Space Monsters!!!

[geoschmo]

Ok, well I stand corrected. If this works then its simply a matter of adding a base design for the monster race including the sector cloak component and making that base a high priority for them to build. As long as they get it built before the planet is discovered then the planet should be safe. Even if they dont' get it built before being discovered, once it's built the others can't attack without sufficent sensor capability to defeat the cloak. You can make the sector cloak level higher than any available sensor and you will have a permanent unbeatable cloak too. Planet will be safe for ever, unless they scrap the base.

Unless for some silly reason the AI doesn't know to turn on the cloaking device. Has that been tested?

Geoschmo

[AJC]

I created the sector cloak in my mod about 6 months ago - It is a base component, there is a thread floating around somewhere when I was discussing it.. It is in the MOD1 mod on the DL site. I have been refining the AI use of fighter missiles for the mod.
I found that there were problems with sector cloaks. You would mask the enemy ship on your turn if he moved into the same square. My solution was to allow the sector cloak to detect cloak vessels up to the level of the sector cloak.

There was a situation created by doing this however - if a cloaked ship moves into your square with the cloaked planet, they detect each other.

Also - you cannot sector cloak warp pts or stars.
Only asteroids, planets and anything the base is with in that square..
I also found that it was unbalancing, if the vessel that had a sector cloak, moved . Thats why I limited them to bases. They are very powerful.

In my mod - hyperoptics III will detect the Stellar cloak.

the first one listed is the researched component the second was the artifact Version in my mod.

Name := Stellar Cloaking Device I
Description := Cloaking device used to cloak a sector of space.
Pic Num := 247
Tonnage Space Taken := 40
Tonnage Structure := 40
Cost Minerals := 200000
Cost Organics := 0
Cost Radioactives := 100000
Vehicle Type := Base
Supply Amount Used := 0
Restrictions := One Per Vehicle
General Group := Shields
Family := 2800
Roman Numeral := 1
Custom Group := 0
Number of Tech Req := 4
Tech Area Req 1 := Cloaking
Tech Level Req 1 := 3
Tech Area Req 2 := Shields
Tech Level Req 2 := 10
Tech Area Req 3 := Physics
Tech Level Req 3 := 4
Tech Area Req 4 := Stellar Manipulation
Tech Level Req 4 := 6
Number of Abilities := 2
Ability 1 Type := Sector - Sight Obscuration
Ability 1 Descr := Renders all vehicles and/or planets within sector invisible to normal sensors. Prevents level 4 scans.
Ability 1 Val 1 := 5
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0
Ability 2 Type := Sensor Level
Ability 2 Descr := Cloaked vessels and enemy mine fields can be detected while stellar cloak is active.
Ability 2 Val 1 := EM Active
Ability 2 Val 2 := 5
Weapon Type := None


Name := Sector Cloaking Device
Description := Cloaking device used to cloak a sector of space.
Pic Num := 248
Tonnage Space Taken := 20
Tonnage Structure := 40
Cost Minerals := 100000
Cost Organics := 0
Cost Radioactives := 50000
Vehicle Type := Base
Supply Amount Used := 0
Restrictions := One Per Vehicle
General Group := Shields
Family := 2900
Roman Numeral := 1
Custom Group := 0
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Sector Cloaking Device
Tech Level Req 1 := 1
Number of Abilities := 2
Ability 1 Type := Sector - Sight Obscuration
Ability 1 Descr := Renders all vehicles and/or planets within sector invisible to sensors. Prevents level 3 scans.
Ability 1 Val 1 := 4
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0
Ability 2 Type := Sensor Level
Ability 2 Descr := Cloaked vessels can be detected while sector cloak is active.
Ability 2 Val 1 := EM Active
Ability 2 Val 2 := 4
Weapon Type := None

[ 21 January 2002: Message edited by: AJC ]

[Phoenix-D]

If I remember correctly from my tests, sector cloaks don't *have* an on/off switch. That only works for ship cloaks.

(fighters, FYI, work the same way with ANY type of cloak- the cloak is always-on)

Phoenix-D

[AJC]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
If I remember correctly from my tests, sector cloaks don't *have* an on/off switch. That only works for ship cloaks.

(fighters, FYI, work the same way with ANY type of cloak- the cloak is always-on)

Phoenix-D

---

Mothballing the base - turns the cloak off!

[geoschmo]

Yep, I just tested this and there is no on/off for sector cloaks. They are always on.

Soemthing odd I found too was if the monsters planet is cloaked, then encountering other ships does not trigger a first contact. The monster ship has to actually come across a planet of another race to make contact. This could affect your a mod where the AI controls the monsters, so you need to take it into account.

Cloaks on fighters? According to the abilities file the sector cloak does not work on units, so I didn't even test it. If it does you could make the monster cloak a sattelite instead of a base. If you wanted that is.

Since it's so easy to cloak you could really make the Monsters tough if you let them colonize. Can you imagine stopping them as they spread acroos the quadrant? Everytime they plant another colony, it disapears!

Geoschmo

[Phoenix-D]

I meant regular cloaks for fighters, not sector

Phoenix-D

[Suicide Junkie]

quote:

---

Since it's so easy to cloak you could really make the Monsters tough if you let them colonize. Can you imagine stopping them as they spread acroos the quadrant? Everytime they plant another colony, it disapears!

---

OOOH... Cool scenario type thingy: a space-time experiment gone wrong, and the universe slowly collapsing around you and your neighbours.
Now that I think about it, there was a ST:TNG episode about that sort of thing.
Heh. When the universe shrunk smaller than the length of the ship, and the forward hull ceased to have ever existed:
Computer: Explosive decompression on deck 10.
Dr Crusher: Cause?
Computer: Structural Design Flaw.

If you made the Space Monsters zero-maintenance, and really good resource extractors, could you get them to build ringworlds, colonize, and "eat" the star too ?