18 replies to this topic

[Passin Thru]

Time after time I've waited for lock to be completed on a target just to have the target engage ECM milliseconds before my finger touches the trigger to fire the missiles. Then, after my missiles are wasted into the ground, to have the ECM disengaged, the target pop back up, and I have to re-aquire the lock all over again.

I know from my end of things, when someone locks me up and fires missiles at me I have no warning until those missiles are actually in flight, or so I assume. But, as I said, time after time I've had the enemy enage his ECM a split second BEFORE I launch my missile.

The only explanation I can think of is that the game engine tells a target when it's being locked and/or when the lock is completed. And somehow this signal is being watched by the target and is being used to automatically engage the ECM. And disengaging the ECM when the lock is no longer engaged.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Thoughts?

[stjobe]

AFAIK it doesn't tell you when you get locked on, but you do get the "Incoming Missiles" warning the millisecond the firer pulls the trigger.

[Coralld]

The mech doesn't warn them they are being targeted but it does warn them when there are missiles inbound.

ECM is ECM and prevent missile lock, period, as long as they are at range, but TAG can by pass ECM as long as the mech using the TAG is outside the ECM mechs 180m jam range. Also, BAP counters ECM within 100m or something like that so the ECM mech could be bobbing in and out of these "bubbles" if you will.

Edited by Coralld, 29 September 2013 - 12:29 PM.

[Sybreed]

it used to tell you before during 1 month of OB, but it got removed since it messed up scouting pretty nicely.

[KickFeather]

Are you sure it's the ECM that's the problem? I just ask because I've seen too many people using targeted missiles without truly understanding their mechanics.


Lots of things will lose your lock besides ECM. You won't keep the target if they leave line of sight of you or whoever it is that has the target locked. Or they just happen to be a constantly moving target bouncing in and out of an ECM bubble. Or your target decides to shut down. Terrain can be misleading too. I know especially in Tourmaline, there are a bunch of places where you can see the target visually with their heads just peeking over rocks or between twisted metal but you can't actually lock onto them. And sometimes all it takes is for them to take two steps back to be out of LoS. Unless you have advanced target decay module, LoS is the major reason why targets get lost at long distance. That and people not knowing how to lock a target which is using the "R" button. I've also seen tons of people who shoot their missiles and then swing away from the target or hide behind a rock thinking that since they've launched they'll just keep going without them having to keep focused on their target.

On a normal basis, unless I can lock the target myself reliably, I don’t launch my missiles. The only time I use others LoS as my target lock is when I see they’ve kept the lock on for a steady number of seconds. If target locks keep getting lost, it means they’re moving around too much and no one near them can keep them in sights and they aren’t pressing “R”, so neither can you.

[OneEyed Jack]

Sybreed, on 29 September 2013 - 01:15 PM, said:

it used to tell you before during 1 month of OB, but it got removed since it messed up scouting pretty nicely.

That was a warning for being targeted at all, not for missile locks.

Oh how I miss the days of being able to royally troll the enemy team by simply spamming 'R'.

[Almond Brown]

Doesn't BAP only effect your ability to counter ECM for yourself? Such that a BAP users SSRM's can be used against an ECM'd target at SSRM ranges?

[Ransack]

Reading your scenario, it doesn't sound like ECM. It seems like you were trying to target a non stationary fast mover that was not in direct line of sight

It happens.


The "targeted" prompt was sooooooooooo annoying...

Edited by Ransack, 30 September 2013 - 10:30 AM.

[Satan n stuff]

Sybreed, on 29 September 2013 - 01:15 PM, said:

it used to tell you before during 1 month of OB, but it got removed since it messed up scouting pretty nicely.

Not to mention that it was annoying as hell. "Yes I know I've been targeted you stupid computer I've got a whole enemy lance in my face!" That sort of stuff.

[Captain Stiffy]

Sybreed, on 29 September 2013 - 01:15 PM, said:

it used to tell you before during 1 month of OB, but it got removed since it messed up scouting pretty nicely.

WARNING: TARGETED

oh dear god... I hoped I would never remember this...

[Fais]

I thought this was about something completly different. Anyone else notice that they can get SSRMS to lock & fire accuratly before the reticule actually locks?

[Captain Stiffy]

Fais, on 30 September 2013 - 12:40 PM, said:

I thought this was about something completly different. Anyone else notice that they can get SSRMS to lock & fire accuratly before the reticule actually locks?

fast firing is a long used tactic

[OneEyed Jack]

Almond Brown, on 30 September 2013 - 10:21 AM, said:

Doesn't BAP only effect your ability to counter ECM for yourself? Such that a BAP users SSRM's can be used against an ECM'd target at SSRM ranges?

No. BAP entirely negates the Disruption mode of a single ECM within it's range.

[Thomas Dziegielewski]

Captain Stiffy, on 30 September 2013 - 12:10 PM, said:

WARNING: TARGETED

oh dear god... I hoped I would never remember this...

I miss it.

[Deathlike]

Thomas Dziegielewski, on 30 September 2013 - 10:00 PM, said:

I miss it.

I miss the paranoia of that feature.

[Satan n stuff]

Thomas Dziegielewski, on 30 September 2013 - 10:00 PM, said:

I miss it.

That doesn't surprise me at all.

[dario03]

Not sure how they would time it so well but it could just be people trying to get you to waste missles. Some times when I'm in a fast ecm mech I will turn ecm off just to turn it back on after a bit or right after I hear missles incoming just to get people to waste missles and show where they are.

[Monky]

Thomas Dziegielewski, on 30 September 2013 - 10:00 PM, said:

I miss it.

Me too, but it was pretty gamebreaking. No more scouting.

[Shakespeare]

It was also inefficient for the computer voice to preface her warning with "WARNING:" The cockpit got so noisy with warnings that I really started wishing that the guy who wrote up the lines for her had actually talked to people who do that sort of thing for a living: The key is brevity. Using an audible warning is a cockpit is extremely useful, IF it can be done quickly. With the targeting warning, not only was the warning itself too long, but it also clogged up the system by backlogging all the OTHER overly wordy warnings.

Incidentally, I still feel this way about the JJ fuel warning. By the time she's done saying you're almost out of JJ fuel, you've already run out, or dropped to the ground.

(tangent: I wouldn't mind if JJ fuel was per mission, instead of rechargeable. THAT would justify the %25 warning. I know it's supposed to be reactor bleed-off, but it might cut down on the solid 20minutes of jump sniping or ballerina spiders if it actually mattered how long they could spend in the air. but I digress.)