[REL] Open Horizons II

[Jester_UK]

On my 2nd patrol in a new career after reinstalling and just had to relate this:

Christmas came early to the crew of U-28 ib patrol in Grid AN55 off the east coast of England. An unescorted convoy of 18 ships appeared from the south. Night time, clam sea. Perfect conditions.

An hour later I'd used all my torpedoes and deck gun ammunition. 11 out of 18 ships including 2 large troop transports were newly resident on the bottom of the North Sea. GRT for 1 hours work.... 94500 tons (add a merchant I sank on my way to my patrol grid and the total for my patrol comes to 98950 tons.)

Needless to say I'm pretty pleased with myself. Whistling merrily I tell the radio operator to send in a patrol report. I'm thinking Knights Cross.... All the Berlin beauties I can handle.........

...... Then Cyber Donitz, that master of personnel motivation sends his reply:

"Be more aggressive!"



More aggressive?

MORE aggressive????????

What does a Kaleun have to do to make Uncle Cyber Doughnuts happy? Should I have jumped overboard after expending all my rtorpedoes and ammo, swam across to one of the remaining ships and chewed its keel off with my teeth?????

[test_m4a1]

In addition to my question about re-fueling, i think ill just make this mission with unlimited fuel :/

[simonf]

Originally Posted by test_m4a1

Hello!

I have a question to You! I have started "Distant Waters" mission and my question is - where, or how to re-fuel my U-96?

The closest port is Dakar but its too far from Carraiben Oil area...

Maybe from U-tanker if it exist?

I too worried about this as I made my way out of the straits of Gibraltar... My passage plan was to cruise to Dakar to re supply, then cross the Atlantic at optimum speed, and hope BdU would send re-supply.

As I approached Tenerif, I received a radio message from the BdU that a re supply ship would be on station near Cap Verde islands from Sept to Oct, so I altered course accordingly.

As I approached Cap Verde, I decided to test the "request re supply fix" and send a request by radio. I was delighted that BdU responded with coordinates of a "milk cow" u-boat in my vicinity, which I then had to track down using a combination of radio direction finder and sonar (weather was atrocious, storm force winds and huge seas). I never actually saw the milk cow, but got close enough to refit.


Be advised that this will probably only work if you have patched your game using TheDarkWraith's patcher to fix resupply.

Good luck!


*****EDIT*****

After a successful patrol of the Caribbean I was down to my last torpedo and 50% fuel so I requested resupply. Those bastards at BdU denied my request, leaving my only option to make for Dakar for refit/resupply. I couldn't believe the BdU would not send further reinforcements and supplies to support the Distant Waters campaign - there's no way a handful of subs could complete the missions by the deadline making such huge crossings every time they need to refit - so I sent further requests for resupply, only to be denied again, and again, and again... I gave up for a few days, and then a few hundred miles east of the Caribbean I tried again and received coordinates to rendezvous with a Ditmarschen resupply ship a few hundred miles further east. Some dead reckoning and a few RDF fixes later, I was alongside for refit and refuel. Interestingly, my crew didn't seem to spot the resupply ship, even though it was clearly visible to me (it's enormous), and the weather was fine with no wind. Travel mode was disabled. Maybe I TC'd too much, although I keep it under 512 when I'm expecting company.

My advice to other skippers: manage your fuel as if you will need it to reach your nearest friendly port (i.e. sail at 7-8 knots on long passages, note how much you use on the outbound journey and keep at least this much in reserve for return passage). When you need resupply, plot your course for the nearest friendly port, but send a request for resupply every day or so until BdU come through for you. Plot a new course for the rendezvous point, and when you're within 100 miles or so, start using your RDF ("request nearest radio contact") to home in on the ship. If you're still having difficulties, submerge and use hydrophones to locate it - it will probably be patrolling very slowly. Don't rely solely on your lookouts - they get a bit lazy in the middle of the Atlantic so far from expected enemy contact. Jump onto the bridge and take a look for yourself when you think you're in range. Once spotted, manouvre as if you are going alongside - you need to be quite close before the refit option appears.

[Silent Steel]

Originally Posted by JoeRifle

...I can not extract it, for it is not recognized as a valid archive. Currently I am running OHII 2.4 with NewUI 7.5.0. I would like to upgrade to 2.5. May I ask you to provide a new archive?...

Hi Joe,

Try this one;

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9p...ss/OHIIv2.5.7z

[test_m4a1]

Thanks a lot Simonf!

Originally Posted by test_m4a1

In addition to my question about re-fueling, i think ill just make this mission with unlimited fuel :/

I guess you missed my reply to you four days ago.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...postcount=5287

Originally Posted by Jester_UK

... the total for my patrol comes to 98950 tons ... Then Cyber Donitz, that master of personnel motivation sends his reply:

"Be more aggressive!"

