Operation MO - Pacific Skies: IJN Shōkaku vs USS Lexington

🌊 Operation MO - Pacific Skies: IJN Shōkaku vs USS Lexington 🛩️

A custom game mode for the PUBG Battlegrounds UGC Contest.

📖 History Behind the Creation

May 1942, Battle of the Coral Sea: The Pacific Ocean witnesses the first naval engagement in history where the opposing fleets never fired a single shot at each other directly. Instead, the fight took place entirely in the skies.

This custom game mode brings that exact historical tension into PUBG. Forget the ground loot and the circle—this is pure, unadulterated aerial warfare. Two teams, two aircraft carriers, and a sky full of Motor Gliders, Panzerfausts, and machine-gun fire. Tactical and strategic coordination, piloting skills, and mid-air marksmanship will dictate who claims the chicken dinner.

🎮 The Experience: What Makes It Unique?

This isn't your standard Battle Royale. Operation MO - Pacific Skies: IJN Shōkaku vs USS Lexington transforms PUBG into an intense, tactical dogfighting simulator. You and your faction will spawn on one of the aircraft carriers. Before taking off, communicate with your team: Who is flying solo? Who is taking a gunner? Who is carrying the Panzerfausts?

More critically, who fuels up first? Just like in 1942, aircraft are stored with minimal fuel to prevent hangar disasters. Therefore, all gliders spawn with only 15% of their fuel tank filled, and the deck's Fuel Station can't accommodate several gliders at a time. Your team must coordinate who scrambles immediately to secure the airspace with low fuel, and who tops off their tanks before joining the fight.

Once in the air, the chaos begins. But remember: your carrier is your lifeline. If you survive an engagement but your glider is smoking or you are out of ammo, you can perform a daring landing back on your carrier to repair, refuel, and re-arm.

⚙️ Core Mechanics & Rules

🛫 Deployment & Hangar 

• Game Mode: Team Deathmatch.
• Factions: Imperial Japanese Navy vs United States Navy.
• Spawn Points: Each team begins on their respective aircraft carrier.
• The Aircraft: 10 Motor Gliders per carrier. The engineering crew has stripped all heavy armor from these aircraft to maximize speed and acceleration, matching the deadly agility of 1942 fighters. They are incredibly fast (speeds above 300 km/h), but highly fragile (500 HP)! Just a few well-placed bullets will send them crashing down.
• Player Count: Up to 10 players per faction (Max 20 players total). Gliders can be flown solo or as a duo.

💥 The Arsenal & Carrier Hazards
Your carrier is fully stocked for a massive aerial assault, but it also carries extreme risk. At spawn, you'll find:

• 🚀 Aircraft Armament: 40x Panzerfausts, 10x Machine Guns and 10x Pistols. The deck crew has staged these heavy weapons directly next to your gliders. Grab them immediately before takeoff—this is your primary built-in firepower for the dogfight!
• 🎒 No Backpacks, No Extended Mags & Island Ammo: Cockpits in 1942 are cramped, and strict weight limits are a matter of life and death. Heavy backpacks and extended magazines simply won't fit in your aircraft. You are restricted to standard clips, forcing you to rely on the short, precise firing bursts typical of actual WW2 dogfights. While the carrier holds enough munitions to keep your squadron firing all day, these massive naval reserves are secured strictly inside the Island superstructure (the large command building on the deck). You must run inside to grab bullets before your first takeoff, and survive the flight back to re-arm when you run dry during combat!
• ⛽ Carrier Fuel Station: Refueling zone on deck.
• 🛢️ 2x Emergency Gas Cans: Stored safely inside the command building. The Navy provided these strictly for emergency scrambles. 
• 🔧 Abundant Repair Kits: Staged at the Fuel Station. The engineering crew has set up this zone as your open-air hangar to keep your squadron flying.
• ⚠️ Explosive Hazard: The Fuel Station is highly volatile! Enemy gunfire or a direct Panzerfaust hit will trigger a massive explosion. Historical Fact: A direct hit here will spark a devastating chain reaction, mirroring the infernos that doomed so many carriers in the Pacific theater when fully fueled planes and unsecured bombs were ignited.

🌊 Environmental Hazards: Sea, Land & Sky

• 🦈 The Coral Sea: Do not fall into the ocean! The waters below are teeming with sharks, and the fleet cannot stop to rescue downed pilots during active combat. Ditching your aircraft in the water results in immediate, fatal drowning or worse. There are no rescue boats coming for you.
• 🌋 The Volcanic Peak: The island in the combat zone is a recently emerged submarine volcano, covered in jagged rocks and sheer cliffs. Attempting to land or ditch a fragile glider on this unforgiving terrain guarantees a fatal crash. Any pilot from either faction who goes down on these treacherous rocks is instantly considered Missing in Action (MIA) and lost forever.
• ☁️ Dynamic Cloud Cover: Just like in the actual Battle of the Coral Sea, the weather plays a massive tactical role. The sky will periodically fill with dense clouds, drastically reducing visibility. Flying blindly through this cloud cover is incredibly dangerous—you risk fatal collisions with the ocean, the volcanic peak, or even other gliders!

🏆 How to Win (Victory Conditions)

• One Life, One Round: There are no second chances in naval aviation. The match consists of a single, high-stakes sortie. Once you are declared KIA—whether shot down or lost to the sea and rocks—you are out of the fight.
• Last Faction Flying: The match ends immediately when all pilots of the enemy faction are eliminated.
• Time Limit: 30 Minutes.
• Tie-Breakers: If the 30-minute timer runs out and both factions still have survivors in the air, the winner is decided by Total Kills.

💡 Tactical Pro-Tips for Pilots

• The Fuel Bottleneck: Since the Fuel Station can't fit all gliders at once, do not pile up around it! Decide quickly if some of you fly at once to raid the enemy, and who refuels to stay in the air for longer.
• The Emergency Gas Cans Dilemma: Do you burn them immediately to get two aces into the air without waiting at the pumps, or stash them as a critical lifeline if your main Fuel Station goes up in flames?
• Coordinate Before Takeoff: With 10 gliders for up to 10 players, you must talk to your teammates to assign Pilots and Gunners.
• Deploy Anti-Air Defenders: It might be a great tactical choice to leave one or two players behind on the carrier deck. Armed with machine guns and Panzerfausts, they can act as deadly anti-aircraft batteries to defend your gas station and shoot down incoming enemies.
• Master the Speed: These stripped-down, high-performance gliders mean you will close the distance with enemy squadrons at breakneck speeds. Adjust your reaction times accordingly!
• Lead Your Shots: Hitting a moving glider requires extreme precision. Anticipate the enemy's flight path!
• Return to Base: You are not forced to stay in the air until you explode. Skilled pilots can retreat, land back on their carrier, grab a repair kit at the pump, stock up on more bullets inside the Island building, and get back into the fight.
• Target the Enemy Fuel Station: If an enemy retreats to refuel on their carrier, aim your Panzerfaust or machine guns directly at their Fuel Station. Not only will this cause a devastating explosion, but it will also permanently deprive the enemy team of fuel to recharge their gliders!

If you enjoy this custom mode, please vote for the project, and share your most epic mid-air Panzerfaust shots in the comments! Good luck in the skies!