Jamming systems rework

[FlyingDebris]

So, here I am, sitting at my base, and I hear a loud noise, and *poof* I get a server message- DFN Ithaca Ion Cannon has killed Buckrogers.
So, I fly out there in a runabout of ours, to see this multi-million dollar megajam ship smeared in half, covered in holes. I am sitting here, scratching my head thinking "well yeah, he was an enemy, but how dafuq did his jamming drop?" So, I did some tests. Apparently, stealth drops when the server desynchs. Now, I ain't complaining, as it has saved our base numerous times in the past few days. However, stealth ships generally look really quite ugly, and are nothing special, other than they can jam and make turrets useless.


So, I have a prettier, more useful, and more realistic way to fix that.

Instead of using a jamming computer, a new system is introduced. Radar blocks that use about the same as one AMC block each are introduced, as a way to scan. Now, these blocks emit a radius, maybe an exponential function that softcaps around 8000m? (Complete guess, no idea how it would work) the more blocks, the higher the range. A single block can scan at average nav range, but more must be added to extend it. This way, existing designs would need virtually no modification, as the power consumption required to work as normal would be negligible at best. Scanner ships might become practical, warning fleets of enemy presences long before they enter nav range of the other ships. So, back to the topic of stealth ships, these new radars can detect anything that is facing them, and reflecting the signal they emit. So, radar block sends out wave, wave gets reflected, radar picks up ship on nav. So, stealth ships would not be power hungry battlecubes, but sleek, powerful, beautiful ships. These ships would require the use of wedges, which would reflect at an odd angle. So, by keeping the flat surfaces pointing in a direction that the other ship's radar does not get a bounce back, makes you invisible on the nav, like a jammer. However, these ships would need to keep that side facing the other ship in order for it to work. Take the F-22, for example. It is a low-observable aircraft, but if it is viewed from a certain angle, it can be detected. This makes the pilot have to come up with creative ways to fly, and think before he goes charging in to a heavily defended area. The OC cloaker would still function as it is, but ships going for full cloak/jam would look a bit more decent.

 

[_Shadowcat_]

I would like to see an expansion in scanning and improvements to radar and cloak jamming. However accurately reproducing real life radar signals seems to be long wind for extreme lag. Perhaps there could be a coronation between radar and cloaking to say angle blocks? The more angle blocks on the ship the more efficient power wise the system becomes.

 

[Imperial_Gold]

This seems like a nerf to not just jamming ships, but jamming+cloak ships as well. The added mass of wedges would make it pretty hard to get a perma jam+cloak ship that can\'t be detected at all. But I have to agree, it\'s most likely for the best.

I like the concept though. But I must add on to something you said:


A single block can scan at average nav range, but more must be added to extend it. This way, existing designs would need virtually no modification, as the power consumption required to work as normal would be negligible at best. Scanner ships might become practical, warning fleets of enemy presences long before they enter nav range of the other ships.


The more radar blocks you add, power should increase significantly. Every ship can have a basic radar system, but not all can detect ships from sectors away. Radar ships would become practical, like you said, and would eventually become necessary.

However, stealth ships would not become:


sleek, powerful, beautiful ships


Instead I imagine them looking like this:



To avoid being seen, people would spam wedges.

(sorry for the crappy drawing but im using a trackpad)

 

[FlyingDebris]

The faces of the block would reflect radar waves within a certain arc.