[Fermion]

Hi!

First of all: good to be here!

I'm trying to finish "As Lightning Fall", which happens to be this

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/As_Lightning_Fall

mission.


I'm really fascinated by this mission. You know, flying through this nebula, nothing but thunderstorm and lightning around you (would there be rain in addition, I couldn't resist getting a hot chocolate), you're HUD and sensors constantly flashing.
GREAT ATMOSPHERE!

But then there's a small problem with math, or let's clarify, with geometry:

Me and my wingmen are, at mission start, standing still at a point in space. Let's call this point "A". A few hundred meteres away there is a nav buoy at a point "B" in space.

Now your wingmen tell you to follow the nav buoys. Great Idea, so I did.

But wait a second. What means "follow" in this context? I assumed that it would be wise to maneuver my ship from A to B. As there was still no sign of a second buoy when I arrived at B, I decided to proceed in the SAME direction (on a LINE defined by A and B) until a certain point X. I proceded as much as 10 kilometers into that direction without finding anything.
Out of curiosity I also tried to follow the straight line in the other direction, but nothing.

OK, I have to admit that I'm now totally immersed in that nebula thing and if I look out of my window, I literally see the nebula there. So storytelling did a great job.

Unfortunately it gets a bit boring in the nebula. Shooting the wingmen, for refusing to help with the navigation, helps a bit the first 100 times. It's also quite funny to call in the rescue party and have them shoot down by the shivans. Or doing both.

The point is: shouldn't there be a transport called "Grall" out there? Somewhere (close to the house of the MOJO-lady...)???

In the meantime, I just take a ride through the nebula. Great weather today!

[Mustang19]

Nice to have you here, Fermion. Yes, As Lightning Fall... is one of the best missions of the campaign, but just wait, you haven't seen everything yet  You may want to stop visiting this forums lest a few major suprises be ruined. But if you read the Wiki that's probably happened already, hasn't it?

I'm sorry, but I can't help you with your problem. The next nav buoy is supposed to come into sensor range when you reach the first one. Hit the T key and cycle through targets until you find the next buoy. It should at least show up as a fuzzy dot on your HUD. If that doesn't help, you'll just have to look at the mission in FRED and figure it out. If so, do you have VPView?

[Wobble73]

As you approach the nav buoy, check out your radar, the next buoy will appear as a small grey dot. Irecommend that you revert to the 2d radar on this mission as the 3d one can get you turned around a bit. Just keep following the nav buoys one after the other (IIRC there are around seven) and stop to fight the Shivan waves as they come (stay near the latest buoy at this point or you could get turned around again) You will eventually find the Grall and Snipes. Make sure you have cleared the first waves of Shivans near the Grall before you call in the rescue team.

and welcome to the boards.

[Dysko]

I may be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that the Grall is exactly in front of you at the beginning of the mission. Just go straight for some kilometers.

[0rph3u5]

I may be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that the Grall is exactly in front of you at the beginning of the mission. Just go straight for some kilometers.

No! the Grall´s arrival cue is:
<
  distance
    Alpha 1
    NB 8
  1292

some of the NB's appear only after you have eliminated certain shivan wings...
once all hostiles are down proceed to the nearest NB and go a distance of 0, cycle throug the targets and voila! you will get the bouy you are looking for!
(I recall that you could add the NBs to a target group once you once had targeted them -- dunno if that still works/helps)

[Grizzly]

Oh, and be advised that there is a minor flaw in the next mission, namely the voice-acting has a bit low volume. You might want to trim the volume up for optimal experience

[Mustang19]

And make sure you have an extra pair of... oh. 

[TrashMan]

Ya...low volume...ramp it up.
Tis an interesting mission with lots of interesting pilot chatter.

[Game_Master64]

there right, you will have to turn it up for the next mission. and to finish this mission, i just fly straight from the start and the Grall's there. this mission usually takes 5 minutes max for me.

[Fermion]

Thanks guys,

you were all right. But the thing that really kicked it for me was to increase radar range: voila, nav buoys!  ;-)

Oh, and thanks for the advice with the volume in the next mission! Helped me to stay so beautifully immersed after leaving the EMP-field. Still can't hear anything (any more)... ;-)

See you and thanks again!

[Game_Master64]

ah yes, snipe's famous line. best part of the campaign.

[Roanoke]

God I hated "As Lightening Fall". Lions Den probably made up for it though. 

[Game_Master64]

i agree 100%

[Grizzly]

I liked A Lightning fall very much, actually, I think I like it better then Into the lion's den...

[Mustang19]

What made me really happy was the feeling that you'd just beat the greatest challenge in the game. Of course, I play on Insane, it must be pretty easy on anything lower. Lots of Shivans, but they're mostly Aeshmas and Basilisks.

[Mongoose]

If nothing else, it provides a hell of a creepy atmosphere.  A dark, brooding nebula, teeming with lightning, your sensors going haywire every few seconds, your wingmen's chatter fading in and out...I know I had a nice case of the heebie-jeebies the first time I played it.

[Stormkeeper]

I know that it fustrated me to no end when i was a little freespace noob, who was just happy i got to play with the Erynies and Kaysers. But that when i restarted my FS2 campaign an found myself at this mission again, i really did 'follow the nav bouys in the general sense. I didn't attack the shivans unless they were driving for me, my wingmen held 'em off, i just flew thru the nav bouys and found the next one in the same general direction.

Oh, i actually managed to get aspect locks and play with my harpoons, but it was mostly my kaysers that scored my frags.

[Mustang19]

For some reason I never get the EMP effect on that mission. I finished the Taurvis at the end with Trebuchet. 

[Stormkeeper]

For some reason I never get the EMP effect on that mission. I finished the Taurvis at the end with Trebuchet. 

.... Lucky.

[Grizzly]

you were all right. But the thing that really kicked it for me was to increase radar range: voila, nav buoys!  ;-)!

Increased radar range? AFAIK, the radar range of FS2 is standard set at infinite...