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Cikomyr
Cikomyr
Join Date 06/2005
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Cloaking Device

To impliment, or not to impliment?

July 27, 2006 2:38:55 PM from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
I know, I know. 135743 posts about if we should include them into the game.

I though it seriously, and I may have a good idea how to impliment them in a nice way:

Levels of identification:
1- Nothing out here, captain
2- Something appeared on our sensor, Captain. Probably an anomaly
3- There is someone in a cloaking device over there!
4- The cloaking device has a drengin signature.
5- This is the old Battle Frigate X-2 with a class-4 Cloaking device, nothing to worry about, sir.

Cloaking technology/sensor technology would be a new kind of weapon tech tree. If your defensive (sensor) is higher tech than their cloak, you have the upper hand. Vice-Versa. It would mean a new kind of arm race.

Also, the level of identification would depend on 3 factors: Level of Cloak tech, level of sensor tech and distance.

For example: a single sensor mark 5 (pretty advanced) could:

- Level of detection 5 for a Mark-2 Cloak at 5 parsecs
- Level of detection 4 for a mark-2 cloak at 7
- Level of detection 3 for a mark-2 cloak at 9
- Level of detection 2 for a mark-2 cloak at 11
- Level of detection 1 for a mark-2 cloak at 13.

With a simple rule of thumb, you increase the effectiveness of the cloak by 2 parsec for every cloak technology. (5 at 3 parsec, 4 at 5, etc...)

Now, if a cloaked ship manages to get near an ennemy ship while only having a level of detection of 1 or 2, he benefits a "surprise round" (he gets to fire free).

And NOW, this is where it gets interesting: If the ambushed fleet is destroyed within the surprise round, the attacking fleet is NOT identified, and the responsible governement cannot be blamed.

off course, freighter don't have anykind of sensors installed on them, so it would allow piracy. It would force players to escort their freighters.

The AWAC ships would be even more important..
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Cikomyr
Cikomyr
Join Date 06/2005
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Reply #1 July 27, 2006 2:39:12 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
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Cikomyr
Glitch
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #2 July 27, 2006 3:05:15 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
I think this is an excellent idea, however it would ahve to be written into the engine by SD. Hopefully they get included in the expansion, but don't hold your breath. It certainly would give us a reason for including sensors in our ships designs
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Cikomyr
Darth Nihilus
Join Date 05/2006
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Reply #3 July 27, 2006 5:58:21 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
nice idea, and when you said SD you mean a Star Destroyer or Star Dock??? (just kidding)
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Cikomyr
Wilson
Join Date 05/2006
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Reply #4 July 27, 2006 6:10:53 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Yep nice idea, but you might have to remove the second level of identification, because a player won't be fooled late in the game when an 'anomaly' appears on a ship's scanners.
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Cikomyr
Cikomyr
Join Date 06/2005
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Reply #5 July 27, 2006 6:44:12 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Anomalies do crop out randomly during the map, no?
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Cikomyr
Marcathonas
Join Date 01/2006
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Reply #6 July 27, 2006 7:31:45 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
No. At least, I don't remember it being implemented.
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Cikomyr
Cikomyr
Join Date 06/2005
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Reply #7 July 27, 2006 10:09:34 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Maybe I was hallucinating, but I remember, in a game, anomalies cropped near the altarian territory, and my 4 survey ship raced to conquer them all..
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Cikomyr
NerdzRool81
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #8 July 27, 2006 10:42:21 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Very well thought out idea. Of course, it would make privateering a fittingly dangerous task. As said however, anomolies don't appear out of nowhere, and they certainly don't move! Instead, here's my idea for modified levels 2 and 3

2- Ship or fleet detected. No further info availible; just that *something* is out there.
3- Gives information of amount of ships and size of ship or ships. It would say of a fleet, for instance, "1 large, 3 medium, 7 small, 10 tiny." But other than amount and size, no data on ownership, strength, et cetera, would be availible. It could be a bluff; they might be cheap, barely-armed hulks with extra cloaking for an illusion. Or you could be staring at an armed and armored space fleet perfectly capable of crushing your own forces in the area within a second.

EDIT: More on cloaks. For a sneak attack, the cloaked ship should only have to start it's turn out invisible to it's victim, and be able to detect the ship it's attacking with it's own sensors at turn's start. If they can't see you when they hit the "turn" button, and you can see them, they gone! Of course, if you randomly spot them cruising, your ship wouldn't be moving in with concern for stealth, and it'd probably show up on their viewscreens. Another reason for fast, sensitive interceptors. Secondly, cloaking devices should be ignored for allies; you wouldn't hide from your friends, would you? And finally, to give starbases more usefulness, their sensors should get an advantage in detecting cloaks.
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Cikomyr
Shadow
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #9 July 28, 2006 1:03:55 AM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
If the idea was implemented, planets should have a 4-parasec circle of level-5 identification regardless at the start of the game regardless of all other factors (so many observatories and potential places for telescoping, plus orbital telescopes, that it becomes almost impossible to surprise a planet early on). Starbases should have a 2-parasec circle of level-5 identification, but their sensor improvements should add twice as much as ships (because starbases are very large, stationary objects that have no need for engines and are focused less on combat than on strategic asisstance).
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Cikomyr
Cikomyr
Join Date 06/2005
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Reply #10 July 28, 2006 1:27:22 AM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
a starbase will have sensors if you decide to build some on them. same for planets. Planets will have sensor array only if you build some. I don'T see why a ship could not orbiting a planet, unknown to all...

In Birth of the Federation, you could build an improvement on a planet that gaved sensor power. Really usefull for worlds at the border of the Romulan Empire.

edit: to correct mistake and add last paragraph.
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