NationStates Jolt Archive

[ General "You can't see me!"-"Oh, but I can!" stuff. Is it a godmod, even if well explained? Are there exceptions?

I'd like to know the overall opinion before I dive into this sort of thing. ]

I'd have to say it depends on the situation. There's no such thing as perfect stealth, at least not in MT/PMT. I don't know about FT. But, anyways, it depends on the situation.

For every big stick, there will be a bigger stick.

No matter how ‘perfect’ stealth system is, it is possible to develop radar system that would be just as ‘perfect’ (which in turn would be foiled by even more ‘perfect’ stealth system, and so on…). Therefore, it is pretty much up to players to describe how their stealth systems/radars works and decide if the stealth vehicles are detected or not ("You can't see me!"-"Oh, but I can!" is an immature behaviour that, IMHO, doesn’t become any role-player). By the way, claiming that “My vehicles are invisible!” or “I can see them anyway!” against all the reasons is an obvious Godmodding that should be avoided.

Note that true invisibility (not simply being invisible on radars) is not possible aside from in Fantasy or Future Tech, and even against it there can be a countermeasure. So in Modern (or close to it) Tech, visual detection will foil even the most advanced stealth system.

Stealth defeating technology is not a god mod. It requires you describe how it works, some stealth detectors will work with certain things, others will not. For example, if you had an electromagnetic detector designed to pick up large metallic objects-- it would probably pickup enemy aircraft at short distances, unless they were entirely made of non-metallic composites. There are quite a few stealth detectors being developed to counter stealth technology. Saying I have a super stealth detector ion thingy wouldn't work.

And even if you were invisible, you couldn't see.

Also, a powerful enough radar will pick up any MT/PMT stealth aircraft, especially if its movement as well as return sensitive. A "bird" sized return moving at several hundred miles per hour is a dead give away

For every big stick, there will be a bigger stick.


So true.


Note that true invisibility (not simply being invisible on radars) is not possible aside from in Fantasy or Future Tech, and even against it there can be a countermeasure. So in Modern (or close to it) Tech, visual detection will foil even the most advanced stealth system.

True. Even the Scimitar's near perfect cloak was beaten because of a telepath on the Enterprise-E.

My empire has designed several stealth Tie Series Fighters: Tie Phantom mk II, Poltergeist, Ghost, and Specter. Hence their squadron's nick-name, "Specter Squadron." Their hulls are rather weak, and they rely on the fact that their enemies can't see them or can barely see them. The Tie Specter's cloak is a rather unique system. Instead of cloaking completely, it cloaks enough so that their enemies get the hint that they're looking at a ghost fighter. A dead pilot from wars long ago.

Stealth defeating technology is not a god mod. It requires you describe how it works, some stealth detectors will work with certain things, others will not. For example, if you had an electromagnetic detector designed to pick up large metallic objects-- it would probably pickup enemy aircraft at short distances, unless they were entirely made of non-metallic composites. There are quite a few stealth detectors being developed to counter stealth technology. Saying I have a super stealth detector ion thingy wouldn't work.

Agreed. If I were a PMT/MT nation, I'd feel obligated to research the anti-stealth technology and put it in my ship's specs.

However since I'm a Force wielding nation, I technically don't have to research stealth. The Force has a special neutral power where the user can detect people in the area, including other force wielders. However, instantly saying that because you're a force wielder you can detect ALL cloaked ships would be godmodding. Depending on the level of tech my oponent is (and whether or not I have a force wielder onboard my Star Destroyers), I'll make it either easier or much more difficult for the force wielder to detect the cloaked ship.

However, even FT if I want to be more legit (as in, if I'm not going against Force nations), I need to research anti-stealth tech. It just doesn't appear out of no where.