What do these unremarkable pictures full of primitive shapes show? Three clients playing at the same time on one shared level without seeing one another. More importantly, though, the radar does see them! In the first image, at the top left, you can make out a pale greenish rectangle. In the lower image, you see a triangle, or rather a pyramid from the side. Both are the same thing: the active radar's scanning sector. In the first image, it seems to point into empty space with nothing there. But that isn't so. An enemy ship is hiding there, as confirmed by the pink message reporting one detected target.
In short, complete victory. Another critical mechanic has been introduced. Scan range and angle, as well as the ability to turn the sector, will depend on the specific characteristics of the particular sensor. In the lower screenshot, the angle is around 30 degrees and the range is 150 kilometers. The ships themselves average about 150 meters. Don't be distracted by the surroundings: it's much easier to run tests in light, with sunshine and clouds, than in the darkness of space. Textures aren't needed at this stage either.
That's the week's progress, and it is very important progress. These are the foundations for all the mechanics and interactions. The next plan is to make the radar cross-section signature depend on the target's aspect and thus determine whether the sensor can see it. Yes, we're simulating radiation-absorbing coatings at a serious level. A target with a larger radar cross-section will be easier to detect and visible at a greater distance. The algorithm itself is already written; it needs debugging. There is a lot of trigonometry. Next on the list are targeting and firing systems. The little ships can already fire at a specified point. Now we need a meaningful way to specify that point.
P.S. The clumsy buttons on the left activate the engines for flying; the three zeroes are velocity along the three axes; 1000 is the fuel remaining in kilograms; and the buttons on the right rotate the sensor sector. Oh, and the blind zone is calculated from the radar mode, the duration of pauses and emitter pulses; detection speed within the sector depends on how quickly the beam sweeps across it, where phased-array radars have an unquestionable advantage, and so on... ))))))) That's for a particular kind of person, and it works there under the hood. ))))
