Making engines detectable like transponders.

[Amos.37]

Obviously ships can potentially run without a transponder. My suggestion there is make the engines of a ship register as an unknown transponder when active. Possibly even list the number of engines or size of them, but no name or other identification.
This makes it harder, but not impossible, for ships to run totally undetectable. It would also be fairly easy to make a large ship look like a small ship by limiting the number of engines running.
Also adds the possibility of a stealth engine type to be introduced, one that doesn't get detected, but is much slower than conventional engines.
Alternatively, add a way to 'run dark' with normal engines that dramatically increases the heat output that the ship needs to handle.
Idea being that the heat is easily detected, but if the heat is dumped into the ship rather than space, it hides the ship on sensors, but with the risk of overheating the ship.

 

[Brushes]

I like the idea of a scanner type device that can detect engine heat or exhaust trails, like the IRST on Su27...but not engines sending out manufactured signals like a transponder.

 

[Amos.37]

Tracking the heat exhaust is essentially the idea of it. The Unknown transponder mechanic is just trying to think of an 'easy to implement' way of doing it.
After all, space is cold and largely empty. As soon as something heats up, it is essentially an IR beacon to anything that can detect it.
A specialised sensor required to detect them would be ideal, as it doesn't really make sense for a ship without a sensor array to be able to pick up IR signals.

 

[Brushes]

Well, here's an IRL example i mentioned.

 

[Cavilier210]

I like the idea of a scanner type device that can detect engine heat or exhaust trails, like the IRST on Su27...but not engines sending out manufactured signals like a transponder.

How a thing works in code, and how the real world inspiration works are often very different. Its all in how to make it work. So, an easy way to code the intent, is to show that there are active engines somewhere and no connected transponder.

 

[Burnside]

You'd have to have a set of code that aggregates thrusters on a ship into a single "thrust signal" and also attaches the transponder code to that signal for the detecting device, otherwise the device has to look at every possible signal, codewise, and bundle things actively on its end. So, it's probably easier for this idea if the game engine creates a single signal/signature for each ship with the various factors (transponder, thrust, heat, etc) included into a single 'virtual device' that detection gear then picks up on. Codewise it's very different from having every single device separate and individually detectable, but to the end user looking at their scanner it shouldn't matter much- the engineers designing detection yolol code will also have an easier job, not having to design and program signal aggregation code (and all the extra devices that would need) on the slow-ticks of yolol.

 

[Yasko]

I like the idea of ships in the game having a heat signature this would possibly incentivize players to tune their ships to run as cool as possible to not be detected if they want to avoid it. It could also make it possible to have heat seeking missiles/torpedos that always follow the hottest thing in predefined angle ahead of them. this could be countered either by a type of flare launcher, or by outmaneuvering an enemy as to get their own missile to latch onto them if their ship runs hotter than your own.

 

[TI34 Multiview]

you could have it tied to radiators so if you are using cooling cells you are less detectable than if you use radiators.

 

[Yasko]

I'd like to throw the following into this discussion: cooling cells cool things, yes. but where does the heat go? possible answer: cooling cells start heating up as they are used longer. Radiators could become hotter themselves too, if you're producing more heat than they have cooling capacity.

 

[Zijkhal]

I'd like to throw the following into this discussion: cooling cells cool things, yes. but where does the heat go? possible answer: cooling cells start heating up as they are used longer. Radiators could become hotter themselves too, if you're producing more heat than they have cooling capacity.

Afaik the way cooling works atm is that there is coolant stored in coolant cells, and as that coolant is used to cool things, it becomes used coolant, and the radiator recycles used coolant into fresh coolant.

 

[Amos.37]

Afaik the way cooling works atm is that there is coolant stored in coolant cells, and as that coolant is used to cool things, it becomes used coolant, and the radiator recycles used coolant into fresh coolant.

I'm not sure about the recycling coolant system. I was lucky enough to get into CA, and AFAIK coolant is considered a resource like fuel or propellant. The more coolant cells you have, the more coolant resource you have.
Coolant is required for generators to work (I don't think it effects anything else yet). Radiators generate less cooling rate than actual coolant cells on generators, but don't use up coolant as a resource. Once coolant runs out, the coolant cells need to be replaced.

It may have changed, I haven't checked it out closely in a while and changes are constantly being made, but to my knowledge that's roughly how coolant works.

EDIT: Coolant recycling is definitely a thing now. There is a coolant recharge rack now for cycling coolant cells to get them recycled. I haven't experimented with it yet so I don't know the details beyond that.

 

[Zijkhal]

Now that you mention it, you need some dedicated equipment to recycle coolant, but I did see someone with CA access test the coolant recycling, though that was long ago

 

[BadNation]

I don't really know how I feel about this

 

[Quinc]

The developers are planning on a radiation detector which would be similar. The device could detect ships via radiation from the reactor(s). Ships could block radiation by surrounding the reactor with certain materials or using only batteries. Though, TBH I like your concept better.
For IRL physics the higher the temperature of the exhaust the more efficient the engine. It is impossible to cool the exhaust without reducing the ratio of thrust to propellant expelled, except maybe if you compressed and cooled the propellant before it went in. So a possibility is a "Cold Gas Engine" that can enter stealth mode at the cost of propellant. This would greatly limit how far you can move while stealthy. You would only activate stealth when necessary and rely on other tricks to avoid detection when traveling long distances.
Of course none of your engines would emit a heat signature if you stay still. Stillness = Stealth is a mechanic in almost every game with stealth as it reflects real life.
As others mentioned, cooling cells already make it possible to store heat internally but you can only have so many cooling cells. I don't think there is a hard limit but they can be balanced by increasing the mass and cost of coolant. This limits the length of time you can remain stealthy, but rather than a specific period of time it depends on energy consumption. Sitting still and doing nothing is again the stealthiest option.