Jonbertsch
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Motion tracker between floors

Sun 15 Dec 2019, 04:10

Does the motion tracker detect anything on levels above or below? If so how many floors up or down? In the films it picked up xenos up in the air ducts, but I would consider that to be on the same floor. Ships and buildings with multiple decks/floors, can it detect motion or is it limited to a narrow horizontal reading?
 
S.M
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Sun 15 Dec 2019, 09:03

Can't speak for the game, but the trackers pick up anything within 30 metres in Aliens.  Up, down, left, right wherever (assuming the signal isn't blocked).
 
rennarda
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Fri 20 Dec 2019, 15:44

I imagine they'd have a vertical filter control, to filter out movement above or below a certain distance. If you imaging using one in a building, you'd be picking up movement from 10 floors above you, which would make it effectively useless for anything other than search and rescue.
 
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The1TrueFredrix
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Fri 20 Dec 2019, 23:54

When we were running last hopes at UKGE, we had them working on over all three levels of Hadley’s Hope
Effekt - A fan podcast celebrating Swedish RPGs including, but not limited to: Alien; Coriolis; Forbidden Lands; Symbaroum; and Tales from the Loop. Featuring discussion magazine episodes and Actual Play recordings. https://effektpodcast.org/
 
Luke piewalker
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Wed 03 Feb 2021, 19:18

In Alien Isolation the motion tracker can track the Alien when it’s on other floors/decks and when it’s in vents. It’s scary when you don’t have information but it can be scarier when you don’t have enough information.
 
S.M
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Sun 07 Feb 2021, 10:02

Sadly for Hudson, Vasquez and Gorman they track in three dimensions, but only display in two.
 
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ExileInParadise
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Sun 07 Feb 2021, 18:07

ALIENS Technical Manual, p107 covers it pretty well.
It describes the motion tracker as originally developed for rescue and police services which can help handwave why its not great in a 3D battlespace.

It also describes it as a pulsed ultrasound device.

As noted elsewhere in the thread, it has a 2D display - and interface readout.

Built by the lowest bidder always wins right?

It's also a handheld device that is detecting in a "cone" aimed by hand by the operator.

Looking at the device closely you can see it has a circular front-facing emitter/detector array.

When Hudson and Vasquez are walking perimeter and she says "you're just reading me" he whips around to "scan" the direction she went as a check.

So, it's directional, and emits a cone which means it is most sensitive in that direction, with sensitivity falling off to the left, right, up and down.

It's totally up to you how much "backscatter discrimination" it has to vaguely detect or alert on things outside of that cone.

The closer movement gets outside of the facing cone, perhaps a rising percentage chance?

The 1990s ALIENS RPG is great for this sort of issue because the underlying Phoenix Command rules specifically include rules for facing, field of view, and field of fire.

Facing was handled on a hex map where your Marine faces one of six hex sides.

Field of view is, by default, the forward 180 degrees centered on your facing - basically you could see everything in front of your shoulders.

You could spend Combat Actions to put your head on a swivel and scan additional hex sides.

Field of fire was the 60 degree cone centered on your weapon facing, which you could optionally track separately from your marine's facing.

This was great for smartgunners to spend actions to go crazy with supppressive fire much like when Vasquez and Drake when she yells "Let's rock!"

With hex-side facing, field of view, field of fire, you could also do a 60 or 120 degree cone for motion tracker "field of detection" and allow extra actions to wave it around.

Now, let's see if they remember to aim it up and down too...
We live, as we dream -- alone. ~ Joseph Conrad
 
S.M
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Tue 09 Feb 2021, 00:24

I never bought the 'cone' idea. The film appears to support a spherical pulse that extends out from the unit rather a cone shaped signal.
 
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ExileInParadise
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Thu 11 Feb 2021, 03:11

I never bought the 'cone' idea. The film appears to support a spherical pulse that extends out from the unit rather a cone shaped signal.
Indeed - yet the screen on the device, and the front of the device itself, shows a forward emitter and cone-shaped path on the display.

I was trying to suggest that the motion tracker is most sensitive in the direction you point it, but did mention "backscatter" (maybe that spherical pulse you mention) as a way to get hazier info from all around.

Great thing is - we both get to be right in our respective games.
We live, as we dream -- alone. ~ Joseph Conrad
 
S.M
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Re: Motion tracker between floors

Thu 11 Feb 2021, 07:21

I don't actually play, so in your game you're more right. :mrgreen:

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