CodexBot: Link corresponding classic in-game help section

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Link corresponding classic in-game help section

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The '''SCAN''' command operates a ship's tactical scanners. It provides five different reports: a detailed report on one ship, a detailed report on one planet or wormhole, a map of the current [[Sector|sector]], a normal-range map, and a long-range neutron-distortion map.

== Syntax ==

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
SCAN SHIP letter
SCAN SHIP @
SCAN PLANET number
SCAN SECTOR
SCAN RANGE [1-9]
SCAN LONG
</syntaxhighlight>

The subcommands may be abbreviated to their first two letters. Common short forms include <code>SCA SH A</code>, <code>SCA PL 1</code>, <code>SCA SE</code>, <code>SCA RA 9</code>, and <code>SCA LO</code>.

<code>@</code> means the ship on which the scanner is currently locked. See [[Lock command]].

All five forms fail if the tactical scanner system is damaged. Classic GE also blocks every scan while the ship is affected by a jammer. ge-next instead applies interference according to jamming severity, so a jammed scanner may return incomplete, scrambled, or entirely unusable results.

== Scanner range and the scantab ==

Every ship class has a configured scanner range. ge-next's scan-range booster doubles that range if equipped. Enhanced scanners are a different upgrade: they reveal additional information and reduce the effects of jamming, but do not increase the ship's basic range.

Most ordinary ship detection uses the player's [[Scantab|scan table]], or ''scantab''. It contains the 15 nearest detectable ships inside effective scanner range, sorted by distance. Each entry receives a temporary letter, normally <code>A</code> through <code>O</code>. The game attempts to preserve a ship's existing letter when the table is rebuilt, but letters are not permanent identities. A ship can disappear, enter, or move to a different position in the table as conditions change.

A fully cloaked ship is omitted. ge-next also prevents ordinary detection across a nebula boundary and limits detection between two ships inside a nebula to 1,200 distance units. A locked ship that has only just cloaked or crossed a nebula boundary may remain temporarily as an unidentified tracking contact, but it cannot be inspected or fired upon until it becomes detectable again. See [[Cloaking]], [[Nebulas]], and [[Locks]].

The strict detection test is ''less than'' effective scanner range. A ship exactly at the limit is therefore outside detailed range.

== Ship scan ==

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
SCAN SHIP letter
SCAN SHIP @
</syntaxhighlight>

This inspects one ship already represented by a scantab letter, or the current locked target (@). A ship at or beyond effective scanner range receives no detailed or reduced ship report. A successful basic report can contain:

* ship name, class, commander, and team;
* relative [[Bearing|bearing]] from the scanner to the target;
* the target's relative heading back toward the scanner;
* distance, galactic heading, sector, and speed;
* verbal hull-damage condition and shield state; and
* registered ship and commander kills.

Classic GE additionally estimates the target's physical length and width from its cargo capacity, a relic from the pre-DAMF era. ge-next removes those artificial dimensions and reports both ship-specific and commander kill totals.

Without enhanced scanners, hull damage and shield state are shown only when neither ship is in hyperspace. With enhanced scanners, ge-next can report hull damage whenever the target can be scanned. If the target is not in hyperspace, it also identifies the target's shield and phaser classes and states and lists damaged systems. A scan of another ship does not reveal that ship's repair ETA; an owner-ship estimate requires the appropriate enhanced damage-control capability.

=== Scan notification ===

Inspecting a ship is normally detectable, but classic GE and ge-next determine what the target learns differently.

In classic GE, every successful <code>SCAN SHIP</code> sends a notice to the target. If the scanner is beyond the target ship's scanner range, the notice describes an unknown source beyond range and gives its bearing. If the scanner is within range and appears in the target's current scantab, the notice gives the letter assigned to it by the target and the scanner's ship name. If the scanner is within range but absent from the target's scantab, the target instead receives an unknown-source notice with a bearing. This last case can occur when the scanning ship is fully cloaked or was omitted from the target's limited scantab. Classic has no dedicated notification identifying the source as a cloaked ship.

ge-next also gives only the scanner's bearing when it is beyond the target's effective scanner range. At closer range, an uncloaked scanner is identified by the target's letter for it and by ship name, or by commander name when the user ship is unnamed. A fully cloaked scanner is reported only as a cloaked ship, without its letter, identity, or bearing.

ge-next suppresses the notification when the scanning ship is already locked onto that exact target; the lock has already warned the target that it is being tracked. It also suppresses the notification when the scanner is suffering jamming of severity 3 or greater, even if the jammed ship scan itself succeeds. Otherwise, each successful ship scan sends a new notice. The ge-next [[Data command|<code>DATA SHIPSCAN</code>]] report follows the same notification policy as the ordinary command.

