Squadron 42: Around the Verse - Scanners Aglow, Torpedoes in Tow

Get a detailed look at ship scanning and radar systems, the full scoop on the stealthy Aegis Eclipse, and your monthly Squadron 42 project update.
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Roberts Space Industries is a spacecraft manufacturer within the persistent-world game "Star Citizen" and its companion single-player spaceflight sim, "Squadron 42." RSI is also your portal for information, updates, and purchases of your very own spacecraft with which to trade, plunder, and protect the citizens of Star Citizen.
Be sure to visit Roberts Space Industries here and on your favorite social platform:
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[@marshal1808]

That AI Military vs Civilian animation looked fantastic. That will make the game 100% more immersive and realistic. Good work guys. Also one of the best episodes of Around the Verse in while.

[@-starnivore4741]

Untrained: "Can I at least put on some shoes!?" Marine: "NO!"

[@AlbertoMartinez765]

LOL

[@spacewombat4569]

Those trained/untrained ai animations look fabtastic

[@123reivaj]

The best of all is that it will be an AI behavior, not a canned or encrypted sequence :D

[@jasonmartinalaska]

More like fap-tastic. :)

[@PyroChimp75]

SQ42 and SC has always been my passion and will continue to be until well beyond release

[@dannyboy1121x]

Scanning mechanics looking very good indeed.

[@Exsulator2]

indeed

[@federicogrecobarragan505]

Nice episode crew! continue with this incredible project I have been following for 2 years and it is beautiful to see how the whole community is growing!

[@AceTycho]

We're getting there week by week becoming more incredible!

[@wildfrog2000]

Is it weird that I find scanning so exciting. I could imagine some really tense situations between ships.

[@mobiuscoreindustries]

Wild to be honest. A good radar/stealth mechanics are essential for anything to happen. For example, eve's scanning, while complex, is a great example of depth in gameplay: you have your local radar that detects everything you can see directly around you in close proximity, directional radar, which is a manual radar that creates a variable area scan that yield all objects with in it, and you can then modify the range and area to determine the distance and rough position of the object, and probes, which allows you to scan for signature to detect anomalies, or combat probes to detect stealth ships. A bad example of scanner would be the one used in elite dangerous. While easy to use, what shows up or not on your radar is very hard to predict. In quantum travel things just appear at random, and sometimes ships just vanish off sensors for no reason. The long range scan is also very dull, either just ringing the bell and locate everything and then forcing you to painfully fly in very close proximity to the object to fully reveal what it actually is. Stealth mechanics in ED are good but against NPCs they are ineffective, and overall will all the nerfs of player heat capacity and buffs of AIs resistances there is not really any incentives to play in silent running.

[@renaudabbadie8154]

- Scuse me, Captain. This little droid and this golden one seem to know why the big triangle ship is scanning us...

[@AlbertoMartinez765]

Niope its super exciting it opens up so many game play options.

[@digitalnomad9985]

In modern naval combat, particularly submarine combat, the winner of the recon battle shapes the battlefield.

[@Fizzlefuse]

Scanning is going to touch many parts of Star Citizen, from blue collar industry like mining and salvage, to piracy and bounty hunting. As a salvager and Reclaimer captain myself, I'm excited by what this would do for my SC profession of choice ;) I am wondering when scanning will come in for salvagers, if we'll get a detailed, perhaps holographic, 3D overview of the wreck So.. No, it's not weird to be excited.

[@peccatumDei]

The scanning mechanic appears to be coming along nicely. I do hope that at some point, when scanning for raw materials, we can specify what it is that we're interested in.

[@TimLines]

Scanning looks great!

[@iVardensphere]

Looking AMAZING!

[@krockeschinski]

Scanning looks like a well thought out mechanic and i dont say that often about SC, kudos!

[@luftwolf7405]

Eclipse fitting into Idris = confirmed. Glad I didn't melt it, so I could try a wing of Eclipse, Saber & Raven as a "stealth pack". Maybe hunting down Pir8 Roberts on his Asteroid Hangar... 🤗

[@Liscom]

This is a really awesome episode with only interesting stuff in it - well done! Those 27 minutes just flew past.

