History Main / EnemyDetectingRadar

** ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' was the first to use a radar, allowing the player to see enemies on the surrounding screens. It showed both the guards positions and their vision cones to indicate when you could be seen.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' both used Soliton radar, which had been invented by Mei Ling. Apparently "It employs the [[TechnoBabble KdV equation]] to detect the electromagnetic waves resulting from biological reactions." It could detect when people yawned, when they closed their eyes, which way they were looking, and how far they could see. Triggering an alarm would result in the radar being jammed, as would using chaff grenades, and the radar wouldn't work in enclosed spaces.
** As a prequel, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' didn't feature the radar, as it was set before it was invented (and many argued that the radar made the stealth too easy). There were a number of more primitive alternatives that could be found through the game, all of which needed battery power. The Motion Sensor would only show moving guards and animals, so a stationary guard wouldn't be shown. The Sonar would indicate everything, but had to be manually triggered and the 'ping' could alert guards. The AP sensor would vibrate when guards were near.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' had a Surround Indicator that would mark the direction and proximity of guards according to how much noise they made, as well as how noisy the player was.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' did not feature one traditionally, being set just 10 years after ''Snake Eater''. However, you can acquire specs to build your own [[AnachronismStew battery-powered Soliton Radar]], continuity be damned, which functions identically to its appearance in previous games. Unfortunately, the battery consumption means that it's all but AwesomeButImpractical until the very last upgrade, whereupon it stops consuming battery.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' used a similar Threat Ring, this time surrounding the player in 3D when they crouched rather than in a radar screen. The Solid Eye also gives a radar when worn that worked similarly, which showed the position of the player and nearby characters, as well as a second circle around the player that expands or shrinks to indicate how large of a presence they're making themselves through sound and the like - running full-tilt would nearly fill the radar screen, while laying down and blending in with [=OctoCamo=] would make the circle only ''just'' barely larger than the one indicating their position. The camo index (indicating how effective your camouflage is against your current background) was also worked into the Solid Eye's radar, and would turn blue or red if you're currently harder or easier to notice amidst things like gunfire and mortar shells exploding nearby.

** ''VideoGame/{{Strife}}'', another Doom-engine game, adds this function as an item as well. Unfortunately you have to use it on a level filled out by an automap powerup, and only a few levels in Strife have map pickups.

* The video game adaptation of ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye]]'' has one, explained as the function of one of Bond's gadgets. SpiritualSuccessor series ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' also has one.
** Oddly enough you had to unlock a cheat code to ''turn the radar off''. The most common reason for bothering unlocking this cheat was when you had a friend who was so good at the game in multiplayer you had to do ''something'' to make things harder for them to hunt everyone down.

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* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has a radar screen that shows enemies, treasures, and general geography while exploring Tartarus. In one section, the enemies [[ScrappyLevel tend to blend into the dark background]] and the radar becomes that much more useful.

[[folder: First Person Shooter ]]

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' puts one on the player's {{HUD}} in both single-player and multiplayer modes. The one in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' can even indicate vehicle type (e.g. if an enemy is driving a Wraith, they'll appear in the shape of a Wraith on your motion tracker). That said, the tracker can be foiled by either crouch-walking or just moving ''really'' slowly.

* In ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator2010,'' the motion tracker appears as a HUD element (and yes, it keeps the proxemity warning audio cues).

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* ''VideoGame/XCom''

** The Creator/{{Firaxis}} reboot has three:

*** The Battle Scanner is a round camera-like device that can be thrown like a grenade, and reveals a section of the FogOfWar without alarming the enemies it sees; it also blows the cover on invisible[[labelnote:+]]Seekers in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'''s ''Enemy Within'' ExpansionPack[[/labelnote]], disguised[[labelnote:+]]Faceless in ''VideoGame/XCOM2''[[/labelnote]] or concealed[[labelnote:+]]Spectres and the Chosen Assassin in ''VideoGame/XCOM2'''s ''War of the Chosen'' ExpansionPack[[/labelnote]] enemies within its area of effect but does not affect the invisibility or concealment of the soldier that deploys it. In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' it's normally a Sniper-exclusive Lieutenant skill[[note]]any soldier can get it at any rank with the ability-shuffling "Training Roulette" Second Wave option introduced in ''Enemy Within''[[/note]] and has two "charges" per mission, while in ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' it's a regular item with only one "charge" developed after performing an autopsy on an ADVENT Trooper.