[JoeRifle]

Originally Posted by Silent Steel

Hi Joe,

Try this one;

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9p...ss/OHIIv2.5.7z

Thank you Silent Steel,

works like a charm.

I hope the archive stays / is updated @post#1 so further probs can be avoided

Originally Posted by Sartoris

Why are there so few types of merchants ships in this game? I remember playing Operation Monsun and that mod has dozens of types, some of which were imported from sh3. Also, isn't it time that some ships were renamed? It's really immersion breaking to find ships named after modders, such as SreelViking or Rongel's merchant ships.

Sartoris, I just read your post. I must have missed it for some reason.

IIRC, I may have even posted a comment about this a long time ago because these ship names never sat well with me back then either. I agree with you on this to a certain extent, but from what I've seen, they have cleaned up a lot of those names except for the one where I can't count how many times I saw what I figured was a troop transport and thought "Here's some juicy tonnage finally coming our way boys!" only to find out it was a "SteelViking Big Modern Passengership" with less tonnage.

I am kind of used to the Uekel or Rongel ships now, because I think those names actually seem suitable for ships, no? The "SteelViking Big Modern Passengership" - all respect to you SteelViking - is not. Now maybe if the name was adjusted somewhat like "Steel Viking Lines Passenger ship" (notice space between Steel and Viking) or "Viking Lines Passenger ship", then it would sound pretty good. Well, to me at least. Maybe Trevally can do a poll for suggestions.

Btw, do you remember the classic AOTDMadMaxSteelVikingTransport or something like that? The name was so long that the ship got to you before you could finish reading it, and you couldn't help whistling Disney tunes while doing so.

ahhh .. good times.


Cheers!

[Sartoris]

Originally Posted by 7Infanterie19

Btw, do you remember the classic AOTDMadMaxSteelVikingTransport or something like that? The name was so long that the ship got to you before you could finish reading it, and you couldn't help whistling Disney tunes while doing so.

ahhh .. good times.


Cheers!

Yeah, that one was particularly troublesome to my suspension of disbelief.

Let us know if you try attacking any big, escorted convoys, I'd really like to hear someone else's impressions on evasion. Tried another night-time attack today (with the standard AI IRAI settings) and got noticed and destroyed immediately after I sneaked into the convoy and blew up one ship. Kind of annoying, to be honest...

As a follow up to my post http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...postcount=5293 :

After spending 8 days patrolling that first quadrant AN1814 without BdU response to move on, I decided to reload from my Kiel bunker save. I requested the mission again to get a new quadrant and to give it another shot. I couldn't get the 48 hour patrol message triggered until I went through the exact middle of the quadrant, which is how it triggered the first time in AN18. I have patrolled the new area for over 5 days now to no avail as well. It just doesn't make any sense to me and has become about as much fun as starting all those campaigns to figure out my CTDs before.

As I wrote in the earlier post, I just don't understand the mechanics behind this and could really use some insight as to how this works or how these patrol requirements are supposed to be satisfied.

I haven't seen Trevally around since I returned, but I hope he can come in and shed some light on this if no one else can.




EDIT: Last night, I thought I'd give it another go instead of giving up. I finally got a response that my patrol objective was complete, but it was over 8 days from the initial request.

Trevally, are you sure the settings are correct?

[Jester_UK]

Originally Posted by 7Infanterie19

As I wrote in the earlier post, I just don't understand the mechanics behind this and could really use some insight as to how this works or how these patrol requirements are supposed to be satisfied.

I'm seeing the same problem with the patrol grid mission objectives. Only difference is I never get mission completed radio messages or indication in the capt's log that it's completed. I've taken to just patroling the area and returning to base regardless when fuel ammo or torps are running low.

Jester_UK, I finally managed to complete all three.

Here's how it played out for anyone else also interested:

First one in AN5517 took over 8 days. That one specifically said patrol for 48 hours in the 80 km radius. Being in the ECW zone - lovely, I got to add tonnage to that at least.

For the second one, I was asked to relocate (conveniently enough) to AN0717 also in the ECW. Once there, I never got any other directions, so I thought "do I hunt ships or the trigger point?". Considering that that quadrant was half land half sea, I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to find the trigger by going through the middle of it, because it was on land , and because I figured that was the only way to do it, based on my previous experiences. But seeing that I could hunt ships and add tonnage to the ECW mission as well, I just hung around hunting, and didn't bother worrying about getting a patrol zone message. After roughly two days and to my surprise , I got a message saying that my patrol was complete and to relocate again. HaHa! Ignore them and they will come!

