Missile design question/discussion

[znerg (OP)]

Hey all, I've played a bit of Aurora and have had some success against what I presume are the Precursors.   

This current game, I decided to challenge myself by having a low economic starting position and, as such, I've found myself relying on fighters and light craft more than when I was just starting out.   

So, onto the question:  Is it possible to make self-guided missiles using the sensor settings with the missiles?

I have tried to do so with EM, thermal, and active sensors set to fairly low resolution (<5000t) against Precursor ships that have thermal >1000 and mass >7500t.   These missiles are fired at 110 M km (Gm?) and reach the waypoint at the planet around which the Precursor ships orbit, and proceed to linger a bit and get picked off.   None seem to target or engage the ships there.   

Am I mistaken in thinking that missiles can use sensors?  I know that the precurors, at least in previous games, have had pretty robust ECM, but even if they have 70% knockdown, the missiles should still see them when at the same planet.

So, what am I doing wrong?  Is what I am thinking possible?

[Barkhorn]

Missile sensors tend to be good for nothing but selecting a new target if the original one is destroyed.  I guess designated sensor buoys are ok too, but fire-and-forget missiles in Aurora are typically no good.

[Erik L]

Just remember, missile sensors tend to be really myopic.

[andyr91]

I ran into the same problem when I used missiles with on-board sensors initially.  Using a stealth ship with its active sensors off, I had targeted a waypoint at the enemy ship's thermal contact and fired the missiles, but even after acquiring the targets on their active sensors, the missiles just went to the waypoints and remained there until they ran out of fuel.  

I was able to solve this by setting a waypoint on the target's position, firing the missiles at the waypoint, and then deleting the waypoint while the missiles were en route.   The missiles would then continue to the last known position of their target (the deleted waypoint) until they locked onto a new target using their on-board sensors.  

It's worked pretty well for me so far, but my missiles were designed to have a very wide search range (over 15m km at a resolution of 100) to allow my stealth ship to engage enemies without using its active sensors.

[znerg (OP)]

andyR91, thank you - that solved the problem.   I do not, however, have good sensors yet, so while it works, it is a real chore managing the strikes.   

On the other hand, I am guardedly optimistic that conventional, active sensor strikes will be successful at this point.

Thanks for the tips, everybody.