Orders and command

[Neill Carson]

I have not figured out how the giving order system works. How do you know if you are in command of a ship other than the one you are driving? I can give my ENTIRE package orders BEFORE the mission starts: I can apparently order crusiers and carriers to circle around anywhere in the sector at my whim. But once the action starts, they seem to only respond to radio commands to attack a target I can lock on to, and I can't send them anywhere. Maybe a lowly destroyer commander can't command anything, so we just watch everyone behave randomly? This makes no sense, so I must be missing something...
nmc

[Duken]

Fighters: Whatever you equip yourself with is what your entire flight gets. However, the AI seems to not notice its not the standard load (atleast in the demo). If you load an extra pair of ASM's for example, the AI pilots will not fire them.

CapShip Command: On the "Fleet" page in the dynamic campaigns there are the ship listings, if the ship you command is at the top of a particular group you have command of the group.

CapShip Orders: Didn't you do Op:Live Fire? Mission 5 tells you how to do this.

[Neill Carson]

The little =>>> seems to float about, so I am to assume tha all below my ship are under my command? But I can give any orders (at least nav points, escort, etc) BEFORE the mission, but not after? The crusiers and carriers accept my orders before but not during? Does that make sense? And when the "fleet" shows an enemy crusier (the red dot appears on the nav screen) my little destroyer is suppossed to rush over there, put a sticky note on the crusier (ie, lock onto the target) so that I can call the other crusiers and destroyers etc to come and attack, while I get blasted to pieces? I haven't read the story line for this game, but maybe this retarded race needs to become extinct.
I appreciate the magnificient solo effort for one person to fully produce a game, but my playing time is extremely limited and I just don't have time for things that don't work. At least it's fun to fly the fighters...
...and thanks for your help!

[Yorkshire Tea]

Neill,

If you are in command of a capship then you can use the radio -> combat -> cover me command to get any other capship to form up with you. Even as a destroyer commander you can radio a few nearby cruisers to help [:)]. Works wonders turning up to a fight with 2 frigates, 2 destroyers and 4 cruisers in tow [:)].

The only downside is - if there are more than 10 ships on the radio list - how do you select >10?

[John DiCamillo]

I have not figured out how the giving order system works. How do you know if you are in command of a ship other than the one you are driving? I can give my ENTIRE package orders BEFORE the mission starts: I can apparently order crusiers and carriers to circle around anywhere in the sector at my whim. But once the action starts, they seem to only respond to radio commands to attack a target I can lock on to, and I can't send them anywhere. Maybe a lowly destroyer commander can't command anything, so we just watch everyone behave randomly? This makes no sense, so I must be missing something...

To answer the first question, you should be able to command anything below you in the chain of command. This is depicted by the tree control in the Forces tab of the Operational Command screen. As the skipper of a destroyer squadron, you should only be able to give orders to and set navpoints for the other ships in your group.

Technically, you shouldn't be allowed to set navpoints for the ships above you before the mission starts either. But due to an oversight on my part, the game does not currently enforce this rule. I'll have to fix that.

You can send radio messages to any ship in the fleet (well, except for that menu numbering problem) regardless of the chain of command. This was intended to provide a means to send requests for support up the chain, even though you can officially order your superiors to take action. It was a compromise, and not necessarily the best possible solution.

Hope this helps clarify the matter.

[feld]

milo,
Been playing the game mostly as a DESRON commander and very much enjoy it. I note from your previous post that you're considering eliminating the oversight that allows the player to plot waypoints for the entire battlegroup (even ships you aren't supposed to have command over). I would ask you to consider the timing of when you remove it carefully. The carrier AI seems very proactive about launching fighter patrols and interceptors to destroy inbound cap ships. The Admiral's AI for cap ship employment seems much less proactive. He tends to ignore the first rule of naval tactics (attack effectively first). Letting the player establish a series of waypoints for the cap ships in the group could act as a sort of band-aid until you make the Admiral brighter.
My 2 cents
Feld

[Dirt12]

ORIGINAL: John DiCamillo

Technically, you shouldn't be allowed to set navpoints for the ships above you before the mission starts either. But due to an oversight on my part, the game does not currently enforce this rule. I'll have to fix that.

No!!! This is a key feature of the game that use before each mission. It allows me to apply some stratagy in ship deployment. Without it my fleet is doomed!


Also, with regards to issuing commands, is there anyway to make a ship hold position by issuing waypoints in the Nav window. I see there is a command for Hold that allows you to issue a time (i.e. 1 min, 5 min ect.) but I find that when my ships arrive at the waypoint they continue to drift off the mark on their current heading and veolocity.