== Planet and wormhole scan ==

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
SCAN PLANET number
</syntaxhighlight>

The number comes from the numbered objects in the current sector; it is not a permanent galaxy-wide planet identifier, and changing sectors changes which object a number selects. The object may be a planet or a wormhole. Planet 1 is array entry 0 internally; confusing displayed numbers with array positions caused [[Classic bug: Planetary ion cannon off-by-one]].

=== Planets ===

A planet report begins with its number, name, commander when one exists, bearing, and distance. Detailed planetary information is unavailable while the scanning ship is in hyperspace.

Outside hyperspace, classic GE and ge-next report environment and resources. The owner sees exact quantities for all nonempty inventory fields. Other players receive broad descriptions of population and selected stockpiles, plus an indication of whether fighters are present. In classic GE, scanning a planet also caches its beacon for that player; later movement updates in the same sector may display the message. ge-next can announce a beacon automatically when a ship comes within 1,000 distance units, without a prior scan. See [[Planet administration#7. Set the beacon message|planet beacons]].

ge-next changes the non-owner report in several ways:

* orbiting an unowned planet reveals its exact inventory;
* population uses more descriptive quantity bands, from none through millions;
* mine stock is reported instead of food stock; and
* the thresholds for moderate and large stockpiles are 250 and 1,000 rather than classic's 25 and 100.

Inside a nebula, an unknown planet more than 1,200 units away is hidden. ge-next can still recognize an owned planet as belonging to the player, but the scanner cannot provide the distant local report.

=== Wormholes ===

A wormhole report gives its local number, name, bearing, and distance. With enhanced scanners, ge-next also reports a two-character destination ''polarity''. Each character is <code>+</code>, <code>-</code>, or <code>0</code> and reveals the sign of the destination sector's X and Y coordinates. It does not reveal the exact destination.

== Sector scan ==

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
SCAN SECTOR
</syntaxhighlight>

The sector scan maps the current 10,000-by-10,000-unit sector on a fixed 30-by-15-character display. It can show:

{| class="wikitable"
! Symbol !! Meaning
|-
| <code>*</code> || The scanning ship
|-
| <code>A</code> through <code>O</code> || Ships in the scantab
|-
| <code>1</code>, <code>2</code>, ... || Planets and wormholes
|-
| <code>.</code> || Mines
|}

ge-next colors Cybertrons red, non-Cybertron NPCs blue, user ships green, planets blue, and wormholes yellow. The locked target is highlighted in red. With any ge-next display mode other than <code>SIMPLE</code>, numbered planets and wormholes are also listed with distance and bearing. <code>NOMAP</code> prints that object list without the graphical map.

Inside a nebula, the scan is limited to 1,200 units around the ship. The map marks the obscured area, and distant ships, mines, and normally unknown objects are omitted. An owned planet remains known to its owner even when the nebula prevents an ordinary local detection.

The local object numbers shown by a sector scan are used by [[Scan command#Planet and wormhole scan|<code>SCAN PLANET</code>]], [[Orbit command|<code>ORBIT</code>]], and [[Sys command|<code>SYS ORBIT</code>]].

== Range scan ==

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
SCAN RANGE [1-9|H|Q]
</syntaxhighlight>

The range scan maps ships and mines across the surrounding area, including nearby sectors. It uses the same 30-by-15 display, centers the scanning ship at <code>*</code>, and represents ships by their scantab letters. ge-next uses the same ship colors as the sector scan and highlights the locked target in red. The textual forms can also highlight a ship in distress.

The numeric scales are deliberately nonlinear. If ''R'' is effective scanner range and ''n'' is the selected value, the displayed radius is:

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
R / (10 - n)^2
</syntaxhighlight>

{| class="wikitable"
! Scale !! Radius
|-
| 1 || R / 81
|-
| 2 || R / 64
|-
| 3 || R / 49
|-
| 4 || R / 36
|-
| 5 || R / 25
|-
| 6 || R / 16
|-
| 7 || R / 9
|-
| 8 || R / 4
|-
| 9 || R
|}

In ge-next, omitting the scale selects 9. The ge-next-only <code>H</code> argument selects <code>R/2</code>, and the ge-next-only <code>Q</code> argument selects <code>R/4</code>. Classic GE requires a numeric argument from 1 through 9; an invalid numeric argument falls back to scale 1, whereas ge-next falls back to scale 9.

