I sometimes do a bit of player piracy and couldn't help noticing how useless the wake scanner is when trying to follow players that have high waked on you. My pirate clipper only has a 14Ly jump range, which most of the time isn't good enough to follow a cargo ship after it has high waked. So then I have to go into the galaxy map and plot a route, and by the time I arrive in system the player is long gone. So I had an idea which I think would improve the process of chasing a player.
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First of all you would still have to have a wake scanner fitted to follow a player, and you would still need to scan the wake signature. After the scan has completed you start the frame shift drive like you do when jumping to another system. Once the FSD has charged instead of the normal jump screen, you enter into a witch space tunnel with a target vector which you have to follow (a bit like the interdiction mechanic). By following the target vector you are basically following the path that the player's ship took through witch space.
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During this time you will need to keep your ship aligned with the target vector to successfully arrive in the system the player jumped to. The target vector will be constantly moving similar to an interdiction. The further the player jumped, the more time you will need to spend following the target vector. If the player jumped to a system that exceeds your ship's jump range you will still be able to follow them through witch space. However, your ship hull and mudules will take damage during this process. The amount of damage taken depends on the difference between the distance to the system the trader jumped to, and the pirate ship's maximum jump range. For example, if the trader jumped to a system 25Ly away and the pirate ship has a jump range of 12Ly, then the pirate ship would take a fair amount of damage by following the trader. If the system is within the pirate ship's jump range then no damage is taken. Also, the larger the difference between the system the trader jumped to and pirate ship's maximum jump range, the harder it will be to follow the target vector in witch space.
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If you navigate the witch space tunnel successfully you drop out at the main star of the system the player jumped to, and can continue your pursuit. If you fail to navigate the witch space tunnel successfully, then you drop into normal space between systems, maybe taking hull and module damage in the process. You will then need to select a nearby system to jump to once the fsd cool down has finished.
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I think this mechanic, or something along these lines, would make chasing players from system to system far more viable and a lot more fun. Feel free to pick holes in it
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First of all you would still have to have a wake scanner fitted to follow a player, and you would still need to scan the wake signature. After the scan has completed you start the frame shift drive like you do when jumping to another system. Once the FSD has charged instead of the normal jump screen, you enter into a witch space tunnel with a target vector which you have to follow (a bit like the interdiction mechanic). By following the target vector you are basically following the path that the player's ship took through witch space.
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During this time you will need to keep your ship aligned with the target vector to successfully arrive in the system the player jumped to. The target vector will be constantly moving similar to an interdiction. The further the player jumped, the more time you will need to spend following the target vector. If the player jumped to a system that exceeds your ship's jump range you will still be able to follow them through witch space. However, your ship hull and mudules will take damage during this process. The amount of damage taken depends on the difference between the distance to the system the trader jumped to, and the pirate ship's maximum jump range. For example, if the trader jumped to a system 25Ly away and the pirate ship has a jump range of 12Ly, then the pirate ship would take a fair amount of damage by following the trader. If the system is within the pirate ship's jump range then no damage is taken. Also, the larger the difference between the system the trader jumped to and pirate ship's maximum jump range, the harder it will be to follow the target vector in witch space.
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If you navigate the witch space tunnel successfully you drop out at the main star of the system the player jumped to, and can continue your pursuit. If you fail to navigate the witch space tunnel successfully, then you drop into normal space between systems, maybe taking hull and module damage in the process. You will then need to select a nearby system to jump to once the fsd cool down has finished.
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I think this mechanic, or something along these lines, would make chasing players from system to system far more viable and a lot more fun. Feel free to pick holes in it
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