I sunk several tankers, freighters, and composites, plus 3 DD's for about 53K tons (an entire convoy with the USS Salmon... sweeeet), and was back in Brisbane by 1-3-43, where I was awarded command of the USS Drum. Awesome - I just hope they don't send me out on this sort of patrol ever again. A Gato is for sinking things, not picking folks up!

switch.dota · 07-19-07, 03:17 PM

Something odd is happening in 1.3:

I've gotten this mission THREE times in the same patrol:
1. Lifeguard duty
2. Photo recon of Rabaul
3. Lifeguard Duty
4. Sink Merchants N of Solmons
5. Lifeguard duty

All in all I picked up about 10 to 15 survivors each time. On an S-Class. No refit inbetween. ~40 in all. On a boat with next to no room. Lovely. And damned command keeps assigning this stupid mission. Again. And again. There's gotta be a way to make this mission easier on the player. I'm for realism, but this is annoying.

Bear · 07-20-07, 01:34 PM

Actually since patch 3 rescue missions are pretty easy. Downed pilots have red smoke. When you get close, look through Binos, click on the pilot(s) the life ring button lights up click on it. Survivors Saved appears in the text box and the red smoke disappears. I have rescued those pilots that crash off of Pearl twice now.

switch.dota · 07-20-07, 02:58 PM

The annoying thing is that I have to waste like one RL hour hunting for them. It's annoying.

-Pv- · 07-20-07, 03:34 PM

In addition to the smoke, they show up on the map as blue friendlies and when you zoom in, the icon turns into a parashoot. The icons are labled as downed pilots too. The "hunting" part doesn't seem very hard. Finding enemy ship targets without surface radar seems a lot harder.
-Pv-

chopped50ford · 07-20-07, 03:35 PM

can you tell by looking at thier face?

Bear · 07-21-07, 06:58 AM

Jap pilots refuse to be rescued. They flip you off and drown. Or you shoot them or run over them, whatever...

06-28-07, 02:23 PM	#1
spock1898 Watch Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 21 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Survivors/Lifeguard Duty Running Lifeguard duty near the Solomons just after Guadalcanal, and I'm having a hard time telling the difference between Japanese and Allied pilots. Anyone have any tips?

07-20-07, 01:34 PM	#8
Bear Helmsman Join Date: May 2005 Location: CSA - Confused States of America Posts: 107 Downloads: 99 Uploads: 0	Actually since patch 3 rescue missions are pretty easy. Downed pilots have red smoke. When you get close, look through Binos, click on the pilot(s) the life ring button lights up click on it. Survivors Saved appears in the text box and the red smoke disappears. I have rescued those pilots that crash off of Pearl twice now. __________________ "When you are going to kill someone, it cost nothing to be polite." CRS

07-20-07, 03:35 PM	#11
chopped50ford Weps Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bentonville, AR Posts: 367 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	can you tell by looking at thier face? __________________ TM2(SS) USS Asheville - Plankowner, Shellback, "Order of the Ditch" http://ths-i.com/

07-21-07, 06:58 AM	#12
Bear Helmsman Join Date: May 2005 Location: CSA - Confused States of America Posts: 107 Downloads: 99 Uploads: 0	Jap pilots refuse to be rescued. They flip you off and drown. Or you shoot them or run over them, whatever... __________________ "When you are going to kill someone, it cost nothing to be polite." CRS

06-28-07, 02:35 PM	#2
switch.dota Captain Join Date: May 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 492 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Try to rescue each one. If it won't let you, it's a Jap'. If using less than 100% realism (i.e. No Map Contact Update set to ON) you can check the map to see if the marker for the pilot is either red or blue.

06-28-07, 02:47 PM	#3
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	This has got to be the most frustrating mission given out. Good luck with it. The advice given above is solid. I got this mission once and chased those swimmers around for hours and never found any ! I gave up and went and blew up a few sampans out of frustration.

07-19-07, 03:17 PM	#7
switch.dota Captain Join Date: May 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 492 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Something odd is happening in 1.3: I've gotten this mission THREE times in the same patrol: 1. Lifeguard duty 2. Photo recon of Rabaul 3. Lifeguard Duty 4. Sink Merchants N of Solmons 5. Lifeguard duty All in all I picked up about 10 to 15 survivors each time. On an S-Class. No refit inbetween. ~40 in all. On a boat with next to no room. Lovely. And damned command keeps assigning this stupid mission. Again. And again. There's gotta be a way to make this mission easier on the player. I'm for realism, but this is annoying.

07-20-07, 02:58 PM	#9
switch.dota Captain Join Date: May 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 492 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	The annoying thing is that I have to waste like one RL hour hunting for them. It's annoying.

07-20-07, 03:34 PM	#10
-Pv- The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 1,434 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	In addition to the smoke, they show up on the map as blue friendlies and when you zoom in, the icon turns into a parashoot. The icons are labled as downed pilots too. The "hunting" part doesn't seem very hard. Finding enemy ship targets without surface radar seems a lot harder. -Pv-