[RT]

Okay, that's something I've noticed for a long, long time, be it in BCM, UC, UC:AWA, UC:SE and UC:CE, but never reported.

So, let's say it's mainly a UC:CE post.



Well, on page 15 of the UC:CE manual, you can read (about the EMD jammer):

Quote

The EMD is a missile jammer. When activated, it produces interference on the ship’s
systems and you cannot launch missiles. The EMD integrity must be 20% or higher for it to
function. The higher the EMD integrity, the more effective it is. There is also a higher
probability of it jamming any incoming missiles causing them to fly in a straight line as long
as the EMD is active.

All right, I have some issues, as in I'm not getting the expected results.

Let's read again and comment this time.

Quote

The EMD is a missile jammer.

Okay, pretty obvious. No problem.

Quote

When activated, it produces interference on the ship’s
systems and you cannot launch missiles.

There again, no problem. Actaully I could nitpick and say the EMD jammer breaks your missile's lock (which then switchs back to SCAN mode)

Quote

The EMD integrity must be 20% or higher for it to
function. The higher the EMD integrity, the more effective it is.

I must admit I never noticed my EMD jammer getting damaged but that's because I usually have better things to do in the heat of a fight, so I'll assume this to be true.

Quote

There is also a higher probability of it jamming any incoming missiles

Well, this is the real problem. The EMD jammer (when at 100% integrity) NEVER FAILS at jamming a missile using CTL, ATL, ATL/V, VSL and even ASL guindance.

Quote

... causing them to fly in a straight line as long as the EMD is active.

This is the second problem. Jammed missiles wont simply fly in a straight line with broken lock as long as the jammer is on. They will instead spin around like hell at insane speeds, in a matter of seconds the missile will be like several hundred thousand klicks away, another second later it will be back 7000km away, then again it will cross the whole planetary system in a few seconds. That behavior is definitely not the behavior described in the manual.

So, to sum it up, two issues here: EMD jammer makes you 100% missile-proof (at 100% integrity at least. I don't know about damaged EMD yet) AND jammed missiles don't go in a straight line as they should according to the manual. This has ruined my fun with missiles for really, really long now since missiles aren't as dangerous as they should (who seriously cares about missiles? They are barely an annoyance, whenever you hear mother scream "missile launch detected", just press the jammer key for a second and your problems are gone. Of course, when flying a gunship, a transport or driving a ground vehicle and get a missile launch warning you're in real trouble).

Now here's how to recreate the 'issue' (under UC:CE).

-Launch IA0201
-Fly to 'To Pluto' so that ennemy fighters don't jump to you while you're still under the protection of Galcom HQ PTAs.
-Order Friendly01 and 02 to RTB, you don't want the ennemy fighters to shoot them instead of you !
-Fly around a bit, they'll soon send you a couple missiles. When you get a launch warning, get your speed down to 0 (so that you're an easy target ) press U to target the nearest hostile missile. It should be directed at you. Watch closely the range closing, then press J to jam the missile. Range will soon skyrocket, going up to 30 000 in no time. And of course there's no such thing as 'straight trajectory'.

You can witness the same behavior with ATA and SAM missiles when planet-side. Of course the odds are way higher that the missile will hit the ground when buzzing all around before it can get that far, but I managed to get some nice results: http://img150.images...photo028vs8.png
Notice the altitude and the speed of that ATA Seeker (high speed for such a missile is 3.5km/s).

[Supreme Cmdr]

This is not a tech support issue.

The EMD works exactly as designed. You don't have to use it.

*moved*

[RT]

All right then, point taken, the EMD works as designed, I was just worried to see such a difference from what the manual states and what actually happens in game.

[Supreme Cmdr]

RT, on Oct 1 2008, 09:45 AM, said:

All right then, point taken, the EMD works as designed, I was just worried to see such a difference from what the manual states and what actually happens in game.

The manual states exactly what happens in the game. Your observation doesn't make it any more or less flawed.

A missile that is jammed can behave in any number of ways due to a number of factors that may be in play. The straight line trajectory or spinning is an indication of a missile that has lost its target lock. The jamming tech behind the EMD is designed to do just that "cause a missile to lose its lock". Whether the missile flies in a straight line, spins, buries into a mountain or dance a jig when it does lose its lock, is patently irrelevant.