On the third one, I was sent to AN5865 - another one half land half sea, with most of the patrol area being so shallow that you're essentially portaging around in your patrol zone, but thank God for fog for a change, eh? This objective area was much like the second in that I received no further direction once I got there, so I hung out wading through the shallows, and after two days, was surprised again to received the message that I was done. No targets passed while we were portaging, but if they did, I would have used a bow and arrow to take them down.

So here's my improvement suggestions for Trevally:

- Clarify the settings for 48 hour patrols. +/- several hours would be fine for realism, but not four times the amount requested.

- Clarify what the patrol quadrant trigger points are if there are any, or tweak them, if possible, to be exactly where we need to be. As mentioned earlier, I got my first message triggered over 95 kms from my patrol area, which made me wonder "does the 48 clock start now or when I get there?" If this tweak can't be configured without complication, perhaps setting the target as always being the center of that quadrant would remedy that problem.

- For patrol areas that don't specify time, such as the last two noted above, have BdU send a generic message to at least acknowledge our arrival in those quadrants and perhaps something along the lines that we should "patrol there until further notice". For me, that would at least say "hey, BdU hasn't forgotten us". You know, like a good relationship, it's all about communication, baby!

Also, I noticed that on the left side of the Captain's log, it says "Primary Objectives". This leads me to believe these objectives take priority over the other "main" missions like ECW, Breaking The Fortress, etc., but are they? Is it the former or the latter? In the end, it may be semantics since we are out on patrol anyway, but when there is something like Breaking The Fortress that has a short window, it's good to know which one needs to be prioritized to please BdU first.


~ ende

[Jester_UK]

Wouldn't it be possible to use a simple time trigger rather than trigger points?

The last couple of patrols in my previous career (before having to start again due to installing a new version of the game and messing up the install of TDW's patcher.... !!) gave me 72 hour patrols in a 200km radius. In that case I was on station for nearly 14 days with no patrol completed message. Eventually I just gave up and went home!!

[Trevally.]

Hi Guys - sorry for the lack of info lately

Originally Posted by 7Infanterie19

So here's my improvement suggestions for Trevally:

- Clarify the settings for 48 hour patrols. +/- several hours would be fine for realism, but not four times the amount requested.

There is some kind of bug with timing in this game

The 48hrs patrol are set for 48hrs - so that is the time you must patrol.
I think the the start time (reach area start) is being offset by some settings within ME2. These setting should not be read by the mission. I am not sure of a work around.
I does look like the start is only being triggered after a time and thus patrols are taking longer than they should.

The second and third patrols are being auto started by the objective update when you pass the last - so start as soon as you reach the area (as it should)



In single mission you can also see this bug - if you set the game to mission to 10am - the editor time can be set to 10 pm
When this happens the game time in the sub says it is 10pm - but outside the time 10am

- Clarify what the patrol quadrant trigger points are if there are any, or tweak them, if possible, to be exactly where we need to be. As mentioned earlier, I got my first message triggered over 95 kms from my patrol area, which made me wonder "does the 48 clock start now or when I get there?" If this tweak can't be configured without complication, perhaps setting the target as always being the center of that quadrant would remedy that problem.

The patrol areas as as they are being reported.
Messages have many factors to delay or even be missed (i.e. if underwater and message is missed - some are set to resend after a set time until you do receive them. Other are never resend or send only a few times)

If you are within the stated radius - then you are in the patrol area

- For patrol areas that don't specify time, such as the last two noted above, have BdU send a generic message to at least acknowledge our arrival in those quadrants and perhaps something along the lines that we should "patrol there until further notice". For me, that would at least say "hey, BdU hasn't forgotten us". You know, like a good relationship, it's all about communication, baby!

Messages are being sent - you can see this if you run Dbgview
you may not be receiving them or more likely your crew is not telling you that you have one - check both the message box and the captains log for messages.

Also, I noticed that on the left side of the Captain's log, it says "Primary Objectives". This leads me to believe these objectives take priority over the other "main" missions like ECW, Breaking The Fortress, etc., but are they? Is it the former or the latter? In the end, it may be semantics since we are out on patrol anyway, but when there is something like Breaking The Fortress that has a short window, it's good to know which one needs to be prioritized to please BdU first.

EWC is the main objective and should be your first aim.
patrol missions have three parts and can also have sub parts - this is why it is saying primary


~ ende

Originally Posted by Jester_UK

Wouldn't it be possible to use a simple time trigger rather than trigger points?

The last couple of patrols in my previous career (before having to start again due to installing a new version of the game and messing up the install of TDW's patcher.... !!) gave me 72 hour patrols in a 200km radius. In that case I was on station for nearly 14 days with no patrol completed message. Eventually I just gave up and went home!!

Hi Jester

The time trigger in the game are bugged - I cant use them