Fog of War and already colonized planets...

[Slick]

To me, it's the principle of it. Yes, launching a small satellite with a sensor on it will do the trick. It does have to be replaced/assisted each time new techs are obtained. Is it "realistic" in-game? I don't think so. blah, blah, atmospheric interference, blah blah, Hubble, blah blah...

I'd just rather that planets automatically be upgraded to the latest sensors.

[Suicide Junkie]

It is easy enough to put the sensor ability on all facilities...
Use Get_Empire_Tech_level("sensors").

Then, as long as your planet isn't a completely barren backwater mudball, you'll get the sensors.

[PDF]

I totally agree. Is "fixing" the problem of the "disappearing enemy colonies" planned for an update ?
I find it totally bothersome ...and stupid, what a weird idea to have the game "lose" all sightings when you leave !

[President_Elect_Shang]

Suicide Junkie said:
It is easy enough to put the sensor ability on all facilities...
Use Get_Empire_Tech_level("sensors").

SJ unless I’m mistaking that will only return the current level in “Sensors” for that empire, not give the planet the same sight ability as say Basic Sensors or Long Range Scanners. And unless I am totally reading the thread wrong I thought that is what we were talking about; giving a planet the same sight range of the highest tech component of the empire without building a satellite. Also note that this will not work if a mod does not use “Sensors”, say for instance if it uses “Scanners” in place of.

[Baron Munchausen]

Yeah, you'd need to give the facilities the "Sight Level" and "Sight Range" abilities. He's just pointing out how you'd get the default level of sensors for your empire instead of the level of the facility.

[President_Elect_Shang]

Oh right, I kind of thought that was a given but then again the best way to solve a problem is to state all elements that need to go into it. I’m on track now.

[President_Elect_Shang]

I just thought of something while answering a question about adjusting the research. I wonder if you can’t adjust the “Number Of Population Modifiers” in the Settings.txt to affect the range and sight level of a planet. It wouldn’t reflect the highest level of the empires abilities but if it can be done it would mean planets would have the ability. It would also mean that planets that have been sterilized would no longer give you the ability to see what is going on; realistic as no one is there to observe and report back. If a facility has the ability it would still allow you to see into the surrounding space even though no one is left alive on the planet.

Ok very tired now; can’t think; must sleep; tomorrow all!

[eddieballgame]

Baal said:
This not a feature (yet). You never can see things out of your site, even colonies you know were there.

I, for one, like this feature. Any "in game" feature that reflects realism without "hurting" game play is a big plus.(opinion)

[Phoenix-D]

Its not realism. We don't forget where Germany is just because we can't see it at the moment.

A sensor ghost would be ideal. You get exactly the same info as the last time you saw it, with the colony being greyed out or something to indicate it isn't current data.

[President_Elect_Shang]

Phoenix-D said:
...We don't forget where Germany is just because we can't see it at the moment...

Ha-ha-ha; You must not have kids in the U.S. school system! Some of them can’t even name 25 of the 50 States; and that’s assuming they KNOW there’s 50 States!