[@tlove21]

Well I hope they fix the torpedo system, for right now its almost impossible to hit anything even point blank.

[@rubicondefenseindustries2529]

Hope you aren't talking about the Tali's torpedoes. They will track indefinitely. If they lock, they hit.

[@4TheWinQuinn]

Thank you for all your hard work and these great updates

[@MagnoLima]

Incredible scanner system!

[@Leispada]

This ping system looks a lot better than I thought it would already! S42 updates are the best fun-fact: Shutting down your engines in space would not lower your heat signature. There is no air to divert heat away from your ship, so you will not cool down again.

[@painzkiller2452]

I want to cover my ship with christmas ornaments to blind my enemies.

[@Sitarow]

Another welcomed SQ42 update. Things are getting dialed in.

[@migelsker]

Sitarow this game is so over time starting on lokasions now is awful it shoul have ben don

[@MindBurntDE]

a great SQ42: ATV. Thanks for it :)

[@aarontallman8116]

Those behaviors look amazing. I'm excited to see super trained enemies to fight. The Vanduul will be nuts.

[@songofyesterday]

2:53 oh man that is beautiful, how I imagine real space to be

[@loteknomad5032]

Great to see how the scanning game-play is coming along. Very interested in that and EWAR.

[@mynameisprivate158]

A very nice informative episode!!!

[@ATCGuardian]

Great ATV! Excited for 3.2!

[@S0ULEKS]

If you need an escort for your stealth bomber then it isn't very stealthy is it?

[@fzfq3m]

Yep, I had the same reaction! I'm not military and my only reference are movies, but aren't stealth bombers sent in pairs (with some separation between them) much like a normal fighter wing?

[@turborider5050]

Well, i assume the sabre (stealth figther) would do the job with the sabre raven (stealth emp warfare ship).

[@mastrtonberry2]

I assume the stealth aspect is to allow it to get it to within torpedo range of a capital and make it difficult for fighters to detect and destroy it before it can deliver its payload. It still needs protection in a large scale dogfight

[@fmartingorb]

I was thinking that the Bomber is always one jump ahead... undetected is fine, but if detected you can send fighters to protect it

[@jamesvickery1641]

you use the cap ship to get them in system and have a place to rearm/repair

[@TheKOzality]

Really good AtV, shame they have a typo in the thumbnail image.

[@MrDreiPner]

LOVE the cover animations :D

[@123reivaj]

Coverage is what turns a normal and current FPS into a tactical, realistic and more challenging experience! :D

[@Mallchad]

Now we're getting somewhere. More of this please

[@NyaronVT]

Can we have a little sneak peek of the 300-series' rework? Pretty please?

[@TeaRex67]

Being early for ATV feels like discovering a new Jump Point

[@matrixarsmusicworkshop561]

Thé Rex Nice

[@Hugo-pj4bm]

Are you from the future? :o

[@TeaRex67]

Hugo The protocol says that I have to answer you that it's probable but highly unlikely.

[@Malakie]

There needs to be a 'special' radar mode used by the Tracker' and other scout type ships that can allow them to have extended radar contact acquisition without giving their position away from active pings. That 'special' mode would ONLY be on those specialized AWACS type craft. There has to be a reason to fly them and use them as intended but even if they have extended distance to their radar, the 'ping' is still going to give them away the moment they start 'tracking'. There are other 'modes' that could be implemented for this.. from Infrared spectrum to IR heat tracking to good ole 'mk 1 eyeball' using super zoom cameras - heck you could add doppler detection and other means like chemical trail or ion trail tracking.. Definitely needs to be something though to give ships like the Ghost and Tracker a plus on their ability to find and detect ships without giving away their position unless they make a mistake or get too close OR are picked up by an active ping.

[@-Q74]

Malakie Usn I think the plan is to have scanner ships have a larger ping however have a significantly larger range on the ping and radar.