[[folder: Western RPG ]]

* The [=PIPBoy=] has a motion tracker option in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'' & ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', which will display all living entities on the minimap scanner when it's switched on.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', enemies are shown on your compass as red ticks, with the range governed by your Perception stat.

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[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]

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[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

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[[folder: Real Life ]]

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* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has both the Marauder's Map (a real-time map of people and where they are on school grounds) and the Sneakoscope. Though the Sneakoscope only indicates if someone nearby is untrustworthy, whether it's due to a little prank they're playing or something much more serious, with no distinction between the two.

* The ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series had the Paintball item, which allowed a hunter to see where his/her mark is located on the onscreen map.

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' requires you to earn the "Memory of White", a minimap with the enemies in purple and the treasures in yellow, by collecting Lovikov balls. ''Desperate Struggle'' averts the BagOfSpilling by letting Travis keep it.

** Using tools/perks like UAV Jammer, Camouflage, Cold Blooded, [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps Gh]][[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII o]][[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII s]][[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare t]], Assassin, [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts Off the Grid]], [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare Low Profile]] or even simply shooting the UAV down will hide you from this sort of detection.

** In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'', a Counter-UAV will completely disable enemy radar - it replaces the map, friendly positions, and enemy positions with static.

** ''Modern Warfare 2'' and ''3'' also have heartbeat sensors available for certain weapons - and these can, for some reason, distinguish between friendly and enemy heartbeats. However, these can also be defeated by the 'Ninja' perk, which makes you invisible to such sensors.

* The top-down automaps in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} II'' allow you to see enemies (and other objects) with the proper cheat codes on.

* In ''VideoGame/FarCry1'' the player character finds a set of binoculars near the beginning of the game which allows him to isolate the tracking beacons of targetted enemies, putting them on the radar. So, once the enemies have been spotted once, they show up on the radar. This returns in ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', ''[[VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon Blood Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FarCry4 4]]'' by way of marking enemies through your camera or cyber-eye depending on the game.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/AlienIsolation https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c37300318cf50ef7f266844ddfe0efd1.jpg]]]]

A few real life combat vehicles have radar support (and all seafaring vessels are required to have at least one) that can help the pilot navigate the battlefield and avoid enemies, so it's no surprise that this is often part of video games that feature such systems. Sometimes it's justified as your character's equipment, or psychic, abilities or {{Handwave}}d as AWizardDidIt; other times it's just there with [[GameplayAndStorySegregation no explanation]] except to [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality make the player's life easier]]. It may also partially model non-visual cues that humans tend to get like positional sound location (an aspect of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect cocktail party effect]]) which are difficult to implement in video game sound systems which often lack the ability to create true positional sound. Alternately, the "radar" is used to detect hidden items instead.

* In ''VideoGame/FarCry'' the player character finds a set of binoculars near the beginning of the game which allows him to isolate the tracking beacons of targetted enemies, putting them on the radar. So, once the enemies have been spotted once, they show up on the radar. This returns in ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', ''[[VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon Blood Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FarCry4 4]]'' by way of marking enemies through your camera or cyber-eye depending on the game.

