Sensors and gimbal tracking... Bug or intended?

Zeeman

Zeeman
Is it just me, or have sensors and gimbal tracking taken some sort of epic beating with The Nerf Bat™?

I've noticed myself not only losing gimbal tracking, but lock on my target, even within just 600m-1km, and this is with the NPC boosting, firing guns AND popping SCB's...

Before I start a bug report, is this how it's meant to be? I don't mind the gimbal tracking so much, though losing lock on a cutter boosting and SCB popping cutter at 100 yards does make me scratch my head, but losing lock on sensors altogether at close range (<1km) does get old quite fast...

Z...
 

Cupsuki

Cupsuki
If it's an NPC then probably it's popping up a heatsink which will cause you to lose tracking. I personally haven't experienced the issues you talk about
 

sqzbox1

S
Yep - when they pop a heat sink they cool right down. Remember that scanners work on heat detection. And until the ship temp rises and exceeds the temperature of the heat sink close by you can't lock on them. Also, jitter can cause an agile opponent to break lock from time to time.
 

aRJay

aRJay
This started happening to me when I ranked up to deadly I assume it was the slightly brighter NPCs you are supposed to encounter when you reach higher ranks having a few more skills.
 

Zeeman

Zeeman
sqzbox1 said:
Yep - when they pop a heat sink they cool right down. Remember that scanners work on heat detection. And until the ship temp rises and exceeds the temperature of the heat sink close by you can't lock on them. Also, jitter can cause an agile opponent to break lock from time to time.
Click to expand...

Popping a heat sink drops their temps that much? I have not seen any heat sinks floating around, but will pay more attention and actively look for them next time...

I always thought you needed to be below like 20% heat to start breaking lock, anyway, about time I learn to use fixed beams, I guess...

Z...
 

Ziljan

Ziljan
Popping a heat sink almost always briefly drops your heat to zero or single digits, unless you're doing a bunch of crazy stuff that would normally heavily overheat you.
 

imski

imski
A heatsink will briefly drop you to zero, and if you pop two quickly you can stay cold for long enough to break the lock.

Ziljan said:
Popping a heat sink almost always briefly drops your heat to zero or single digits, unless you're doing a bunch of crazy stuff that would normally heavily overheat you.
Click to expand...

Ninja'd!
 

B1rdy

B1rdy
Yes, AI uses heat sinks, which breaks your lock. But I have also noticed Gimballs losing tracking while target lock is still engaged.
 

Truesilver

Truesilver
A ship's heat signature is determined by its ship class sig (a hidden Dev value) and temperature. Note that these are not the same, eg an Anaconda has excellent temperature control but a high hard-coded heat signature. A Viper III has worse temperature management but a very low heat signature.

The two (coded signature and current temperature) present a target that is then detectable according to range, which is affected by sensor grade.

Hence whether a gimbal lock can be achieved at all is a product, second by second, of two fixed values (target ship class and attacker's sensor grade/mods) and two variable values (range and target temperature).

Assuming a lock is achieved, the quality and arc of gimbal tracking are then also affected by the target's heat signature.
 

c00ky1970

c00ky1970
I had a tussle with a Python last night they dropped heat sinks a few times and I lost target lock.

Really added to the fight!
 

IndigoWyrd

IndigoWyrd
Anyone ever try to cargo scoop a dropped heatsink?
I can never seem to get to them in time before they evaporate, but I've always wondered if it were possible.
 

Zeeman

Zeeman
OK, so I have been paying attention, and yes, it does seem there is an epic amount of heat sink spamming going on. I have never tried to scoop one, but maybe tonight...

Z...
 

Devari

D
Zeeman said:
Popping a heat sink drops their temps that much? I have not seen any heat sinks floating around, but will pay more attention and actively look for them next time...

I always thought you needed to be below like 20% heat to start breaking lock, anyway, about time I learn to use fixed beams, I guess...

Z...
Click to expand...

Firing a heat sink temporarily drops your heat to almost zero and it stays below 20% for several seconds. When you use it you actually see and hear ice crystals form on the canopy briefly, it's a very cool effect.

When ship fires a heat sink you can actually target the ejected heat sink after it has been dropped, which actually makes sense since it contains all the hot coolant that was just flushed and removed from the ship.
 

Dommarraa

Dommarraa
After a few days of CZ, I have seen a lot of small ships losing lock completely, larger ships (Pythons!) at less at than 1km with target lock but no gimble lock, all without any sign of a heat sink being ejected.
 
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