Are they buildable on? Or just an obstacle in DS?

Asteroid Fields Rules : Stations

You can build an Asteroid Hideout.

You can build anything on the system squares that don't contain an asteroid field, too.

A few more questions re: asteroid fields:

1) Does building an asteroid hideout (or any other station) inside an existing field prevent bandit fighters from spawning?

2) Does damage occur only on shaded grid squares?

3) What's going on with sensors there?
- in one part of the field I'm getting a lot of coverage:

- in another part of the field it doesn't behave quite the same way:

1. Yes, according to Clarr. Although not sure if he meant they won't spawn in the system at all, or if they just won't spawn directly on top of the station.

2. Yes, if by "shaded" you mean the squares with asteriods on them (purple overlay). Edit: also, no damage along edges regardless of shading.

3. You get better coverage 'cause there is more empty space around it. Sensor coverage spreads out and into 1 square of asteroids.

Asteroid fields block sensors like planets, basically. (We wanted to have them decrease sensor power but the way sensors work won't allow us to do that currently).

Hideouts will block spawning in the entire system.

My particular "beef" with sensors in this situation is the 2x4 area in white rectangle (and the sensor "shadow" in the lower right square marked with red border) which should theoretically get the same coverage, unless it's part of the same asymmetry/diagonal calculation that Clarr has fixed on dev already...




Hope my issue is getting somewhat clearer...

And thanks for other clarifications and confirmations!

Edit: Sorry, I misinterpreted your screenshots. That does look like a scanner bug of some sort.

I am unsure if it is an application of http://bugs.swcombine.com/view.php?id=4288, would need to know the sensor power of each entity in the system.

Note the fix to that bug actually reduces sensor usage since both of the shrouds in the bug are too big by a few squares. The correct range can be calculated just by doing the distance formula and comparing it to the calculated vision range in the cockpit, this is what that bug fixed.

@Clarr: The sensor grids on these screenshots feature only single sysats. The unmanned ship in the smaller one is ardent, but it can be clearly seen that it's not sharing sensors. I specifically cropped them so small to avoid other areas where multiple sats overlap or share sensors with other entities. I can send you full system maps via DM if you'd like...

Do fighters receive damage if they are less then 100 meters long? Because the way that I interprutted the rules page is anything under 100m will be undamaged?

Correct. Anything under 100m does not receive damage.

Do ships receive damage while traveling in sub-light or only when stationary?

“Asteroid fields are dangerous places. Asteroids behave unpredictably, and travelling through them is very dangerous.

Ships located inside asteroid fields take damage every hour, based on the length of the vessel.

- "SWCombine Rule Page - Asteroid Fields"
 ”

The text I made bold leads me to believe, Voll, it is both... However it is very open to interpretation so I can understand how someone could think it could be either of the options or both... when someone gives a conclusive answer to this I would request for the rules to be adjusted accordingly so said rule is no longer open for interpretation.

If your ship is over 100m and is in an asteroid field (ships in transit included) at the start of the hour it will take damage.

I know this is gonna be a repetitive questions but I am still not clear on it. First time I am in asteroid field.

My capital ships, over 100m, will it take damage when it is not in the entry point but in an empty square? As in, not in the shaded space that says Asteroid Field.

Thanks

“ Hideouts will block spawning in the entire system.  ”

All I have to go off is the way the rules are worded.

“ Bandits will not spawn if there are any stations present within the asteroid field deep space square. New bandit squads spawn when the asteroid field has no players present. Bandits will despawn if no players are present in the asteroid field for 7 days. Wrecks of bandit ships will not despawn.  ”

Now it's totally possible i'm reading this incorrectly. But to me it seems like bandits will still spawn if you put an Asteriod hideout on one of the "Asteroid Squares". It's building on the "Deep Space Square" that stops them from spawning.

Can anyone confirm if i'm right/wrong? Personally I would think that Asteroid Hideouts wouldn't prevent Bandits from spawning, as they'd blend into the field.

Pretty sure by "asteroid field deep space square" that they mean the entire galaxy grid the asteroid field is in. So no, no bandits will spawn there.

I do believe the game checks to see if any permanent structure (stations) exist in the system and, if so, bandits won't spawn.

Darn. I was hoping I could be surrounded by scum and villainy in my asteroid hideout. C'est la vie