emedlin

Join Date 12/2008

sensors

I read somewhere that even though you can add more sensors to a ship to give a large sensor range that it only really gave you a sensor range of 15 max no matter what it says when building the ship. Is this still the same for the newest version? What other ship parts allow you to add them, but you don't get the benefits after a certain amount? Why doesn't the ship editor warning you about this? I also ran across something about the sensor array that said it can only be added to the ship once. I can add more than one sensor arrays to a ship though. Will only one work and the rest be just a waste of money?

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I know the Survey Module can only be placed once, I never noticed any text stating it for the Sensor Array.

As for the 15 limit, yes it's still in place. After the ability to make a ship with a sensor radii large enough to fill a map I guess SD saw the error in not having a cap.

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Quoting Loupdinour,

reply 1

I know the Survey Module can only be placed once, I never noticed any text stating it for the Sensor Array.

As for the 15 limit, yes it's still in place. After the ability to make a ship with a sensor radii large enough to fill a map I guess SD saw the error in not having a cap.

Nothing beats one HUGE ships stuffed with sensors to keep an eye on the whole universe! I like the 15 parsec cap though, it is the range of one full sector so it makes more sense than other arbitrary numbers. It also makes the Eyes of the Universe Galactic Achievment more valuable. That is, if you like to see things.

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After you complete the research for sensory array the text on the research completed screen says only one per ship. However it appears you can place more than one and they all work. Is this a bug?

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Ok, Sensor Array is the Terran-only tech...which I'm actually not familiar with (don't play Terrans too much) to know even what module it gives.

I'm not at my game computer to look at it, but what does the tech give? If it gives a ship module, what does that mdoule do vs what a normal sensor does?

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I am at work now, but it gives you a ship sensor module that is +2 to senors. I assume, as I haven't looked at the other sensor modules that all races can get, that it is more cost efficient by being smaller, cheaper, and/or more range than the others.

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The trick with sensors range is that it should be dependant on the ship location itself when in fact it is tied up with Planets territorial extent... thus some of the confusion we all "think" happens when considering any sort of cap value (be it 15 maximum or whatever we could fit on bigger Hulls by adding numbers).

I first noticed this weird stuff on Immense maps by sending out a few X-Worlds' SpyShips in the open with their corresponding new Supporter component module (Which has range waaaayyyyy beyond defaults), i then realized that Support & Sensor are not that far off each other's 'gameplay principles" when you're trying to detect anything when these ships are far away from your own ZOC or influence range.

If that feature would be named 'Radar', then the illusion itself would vanish simply for the fact that we instinctively think of Sensors as being an ability to see within a radius rather than a sector based calculation variable to the exact location of the ships as it relates to planets' own sensory range.

Another way to detect this strange "incoherent" area of detection is to turn the mini-map feature on-off a few times while a ship travels outbound (faster moves per turn helps, but that again has to do with the XW engine speeds) and comparing what if anything showed up on the UI revealed by the range applicable at that particular moment.

Besides, EyesoftheUniverse omnipotent maximums bonus never made any sense, to me at all. Otherwise, all previously built ships with sensors WERE a waste and everything afterwards simply means we don't have to put sensors on ships anymore. Okay, the tactical gameplay balance has tilted - gotcha; but, then why have a Cap under these conditions?

Don't forget this IS a turn-based-situation - should it become RTS, then it would make a whole lotta rational difference to have such caps on sensors **and** on range that are also relative to map sizes.

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I don't like hard caps. Is there a reason that Stardock couldn't just make the sensors work in what seems like a "common sense" fashion: i.e., make their range proportional to the square root of their power? That way, you could make an interstellar AWACS if you wanted to, but it would really cost you.

In fact, I wish they'd done something like that with speed too. Instead of just nerfing all the engines to prevent the game-breaking vehicle speeds, they could have kept the engine power the same as it originally was, but make the total speed proportional to the square root of the engine's power. I don't know any more about how FTL physics would work than anybody does, but that system would reflect the way everything else in the real world works.

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If I remember right originally DL did not have an overall sensor cap when it first came out(or maybe it was in the beta, long time ago heh). Due to all the slowdown it was causing by having so much of the map shown at once it was put in. We are talking PCs of three years ago though, so it probably wouldn't be as big a issue now.

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What is the engine cap? Is there a list of caps somewhere?

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Quoting emedlin,

reply 9

What is the engine cap? Is there a list of caps somewhere?

I believe the nerf charge was that engines got a bigger base size and a bigger hull % increase, severly lowering the number of engines you can have on a ship and still have room for other stuff.

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Quoting Shwepie,

reply 10

Quoting emedlin, reply 9What is the engine cap? Is there a list of caps somewhere?

I believe the nerf charge was that engines got a bigger base size and a bigger hull % increase, severly lowering the number of engines you can have on a ship and still have room for other stuff.

They also cost more in DA/TA than DL.

But in answer to your question, emedlin, there is not a "cap" for engines.

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