Specific vs common sensors ?

[tbontob]

Dogscoff say:

And ECM - that was mentioned earlier. Each ship that you want to make hard to hit should have an ECM.

Quite right...forgot about ECM

When this is all said and done, I am thinking of putting this all together in one easy to read list.

[tbontob]

Re:

Hit the Edit Post button.

Found it under the "Edit" button

[Suicide Junkie]

Now for the practicalities….
1) Long Range Scanners
...

When you are in combat, you can see the components and cargo of a ship no matter what. In these cases, "long range" scanners are redundant, and Scanner Jammers are defeated.
In fact, cloaked ships in the same sector as a combat will also be detected. (If no combat occurs, the cloaked ships can slip past unnoticed)

quote:

---

2) You also say

-------b) cloak our fleet
No. You need either Stealth Armor or a Cloaking Device on each ship to cloak the fleet. Scanners only defeat enemy cloaks, not cloak your own ships.

Yes like scattering armor to defeat long range scanners and stealth armor to defeat level 1 active/passive scanners

Could you list the various devices which are available to cloak a ship and to defeat the probes of enemy ships?

---

He did.
Stealth armor.... or "Cloaking Device". That's it in the unmodded game.
Storms can add cloaking, but they aren't a device.

[ August 15, 2002, 16:40: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[tbontob]

Suicide Junkie says:

When you are in combat, you can see the components and cargo of a ship no matter what. In these cases, "long range" scanners are redundant, and Scanner Jammers are defeated

Hmmmm...then long range scanners and scanner jammers only have a use prior to combat? Like whether to flee or attempt to engage in combat?

In fact, cloaked ships in the same sector as a combat will also be detected. (If no combat occurs, the cloaked ships can slip past unnoticed)

By detected, I assume you mean their components and cargo are shown.

He did.
Stealth armor.... or "Cloaking Device".

You are right...I didn't realize the "cloaking device" was a real component and thought Fyron was using it in a generic way to refer to a class of cloaking devices.

[Fyron]

Hmmmm...then long range scanners and scanner jammers only have a use prior to combat? Like whether to flee or attempt to engage in combat?

Once you have encountered a ship design in combat once, you can always see it's design later. So, scanner jammers on non-cargo ships are only useful for brand-new, top secret designs. Once you use the ships, the enemy will always be able to know their designs. After the enemy has seen your ships in combat, the only thing that the scanner jammer can do is prevent them from seeing if your ships are damaged or not and what cargo (if any) they carry.

By detected, I assume you mean their components and cargo are shown.

Cloaked ships are hidden on the strategic map outside of combat (unless the enemy has an appropriate level tachyon-type scanner, of course). Once in combat, the cloaking device does nothing for the ship. Stealth Armor still provides the +5, 10 or 15 to hit penalty, but the cloaking aspect doesn't function during combat.

[tbontob]

Fyron says:

Once you have encountered a ship design in combat once, you can always see it's design later. So, scanner jammers on non-cargo ships are only useful for brand-new, top secret designs. Once you use the ships, the enemy will always be able to know their designs. After the enemy has seen your ships in combat, the only thing that the scanner jammer can do is prevent them from seeing if your ships are damaged or not and what cargo (if any) they carry.

Fascinating! I was going to post the results of my discussion with you guys but that is going to have to wait until digest this and reformat my presentation.

[tbontob]

So if I understand the import of Fyrons recent post...

Only one Long Range Scanner is necessary per system to scan ships in a system.

A Scanner Jammer is necessary on each ship if one wants to prevent an opponent from discovering its components. Once battle takes place, the components of the design is known to that race. I assume the scanner jammer still serves its purpose for other races...it would be illogical for them to know the design too since they have not encountered it.

Your point of masking the damage could be an important point as well. Does the AI remember the damage it inflicted in a battle? And is it a factor in it deciding whether to resume the conflict?

I can see where a player may want to do a minor upgrade in order to present a new ship design to the Long Range Scanner.

[ August 15, 2002, 20:39: Message edited by: tbontob ]

[Arkcon]

Originally posted by tbontob:
So if I understand the import of Fyrons recent post...

Only one Long Range Scanner is necessary per system to scan ships without a Scanner Jammer.

Just remember, at level 1 the scanner range is only 1 square. At level 2, 3 squares. If you want to spy on a certain ship, you may have trouble getting close to it -- esp. on simultaneous. The level 3 scanner reaches 5 squares. So I don't know if having it in the corner square of the solar system would let you scan the diagonal opposite square. You won't often miss a ship on level 3, but it could happen if someone was trying real hard.

Edit: Just made that a little clearer by changing one word

[ August 15, 2002, 21:31: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

[tbontob]

Arcon says:

Just remember, at level 1 the scanner range is only 1 square. At level 2, 3 squares. If you want to spy on a certain ship, you may have trouble getting close to it -- esp. on simultaneous. The level 3 scanner reaches 5 squares. So I don't know if having it in one square of the solar system would let you scan the diagonal opposite square. You won't often miss a ship on level 3, but it could happen if someone was trying real hard.

Something else I didn't know!

[Stone Mill]

tbontob, (and all who helped)
May I suggest that your awesome summary of this info be added to the FAQ for Newbies thread?

Perhaps start a section called "SENSORS, SCANNERS, STEALTH and CLOAKING"

Any info contributed there is a great help indeed.