What happened to radar according to ED lore?

[DeletedUser191218]

I'm just wondering why, in the age of faster-than-light travel, we seem to have lost the ability to surface map with radar and are reduced to lobbing probes at planets?

 

[Florenus]

probes travel FTL and radio waves do not?

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Umm...

Nothing? Radar is still around?

 

[Kamiyoda]

Umm...



Nothing? Radar is still around?

I think hes refering to how lore wise every detection method(Including that thing inyour screen shot) is heat based

 

[Florenus]

and I believe he ment upcoming planet scanning mechanics

 

[Trollymctrollerson]

Well since we were able to DSS an entire planet to reveal its contents but for some reason had to lob disposable droids at asteroids, I'd say it only makes sense to use sonar. Make all ships constantly ping like submarines. I know sound doesn't travel in space but we dont have any vacuum. Ships have a top speed so it can't be vacuum.

 

[Tarman]

I'm just wondering why, in the age of faster-than-light travel, we seem to have lost the ability to surface map with radar and are reduced to lobbing probes at planets?

Probably the same reason we actually fly the ships ourselves instead of just remote-piloting like we're going for IRL right now; it's a game. There are tons of things in Elite and many other games that do not make sense in reality, and aren't actually meant to in the first place.

Look at Mechwarrior. Giant fitan robits! Who weigh up to 100 tons, have less scanner range and ability than your cellphone, fight at infantry combat (and even melee) range with particle accelerators and racks of missiles and blow up because they got too hot. Fun, yes. Believable, not even a bit. But cool wins because this is entertainment, not replication of rational systems.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I think hes refering to how lore wise every detection method(Including that thing inyour screen shot) is heat based

Except that it will pick up things like Canisters of Water, Low Temp Diamonds, Gold, Palladium, et. al., in space, which would be what temperature, exactly?

Also pretty sure the SRV's Fish Finder isn't based on heat, as it picks up rocks on airless, ice worlds, which would be what temperature again?

So, lore-wise, I'm going to say that good old-fashioned RADAR is still around, just not quite as useful.

 

[Kamiyoda]

Except that it will pick up things like Canisters of Water, Low Temp Diamonds, Gold, Palladium, et. al., in space, which would be what temperature, exactly?

Also pretty sure the SRV's Fish Finder isn't based on heat, as it picks up rocks on airless, ice worlds, which would be what temperature again?

So, lore-wise, I'm going to say that good old-fashioned RADAR is still around, just not quite as useful.

Probably still colder than a ship using a heatsink or silent running.

I never said it made sense but that is the lore. And it still doesnt make much sense when you throw Radar in there.

Late Edit: And fine, most ship based detection methods for realspace. Better?

 

[Valorin]

Our ship's radar (also, isn't it a lidar?) doesn't have the range for accurately mapping a whole planet. The radar pulses (or laser-grid based) scanning tech of our drones though can do that. There, solved.

 

[Stigbob]

Our ships radar can't penetrate far into the luminiferous aether, so torpedoes were adapated to act as relays thanks to their hydrodynamic properties.

 

[Lunchmoney]

Maybe, at some point in the next 1000 years, humankind has a dark age and many ideas and technologies are lost. Maybe the idea of radar just isn't a thing in the universe anymore.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

What if new probes have nano-radars with a nano radio waves generator?
When the probes "explode" the waves are generated and the nano-radars collect the information and send it to our navigation computer.

 

[babelfisch]

Why do we send little robots to distant planets if we have radar today?
Why do we have little to no idea how the dark site of the moon looks like?

Probes discover all sorts of things, like lifeforms, geological POIs, geysers, volcanic activity, artificial constructs, etc. I'd guess that a single scan mechanic doesn't suffice to reliable find these POIs.

 

[DeletedUser191218]

Why do we send little robots to distant planets if we have radar today?
Why do we have little to no idea how the dark site of the moon looks like?

Probes discover all sorts of things, like lifeforms, geological POIs, geysers, volcanic activity, artificial constructs, etc. I'd guess that a single scan mechanic doesn't suffice to reliable find these POIs.

We don't send probes. We send robotic rovers and the such because they test chemical compositions etc. Radar signal strength also diminishes with distance. It should work fine when you're literally next to the planet though. We actually do use radar today in astronomy but without getting near a planet it isn't accurate enough to map surfaces. When our tech is at the stage of ED though we def won't be relying on throwing probes at planets.

To explain my premise, i find it amusing that people complain about the realism in having unlimited probes but have no issue with the silliness of chucking probes at planets. The whole thing is daft.

 

[Stigbob]

We don't send probes. We send robotic rovers and the such because they test chemical compositions etc. Radar signal strength also diminishes with distance. It should work fine when you're literally next to the planet though. We actually do use radar today in astronomy but without getting near a planet it isn't accurate enough to map surfaces. When our tech is at the stage of ED though we def won't be relying on throwing probes at planets.

To explain my premise, i find it amusing that people complain about the realism in having unlimited probes but have no issue with the silliness of chucking probes at planets. The whole thing is daft.

Its a video game. In death wing nobody actually carries any reloads, yet the floors littered with empty mags and genestealer parts.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

We don't send probes. We send robotic rovers and the such because they test chemical compositions etc. Radar signal strength also diminishes with distance. It should work fine when you're literally next to the planet though. We actually do use radar today in astronomy but without getting near a planet it isn't accurate enough to map surfaces. When our tech is at the stage of ED though we def won't be relying on throwing probes at planets.

To explain my premise, i find it amusing that people complain about the realism in having unlimited probes but have no issue with the silliness of chucking probes at planets. The whole thing is daft.

Those robotic rover are probes. Just land based ones. Lol up what probe means.

 

[MrFailfactory]

If you want to see a jarring technological mismatch, go back and watch the original Robocop movie from the '80's.

We can make this incredible cyborg, but we're still using that computer tech?

Star Wars did a better job of hiding that discrepancy.

Riôt

 

[babelfisch]

We don't send probes. We send robotic rovers and the such because they test chemical compositions etc. Radar signal strength also diminishes with distance. It should work fine when you're literally next to the planet though. We actually do use radar today in astronomy but without getting near a planet it isn't accurate enough to map surfaces. When our tech is at the stage of ED though we def won't be relying on throwing probes at planets.

To explain my premise, i find it amusing that people complain about the realism in having unlimited probes but have no issue with the silliness of chucking probes at planets. The whole thing is daft.

Probes in ED aren't being used to determine the surface features like mountains and canyons and stuff, that's what already happens during the scanning phase. We use them to find alien lifeforms and volcanic activiy and stuff. Using probes for that isn't entirely unrealistic since almost all analysis in the real world relies on several systems and not just one. You can't get a weather forecast by simply looking at a radar. You'll need to have access to all kinds of information about temperature, humidity, wind speeds, cloud movements etc. in order to get results.

 

[DeletedUser191218]

Probes in ED aren't being used to determine the surface features like mountains and canyons and stuff, that's what already happens during the scanning phase. We use them to find alien lifeforms and volcanic activiy and stuff. Using probes for that isn't entirely unrealistic since almost all analysis in the real world relies on several systems and not just one. You can't get a weather forecast by simply looking at a radar. You'll need to have access to all kinds of information about temperature, humidity, wind speeds, cloud movements etc. in order to get results.

Are you sure about this? In the release note i see nothing about finding aliens and doing weather forecasts with them. It says they're used for surface scanning and points of interest.....