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I haven't noticed a difference in the range enemy ships seem to detect me even at EMCON1. The only thing that I notice is that sometimes if I am running at a lower EMCON than my wingman, they will target him first.

Any modders know where/how that's modeled in the dat files, and how the game uses it?

Or has anyone tried testing it out in multiplayer, maybe?

Thanks for any help. The manual has very little info on it.

Cheers.

I have been able to approach within 55km of the stern enemy ships at emcon one before being detected. I have never tried a frontal assualt as a 'stealth attack method' so I couldn't report if it matters on approach vectors.

I think vector does matter, because i got detected at normal range on emcon one approaching a carrier battle group(CABG?) from the side

<EDIT> i *know* that vector matters because approaching a volnaris from the side it raised its shields and turned to engage at 113 Km, nowhere near the 55 mentioned earlier

Sensors and emissions have a very interesting interaction. For example, if you're having trouble targeting something, throttle back... it seems your drive is really quite noisy and reduces your sensor range...
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Exactly *how* it interacts with drive, shield, weapon use, EMCON levels etc, what defines sensor power, I can't actually say, for as far as I know Milo has never shared that information with us.
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THough for us modder types it'd be awfully handy...

From Thadaeus Tween's Tech Notes:

return = cross_section * effectiveness * ( 1 - range / limit )

Where:

return is the brightness you appear on their sensors (chance of detection?)
cross_section is your Active Radar Cross Section level as defined by your ship's .def (ACS*1.0 at EMCON 3, ACS*0.3 at EMCON 2, ACS*0.1 at EMCON 3)
effectiveness is how intact the target's sensors are (normally 1.0)
range is how far you are to the target
limit is how far the target's sensors can reach

I don't think aspect or offset actually come into play at all. However, engine output probably has a big effect (at EMCON 1, your drives are shut down and you have thruster-power only).