Mining in Peace
An often overlooked peripheral part of Mining is ensuring the safe exploration of minerals/ore and the delivery thereof. This section will attempt to go through some ways this can be accomplished both passively and actively by the player or groups of players.
Player Avoidance
Avoiding other players is the number one priority when it comes to mining and delivering goods safely. Most players are not looking to disrupt the activities of others but there are those who actively seek out and destroy miners. Unfortunately, unless these enemies are already red on radar, there is no way to tell the difference. The first step in player avoidance is picking a good location.
- Misdirecting the jump - If a known enemy is at a station, do not go directly to the desired location. Instead pick a different destination and initiate the jump. After a short while, stop the quantum drive by turning it off or cutting power to engines. From here proceed to the actual target destination. This will put the miner a sufficient distance off from the direct start location to end location quantum dropout point. From here it’s just a matter of heading to the surface or into the belt/field.
- Randomized Location - A miner should pick a remote location to mine. Starting work around a Mining Outpost or Rest Stop is fine for beginners but they are also easy places to be caught out, even if the player is 100km from the structure. At a moon, go directly from orbit, or a pole, down to a random spot on the moon. Pick a place that looks interesting. This takes time as the player has to manually burn to the surface but is ultimately safer. A moon comprises millions of square kilometers afterall. For asteroid belts and fields, try to work in the most dense part of the field where the rocks are most numerous and vision into the area is obscured.
The next step is to be aware of a ship’s EM/IR emissions and how they can show up on different types of scanners/radars. This is most important when mining near a place that can see player traffic. A ship’s detection range is influenced by component selection, pilot actions/behavior, and ship activity. Putting aside the obvious size difference for a moment, a Prospector can take a full suite of Stealth Class components while a Mole can not and is thus easier to hide. This is not to say that only Stealth components should be used, because they shouldn’t. The best component for the job that fits the player’s preferences should always be used. At this time Size 0, 1 and 2 scanners/radars work to detect ships via a simple formula:
- S0: Detection Range = Max ( IR , EM ) x 0.4 - General found on snub ships & vehicles
- S1: Detection Range = Max ( IR , EM ) x 0.5 - Generally found on light fighters, medium fighters, and starter ships
- S2: Detection Range = Max ( IR , EM ) x 0.75 - Generally found on heavy fighters and up
- There do not seem to be any S3 scanners/radars at this time.
The formula takes the largest number, EM or IR and multiplies it by a modifier. For example, a Prospector may have an EM of 8415 and IR of 7968. If a ship with a S1 scanner is passively looking for the Prospector then the detection range will be MAX(7968,8415) x 0.5 = 4.207km. The MAX only uses the largest number whether it is the EM or IR. Making a ship less detectable requires both signatures to be lowered as much as possible.
Aside from component selection another way to further reduce EM/IR emissions the player has the option to turn off various components such as weapons, secondary shields, etc until only the bare minimum is still active. Finally, any ship has the ability to suppress its IR signature in the Heat MFD:
Pilot actions can raise or lower a ship’s EM/IR value as well. Sending a Ping out will significantly increase the ship’s signature for a short time. Using the afterburner or space brake will also increase the IR of a ship. Spooling the quantum drive will have an impact. Ship activity such as using the mining laser(s) will also have an effect. What it comes down to is every choice will impact the ship’s detection range.
The Visual Impact of a Ping
When a Prospector or Mole uses the scanner to ping for mineable rocks it creates an effect. This effect can be seen by not only the pilot but any player within a large range as long as they are not in 3rd person view. Thus far the ping has been tested to be seen at least as far out as 135 km. This is a massive distance and can most likely be seen from even further away. It is easiest to see a 1x ping which is the full sphere with subsequently sharper angles being harder and harder to see from far away. Pinging on the dark side of moons and planets should be avoided if possible as it will be easy to see from orbit. The same is true for the dark areas of gas clouds. Mine on the day side or the lighter areas of gas clouds to disguise the effect. This is why picking out of the way locations or moving deep into an asteroid field is important.
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WIP for the final Supplement section atm. Hoping to have the Supplement out this weekend.