[RT]

Look SC, I don't mean to argue with you I know it's a waste of everybody's time.
I take it that the EMD jammer isn't flawed and works as designed, but jammed missiles definitely don't act like they are the manual says they should ie, fly in a straight line. They DONT, they spin around helplessly flying at insanely high speeds. That's definitely contradicting the manual.

Well, the case is closed for me, I'll try and learn to dodge missiles without using the jammer.

[Serondal]

One strange thing that I personally have noticed is that if a missle is launched at you, then you jam it, it will go ape shit like RT says. THEN if you hit the EMD again the missle will come screaming at you until you turn the EMD off, then it will lose lock again. I noticed this once when I had several launchs in a row but had the first missle targeted. It's like the missle homes in on the EMD after you jam it the first time. I've watched it come from about 2 r away and suddenly be less than .1 klicks or whatever you wanna call it. I turn the jammer off and WOOSH it's gone again. In my mind I always just thought of this as an ingenious way for the missle to relock onto the target that jammed it The effect though, is I had 4 or 5 missles dancing around me every time I turned the EMD on and off, was very interesting looking on the radar screen lol.

[Supreme Cmdr]

The jam on a missile is not perpetual. If you disable the EMD or it times out, the missile can still re-acquire the target. Again, that depends on a variety of factors, including the type of missile.

Missiles either (1) fly in a straight line or (2) spiral out of control, if their previous target turns on EMD and they lose their lock. Nothing to argue about here; especially since that code hasn't changed since BCM. But do feel free to argue amongst yourselves.

[Serondal]

In my case the missle lost lock when I turned it on the first time. I just pulsed it once to break the lock then the missle went off into outer space. then I turned EMD back on and the missle came at me again and almost hit me but when I turned it OFF the missle went AWAY again. I'll have to see if I can repeat that. One should note that after the initial beeping sound from the locked missle stopped it never started again so the missle lost lock right away and never offical got it back but it still came after me with my EMD on and got extremly close before I turned it off again.


So in effect if you just leave your EMD on you're 100% missle proof but at the same time you can't fire any missles either ? There is no penality for leaving it on for a long time?

[Supreme Cmdr]

You clearly don't know how the EMD works. You might want to actually read the manual again.

[Serondal]

I'm certainly not saying the EMD doesn't work and I do know how it works All I'm really saying is that it has some interesting effect on missles. I tested it last night and I was able to repeat what had happened before. Once I break the missle lock if I hit the EMD on again the missle comes flying back at me, but doesn't hit me. It goes right past and off in the oppiste direction. Any how I will drop it and just enjoy making the missles dance around me (Though last night I messed up a bit and did something that caused a bunch of missles to stack with each other, then aquire lock all at the same time. It ripped my shields and armor down to 0% but somehow only destroyed my cloning module lol. Whatever ;P ) gnight guys and have a good day.

[Supreme Cmdr]

If you read - and understood the manual - then you should know that most missiles have the ability to re-acquire depending on how long before the EMD jammer was deactivated and if the missile has the ability to burn through it. And if you [foolishly] think that you are the only one with access to advanced missiles or that the NPCs don't know what they're doing, then you're just that: foolish.

UCCE manual

Quote

ELECTRO MAGNETIC DISRUPTOR (EMD)
The EMD is a missile jammer. When activated, it produces interference on the ship’s systems and you cannot launch missiles. The EMD integrity must be 20% or higher for it to function. The higher the EMD integrity, the more effective it is. There is also a higher probability of it jamming any incoming missiles causing them to fly in a straight line as long as the EMD is active. You can click on the icon to turn the system on or off.
If the EMD is enabled, the NID, TRS and VDD will display static noise and all missile locks will be lost.

UCCE tutorial

Quote

Some missiles have a video camera that shows you what the missile itself sees. These type of missiles have better tracking and are less prone to EMD jamming as they can burn through it by temporarily turning off their radar seeker in order to fool the jammer into thinking that the threat has been neutralized.
...

EMD JAMMER: The Electromagnetic Disruptor is usually very effective in jamming missiles. However, its effectiveness is reduced with continued use. Normally, you would activate the EMD jammer (J) when a missile is close enough for your proximity warning to starting beeping. Activate the EMD and then make a radical course change otherwise, even while jammed, if the missile ends up being spoofed and then stops tracking and flies in a straight line, you will still get hit.

[Serondal]

Ahhhhh!!! That explains it. the part in the UC:CE tutorial you posted about how it can trick you by turning off its radar, that makes sense now. -allows brain bashing- I'll siddown lol