[@mobiuscoreindustries]

Malakie Usn well, it does not need anything more, ships with larger radars have stronger pings and stronger passive radar. And when running silent, they can detect more signals without the need of active scan. So no then do not need a treatement singe they already work this way

[@Malakie]

I guess I need to add more information when I post. I am former United States Navy. I was initially trained in and worked in radar and sonar fields. I was a Sonar Technician Surface for the first 1/3 of my career. What I am talking about is not larger or more powerful radars. That has no bearing on what I was talking about. You can have the cheapest and weakest radar/sonar and an enemy will STILL detect you from long long distance using EW gear. I.E., it does not matter if your own ship radar can only see out to 100k, someone else can see you out to a 1,000,000k even though you can't see them. ACTIVE 'ping' of either radar or sonar requires nothing but a receiver listening on the frequency for DF work OR omni for just signal without DF. You can have identical ships and gear and this would still be true because of the way things work. The Ghost and the Tracker, for example, must be able to do more than just the basics. In their case, they need to be able to ascertain information without needing to 'ping'. I.E. they need much more powerful sensors with more capabilities in the passive and IR modes. They also need much more powerful computers to be able to figure out the specific harmonics and frequencies and wavelengths of the incoming signal. (harmonics would be for doppler effect based on movement/mass/magnetic signature and other things) Since the Tracker and Ghost are very specific EW warfare ships, only they would be able to fit and use these 'special' radar systems and it would probably take most of their power to go dark and use that capability as well. Today in the real Navy, we have just this kind of capability. There are special ships and aircraft for just these reasons. While ships and other aircraft have powerful sensor suites, they do not compare to the ships and aircraft designed specifically for the task. Most ships and aircraft actually are designed for the 'ping' because it is needed for accurate targeting computations in most cases. We do have the technology to target passively as well.. however and again, that is mainly done by those specialized platforms because of the enormous sensor array and power and CPU capability needed to perform this function. In Star Citizen, all ships will have capability based on size and power and we will be able to get a lot of information as needed... BUT when you need and want that information without giving away your fleet or mission, you need a dedicated ship that can perform these duties stealth like, dark and without emitting any active OR heat signature to do so. Of course, once that ship has to power back up and dump the heat sinks that trapped heat escaping during scans, it will light up like a beacon on the enemy scopes too.. Hopefully though, the Tracker and Ghost will be far enough away they can still escape.. Keep in mind the Tracker will also be able to lock a LOT more targets remote that other ships in your fleet will be able to use for targeting at long distance.. similar to the AWACS platform, where the Ghost will be able to stand out using its passive sensors to get discrete data and detail passively as if it were using active sensors...

[@Fizzlefuse]

I'm looking forward to seeing amazing space-scapes in the 'verse.

[@athamz9872]

"weh, le petit torrpido!" I love this guy :D

[@David_Martinez_USA]

Awesome 😎

[@kovenmaitreya7184]

This one was pretty good!

[@MasterFancyPants]

The minigun thing shouldn't bounce back and forward like that. Guns do that because of the bolt moving back and forth, miniguns don't have reciprocating bolts. Instead it should be a softer, but constant push back and to the side.

[@fmartingorb]

I really liked the words Work in Progress... It is a great comment, I think they have the customization setting for it, now it is an issue of adjusting values

[@KWW0321]

Ummmm no

[@Arkios366]

Oohhh Scanning, this is goooooodddddd !!!!!!!

[@xCyAx]

Kellogg's they're great!... never gets old.

[@iron_bear5544]

i've been waiting for that soooooo loooong now

[@user-hs5ee2by2h]

Awesome!

[@RP_Basti]

A1438 Indeed my friend ;-)

[@tomcyclope]

Star citizen my heart

[@mingerone]

Fantastic.

[@Explosive-Variety]

I may die from old age ,Before I'm able to really enjoy the Game.

[@vetobandito2635]

eric looks like a tiki torch that has yet to be lit.

[@SquareOFortune]

Jared's shirt is my spirit animal.

[@mistereighty8677]

That scanning animation looks awesome.