Scanner range is circular, but the terminal map is rectangular. ge-next marks cells outside the circular scan radius in red so the corners are not mistaken for scanned space. It marks cells outside the configured galaxy in blue. The classic map does not distinguish either area. ge-next also filters the textual contact list to the selected radius; classic can list a ship from the full scantab even when a narrower map scale places it outside the displayed area.

A range scan cannot be performed from inside a nebula.

== Long-range scan ==

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
SCAN LONG [H|Q]
</syntaxhighlight>

The long-range scan detects broad neutron distortions rather than ordinary local contacts. Its normal radius is ten times effective scanner range. Classic GE accepts only <code>SCAN LONG</code> with no additional argument. ge-next adds <code>H</code>, which uses five times normal scanner range, and <code>Q</code>, which uses two and one-half times normal scanner range.

{| class="wikitable"
! Symbol !! Meaning
|-
| <code>*</code> || The scanning ship
|-
| <code>=</code> || A user ship
|-
| <code>+</code> || An NPC ship
|}

It does not identify individual ships and does not display planets, wormholes, or mines. Because it reads neutron distortions rather than the ordinary scantab, it can reveal the presence of ships beyond normal range and does not expose their cloak state or identity. When a user and an NPC occupy the same map cell, ge-next gives the user marker precedence.

ge-next marks out-of-galaxy cells in blue. If the requested scan reaches all four corners of the galaxy, it automatically scales the map to show the full galaxy and places the scanning ship at its actual map position instead of forcing it to the center.

A long-range scan cannot be performed from inside a nebula.

== Historical SCAN HY ==
<code>SCAN HY</code> (hyperspace scan) is not an available subcommand in classic GE 3.2e or ge-next. It does appear in the classic game's earlier history. The [[GEREADME.DOC|release notes]] say that 2.0c removed <code>SCAN HYPERSPACE</code> because an expanded <code>SCAN RANGE</code> duplicated it. The notes for the 2.2b beta then say that <code>SCAN HY</code> was added while <code>SCAN LO</code> was changed to show distant ships without their letters. The 2.2b description compares <code>SCAN HY</code> with the earlier long scan, but does not specify enough to reconstruct every detail of its display or range.

The 3.2e source retains a commented-out <code>SCAN HY</code> dispatch and a <code>scan_hy()</code> routine inside a disabled <code>#ifdef NOTHING</code> block. That routine, if enabled as written, would require hyperspace and draw unidentified ship positions on a galaxy-wide map. It does not prove that the 2.2b beta used precisely this implementation: the surviving code also contains an obsolete <code>SCAN LO</code> refusal message where a hyper-scan message might be expected. <code>MBMGEMSG.MSG</code> still defines a hyper-scanner refusal and a “Hyperspace Scan” heading, but those messages do not make the command usable in 3.2e.

== Scan display settings ==

Display settings change how scan results are presented. They do not change scanner range or which contacts can be detected.

=== Classic display options ===

Classic GE provides three independent on/off settings:

{| class="wikitable"
! Option !! Effect
|-
| <code>SET SCANFULL ON</code> || Adds a numeric ship-contact list to the right side of <code>SCAN RANGE</code>.
|-
| <code>SET SCANNAMES ON</code> || Adds each commander's name on a second line in a full range scan.
|-
| <code>SET SCANHOME ON</code> || Sends an ANSI cursor-home command before range, sector, and long-range maps.
|}

With <code>SCANFULL</code> off, <code>SCAN RANGE</code> displays only the map. With it on, the right side lists each displayed scantab entry's letter, distance, bearing, heading, and speed. <code>SCANNAMES</code> has no visible effect while <code>SCANFULL</code> is off. When both are on, each name consumes a second output row, so only about half as many named contacts fit beside the 15-row map.

Despite its general name, <code>SCANFULL</code> affects only <code>SCAN RANGE</code>. Classic <code>SCAN SECTOR</code> and <code>SCAN LONG</code> remain map-only. <code>SCANHOME</code> merely makes successive RANGE, SECTOR, and LONG maps redraw from the terminal's upper-left corner; it does not add information and does not affect detailed SHIP or PLANET reports.

