At the moment, an active sensor cannot see anything smaller than its resolution. Increasing the resolution of a sensor allows greater range for the same sensor strength but will miss smaller targets. Decreasing resolution allows the detection of smaller targets but reduces the overall range. In v2.5, a new dimension is added with the introduction of a secondary active sensor mode. This is researched as a General Science tech which has two values, one for modified strength and one for modified resolution. The basic level of the tech is called "Secondary Active Sensor STR 20% RES 90%" and can be researched after you reach the third level of active sensor strength tech.
This tech provides an automatic secondary mode to any active sensor you design. For example, if you have the second level of the new tech, which is called "Secondary Active Sensor STR 25% RES 80%", and you design an active sensor with strength 48, resolution 40 and range 19.2m km, that sensor will have a built-in secondary mode with a strength of 12, a resolution of 32 and a range of 3.84m km. As you progress along this tech line, the secondary modes will provide greater strengths and smaller resolutions. This secondary mode functions automtically when the sensor is turned on. From a player perspective all you need to do is research the new tech line and, in addition to their primary mode, your active sensors will have a chance of detecting smaller targets at closer ranges.
Here is a ship with three different active sensors, showing secondary modes:
Guisarme class Support Vessel 6000 tons 556 Crew 978.6 BP TCS 120 TH 480 EM 0
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1 Shields 0-0 Sensors 18/15/0/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 0
Replacement Parts 10
Navarre J600 Jump Drive Max Ship Size 6000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Daumont Ion Engine (8) Power 60 Efficiency 0.70 Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 690,000 Litres Range 709.7 billion km (2053 days at full power)
Recherche-128 Long Range Search Sensor (1) GPS 10240 Range 102.4m km Resolution 80
Secondary Mode: GPS 2048 Range 20.5m km Resolution 64
Recherche-48 Search Sensor (1) GPS 2160 Range 21.6m km Resolution 45
Secondary Mode: GPS 432 Range 4.3m km Resolution 36
N1 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 240 Range 2.4m km Resolution 15
Secondary Mode: GPS 48 Range 480k km Resolution 12
Janvier-18 Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 18 Detect Strength 1000: 18m km
Fregnier-15 Electromagnetic Sensor (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Strength 1000: 15m km
I have also changed the thermal and EM lines to show the range at which they would detect a strength 1000 signature as that will probably be more meaningful.
Steve
