Pilot Archive
Thread: Cloaking Device
go read "X wing: Solo Command" again it's confirmed to the exact oppostie of what you think there is NO way to tell what's on other side of cloak short of entering it. it was also in the original trilogy with grand admiral thrawn
Ashtirael wrote:
LeaphChausew wrote:
Invisible Epulsing Griefers come to mind... x.x
If E3 gets nerfed, I want this instead
J/K.
The shields (don't need protection if you are hiding) and weapons (discharge capacitor sincethe key here is NOT to engage) should be offline, resulting in no epulse energy. Just allow visual sight, as was confirmed to be available in one of the books
I am not saying it could be implemented, especially since all cannon suggests cloaking is impossible on so small a ship.
However, if you devs are reading this, take out EP3 and give me the shields down and cap discharged version of the cloak
I can watch my enemies movements, take notes of their superior skill and record their weaknesses. While this wouldn't be much of a PvE or PvP specific skill, actively at least, it might mix well with the independent, fringe element that is Freelancer.
Just a thought
Message Edited by Ashtirael on 10-03-2005 10:52 PM
There are a couple inherent problems with a cloaking device on a snubfighter.
First, the smallest cloaking device we know of in this timeframe, developed shortly before Endor, still required a testbed the size of a Corellian Corvette to operate. (Ignoring Darth Maul's cloaking device here.) That requires more mass/power than even a POB can use.
Second, cloaking devices are double-blind devices. In X-wing: Solo Command the pseudo-cloak that Zsinj used basically created a blinding field between the Iron Fist and the rest of the ships. In Heir to the Empire, the cloak the freighter used to infiltrate the New Republic shipyard blinded everything inside its cargo hold to everything outside. Double-blind--nothing in, nothing out. By the time of the Hand of Thrawn duology, the problem still existed--the three Imperial Deuces hanging near Bothawui were completely blind, except the probes they sent out to gather data, and those had to exit the cloaking device's effects to work.
Il-Vec, you are right about the vision thing. I had thought there was a time they used a probe right inside the field to see, but I was mistaken.
However, I have found information which points to fighters/shuttles having cloaking tech onboard.
Cloaking Shields
Imperial cloaking devices use a massive gravitic spatial distortion field to warp the fabric of space-time completely around a cloaked vessel. This makes the vessel effectively invisible since all electromagnetic radiation and matter will be re-directed around the ship. However, the comprehensive nature of this cloak brings with it a major deficiency: since all incoming matter and energy are directed around the vessel, the ship is completely blind. It is impossible to communicate with the vessel, and inside the vessel nothing can be detected on sensors but a black emptiness around the ship (ref. SWEGWT, SWE)
Cloaking devices were mentioned during TESB, and unbenownst to the bridge officers in TESB (who reacted incredulously to the Millenium Falcon's disappearance and said "no ship that small has a cloaking device!"), these devices had been miniaturized by the time of ROTJ so that Emperor Palpatine's personal shuttle carried a cloaking device. The existence of this cloaking device was top-secret however, and to the best knowledge of most Imperial officers, the only working model was lost when the second Death Star was destroyed (ref. SWEGWT).
Enter Grand Admiral Thrawn: years after the destruction of the second Death Star, he discovered complete technical plans for functional cloaking devices in one of the Emperor's many secret technology warehouses on Wayland and immediately implemented this technology in his fleet. He deployed cloaked vessels during surgical strikes at Sluis Van and Ukio, and he used cloaked asteroids to blockade Coruscant during his counter-offensive against the New Republic (ref SWEGWT, SWE). After his death, cloaking devices became common equipment on Imperial starships. In Spectre of the Past we see cloaking devices being used routinely on Star Destroyers (note that the Star Destroyer Chimaera actually dropped out of hyperspace while cloaked), and in Rebel Assault 2 we see cloaking devices being used to conceal objects as small as V38 starfighters and as large as the Executor-class Star Destroyer Terror, in orbit around the moon of Imdaar Alpha. Cloaking shields were even used to conceal large docking bases such as the Imdaar Alpha station in Rebel Assault 2, which was quite large as can be seen from the Imperial Star Destroyers docked at its tower. Imperial cloaking shields extend a significant distance away from the vessel, and it is possible to fire through the cloak-shield, as seen in Spectre of the Past:
"Pellaeon took a step closer to the viewport and looked down along the Chimaera's sides. The faint blasts of low-level fire were visible, lancing a short distance out from the Star Destroyer and then disappearing as they penetrated the spherical edge of the Star Destroyer's cloaking shield. Blinded by the very device that was now shielding it from it's opponents' view, the Chimaera was firing wildly in an attempt to destroy those opponents." pg. 4In conclusion, our cloaking technology is superior to Federation cloaking technology in most aspects. They have only one working model of the Romulan cloaking device and only one unused prototype of the phasing-cloak, while we have cloaking devices already installed on most of our Star Destroyers. Their cloaking devices leave them totally shieldless, while we retain full functionality while cloaked; we can fire weapons, make hyperjumps, use tractor beams, and maintain shields (ref. Vision of the Future). However, they can still see while cloaked, while our sensors are completely blinded (so we must navigate and fire using pre-programmed co-ordinates).
I don't buy into the "Emperor's shuttle had a cloaking device" argument, even if it has a source. In TIE Fighter we see the only cloaking device available at that time, a prototype, was installed on a corvette because it hadn't been miniaturized enough to fit on a starfighter. If the Empire had access to a low-drain, lightweight cloak, they wouldn't have been spending all the time and resources developing another one.
The V-38 "TIE Phantom" project was a total loss, as well--the cloak prototypes and the production facility were all completely destroyed.
Ah well, so much for hiding my ship, charging the the E3 style, uncloaking and blowing up the ISD/Rebel Station. 
Back to creating another scheme to take over the galaxy......
Ashtirael wrote:
Ah well, so much for hiding my ship, charging the the E3 style, uncloaking and blowing up the ISD/Rebel Station.
Back to creating another scheme to take over the galaxy......
LOL! If I didn't know you it wouldn't be funny 
xTekx wrote:
Ashtirael wrote:
Ah well, so much for hiding my ship, charging the the E3 style, uncloaking and blowing up the ISD/Rebel Station.
Back to creating another scheme to take over the galaxy......
LOL! If I didn't know you it wouldn't be funny
Crap. Now I have to create another persona 
(J/K for those whom don't know my, somewhat, sense of humor)