Post by shiolle on Oct 25, 2016 7:55:32 GMT
After watching some CDE videos on youtube I saw quite a few people getting bad results when using intercepts and I decided to share some of the things I learned in the course of the campaign to make intercepts more accurate while maintaining high closing velocity needed for missiles to be effective.
First, I would like to define some nomenclature. There are three kind of intercepts in the game.
Now let’s look at this intercept.
It looks good, right? But the thing is, precise intercept has a volume. It happens when one of the fleets goes into the combat range of the other. That means that your missiles can be off the target by tens of kilometers, and you will still see a diamond icon. How do you make it more precise? Well, the game has no automatic snap function for intercepts unfortunately, so you need to adjust it manually.
You can adjust intercepts while in the reference frame of the body you are orbiting, but it is extremely tedious as you need to constantly check your intercept point against the target future position. Much better way to do that is to set the reference frame to the fleet you are trying to intercept.
Focus on the fleet you are intercepting (C or buttons circled in yellow on the screenshot below) and zoom in on it. Set it as your frame of reference (button circled in red on the screenshot below) then select your fleet that does the intercept. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can set your reference frame to selected object, so you will need to select the fleet you need from a dropdown.
Select the fleet whose trajectory you are trying to adjust if you haven't already. You will see something like this.
Note how the intercept marker is off the target, even though you have a precise intercept. Now select the maneuvering node on the trajectory panel to the left or create a new one along the trajectory and position your camera so you can see the handles like on the screenshot above. Fortunately, maneuvering node handles are more precise compared to KSP, so you can easily make mm/s adjustments.
Adjust your trajectory until the intercept icon is over the target when you look at the final part of your trajectory head on.
This wording may sound strange, but you have to remember that the intercept happens when one of the fleets enter the engagement envelop of the target. So when zoomed in you may find that the intercept icon is actually before the target along your trajectory.
Sometimes, especially when you intercept missiles with other missiles, you may see a kink in their trajectory right before the intercept.
I don’t know why it happens, but from my experience you can still use the icon (not the trajectory) to correct your intercept.
Ultimately, there are limits to intercept precision. When relative velocities are high, like 7 km/s or more you may not get an intercept no matter how you tweak your trajectory. I think that happens because the fleets enter and leave each other’s engagement range in less time than a single integration step. That sometimes happens in the later mission when you launch ordnance before establishing an orbit around the moon that the enemy orbits.
Still, using the method described above I had little problems with nuke and other payloads detonation and even guidance seems to be much better. I know everything I talk about may seem really obvious, but I personally only discovered it around and after Vesta and I see some people repeating my mistakes.
First, I would like to define some nomenclature. There are three kind of intercepts in the game.
- Approximate intercept is a “fake” intercept. You will not get an actual intercept when you see this icon along your trajectory. It just means you will be close to something as you move along your trajectory. Clicking on the icon will let you select “Flyby <fleetname> fleet” option, which will make the AI to plot a course for proper intercept by matching orbits with the target. However, it will also match velocities which is undesirable when plotting a missile intercept. Still slow intercepts are often optimal when you intercept with drones or capital ships, so I use this option when I need to slow down before the intercept.
- Approximate flyby. Sometimes you will also see an orange icon while moving along your trajectory. Oftentimes, approximate intercept and approximate flyby opportunities happen at the same point along your trajectory, in which case you will only see the red icon. Clicking on the approximate flyby icon will let you select “Flyby <fleet name> fleet” option. This will make AI plot a high-speed intercept. However I do not use this option often since it often require a lot of deltaV to make the necessary last minute course corrections, and by the time you tune your trajectory enough to bring this cost down, you will get a precise intercept which is the last kind.
- Precise intercept is the real intercept. It has a diamond around intercept icon. Only this type of intercept results in a combat encounter. Note how the plate on the left says “Engages <fleet name> Fleet in…”. This is the type of intercept I will be talking about below, so when I say intercept, I mean precise intercept.
Now let’s look at this intercept.
It looks good, right? But the thing is, precise intercept has a volume. It happens when one of the fleets goes into the combat range of the other. That means that your missiles can be off the target by tens of kilometers, and you will still see a diamond icon. How do you make it more precise? Well, the game has no automatic snap function for intercepts unfortunately, so you need to adjust it manually.
You can adjust intercepts while in the reference frame of the body you are orbiting, but it is extremely tedious as you need to constantly check your intercept point against the target future position. Much better way to do that is to set the reference frame to the fleet you are trying to intercept.
Focus on the fleet you are intercepting (C or buttons circled in yellow on the screenshot below) and zoom in on it. Set it as your frame of reference (button circled in red on the screenshot below) then select your fleet that does the intercept. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can set your reference frame to selected object, so you will need to select the fleet you need from a dropdown.
Select the fleet whose trajectory you are trying to adjust if you haven't already. You will see something like this.
Note how the intercept marker is off the target, even though you have a precise intercept. Now select the maneuvering node on the trajectory panel to the left or create a new one along the trajectory and position your camera so you can see the handles like on the screenshot above. Fortunately, maneuvering node handles are more precise compared to KSP, so you can easily make mm/s adjustments.
Adjust your trajectory until the intercept icon is over the target when you look at the final part of your trajectory head on.
This wording may sound strange, but you have to remember that the intercept happens when one of the fleets enter the engagement envelop of the target. So when zoomed in you may find that the intercept icon is actually before the target along your trajectory.
Sometimes, especially when you intercept missiles with other missiles, you may see a kink in their trajectory right before the intercept.
I don’t know why it happens, but from my experience you can still use the icon (not the trajectory) to correct your intercept.
Ultimately, there are limits to intercept precision. When relative velocities are high, like 7 km/s or more you may not get an intercept no matter how you tweak your trajectory. I think that happens because the fleets enter and leave each other’s engagement range in less time than a single integration step. That sometimes happens in the later mission when you launch ordnance before establishing an orbit around the moon that the enemy orbits.
Still, using the method described above I had little problems with nuke and other payloads detonation and even guidance seems to be much better. I know everything I talk about may seem really obvious, but I personally only discovered it around and after Vesta and I see some people repeating my mistakes.