[@dhabu9017]

Now this is a legit S42 update =)

[@M3ichael]

Palm to face for Jared's singing..... now I know how Picard feels.

[@geofftrueman8094]

Jared, where do I get that Godzilla vs. ET shirt?

[@jamesvickery1641]

ask google and look for the teepublic website ;)

[@XkriskrossX]

I think it's about time CIG cut to the chase and give us a roadmap for SQ42

[@amiththomas3884]

They'd have to admit it's coming out in 2020 lol

[@KWW0321]

That ain't happening

[@XkriskrossX]

Amith Thomas I admire your optimism :P

[@joelellis7035]

The Star Citizen roadmap is the roadmap for SQ42. Basically, when they are done with 3.X patches, they will have all the tech completed for SQ42.

[@XkriskrossX]

Joel Ellis Hope your're right. CIG actually needs to start selling a functioning product soon so they can rely on strong sales from that instead of backers.

[@MrEllern]

Love the scanning stuff. What's up with hair spray guy?

[@AbbreviatedReviews]

I feel like "Eclipse" should have been saved for a ship so big that it blocks out the sun.

[@AbbreviatedReviews]

Are there a lot of giant spaceships called Eclipse?

[@eivindhelgetun3254]

One of the largest and most deadly ships in the Star Wars universe springs to mind.

[@intothevoid2046]

You got a big sunscreen in the cockpit, isn't that enough?

[@shadowjax9315]

Its top-down profile is huge for a one man fighter

[@shallowandpedantic2320]

It's called that because they're blocking out your view with the cockpit.

[@Exsulator2]

5:00 AI shaping up nicely :) I love how they just rush on out after downing that one dude, it feels intelligent whereas in most games AI know how to attack but they don't know when not to, and if they succeed they just stand around like idiots or awkardly patrol back to where they came from

[@alessiogennuso4389]

does it have the space mode? I remember the concpet having atmospheric, space and landing mode.

[@yasinzeydulusoy]

15:25 now that looks cool, i hope people dont complain about it.

[@shallowandpedantic2320]

I mean, they're really _eclipsing_ our view with all those monitors.

[@PI_4311]

Amazing game!!! Would love if you guys finish ships already in-game instead of releasing new ones.......unless they are in SQ 42 :P

[@KWW0321]

Wilhelmus Pieterse yeah that's not happening, it's all about that revenue stream.

[@thewowmister]

A couple things with the scanning the 2D disc pulsing out isn't really working a spherical pulse would work a lot better and it could be very transparent. Also the large globs of blue everywhere are obtrusive.

[@TheTonkGuy]

The eclipse got me all 😍

[@LessTextMoreMusic]

One day I'll be able to fly my Hull A... for some reason they are so focused on the E version that the others are just completely forgotten.

[@fmartingorb]

They where finishing the Hull C. But an issue when the expanded ship and physics has halted the dev. I am sure they will get it done by the end of the year with item 2.0

[@scrules3523]

Great work on the weapons I cannot wait for SQ42 to drop. Concerning the mechs I would love to see a multi person mech similar to the tank. I think the larger ship pack was a great idea for those that can afford it. I was hoping to see the ships put into bundles that allow for a large discount as you purchase each bundle till you get all the ships. Concerning land I like to see purchasable buildings, refinery, agriculture, ship repair. Would be cool to see some sort of salvage system that could be used to create in game items that we can purchase . Concerning SQ42 I'm hoping to see more mechs multi-crew, light and heavy tanks, armors and skins would be great also to see on the store as well. I like to see powered Armour suits like in the expanse on the store to. I think those and a whole host of devices we could use in combat, like would be great. Another that would add to pvp and pve would be consumables that could be add to the store that give boosts to speed, eyes sight, weapon recoil, increased lung capacity. Since they are consumable this would give a boost to the revenue to continue development.

[@Lord_Kantor]

People seem to forget how long it takes to develop a game. XD go look at how long it took to make Dad of War. Also the switching of engines and the adding of features that players want. Kek.

[@john_mystery]

Will there be weapons based on a small cartridge and an extremely controllable high rate of fire like the American 180?

