LRS vs. Planets

[Q]

If you attack the planet with one single drone or the smallest group of fighters, you will get all the information you want. IMHO this is easy enough, so I do not want a long range scanner for planets,

[CW]

Originally posted by TerranC:
How is it too powerful?

Consider the price difference between the ship-mount sensor and a facility, not to mention the production loss the planetary psychic scanner causes by taking up a slot. A 20kT ship-board sensor will give you a range of 5, that's every square except the outer most rows and columns if you put it in the centre on a cheap 2000 minerals satellite! I think the planetary psychic scanner do too little for the cost and never use it!

If you want intel on a planet, just send in a fighter or something equally worthless. Letting you see everything with a simple and cheap sensor makes dull, boring and predictable game play. As I said before, I consider surprises part of the fun.

[Askan Nightbringer]

Of course minefields prevent sending in expendable ships/fighters to see what's at a planet.

I've never used the ship scanners thou. I always attack big fleets with expendable ships to see what's there (only to see the levels of ECM and Sensors)

Scanners for planets seems oddly useful. Might convince players to watch out for their ally's ships as well, and give paranoid border protectionists like me another advantage.

Put it in I say.

Askan

[ July 01, 2002, 04:12: Message edited by: Askan Nightbringer ]

[TerranC]

Askan's idea gave me an idea:

How about make it into a race tech?

This way, people that want the surprises can use the points into something more to what they have in mind, and people who does want the scanners can take the... *Surveillance Experts* racial tech.

[Baron Munchausen]

The 'Psychic Scanner' Facility is a Psychic Facility by default, even if the power it uses is called 'Long Range Scanner - System'. Think what this means. There is some sort of 'Psychic Technology' for viewing the contents of ships anywhere in the system. This might have other uses, you know. Intelligence related uses. I have modded the Psychic Scanner in my game to have another power. It makes Psychic races more resistant to intelligence attacks, which you'd expect them to be anyway. This makes it much more worthwhile and less of a 'lost' facility slot.

Name := Remote Viewer Facility I
Description := Psychic intelligence complex which can detect enemy agents in the system and perform a detailed scan of enemy ships within the system.
Facility Group := Psychic
Facility Family := 97
Roman Numeral := 1
Restrictions := None
Pic Num := 42
Cost Minerals := 20000
Cost Organics := 10000
Cost Radioactives := 20000
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Psychic Technology
Tech Level Req 1 := 3
Number of Abilities := 2
Ability 1 Type := Long Range Scanner - System
Ability 1 Descr := Any ship within the system can be scanned in detail.
Ability 1 Val 1 := 0
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0
Ability 2 Type := Change Bad Intelligence Chance - System
Ability 2 Descr := Decreases the chance of successful sabotage activities in this system (Only one facility per system effective).
Ability 2 Val 1 := -10
Ability 2 Val 2 := 0

Name := Remote Viewer Facility II
Description := Psychic intelligence complex which can detect enemy agents in the system and perform detailed scans of any ships within the system.
Facility Group := Psychic
Facility Family := 97
Roman Numeral := 2
Restrictions := None
Pic Num := 42
Cost Minerals := 10000
Cost Organics := 5000
Cost Radioactives := 10000
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Psychic Technology
Tech Level Req 1 := 4
Number of Abilities := 2
Ability 1 Type := Long Range Scanner - System
Ability 1 Descr := Any ship within the system can be scanned in detail.
Ability 1 Val 1 := 0
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0
Ability 2 Type := Change Bad Intelligence Chance - System
Ability 2 Descr := Decreases the chance of successful sabotage activities in this system (Only one facility per system effective).
Ability 2 Val 1 := -20
Ability 2 Val 2 := 0

Name := Remote Viewer Facility III
Description := Psychic intelligence complex which can detect enemy agents in the system and perform detailed scans of any ships within the system.
Facility Group := Psychic
Facility Family := 97
Roman Numeral := 3
Restrictions := None
Pic Num := 42
Cost Minerals := 5000
Cost Organics := 2500
Cost Radioactives := 5000
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Psychic Technology
Tech Level Req 1 := 5
Number of Abilities := 2
Ability 1 Type := Long Range Scanner - System
Ability 1 Descr := Any ship within the system can be scanned in detail.
Ability 1 Val 1 := 0
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0
Ability 2 Type := Change Bad Intelligence Chance - System
Ability 2 Descr := Decreases the chance of successful sabotage activities in this system (Only one facility per system effective).
Ability 2 Val 1 := -30
Ability 2 Val 2 := 0

[ July 01, 2002, 19:47: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]