AI War:OLD Mines
Are Ships Supposed To Be Able To Slip Past Mines?
Q: Sometimes enemy ships come into my planet and seem to go right over my mines without setting them off. The same also seems to be true in reverse when the AI has minefields. What's going on?
A: This is by design. Remember that the game is displayed in 2D, but it is simulating a quasi-3D space. Ships are able to pass one another all the time without colliding, because their Z-axis positions are offset. The same holds true when ships are passing through a minefield: there is a chance that they will make it through unscathed, even though the vast bulk of the ships will not make it. Mines are set off by proximity as well as direct collisions, and so faster ships have a better chance of slipping past than do slower ships.
All of the above, of course, is distinct from ships that have the Mine Avoidance ability. Ships with this ability -- such as raiders, engineers, mobile builders, and the like -- are always able to slip past mines. These ships have safeguards built in that make it so that there is a zero percent chance of them ever setting off an enemy mine.
