nonono, you misunderstand, the eye is proof that the sensor the other ship is using is active, if the other ship was using a passive sensor it would be impossible to know you have been detected, therefore if you can tell that they see you (by seeing the eye symbol) you must have been detected by an active scanner. (you're correct that detecting an enemy active scanner is a form of passive scanning, i suppose, and if thats what was meant by passive scanning previously, i recinde my dislike for it.)
but just to be clear, that really shouldnt be refered to as scanning at all as it would just cause confusion, better to call it counter-scanning or something.
active scanning: sending out a signal and listening for it to bounce off an enemy ship (advantage: easy to detect enemies, even quite far away, disadvantage:enemy knows if you spot them)
passive scanning: listening for ambient signals (eg light) bouncing off the enemy or energy/heat signitures/radio chatter from the enemy. (advantage: impossible to detect, disadvantage:doesnt always work, in alleg its non-existant)
counter-scanning:detecting an active scan of your own vehicle (eg getting a flash of radio waves from a radar), meaning you dont know where the enemy is, but know that they can see you (the eye/submarine ping)
Active/Passive Sensors
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finnbryant
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Last edited by finnbryant on Sat Jul 11, 2009 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Clay_Pigeon
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We already have active/passive sensors.
Active = I see you
Passive = Someone sees me
Allowing people to disable active sensors would be a boon to tp2 scouts and sbs, and really, do those need to be any more powerful than they already are?
-T
Active = I see you
Passive = Someone sees me
Allowing people to disable active sensors would be a boon to tp2 scouts and sbs, and really, do those need to be any more powerful than they already are?
-T
"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." -2 Cor 12:9
"Never know how long I've waited, anticipated your smile pressed against mine." -Running
It'd be a "boon" to any low sig ship, as they could actually go in completely unnoticed. And about the tp2 and sbs, I don't see why not. I regard it as unfair to force stealth ships to tell everyone that they are around. "Hey see that Eye? Please drop PP and kill me! Please!"
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How about, if you disengage your sensors, you lose the ability to see the "eye" indicator, too? That'd make it a bit fairer, no? You shut down your sensors, you become more stealthy and can't give anyone eye, but you now have absolutely *no* warning when a pulse probe scout is zeroing in on you. It's a big gamble that pilots have to decide whether they want to take or not.
Last edited by Makida on Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.