[@jeanwinter5275]

Choo-Choo -> Eclipse Hype Train

[@Meuduso1]

Can we get a ship that looks similar to the Eclipse in landing mode? That looks cool and special

[@Stafernisy]

If scanners are powerful enough to detect cargo inside a ship that doesn’t give a signature than they should be able to detect a ship that is turned off from a good distance. Unless a good balance is set where high power scanning like analyzing cargo is suicide if you are a hiding pirate.

[@-Q74]

onemanarmy The ship may have a database of what cargo it is carrying which can be scanned. While not being able to scanned powered of vehicles as the scanner does not know what it is looking at or any info on it so it can presume it as just a normal object scattered in space or on a planet.

[@dphkommentare7267]

1:34 GPU Temp: 800°C

[@heavysparksgaming712]

The deadline for the Arena Commander and Star Marine contest entries was yesterday. So I do not understand why they stated you can make a Tutorial after the deadline. Anyway, stuff happens I guess.

[@Luis-lq5yk]

Yes!!!!. This is the way I like it

[@EddyKorgo]

We all have to admit. S42 is, the HL3.

[@LetsplayIndieGamesChannel]

i lov´ ze tonk ! i am going to torpedo "ze sheet" out of some tonks! XD

[@metajarra]

That Prospector view is beautiful

[@kovenmaitreya7184]

Watching these Ship Shapes... I'm starting to get more and more of a Star Wars: Rogue Squadron feel. That was one of my all time favorite flight based videogames.

[@kovenmaitreya7184]

This just made me think.... I hope that Sq. 42 and the PU allow you to get to fly ships as needed, regardless of whether you have them or not. For instance, you get a mission where you join an npc brigade and you have to fly an eclipse that they provide for you. You travel to the meetup location, suit up and get into the eclipse waiting for you, then head out with the team to do the mission! Please CIG lets make this reality!

[@YoungSlim51]

I agree with this wholeheartedly! especially for certain sensitive missions where you have to have earned the giver's trust first.

[@-Q74]

Koven Maitreya Everyone completely forgets you can hire out a ship or just ‘borrow’ one. :)

[@mobiuscoreindustries]

Koven Maitreya you know, you are a military guy, you can "borrow" whatever you want from anyone if needs to.

[@MannyXVIII]

I look forward to a scanning funkinality comparable with Cold Waters. There will be patrols that will always boast arround with active radar (pinging) as they belive that they can deal with every stealth unit as long as they find it, other stealth hunters that are silently looking for targets aswell, and ofcause you, who tries to avoid all of them to get to your destination and deal a crippling blow to the enemy. I am very much excited and hope we can have a comparable fidelity to scanning as in "Cold Waters". You should only be able to determin the direction the ping came from from up to double the radar range since it needs to travel twice the distance to give and echo. Only if you can tell what transmitter they are using with how much power you or your board-computer should be able to calculate the targets distance that pinged.

[@PalmerStephens]

ok..I gave a few days to see if anyone would bring it up. Someone spelled "Scanners" wrong in the thumbnail. Your Thumbnail says "scaners aglow" Your production has come such a long way over the past couple years. Keep up the good work.

[@cptlemartes]

What about scanning something not in fov? Surely you shouldn't have to turn the whole ship to view contacts behind you?

[@tw507]

can anyonet ell me what the ships at 24:28 in the top left corner are?

[@XxCiTiZeNxX]

I love these.. and I don't even have the game. Should I take the plunge?

[@Mr_Spock512]

Wait until it's released ... if ever. Why tie up your money on perpetual tech demos?

[@crowdozer3592]

This game is gonna be so conflicting for me. Do I cruise around with details maxed out for the beauty? or do I keep it running silky smooth 144hz incase I need to break out the MG and mow people down? T_T

[@fmartingorb]

I would upgrade my PC in a couple of years and have the beauty with silky smooth 144 fps

[@pegasusted2504]

Jared, that is sacrilege man, you can't have Godzilla eating my man E.T. and his buddy Elliott :~(

[@RocketLR]

No detail will go unappreciated by me! :D

[@SkyhawksAu]

When are we going to get a roadmap for Squadron 42?

