Details on spotting

[Phoebe]

Hi 

Could someone educate me a bit better on how spotting and shaking exactly works?

Sometimes it works just fine; sometimes it just does not; so I am really starting to wonder what the general rules for spots and shakes are - perhaps people could start off helping me by answering these questions:

1)  Is there a minimum or maximum range at which I can spot ships in conjunction with the zoom level while spotting?

Why I ask :  Sometimes I can spot ships without even zooming at all;- just clicking on the ship in the distance and it'll register at spotted.  Other times I am zoomed in on a ship and it won't spot for the life of me no matter where I'm pointing while clicking.

2) Is there a known bug which prevents someone from succesfully placing a spot?

Why I ask : Like above; often a ship is within 500-600m and no matter what I try it just won't spot.  Just clicking the ship;- zooming on it first; trying various zoom levels; aiming for every component on the ship before clicking - nada.

3) When can you spot other ships in (dust)clouds?

Why I ask : Often my crew seems to spot ships just fine in clouds;- but I for the life of me can't seem to do it.  I play on pretty low graphics so my clouds are a bit thicker and less transculent;- but even if the ship is in vision I can't spot them.  Is there a trick to spotting ships that are in clouds?

4) If the vision ships is partially obstructed; can you still spot them?

Why I ask : I have a lot of trouble spotting a ship if for instance the front end of my own crews ship is only just slightly covering vision;- or their front end is just barely behind an object.  Pretty much their entire ship is fully clear in vision but even close range I can't seem to get a spot on it.

5) When do you have a succesful shake?

Why I ask : Often when I'm flying my squid I just try to shake them in clouds; but the open eye never dissapears.  Most noteable on dunes when I dissappear fully into dust clouds and exit the other end my ship will have suffered damage but I just haven't managed to lose the spot on my ship.

6) Any additional information

Why I ask :  If you have any other things or rules to spotting and shaking I would really appreciate all that information ;- helpful tips or issues you know about

Thank in advance! 

[Skrimskraw]

I still dont know how it works. So i just learned to do without so i can use bumpers. Hydrogen and claw.

What i can tell you is how shake works.
Going behind a part of the landscape breaks the spot.
Remember if an enemy can see you. You cant shake it.
Usually when i go behind sandstorms it breaks.

[RearAdmiralZill]

Spotting is a bit trickier than it should be, but Ill give you some advice on it.

In reference to shaking spots, Skrimskraw is correct. Terrain and clouds will allow you to  lose a spot. If an enemy can see you at all, you will not lose your spot, regardless of location. This rule doesnt care if the crew of a ship doesnt actually see you. If you see an enemy, they can see you.

Be aware that flares give away anyone's position, even allies. So just flaring up all the clouds may not be in your best interests.

For spotting, ill answer the best i can.

1. Not that I know of. I have spotted ships on the far edge of the map before. I always zoom on them to just make it easier.

2. This is usually from a couple things that ive noticed. Spotting hates clouds. Unless the cloud is flared, a ship even remotely in a cloud is a pain to spot. Sometimes its easier to wait until they are in the open and spot in the fight. Spotting also hates your ship's weapon mounts. I have noticed that if you are around weapons, you cant seem to spot even point blank clearly visible enemies. I always hop onto some railing/rigging or get far away from them to spot, and it 95% works as intended.

3. This is done with flares. Ive never had much success spotting things in clouds without it being lit up.

4. This is actually a good question, and my best answer is it depends on the amount of ship you can see. Ive spotted through holes in debris before, but with just a fin protruding, not so lucky.

5-6 I think i answered at the top.

Hope it helps.

[Phoebe]

Thank you Admiral, that's good; I am always around gun mounts when spotting because usually I am gunning and just press E to spot - so I should just move away a little bit

[N-Sunderland]

Thank you Admiral, that's good; I am always around gun mounts when spotting because usually I am gunning and just press E to spot - so I should just move away a little bit

Wait, E works for spotting? I always use the left mouse button for that (I also took more than three months to realize that the spyglass has multiple zoom levels).

[Phoebe]

Noo no no I apologize for my bad phrasing;- what I meant is I am gunning; then I press E to dismount the gun to start spotting.

[N-Sunderland]

Noo no no I apologize for my bad phrasing;- what I meant is I am gunning; then I press E to dismount the gun to start spotting.

Oh, good. So I'm not oblivious to how the spyglass works

[Morbie]

I became really worried there for a second too.

[HamsterIV]

Here is my speculation on how spotting algorithm works:

When you have the spyglass as your active item and you left click the game creates a ray (line) starting from your current Pov along the direction the player is facing. The game also creates a ray between the player's pov and the center of each enemy ship in the game world. If the angle between the player's viewing ray and the player to enemy ship ray is smaller than a set number (like 5 degrees), and there are no obscuring colliers (clouds, terrain, your own ship's superstructure), the player will be rewarded with a spot.

I base this assumption on the fact that it is easy to spot enemies at a distance because clicking anywhere on the enemy ship will be under the 5 degree cutoff, where as at close range it is harder to get the spot because the enemy ship is taking up 60 degrees of your field of view and you are unsure where the "center" is.

I quick trick I learned to get around this glitch is to click where you think the center of the enemy ship is and then swirl the mouse in an outward spiral while constantly clicking until you get the mark.

The algorithm above is pure speculation based on my observation and limited Unity programming knowledge. It is entirely possible that Muse uses a different technique to check for spots, and it would be great if they let us know what it was. *hint hint*