User:LANS/AFSVideo/SigScanCloak

(Time: 0-7, total 7 seconds) Narrator: In this video, you will learn about signature, scan ranges, cloaks, and how to stay hidden from the enemy.

PART 1: THE BASICS

<show typical alleg hud, zoom/pan into signature reading, circle/underline sig in bright red>

(Time: 7-47, total 40 seconds) This is your signature. It is a measure of how visible your ship is to the enemy. Every ship and base in allegiance has a scan range measured in meters. The scan range is the maximum distance at which an enemy ship with a signature of 100% will be detected. Note that signature is a percentage. Thus, if an enemy scout has a scan range of 2,400 metres, and your ship has a signature of 50%, the scout will detect you at 1,200 metres.

<zoom out of hud, zoom into “eye” symbol - make sure its lit>

(Time: 47-1:02, total 15 seconds) This is the “eye” icon. When it shows on your hud, it means the enemy has detected your ship and that you appear on the opposing team’s map. If the eye is not showing, the enemy does not know where you are, cannot target you and cannot see your ship.

(Time: 47-1:02, total 21 seconds) Your signature is affected by your ship type and the items you have equipped. In this Iron Coalition Enhanced Fighter, my base signature – without shield or missiles - is <100%>. When I mount missiles and shield by pressing CTRL+5 and CTRL+7, respectively, my signature will rise.

<mount missiles>

When I mount missiles, my signature jumps by <25> to <125%>.

<mount shields>

When I mount shields, my signature jumps by <50> to <175%>. Both shields and missiles increase my signature. Thus, storing shields and missiles in cargo is important for staying hidden.

<fire guns>

Firing weapons also increases my signature. Note how my signature jumped to <775%> when I fired my guns. Firing one gun results in less of a signature increase than firing two or three guns, and some guns cause more of a signature increase than others.

<boost>

Boosting also increases my signature.

If I want to fly somewhere without being noticed by the enemy, I will dismount my shields and missiles, fly there without boosting or firing my guns.

For example, I want to fly past this Rixian base without being detected.

<show IC fig at edge of map, Rixian outpost in center, no probes/enemy scouts around>

A Rixian outpost has a scan range of 2400 meters. You can find a link to a chart of scan ranges in the description of this video.

In this Iron Coalition scout, without shields or missiles I have a signature of 88%. I multiply the Rixian outpost’s scan range by this percentage, and this tells me that I must fly a minimum of 2112 metres from the base or farther to avoid being eyed. To be on the safe side, I will fly 2200 metres away from the base.

As you can see, when I fly closer than 2112 metres from the base, the eye indicator shows on my HUD.

Normally, you won’t have time to do this math during a game, and you’ll just have to guess how far you can fly from a base. Play it safe by staying far away, and and the enemy won’t see you.

<show loadout screen of SF with cloak, launch>

This is a stealth fighter. Stealth fighters rely on remaining hidden from the enemy and thus rarely mount shield or missiles before they attack. Stealth fighters also carry signature cloaks, which can be toggled by pressing 'k'.

<cloak engaged>

Cloaking reduces a ship’s signature, allowing ships to fly closer to the enemy without being detected than would otherwise be possible. Cloaks do not guarantee invisibility, but rather reduce your signature.

<launch, cloak, and zoom/pan into the inventory. Red circle the amount of time left on the cloak>

Cloaking requires energy to use. This limits the amount of time a ship may remain cloaked. Your inventory lists the amount of time in seconds you may stay cloaked before you run out of energy. If you run out of energy you will still benefit from being cloaked, however the cloaking device will be far less effective than if you have had energy.

Stealth fighter weapons – utility and sniper - require energy to fire. When flying stealth ships, energy management is very important.

<fire utility cannons while cloaked>

Often, an unwary pilot will run out of energy when they need to either kill an enemy ship or cloak and run away. A stealth fighter without energy is a useless sitting duck. This pilot fired his utility cannons while cloaked, thus draining his energy banks. He now has no energy to cloak or fight with. Energy does recharge, but slowly, so make sure you have a full battery before attacking.

PART 3: LINE OF SIGHT AND THE USE OF ASTEROIDS

In allegiance, an object can detect another only if there is direct line of sight between them. An asteroid between your ship and the enemy will keep you from being detected.

<show bomber closing on a base that is behind the asteroid>

This bomber is approaching the base from behind the asteroid. If the bomber keeps the asteroid between itself and the base, the enemy will not detect it. This allows the bomber to begin its attack on the base without alerting defenders.

<bomber moves out from behind asteroid>

The bomber has moved out from behind the asteroid, and has been detected by the enemy.

PART 4: SCAN RANGE IS DIRECTIONAL

Line of sight is also not the same in all directions. The listed scan range relates to the forward scan range of a ship. A ship’s scan range is far less to the sides and aft.

One method of sneaking up on a miner is aligning yourself behind it as it is mining, and approaching from that direction. Notice how this fighter is not detected, even though it is close to the miner - this is because it has approached from the rear. If it had approached from the side, it would be detected and the enemy would have more time to launch miner defence.