Midway questions

DaveK

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To begin-- really enjoying this one.

That said, I've got questions (BTW, all apologies, this is a repost from an earlier but buried thread... figured it'd get more attention here!).

1. Formations: any way to edit them? I admit to being spoiled by the old easy Harpoon way of making formations... in Midway, it looks like we're stuck micromanaging the position of each ship (ugh!).
2. Related: once a ship is detached, how do you reattach them? I accidentally hit single-ship maneuver on the Saratoga in one scenario, and the whole fleet left me behind. I couldn't figure out how to create it whole again without micromanaging.
3. When planes land, how can I tell how long they'll take to refuel/rearm? I landed a couple of Wildcats after they finished a patrol, but it looked like they were ready to turn around and relaunch immediately... this can't be right.
4. Aircraft waypoints? Right now, it seems like the only way to do this is by kluge-- create a "Location" on the map and steer the planes there, holding them until a (hopefully) nearby enemy fleet is spotted. Is there a more direct way of doing this?
5. Aircraft remaining fuel? I launch a mission, planes fly awhile, I divert them a couple of times for targets of opportunity... how do I tell how much range/fuel/time remaining I have left before I order them back to base/deck?

BTW, I read the manual pretty closely, it looks as if a lot of this stuff is answered in the Parameters file, but if I can vote for some game engine modifications to make this stuff more apparent "at a glance" (e.g. progress bars/percentage counts for aircraft and/or mission package spotting/refueling/rearm would be HUGELY welcome), I'd vote for it!
 

rahamy

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To begin-- really enjoying this one.

That said, I've got questions (BTW, all apologies, this is a repost from an earlier but buried thread... figured it'd get more attention here!).

1. Formations: any way to edit them? I admit to being spoiled by the old easy Harpoon way of making formations... in Midway, it looks like we're stuck micromanaging the position of each ship (ugh!).
Glad to hear you are enjoying it so far.

Formations - if you want to reform it into athoer formation or to rejoin one yes, you have to manage it into the shape you want it then create the formation & assign the flag ship - then you can command the entire thing with the Group Commands.


2. Related: once a ship is detached, how do you reattach them? I accidentally hit single-ship maneuver on the Saratoga in one scenario, and the whole fleet left me behind. I couldn't figure out how to create it whole again without micromanaging.
From the User Manual (user.pdf)

Attaching and Detaching

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Normally each ship is part of a group of ships which typically is a Squadron, Division, or Flotilla. By selecting a ship and pressing the Detached toolbar button, it is possible to Detach a ship from a group so that it can be commanded individually. Selecting a Detached ship and pressing the Detached toolbar button will cause the ship to become part of its original group again, but you are responsible for first maneuvering the ship so that it takes its place in the group formation.

It is also possible to attach one group to another so that the flagship of the other group controls the group being attached. To attach one group to another, click on the flagship of the group to be attached on the Main Chart. Then, while holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse to the flagship of the group to attach to and release the mouse. This will attach the first group to the second. To later unattach the group, select any ship in the attached group and press the Detached toolbar button.
[/FONT]
[/FONT]

3. When planes land, how can I tell how long they'll take to refuel/rearm? I landed a couple of Wildcats after they finished a patrol, but it looked like they were ready to turn around and relaunch immediately... this can't be right.
Refueling Aircraft

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Once aircraft return to a ship or air base, they are automatically eligible for refueling and no user intervention is required to cause this to happen. When refueling will begin will depend on how many other aircraft are waiting for fuel. The time it takes to refuel an aircraft depends on Parameter Data and the size of the aircraft.

Large aircraft take 2 times as long to refuel as small aircraft. When the carrier is turning, the refueling rate is half that of normal.
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
Arming and Rearming Aircraft
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]
Once aircraft return to a ship or air base, they are automatically eligible to become rearmed, subject to available stores on the ship or air base. If no user intervention occurs, then after a time that depends on how many aircraft are waiting for rearming, the aircraft will automatically become rearmed with whatever load they were carrying. If you wish to change the load that aircraft carry, you first select those aircraft using the Aircraft Dialog, and then using the
[/FONT]
[/FONT]Load [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]button on the dialog, you can specify what load you wish the aircraft to carry. If the aircraft are already carrying some load, then this must first be unloaded before the new load can be loaded. When a flight has been ordered to rearm with a different load, then this will be indicated at the bottom of the aircraft picture with the old load shown first, and arrow ([/FONT][/FONT]=>[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]), and then the new load.

Large aircraft take 2 times as long to rearm as small aircraft. When the carrier is turning, the rearming rate is half that of normal.
[/FONT]
[/FONT]

4. Aircraft waypoints? Right now, it seems like the only way to do this is by kluge-- create a "Location" on the map and steer the planes there, holding them until a (hopefully) nearby enemy fleet is spotted. Is there a more direct way of doing this?
Right now that's all there is...we'll see what the future holds though!

5. Aircraft remaining fuel? I launch a mission, planes fly awhile, I divert them a couple of times for targets of opportunity... how do I tell how much range/fuel/time remaining I have left before I order them back to base/deck?
The value on the lower right of the image is the range it can go in NM on its current fuel load & speed. It will change colors based on these values changing...when it goes yellow you better start heading back to base. Red means you are near running out of fuel. You can use the "View" then "Distances" feature in the game to get a handel on the scope of the map. Each ring is 50 NM.

BTW, I read the manual pretty closely, it looks as if a lot of this stuff is answered in the Parameters file, but if I can vote for some game engine modifications to make this stuff more apparent "at a glance" (e.g. progress bars/percentage counts for aircraft and/or mission package spotting/refueling/rearm would be HUGELY welcome), I'd vote for it!
Noted...you are reading both the main program help & the user manual, right? If you have skipped the user manual you are definitely missing a lot of detail. Both of the sets of info I pasted above came from that file.
 

DaveK

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Thanks Rich. Not to be ungrateful, but yes, I did RTM, both of them :). It just didn't strike me as entirely clear for a few things, which is why I asked.

-- RE: Formations. I read that section in the manual about attaching/detaching... I was hoping I *missed* the part that said, "Oh, there's a simpler way to arrange your formations automatically."

The Harpoon comment was half-snark, half-prayer. After all, if a game released in 1990 on a 286 computer can incorporate a way to edit formations that automatically shifts your ships around, I don't think it's too greedy to ask for consideration of inclusion of such a feature in a game released in 2010. (hint-hint future patch hint-hint :).

-- RE: refueling/rearming, again, knew about the parameter data. I was just surprised that the Wildcats, fully exhausted in fuel and ammo, were ready for another patrol nearly instantly. Sure, I can imagine dragging the ammo boxes across the deck like mad, and I'm thinking it's far easier to turn around a fighter than a bomber, but still... was weird. Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for any future replication.

#5: GODSEND! Thanks for the tip!

P.S. All the scenarios appear to be carrier battles... no surface actions in the stock scenarios, I take it?
 

rahamy

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We shall see what future updates hold...adjustments willc ertainly be made.

No surface actions included, though you can make them if you wish. Guadalcanal is the title meant to focus on that aspect of the war. :)
 
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