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Detection Ranges


Tinjaw
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I am a newcomer to this game so please be gentle. :-)

I looked at the manual appendix at the maximum radar ranges and they don't seem all that far relative to the size of the space covered in the game. It seems that I detect ships much farther than my radar should allow. And the flip side to that is that I am detected by other craft when I should be out of their radar range. What am I missing? How come I can't sneak around like I think I should be able to?

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Radar range is greater than your weapons launch range. The tracking and locked indications have little to do with how far your radar can detect and display a target ... and a lot to do with the effective range of your missiles.

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quote:

Radar range is greater than your weapons launch range. The tracking and locked indications have little to do with how far your radar can detect and display a target ... and a lot to do with the effective range of your missiles.

I understand that tracking, locking, and effective ranges are less than maximum ranges (just like in the real world or combat flight simulators). But let's look at an example. The maximum radar range for a Megaron carrier is 150 km. But when playing a brand new ACM campaign game I can see ships at distances greater than 10,000 km. And enemy ships will be launched to attack me when there are no enemy ships within 1,000 km of me, so how was I detected?

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What Marvin said, plus...

You have active and passive radar ranges

The max radar range in space is 250km and stations have a higher radar range.

And I know for a FACT that you cannot be intercepted or acquired unless you are within the radar range of *something*. If this were not the case, for e.g. when you jump into regions where the jump anomaly [you emerged from] is out of the range of the station, you would be immediately intercepted. So, saying that you are engaged when you don't see anything within 1,000km is rubbish, since you have NO idea of what engaged you. Just because you don't know what engaged you, doesn't mean it wasn't valid. And then there are cloaked ships.

It also works completely differently on the planet since that takes into account altitude, speed etc

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Thank you for the reply. I assumed most of what you both posted and was looking for clarification/confirmation - which your posting provided. I also assme that the A.I. will tend to put scouts around jump points for just such a purpose. I am interested in such information because , as a newbie commander, I am attempting to avoid combat in many situations. I don't have enough minerals to fly around cloaked all the time and assumed using only passive sensors would help. Any other tips?

Are all hyperjumps detectable via passive means?

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quote:

Originally posted by Tinjaw:

Any other tips?

Looking for tips on any gameplay issue? Check out the Tips, Tricks & Techniques forum here in the Game Discussions category. Plus, if you have not already done so, set your forum profile to show all topics by default.

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  • 2 weeks later...

*Blinks at the above, and simply looks slightly confused.*

From what I've gathered, the original question asked makes this point...

Radar ranges range around something like 150 Km... yet ships are detected FAR beyond that range at 10,000 PLUS kilometers.

An example of this would be you sitting around at a station, when you pick up a ship jumping into system over twenty thousand kilometers away at the jump gate.

"And I know for a FACT that you cannot be intercepted or acquired unless you are within the radar range of *something*. "

-Supreme Commander has Spoken

Does this count only for AI ships? Do AI ships only pick you up on their sensors if you come INSIDE this radar range? You seem to confirm this If so, why is it you can detect THEM, even when they aren't near anything. (AI not even near friendlies or neutrals.) Is it because the station detects them at that range?

"You have active and passive radar ranges"

-Supreme Commander has spoken.

As for this, what is the purpose of active and passive in game? I do not note any active, or passive sensor controls. (Unless of course, the Active is the AIR and GROUND sections of the radar... but that makes no sense, and is more than likely rubbish since they are of no use is SPACE.) I could see active radar pulses as something that would give you away, and the ability to turn them off would make you more or less on 'silent running' ... Rubbish asside, is the active/passive sensors any use? Or am I just looking too far into things?

*Sits back and awaits The Word from Supreme Commander. Or perhaps the oncoming SMITE.*

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To switch from active to passive radard modes just press the "R" key... and for a more specific description you can find it on the manual.

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As always, good info here. However, I would like to repeat one of my earlier questions that wasn't directly addressed.

Are all hyperjumps detectable? (As some kind of disturbance in the time-space continuum, or whatever) And via passive means or only active?

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quote:

Originally posted by DennyMala:

To switch from active to passive radard modes just press the "R" key... and for a more specific description you can find it on the manual.

Ah... I missed that page appearantly... (I skimmed the booklet, since I had the first BC game waaaaaaaay back when... I reviewed it to refamilliarize myself more with controls than anything.) ...Upon checking the booklet, I found the refered to information. However, it still leaves me kind of sketchy as to if, for example, I jump into a hostile system with PASSIVE scanning toggled, and I'm not picked up on their scanners thanks to that. I'll be more in depth later... I got to head to work, and there's a storm brewing outside. (Can hear the thunder rumbling at me. It's saying 'Get out... GET OUT!!!')

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The general rule for active and passive sensors is that you can always detect ACTIVE sensors MUCH farther away than you could something that wasn't trying to scan you with anything. The real joy lies in the fact that the enemy is broadcasting their position and probably can't detect little ol passive you while you can detect them.

Let me get all Mr. Wizard...... say that nasty gammy jumps in system with active sensors. Now, the max range is what? 150km or whatever? Now that's just for the sensors on that ship to read the RETURNS (the energy bouncing off those objects and coming back to the ship). The energy that said sensors are throwing out there keeps going and going, and that's what you can pick up, far beyond your normal detection ranges. Of course it works both ways, so when you run around with your active sensors on, everyone can see you.

Of course how the model works exactly in UC is something only the SC knows.

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IIRC the images and data you can see from your craft (the bridgeviewer is not a glass windshield...it's a big screen) are not only a direct elaboration of what your CC can scan and gather, but also the visualization of the datas you pick up from the alliance net system wich continously share the infos from all asset and probes deployed in the galaxy.

This will explain why you can detect objects at longer ranges...

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in the UC manual, it says Alert (active) radar scans the WHOLE sector, or 250km on a planet. so in space your radar picks up everything except cloaked ships which blends the ship in with spaces background noise

Passive is only effective to 5km on a planet, but active radar can be detected up to 250km. whats the effective range in space i dont know, but my guess is the whole sector

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi, i just started play playinng this game for a month.

But i work for the navy and the principle behind radars (active and passive) is this. Both (active and passive) listens (Detects) the radio waves form the radar from everyone. The active also sends out radio waves which can be detected buy othere people. it just the kind of radar and power output the detrimes how far you can get a the signature form the radar bounce. the detection ranges are mor for the missile locks and when they can be fired.

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