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[Oni]

Yes, I know, another stealth suggestion. 
Please hear me out anyway.

Getting stuck on one of those missions that need you to sneak somewhere is generally annoying. Getting chased, doubling back, inevitably having to use Story Points to avoid tanking your rep, etc. We've all been there, and unless you've had the fortune of collecting an all Phase Ship fleet you're not sneaking past that annoying patrol pulling doughnuts around your target and even if you get him to chase you he'll likely be back there before you are... heck, even with the phase fleet they usually catch me. Adding insult to injury is the smuggler NPC's that just drift right through the patrols, must've been generous with the bribes. Anyway, it got me thinking... a lot of games have a delay between going into detection range and actually being detected. Maybe that might be worth implementing here.

Essentially we keep detection ranges the same, but when you're running silent you aren't immediately spotted when you get too close. Instead the detection icon (a slowly filling circle around you or the other guy, an indicator at the bottom of the screen, whatever) changes to indicate you're in detection range and a countdown starts. When time runs out you get spotted and things proceed as normal. How long the countdown is could be tied to obtaining a skill (maybe spice up the 'Bulk Transport' industry skill by adding smuggling ability to it) and it'd increase with your level (something like 1 second per level, maxing out at 10), but with the +3 slow burn boost 'Sensors' give you'd have enough time to actually get to the target and away again if you're careful. Even copy those snooty "pass through a patrol" smugglers if you want, well worth a two skill investment. 

You could also play around with it, increasing or reducing the timer depending on what kind of ships you have in your fleet. Maybe have a few Pirate Hullmods that can be added to ships to make them stealthier. Obviously it wouldn't work if you go dark when already in detection range, it's being quiet and not a super power.

Anyway, just a few of my thoughts for your consideration... or for if somebody with more ability than me wants to make a mod of it.

[JUDGE! slowpersun]

Perhaps instead they can make a eyeball that opens and closes depending on the light level... oh wait, no, that's the Elder Scrolls' solution!

Edit: Grammar.

[Oni]

Perhaps instead they can make a eyeball that opens and closes depending on the light level... oh wait, no, that's the Elder Scrolls solution!

I did say a lot of games had something like that. :3

[JUDGE! slowpersun]

Perhaps instead they can make a eyeball that opens and closes depending on the light level... oh wait, no, that's the Elder Scrolls solution!

I did say a lot of games had something like that. :3

I was being sarcastic.  Light levels in space don't matter as much as the entire EM spectrum... and since you can see a rough estimate of any given fleet's sensor range by mousing over it, seems a pointless request.  Better to ask for an option to display the rough estimate of ALL nearby fleets' sensor ranges, but Alex has apparently rejected this request before since it would basically neuter a large section of the game (and/or code issues, since a bunch of calculations behind the scenes affect how detectable or undetectable any given fleet is, like the location of the fleet, stealth ships/composition of fleet, speed, etc.).  Sneaking should be rendered much easier when the update occurs, since a player will no longer basically be required to choose between the fuel skill and the sensors skill (which allows stealth at a faster burn level) in the tech tree; put another way, as far as I understand, the wrap-around leveling mechanic for skills in being kicked to the curb... and its replacement doesn't have so much mutual exclusion.

[Drazan]

I think this is a good idea, and would add more interactivity and excitment for the stealth aspect of the game.