| Tachyon Detectors explained |
Tue, 03 August 2004 04:16  |
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Tachyon Detectors
The most common misconception is that TD's are additive - they are not.
The second most common misunderstanding is just how the TD works. The TD does not eliminate the
cloaking of a cloaked ship - it only reduces it.
As a simple example:
Ship A is 75% cloaked
A 100 ly scanner will see this ship anywhere up to 25 ly away.
Ship B has a 100 ly scanner and a tachyon detector
Ship B has reduced the ship A cloaking ability now to 71%
(only when shiip A is in the Ship B scanner range and only for the ship B scanner)
Ship B can now see Ship A within 30 ly
Now, the practical mathematical limit:
On a ship hull in Stars! you will NEVER reduce enemy cloaks by more than 19% of their effective cloaking
and, to get to 19% reduction in cloaking effectiveness you need 17 tachyon detectors. The ONLY hull in
Stars! that can reduce cloaking to 81% effectiveness is the Nubian.
This means, that if a ship was 100% cloaked, it would now be 81% cloaked.
Since cloaking maxes out at 98%, a 98% cloaked ship is now 79% cloaked (0.98 x 0.81).
A 97% cloaked ship would be 78% cloaked (0.97 x 0.81). It is possible that the 97% cloaked ship would
also end up as 79% cloaked since we do not know whether Stars! rounds the cloaking value after
calculating it or truncates the value. Since the actual percentage is 78.57% cloaked, it could still end
up as 79%.
So, the conclusion for Tachyon Detectors is that they will help you see a cloaked enemy but, they do not
make enemy cloaks useless. And, using more than 17 TD's is useless.
[Updated on: Sun, 31 December 2006 02:52]
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| Re: Tachyon Detectors explained |
Tue, 03 August 2004 04:50  |
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I've never seen it work this way - but, since you seem so sure about it I have updated the post and removed the statement.
Ptolemy
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| Re: Tachyon Detectors explained |
Tue, 03 August 2004 09:16 |
|
 LEit |
 | Lt. Commander |
Messages: 879
Registered: April 2003
Location: CT | |
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| Ptolemy wrote on Tue, 03 August 2004 04:16 |
Ship B has reduced the ship A cloaking ability now to 70%
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Nit pick: .75 * .95 = .7125, so it's really 71%
On the merged ship thing: It works, I tested it a long time ago, and it's been used by people in games.
Also, more then 17 MAY be effective. The design screen shows that the % doesn't get any better, but what it does in the game might use a different calculation, and rounding may be a factor. However, the additional benifit is going to be extremely small.
The design I like for tachyon nubians is: 5 slots TDs, 4 slots cloaks, 1 slot shields, 1 slot jets (to speed 2.5), 1 slot scanner (Peerless).
Pen scanning ranges tend to be much lower then space scanning ranges (max of 489ly with 36 elephant scanners), so cloaking is still somewhat effective against TDs while you are in orbit, since with 98% cloaking the scanner needs to be within 97ly. In space they can easily spot a 98% cloaked fleet 200+ly away.
- LEitReport message to a moderator
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| Re: Tachyon Detectors explained |
Tue, 03 August 2004 10:16 |
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| mlaub |
 | Lieutenant |
Messages: 744
Registered: November 2003
Location: MN, USA | |
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| Ptolemy wrote on Tue, 03 August 2004 03:50 |
I've never seen it work this way - but, since you seem so sure about it I have updated the post and removed the statement.
Ptolemy
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Yes, it works that way. Obviously, it takes 2 ship slots to do it. That may be why you have never seen it. Scanners are expensive, and with diminshing returns more isn't that much better. I usually opt to buy combo tach/scanner ships, as you can cover more "area". Meaning, for a little more, or about the same, I have 2 scanner/tach ships, that can be in 2 places...
-Matt
Global Warming - A climatic change eagerly awaited by most Minnesotans.
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| Re: Tachyon Detectors explained |
Tue, 03 August 2004 10:24 |
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| mlaub |
| Lieutenant |
Messages: 744
Registered: November 2003
Location: MN, USA | |
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| LEit wrote on Tue, 03 August 2004 08:16 |
Pen scanning ranges tend to be much lower then space scanning ranges (max of 489ly with 36 elephant scanners), so cloaking is still somewhat effective against TDs while you are in orbit, since with 98% cloaking the scanner needs to be within 97ly. In space they can easily spot a 98% cloaked fleet 200+ly away.
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I use Elephants against SD's. Simply put, they can't cloak the Minlaying hulls well enough to hide around planets. I then target them, expecting a minelaying YoYo. It works quite well, untill they catch on. Some never do, though.
Once they build Nub layers, it is next to impossible to see them at planets. However, if an SD is building Nub layers, I'll usually end up with more warships. 
-Matt
Global Warming - A climatic change eagerly awaited by most Minnesotans.
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| Re: Tachyon Detectors explained |
Tue, 03 August 2004 16:57 |
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Just to put everyones mind at ease - I have tested this and 17 TD's is the absolute useful maximum. Any additional TD's on a nubian are a waste of slots.
Also, 2 Eagle Eye scanners have a combined scan range of 398 Ly (unless the race is NAS). A 500 Ly Peerless scanner on a nubian with 17 tachyon detectors will see a 98% cloaked ship at 105 Ly (If anyone wants proof I'll send testbed files). Therefore, a galleon with 10 TD's and 2 Eagle Eyes will not see a 98% cloaked ship at 120 Ly unless the race is NAS. If the race is NAS with 2 Eagle Eye scanners on the TD ship, a 98% cloaked fleet will be visible 132.932 Ly away.
Ptolemy
[Updated on: Tue, 03 August 2004 16:59]
Though we often ask how and why, we must also do to get the answers to the questions.Report message to a moderator
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Re: Tachyon Detectors explained