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I'm Confused


Pumpkinhead

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I was just reading through my UFOpaedia, checking the info, when I stumbled across a gaping error:

 

My game's UFOpaedia, from which I directly took all the text, says that the Small and Large Radar Systems have effective ranges of 300 and 450 nautical miles respectively, and yet the OSG (which is based off UFO Defense), says these numbers are 1500 and 2250! :power:

 

Is this simply an error in the original UFOpaedia text like the Chryssalid's supposed weakness to HE?

Or have these numbers been changed from Enemy Unknown to UFO Defense?

Or has the OSG got it wrong?

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Pumpkinhead:

 

Concerning your radar confusion - I had the same problems when I tackled the radar section for my CSG. Confusing, isn't it? Well... not really.

 

The OSG lists the Small Radar as 1500nm, the Large Radar as 2250nm, and the Hyperwave Decoder as 2400nm. (The abbreviation nm stands for nautical miles here, NOT nanometers)! The UFOpaedia gives the Small Radar a 300nm detection radius, while the Large Radar is 450nm - like you said.

 

Did you notice a correlation between the two numbers? The OSG's values are 5 TIMES more than the UFOpaedia's. If the game would actually list a detection radius for the Hyperwave Decoder it would be 2400/5 or 480nm! (This is assuming the same ratio applies.)

 

So which numbers are correct? Stick with the OSG here. Why? Look at the detection radii the game gives:

Small Radar: 300nm = 345 miles = 556 kilometers

Large Radar: 450nm = 518 miles = 833 kilometers

Hyperwave: 480nm = 552 miles = 889 kilometers

I am guessing that the nautical miles are "international nautical miles" for this conversion.

 

OK, so how far is 345 miles for the Small Radar? Not much! Place your first base anywhere in the world where you are familiar with the surrounding area (cities, rivers, lakes etc). Now watch how far your Small Radar detects things. The radius is always larger - much larger - actually 5 times larger, than what the game gives! I checked this out and it is true for all the radar systems, so the OSG is not exaggerating or wrong.

 

For my CSG, I list everything in one table. The game numbers go in the first column and the OSG's go in the second column. I even give the "wrong" value for the Hyperwave (480 nautical miles) so that readers can compare. Don't star the OSG though, the numbers are correct. I starred the game values, saying that the actual detection radius is much larger! Make sense? :power:

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If there wasn't any banter, where would the fun be? :power:

 

I like to use Novosibirsk as a point for comparing radars. Moscow, Berlin, Beijing and Shanghai all make good distance markers. I don't know the distance, but the spacing for these cities is fairly even.

 

I've found that the difference between the small and large radar is just the gap between Beijing and Shanghai, or Moscow and Berlin. The hyperwave decoder picked up UFOs all the way in London.

 

Now which smart fellow here did the tracking and detection overlays again? They seem to have been lost in the archive. Good reference, that.

 

- NKF

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With the OSG's detection radii, a Hyperwave Decoder can cover a whole continent, I know that much. If one was placed at each pole, it would cover everything down to the bottom of the UK in the north, and up to the tip of South America in the south -- I was playing around with it on a world map just the other day! :power:

 

For the data craved, I myself didn't convert the detection radii to kilometers like Zombie, but to degrees, so I could map them:

 

Small Radar: 25°

Large Radar: 37° 30'

Hyperwave: 40°

 

https://ufopaedia.xcomufo.com/pics/detections.jpg

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Mmmm. Very nice! Now let's find out where to place each base to maximize radar coverage while avoiding too much detection overlap! That is my dream! :eh:

 

NKF:

Here are the distances you were looking for:

 

Distance between Novosibirsk and the following cities

Moscow 
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