Midway - the Battle that never is?

[Red Devil]

June 27 1942. Drum en route to Japan passing SW near Midway. Jap plane appears, then another then another, shoot two down, but planes flying from most compass directions. Broken periscope and guns, had to return to Pearl. I think they got their dates wrong!

[skirich]

I was on a mission when the event happened, so I restarted from an earlier save, and went in search mode around midway around that date.


I got the transmission that the event started, but I never found it event though I was in surface/flank speed troling around the area.


Does a battle actually happen or is this an AI thing that I just cant join in on?

[Red Devil]

only once, long ago, did I find the 4 carrier fleet to the NW of Midway, since then nothing, at the same time a jap fleet was reported s of midway. Since then nothing. Like all shipping movements, I think they are randomly selected and 'thrown into the pot'

[skirich]

In case you are still looking for it ...
If you have RSRDC loaded ...

You need to start a patrol after may 1st 1942, then the BattleOfMidway.mis file will come into play.
The battle will happen sometime between May 1st and Jun 29. So not historically accurate. The IJN task forces leave on May 1st I assume steam towards the site.


Coordinates for the main Japanese CV group will end up at or near ...
Long 179.51
Lat 30.88

Lots of other targets around as well if you are close by.
But you pretty much need to spend a month in the water near midway on Max TC doing nothing to get into it.

[propbeanie]

If your Midway files from RSRDC are not "spawning" almost exactly on-time, then you'll need to look in the original files with a text editor, and copy the lines exactly as lurker had them over into your edited files. If you used the Mission Editor at all on lurker's files, the ME will add lines back into them, and change some of the settings for the DelayTime and a few other oddities that I don't understand why Ubi did that... It can be very frustrating to have to use the ME for your graphical view of the world, and then come back in with a text editor to "fix" what the ME did to your files...

[skirich]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

If your Midway files from RSRDC are not "spawning" almost exactly on-time, then you'll need to look in the original files with a text editor, and copy the lines exactly as lurker had them over into your edited files. If you used the Mission Editor at all on lurker's files, the ME will add lines back into them, and change some of the settings for the DelayTime and a few other oddities that I don't understand why Ubi did that... It can be very frustrating to have to use the ME for your graphical view of the world, and then come back in with a text editor to "fix" what the ME did to your files...

Yep I saw that warning in in the mod readme. I only open the mission in ME to see the waypoints drawn out. I never saved them so the ME never changed anything.

However the range for spawn is quite wide showing may 1 to june 30. So I assume the time to steam to site is the variable.

[Section 83]
FileName=data/Campaigns/Campaign/BattleOfMidway.mis
StartDate=19420501
EndDate=19420630
GameModes=SingleMission,SinglePatrol,Career
InclusionProbability=100
MinimumDifficultyRating=0
MinimumPlayerRating=-3 
EntryFocalPointLong=0
EntryFocalPointLat=0
MaximumDistanceFromStartPoint=90000
ExclusiveLayer=No
ExclusiveLayerID=0

[propbeanie]

That's the Campaign.cfg entry for the Mission to be loaded, so it will load the file between those dates. The individual groups should "spawn" as scheduled in the mis file itself as called, and / or update if after the date of occurrence, if the group is still "active", which - if I'm remembering correctly, will be finished by the 15th... maybe. Just a pinch of "overhead", in case one of them encounters your boat, I suppose...

[skirich]

Ah yes indeed, here is the code from the mis file ...
Which doesnt show in the ME when opened.

GameEntryDate=19420528
GameEntryTime=28
GameExitDate=19451231
GameExitTime=0
MaxInst=1
MaxUnitsCreated=100
DockedShip=false
TacticalGroup=false
AvailStartDate=19420528
AvailEndDate=19451231

[propbeanie]

As lurker mentions in his ReadMe stuff, just opening the file, and looking at a group's Properties and clicking "OK" without making ~any~ changes will result in the ME making changes, not telling you about, and then Saving the changes without your permission. Going by the

TacticalGroup=false
AvailStartDate=19420528
AvailEndDate=19451231

which are unnecessary, the ME may have already done it. Of course, even some of lurker's files have those. They are usually found in groups that repeat their spawns in lurker's files - but not always. The big lines to check for changes are the

DelayMin=60
DelayMinInterv=15249

Lines, which it looks like maybe my RSRDC files have been contaminated, since lurker usually has the DelayMin set to zero or one, instead of the Stock 60 minutes setting... - which means minimal delay to start the clock for the spawn chance, and the unit or group will try the spawn chance on the time set... but after the DelayMinInterv runs... which in this example is over 10.5 days... lurker has multiple set-ups he used, for whether a group did multiple spawns (as the example above apparently is), or another for a group that spawns once, and only once, on a set day, such as June 14, 1944 at 0715 hours... Re-reading this, and I seem to have mangled the explanation... oldmanitis

[skirich]

I tested the theory of just opening the file and poking around and I havent seen the timestamps on the files change at all, so I'm pretty sure nothing was altered.
As a precaution I'll recopy the main files and patch files and make them all read only.

[propbeanie]

I called the three lines

TacticalGroup=false
AvailStartDate=19420528
AvailEndDate=19451231

unnecessary and under most circumstances, they are. But if you want a certain unit or group to spawn at a certain time or when your boat gets to a certain location, those lines are necessary. You could have a DD waiting around the next point of land, that is triggered active when your submarine crosses into a MapZone you've created expressly for the purpose. The group or unit you want to have spawn like that has to be outside the "spawn" range (opinions differ between 24nm and 40km ). I usually use 32nm or 50km to be safe. Anyway, the GameEntry lines are usually quite a bit in the future, while the AvailableStart is earlier than needed... You then use a special Trigger in the ME to build the spawning... In other words, don't mistake my comment of "unnecessary" and go arbitrarily deleting lines from the files...

[skirich]

Does that mean the sub needs to be that 24nms out from the spawn spot? If so how far is too far before the game just doesnt spawn the group?

[propbeanie]

The game tracks everything in a database, but does not render anything (except apparently water) until your submarine gets within the render range of the given object, which if you are using high TC in a busy world, you will notice a "hitch" in the display as the game renders stuff. Someone a few years ago had what they thought were the distances - probably based on a dev's statement (long since forgotten in the recesses of my grey matter), and lurker (??) makes a statement about it interfering with the renderings of the different battle scenes if you are in the wrong place in the wrong time, in that your submarine's presence in a scene can prevent groups from rendering when scheduled. I don't remember if he mentions distances in his ReadMe files or not...

[Red Devil]

new game and arrived at Midway, received radio message about major engagement at Midway. I am already there not a jap in sight!

[Moonlight]

Your sub has to be a certain distance away from the spawn point or the Japanese ships will not appear.
Play it again, mark there position on the nav map if you know it, draw a 20\25 mile circle around it and go take another look.

Don't be too eager to get there this time.