Scanners to see planets as well

[Aussie Gamer]

I would like to be able to see what on a planet before I attack, say using a higher tech scanner to see the planet.
It would be fun to use a cloaked ship to move near a planet and see what's on there.
I know that you can use intel project but this would be fun as well.

[chewy027]

I agree. Have some type of scanner that allows you to see how many wep platforms etc.

[Cheeze]

I'm not so sure it's a question of fun (which it is!) as much as reasonableness and fairness. Should the Long Range Scanners work on planets as they do on ships? I have run into this situation in my games. Interesting how, regardless of scanners, you can always see how many people are on someone else's planet. Perhaps Long Range Scanners should allow you to view the planet totally. Or perhaps only at a certain tech level of scanners.

If not, perhaps you could see what he has in cargo. Just being able to see that would be a great boon.

An issue I have with scanners is that, having viewed enemy ships with LR Scanners, why don't those classes become a permanent part of your Enemy Ship and Unit designs? I have to check them every turn to see them on my lists. That doesn't entirely make sense, unless it's a devil of a coding issue.

[Marty Ward]

I have a problem with long range scanners in general. Why should you be able to see what is inside a ship? Outside yes, inside no way. Kind of takes the suprise away from your new designs. I mean what kind of technology are we talking about, x-ray glasses.

[raynor]

I seem to recall a game where the scanners just told you if the ship was damaged or not, and the x-ray device actually let you see inside the ship. Was that Ascendancy that had that?

To save Aaron some programming, why don't we just assume that all the ships in SEIV are so poorly constructed that you can see what's on a ship just by looking at the outside of it.

[Marty Ward]

I generally don't use them against the AI, I assume it knows what is on my ship anyway and I like surprises. I try to get them to be removed when I play hot seat.

[CaptSpoogy]

Perhaps the scanners can detect different kinds of power/radiation/systems and can determine what kind of device is onboard the ship. For example, maybe shields emit a certain energy signal that the scanners can detect and display shields for that area.

[Suicide Junkie]

The long range sensors would be able to see the hull signatures of shield generators, weapon ports, engines, armor, compare the size of the ship to its known components to find the % devoted to inert cargo/supplies, know the crew complement from the size restrictions, etc.
You could see almost anything w. LR scanners unless it was stealthed.

[jc173]

I agree that scanners should be able to show at least the facilities on a planet. Also I think data planet about a planet should be persistent, ie you can go back an view it. Of course it might be out of date but it's better than nothing.

[CaptSpoogy]

That would be a good idea.

The information about the planet could be kept with a small note (warning) that shows the date that the information was recorded. It could even be used to show the Last known locations of enemy ships.