I’m working on a indie video game that’s set on a large ship and I’m looking to have it be a very hidden and elusive boat. (Speaking vaguely to avoid spoilers)
Where could it possibly be sailing through to avoid detection? Like no radars, land signals, etc…
There are slight sci fi elements that could explain it avoiding detection but want to make the location as believable as possible.
I’m not very familiar with oceans and the technology behind detecting vessels. Would love to be pointed in the right direction if anyone is knowledgeable.
Edit: Oh damn, this got a much bigger response than I expected. Thanks so much for all the awesome suggestions!
Edit2: Wow you guys have fantastic ideas! Just to clarify this is a real game project and not a joke or a cover for gold smugglers 😂
I am leaving hits and teases in my replies. Partially to have fun and build the world a little but also maybe get a bit of a community game going with a bread trail to follow. 😉🤫
Literally anywhere outside the shipping lanes in the Pacific would do it. Even with satellite coverage, a large ship is still a tiny dot.
Fair enough. The ocean is fucking huge.
Yep. There is even a part of the Pacific that is on the opposite side of another part of the Pacific. The Pacific is also home to Point Nemo with is the place on the ocean farthest away from land.
Absolutely bonkers how large it is.
Anywhere on this map that isn’t full of boats. South Indian Ocean woukd be my guess:
Oh wow! Didn’t know that existed. Thanks for sharing.
South Indian Ocean has been mentioned a few times now. 🤔
Might also want to prioritize areas of low military significance - even if there are no commercial ships, you don’t want areas where spy satellites are likely to be looking around for unknown vessels
Good point! Will definitely have to look those up.
Nice try, Mr. Bezos
Pretty close there. 🤫
It depends what you are hiding from. If you want to avoid notice from random encounters, you would want to head out to sea. So long as you’re over the horizon from any shipping lanes, you’re as close to invisible as you can get.
If your goal is to evade an active military search, you want clutter, and a lot of it. Military radar can sweep vast areas quickly. Satellites can spot ships at sea, so long as the sky is clear enough. Islands and coastline can mess with these however. Get into an out of the way bay, and throw up camo netting, and your ship is now just another bit of rock to the satellites, and it’s part of the noise to radar. The cost of this cover is that it is also attractive to random tourist boats, or fishing boats.
These are some very good questions!
The camo netting wouldn’t work on a ship this size.
So let’s say the ship isn’t being searched for but is actively trying not to be spotted on accident or by anyone.
The protagonist won’t have any nearby land to get to.
The camo netting wouldn’t work on a ship this size.
I think it probably could: https://youtu.be/9DSwXZ1esBQ?si=5SRwisQQo4pgRBh3
They use silver nitrate injection to control hurricanes then travel in their eye
Travelling in a hurricane’s eye is pretty damn awesome.
Realistically wouldn’t a 24/7 twister in the ocean not draw a lot of attention? Or do those exist?
They only need them when they need to travel.
The trouble then becomes crossing the equator since (a) there’s probably a lot more satellite coverage at the equator and (b) hurricanes don’t cross the equator
That’s true. Could be some kind of emergency system or a last minute resort when they are on the verge of getting caught.
Most of the ocean you won’t be detected in. There’s just nobody looking for anyone out there. So stay away from eezs and littoral zones and you ll be alone in no time.
Thanks! Haven’t heard of those. I’ll look em up!
I don’t think the north and south poles have much satellite coverage due to how orbits work, so maybe in the arctic or antarctic oceans, but they’re pretty treacherous, so probably somewhere in the Pacific or southern Indian oceans?
Those seem the most recommended.
I’ll have to look up what the coral situation in the South Indian Ocean is like.
Maybe some place off the coast of Antarctica? It’s got a very low population of researchers. You could probably find a fairly hidden bay or harbour to park in.
That’s a strong contender. Could also possibly be a gameplay mechanic with the outside of the ship being freezing and holes possibly let that cold in.
Overall I’m leaning more towards it being set in warmer waters for the sake of some elements like being able to coral dive in the surrounding waters for potential puzzle solutions.
Thought this was a play on that “sovereign AI ship” article from earlier.
Do you have a link to that?
Been working on this idea for a while now and am starting to make the assets in blender.
Oh damn!!
Not quite what I’m thinking with my game but that certainly gives me some inspiration.
Thanks!
Do keep us updated!
Oh certainly! Really appreciate all the help!
I might have a small post about the game on mastodon but I don’t want to give away too much here 😏🤫
I suspect the motive of the protagonist will affect the answer to your question. What are they doing out there? If the goal is to catch fish, for example, maybe don’t go somewhere with no fish, right?
I’m really trying to be reserved with the details as much as possible right now but I do want to try to fill in a few blanks.
You’re quite close with the current working opening where the protagonist is indeed out fishing.
Hence why I was holding back a bit from setting it in the arctic.
Removed by mod
😂 but the other guy was closer
Part of it would depend on whether or not it has, as required of all self propelled ships above a low threshold GRT, an AIS transceiver. If it’s got one, and it’s on, I can find the ship in seconds (access to multiple large terrestrial and satellite AIS systems at work).
But I guess if they never intend to go anywhere near Port State Control, they could just turn their AIS off. People do it all the time to violate sanctions, avoid pirates, etc.
Ok that’s a lot of info I wasn’t aware of. Thanks!!
So this ship doesn’t want to go to port so to remain as hidden as possible. I’m imagining smaller vessels would deliver supplies to the ship along its route. So any laws won’t be really an issue if no countries know about the ship.
Point Nemo
Point Nemo. It’s the farthest point from land in the world.
Removed by mod
And any deorbiting space hardware is aiming in your direction.
Point Nemo sounds really cool but you bring up an excellent point.
What are you trying to smuggle bruh?
Just trying to have a fun time without interruptions. 🍾🎊