[@johnyurbro]

Love the ship shapes! So glad the Eclipse snuck into one :3

[@Skizzaable]

The eclipse interior looks really dope... i hope sometime after release we will be able to switch the torpedos for some lazers

[@fmartingorb]

Nope. Just torpedos. This is a scout bomber ship

[@mobiuscoreindustries]

Lets Fly To Pluto! You cannot swap torpedo pylons for something else. Besides, your power grid or structure will never be able to handle a size 9 gun

[@Commander_Jack]

Love the Squadron 42 update!

[@lieutenantlucky5582]

*gasp* It's a Jack!

[@IcarusRyan]

looks veeery close to the b2 spirit

[@Exsulator2]

I honestly didn't think scanning would be anything worth mentioning, but after seeing this I gotta say, it really adds to the game. The vast lonelyness of space is only fun for so long. Now with scanning it's gonna feel like a living breathing universe :D though you gotta wonder what kind of toll it puts on servers - imagine you scan a city, or a space station with tons of ships and people. I mean if it picks up everything that's close enough, it would catch soo much. Hey maybe stations and cities can have jamming so those places can't be scanned? :)

[@mobiuscoreindustries]

Exsulator it only scans for unresolved contacts that may be relevant. In cities buildings are not considered as relevant data, and with the signal bouncing around the building and hitting random stuff you will not get much from it, as they will make LOS a thing for radar

[@laurentguyot3362]

I suppose there will be a limit to the scanning capabilities

[@parasecglenkwyst4835]

Waiting for the Prowler

[@canisrah]

That nuance between trained and untrained NPCs in combat situations... brilliant.

[@Meuduso1]

Problem with the "fighter screen" around a capital ship is that they have to be quite far away from it to be able to kill the enemy ship on time

[@starbugmechanic5236]

The guy on the right looks like they just pulled him out of the dryer.

[@An_introverts_retreat]

Yay!

[@smokedog7730]

What is the difference between a torpedo and missile? In Earth-speak, the main difference between a missile and a rocket is that the former is self-guided while the latter is generally unguided. A torpedo is considered to be an underwater missile and therefore, a purely aquatic weapon by definition.

[@mobiuscoreindustries]

smokedog 77 short answer: size, payload, speed and guidance. Long answer: torpedoes work the same way as missile but with a different target. Missiles are built to be small and fast. Their goal is to assist in dealing with fast moving targets. Rockets are made to strike targets bigger than the ship laughing them, so increase payload but forgo guidance. Torpedoes are a whole over kind, they are not designed to do damage, they are designed to KILL. They have massive warheads, and armor that protect them from basic PDCs. However, their size make them detectable from affar, slow, and their guidance very weak. However, taking but one is going to severely rock the ships. Their size make them restricted to specific ships, and right now 3 approaches are shown. Frontline deployment from a capital ship, like a polaris, where the ship handle the positioning, fiering, and dealing with attackers. The bomber wing, with large bombers being escorted by fighters, where tasks are split between the bomber and fighter escort. This method is more general purpose, but require more organisation. Then, there is the stealth wing, with stealth fighters and bombers. It is the most difficult one to put in place, and it is either flawless, or a disaster.

[@DanyF02]

They are changing the way the landing gear works on the mustang because having it on the wings was creating problems, why do this again on the eclipse?

[@Kingbeer01]

Speaking of Bombers, Where is the love for the vanguard ?

[@Matt-eg1vz]

Is the ping a frontal "cone" or 360?

[@JamesSmith-vg9gc]

Wasnt the Eclipse supposed to be a Stealth Bomber? Where you would approach a target alone and get out before any spots you? Just a "big" bomber is kinda underwhelming.

[@naibakie8519]

There's a difference between encouraging teamwork and leaving people with ships that can't join in with what the pilot's friends are doing.

[@MICROKNIGHT3000]

Aegis Eclipse,Batwing in SC