Show Posts
16
Development & Discussion / Re: [Suggestion] Communications Officer
« on: June 22, 2017, 11:52:36 AM »
What is Science/Comms? (Part 1)
Before I can answer that question, I need to explain some key concepts in the game.
Core to Universe or Nothing is the concept of information warfare, the idea that the side with the best information will win.
How that is expressed in the game is in your crew's view of the world, which we can break down into three parts: passive, active, and historic/relayed.
The "passive" view is the only real-time view of the world, but it is also the least detailed. Passive is what you can see (what is in visual range) and what your passive sensors pick up (energy and gravitational readings). In this passive view of the world you can get an idea of where a contact is, and maybe what type of thing it is, but you won't know specifics like what equipment it has or what systems it is running. Weapon locks using passive data are also quiet poor, you will be able to hit the target but not with any accuracy (you won't be able to consistently hit the same part of the target, unless it isn't moving).
The "active" view is a ping based view of the world, where you actively scan by sending out pings (like sonar in a submarine). It is close to real-time, with more frequent pings making it more like real-time. This gives you a much more detailed view of the world, depending on scanning strength and variables like the energy signatures of contacts compared to background energy levels. However every ping you send out gives other contacts (including the enemy) more information on your own position, making it risky to do too often.
The "historic/relayed" view is from past data, from earlier active scans/pings (where the contact is no longer visible to you) or from data relayed to you from allied ships or stations (from their own passive/active views). This historic view is generally used for hunting or avoiding enemy ships, by looking at their trajectory in the historic data and go to or away from where you estimate them to be now.
That's part 1, I will reply again later with an explanation of how Science fits into above. Part 3 (the final part) will discuss Comms.
Thanks for reading!
Before I can answer that question, I need to explain some key concepts in the game.
Core to Universe or Nothing is the concept of information warfare, the idea that the side with the best information will win.
How that is expressed in the game is in your crew's view of the world, which we can break down into three parts: passive, active, and historic/relayed.
The "passive" view is the only real-time view of the world, but it is also the least detailed. Passive is what you can see (what is in visual range) and what your passive sensors pick up (energy and gravitational readings). In this passive view of the world you can get an idea of where a contact is, and maybe what type of thing it is, but you won't know specifics like what equipment it has or what systems it is running. Weapon locks using passive data are also quiet poor, you will be able to hit the target but not with any accuracy (you won't be able to consistently hit the same part of the target, unless it isn't moving).
The "active" view is a ping based view of the world, where you actively scan by sending out pings (like sonar in a submarine). It is close to real-time, with more frequent pings making it more like real-time. This gives you a much more detailed view of the world, depending on scanning strength and variables like the energy signatures of contacts compared to background energy levels. However every ping you send out gives other contacts (including the enemy) more information on your own position, making it risky to do too often.
The "historic/relayed" view is from past data, from earlier active scans/pings (where the contact is no longer visible to you) or from data relayed to you from allied ships or stations (from their own passive/active views). This historic view is generally used for hunting or avoiding enemy ships, by looking at their trajectory in the historic data and go to or away from where you estimate them to be now.
That's part 1, I will reply again later with an explanation of how Science fits into above. Part 3 (the final part) will discuss Comms.
Thanks for reading!