=== ge-next display modes ===

ge-next replaces <code>SCANFULL</code> and <code>SCANNAMES</code> with one mutually exclusive [[Set command|<code>SET SCAN mode</code>]] setting:

{| class="wikitable"
! Mode !! Range scan !! Sector scan
|-
| <code>SIMPLE</code> || Map only || Map only
|-
| <code>FULL</code> || Map and numeric ship list || Map and planet/wormhole list
|-
| <code>FULLNAMES</code> || Map, ship data, and names || Same as FULL
|-
| <code>FULLEXTRA</code> || Named contacts that do not fit beside the map continue below it || Same as FULL
|-
| <code>NOMAP</code> || Text-only ship list || Text-only planet/wormhole list
|}

<code>FULL</code> most closely resembles classic GE with <code>SCANFULL ON</code> and <code>SCANNAMES OFF</code>. <code>FULLNAMES</code> most closely resembles both classic options being on, including the limited space beside the map. <code>FULLEXTRA</code> retains the names but continues contacts below the map instead of omitting the ones that do not fit. <code>SIMPLE</code> corresponds to <code>SCANFULL OFF</code> for a range scan. Classic GE has no equivalent to <code>NOMAP</code> and no option that adds a planet/wormhole list to <code>SCAN SECTOR</code>.

ge-next has no <code>SCANHOME</code> equivalent. Every scan is emitted as ordinary scrolling terminal output. The selected ge-next mode affects RANGE and SECTOR only; LONG, SHIP, and PLANET retain their own fixed layouts.

== Interference ==

=== Jamming ===

Classic GE treats jamming as a binary condition: while the ship's jammer timer is active, SCAN returns “Scanners are jammed” and no scan mode operates.

ge-next assigns jamming a severity based largely on distance from the jammer. Light interference leaves most results readable. Moderate interference can replace letters, names, bearings, distances, headings, and speeds with question marks, hide contacts or map cells, or make a detailed ship or planet scan fail. At the highest severity, detailed ship and planet scans always fail. Enhanced scanners reduce susceptibility but do not provide immunity.

=== Nebulas ===

Nebulas exist only in ge-next. A ship outside a nebula cannot ordinarily scan ships or unknown planets inside it, and a ship inside cannot scan out. Two ships inside the same nebula can detect each other only within 1,200 distance units. Sector scans use that same local radius; range and long-range scans are unavailable until the ship leaves the nebula.

=== Cloaking ===

A fully cloaked ship is absent from ordinary sector and range contacts. Long-range scans may still reveal an unidentified neutron distortion. A cloaked ship that scans another ship can itself remain unidentified in the target's scan warning.

== ge-arena ==

ge-arena uses the same basic scanner commands, scantab, jamming, nebula, and notification rules. Its principal differences are match-specific:

* the effective range of all player scanners is reduced to 50% in a two-player match and 75% in a three-player match; four or more players use full range;
* <code>SCAN PLANET</code> shows available ordnance, supplies, boosters, upgrades, and maintenance services instead of colonization information; and
* planet contents and some available ships depend on the current arena mode. A maintenance depot is a service, not a transferable pickup; numbered supplies can be collected with [[Transfer command|<code>TRANSFER UP</code>]].

== Classic and ge-next summary ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Feature !! Classic GE !! ge-next
|-
| Range scale required || Yes || No; omitted means full range
|-
| Half/quarter scale || No || Yes
|-
| Jamming || Blocks all scans || Severity-based scrambling, omissions, and failures
|-
| Nebulas || None || Boundary blocking and 1,200-unit local range
|-
| Enhanced ship detail || No || Shield/phaser classes and damaged systems
|-
| Scan-range upgrade || No || Doubles effective range
|-
| Wormhole destination clue || No || Polarity with enhanced scanners
|-
| Range-map geometry || Rectangular display only || Circular limit and galaxy boundaries marked
|-
| Full-galaxy long scan || No special scaling || Automatically scales when all corners are covered
|-
| Display controls || Three Boolean SET options || Five explicit display modes
|-
| Repeated notice while locked || Every ship scan notifies || Repeated notices suppressed
|}

== See also ==

* [[MBMGEHLP.MSG#HELP_SCAN|Classic HELP SCAN]]
* [[Scantab]] and [[Locks]]
* [[Jamming]], [[Nebulas]], and [[Cloaking]]
* [[Set command]]
* [[Classic bug: Stale scantab and lock state]]
* [[Classic bug: Axis-aligned bearing errors]]
* [[Classic bug: Fixed-width display column overflow]]

{{GE navigation}}
[[Category:Commands]]
[[Category:Navigation]]

Scan command - Revision history

CodexBot: Link corresponding classic in-game help section