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* In most if not all ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game mechanics (and probably a lot of Tabletop [=RPGs=] in general) there are spells to detect the presence, location, and relative strength of a variety of creatures, usually in the form of Detect [Alignment], for creatures matching a particular type of alignment and Detect Undead, for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin undead creatures]]. There's also Detect Magic, which doesn't detect creatures, but magical items and spell effects.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has the auspex, a handheld or helmet-mounted scanner that can usually detect enemies. Unfortunately ([[PercussiveMaintenance in addition to all the problems with Imperial tech]], against the tyranids it sometimes fails due to being calibrated for one species or the other and not hybrids, and sometimes because the 'nids know to stay ''just'' out of auspex range when building up their forces for a ZergRush.
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* Available in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' although both required a spell to have the monsters show up. Also available were magic detection (which showed magical items) and key detection ([[MundaneUtility presumably the result of a mage losing his tower key once too often]]).
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has two spells, Detect Living and Detect Dead, which do what they sound like, letting you determine where people are located. The latter is a must-have for draugr ruins to spot where those sneaky undead might be hiding. There's also a [[MakeMeWannaShout Dragon Shout]] called Aura Whisper that detects ''everything'' that can move, living or undead, and has a very wide range and fast cooldown. Once you've got Aura Whisper, you will ''never'' fall into an ambush again.

A few real life combat vehicles have radar support (and all seafaring vessels are required to have at least one) that can help the pilot navigate the battlefield and avoid enemies, so it's no surprise that this is often part of video games that feature such systems. Sometimes it's justified as your character's equipment, or psychic, abilities or {{Handwave}}d as AWizardDidIt; other times it's just there with [[GameplayAndStorySegregation no explanation]] except to [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality make the player's life easier]]. It may also partially model non-visual cues that humans tend to get like positional sound location (an aspect of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect cocktail party effect]]) which are difficult to implement in video game sound systems which often lack the ability to create true positional sound. Alternately, the "radar" is used to detect hidden items instead..

A few real life combat vehicles have radar support (and all seafaring vessels are required to have at least one) that can help the pilot navigate the battlefield and avoid enemies, so it's no surprise that this is often part of video games that feature such systems. Sometimes it's justified as your character's equipment, or psychic, abilities or {{Handwave}}d as AWizardDidIt; other times it's just there with [[GameplayAndStorySegregation no explanation]] except to [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality make the player's life easier]]. It may also partially model non-visual cues that humans tend to get like positional sound location (an aspect of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect cocktail party effect]]) which are difficult to implement in video game sound systems which often lack the ability to create true positional sound. Alternately, the "radar" is used to detect hidden items instead.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'' has the auspex, a handheld or helmet-mounted scanner that can usually detect enemies. Unfortunately ([[PercussiveMaintenance in addition to all the problems with Imperial tech]], against the tyranids it sometimes fails due to being calibrated for one species or the other and not hybrids, and sometimes because the 'nids know to stay ''just'' out of auspex range when building up their forces for a ZergRush.

* In most if not all ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game mechanics (and probably a lot of Tabletop [=RPGs=] in general) there are spells to detect the presence, location, and relative strength of a variety of creatures, usually in the form of Detect [Alignment], for creatures matching a particular type of alignment, Detect Undead, for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin undead creatures]], and Detect Magic, for magical creatures and items.

* In most if not all ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game mechanics (and probably a lot of Tabletop [=RPGs=] in general) there are spells to detect the presence, location, and relative strength of a variety of creatures, usually in the form of Detect [Alignment], for creatures matching a particular type of alignment, and Detect Magic, for magical creatures and items.

* Appears in ''VideoGame/AliensColonialMarines'' as a peice of True-To-The-[[Film/{{Aliens}} Movie]] equipment. Meaning the motion tracker's a bulky machine you cannot have equipped at the same time as a gun. It also has a proxemity function, the destinctive "mling... mling... mling..." audio clue from the film to let you know how close an enemy is.
* In ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator2010,'' the motion tracker appears as a HUD element.

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* The Hunter class in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a feature that allows you to see all of one type of mob within the range of your minimap.

* In the original ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games, you didn't have a minimap unless you built a Radar Dome, which would then show off the entire map (though areas covered by the shroud would appear as black space). Additionally, the later games added ways of detecting stealth units (typically, light vehicles might have sensors which would revealed their location, meaning that players would be well advised to keep a few stealth detecting units around to avoid being ambushed).

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