I hate supercruise

[Geers]

As I have mentioned before (either in this thread or another) SC is fine as it is and should be left alone. However, there could be a simple solution (apologies if this has been mentioned before) to anyone who is having difficulty.
Why not have a SC autopilot computer as a module that can be bought. Then those who want it can buy it & those who don't can carry on manual style, just a thought.

I never have many issues with SC as long as I keep the needle in the middle of the blue then I get from A to B with having to touch the throttle or miss my exit point.

Nobody finds it hard. We find it boring. It is most certainly not fine. It's filler. It's like playing Just Cause 2 for ten minutes and then having to play Street Sweeper Simulator 2014 in order play more.

Why make it a module? Making things modules is a balance thing. Autopilot doesn't need balancing. It doesn't avoid damage for you, it doesn't make you trade faster, it doesn't generate credits, it just lets us plan our next move instead of staring at the throttle and making sure we don't overshoot wherever we're going.

 

[Arran]

The game DOESNT need autopilot, period..

I have been enough occasions that i just could aim towards where i had to head, als let the ship fly itself, hands of all controls, read the news paper, alt-tab out check quickly forums, or whatever AFK bussiness i wanted to do, alt-tab back into the game, and find my ship perfectly on supercruise on course.
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Only thing i have to do, its keep the ETA in check so i dont overshoot. But i guess that for some complainers allready to much and needs a autopilot to do for you.
What else is needed for them after this so called need for autopilot. An mechanism interdictions dont work while AFK or so, then auto aimbot a-la console because its to hard to aim, its boring repetative to aim in combat after doing it for 10.000.000 time.
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Why has a product has to be changed allways to cater the ignorand, the lazy and the dumb ones in favor who actually enjoy the stuff.
If you dont like a game, there are so many out there that will suit your playstyle, but no it allways has to change for you your convinience, while it was a intented game mechanic.
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When a feature is clearly broken and not working as intented, IE can be abused to gain advantage i will be also asking for a change as well, but SC is working, its not broken, but only some find it boring.
Well i find trading/mining boring in ED, try to find a post of mine, where i am asking because i find it boring and repetative to be changed. I wont, those who like it the more power to them.
I rather go out on combat and earn my credits there, while doing that i have not 30s of boring SC to do since the place is all over targets i can attack/interdict.
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But no, you insist in trading, running boring trading missions, earn credits asap to buy that bigger ship that you barely can fly at all/afford to fly, then get suddenly interdicted and start crying (second type of whinepost alot found on this forums) how its so unfair that you just lost that type9 ship to that bully pirate/pvp player you been grinding days for (while AFK).. since you have NO combat/pvp expierence your just a phat sitting bulleye whit no clue how to act in these occasion just to cry out loud on the forums.
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Its clearly and pretty Obvious the game isnt for you, but still you insist to keep playing and demand things are simplified and dummyfied. and i ask even why, as if these changes would keep the average casual game interrest span (thats often not longer till the next cool looking promotional trailer is found online) prolonged.
Only thing these changes will acomplish that the fans who really enjoy the game in all its aspects are getting turned off by it, and stop playing it as well, together with the casuals who allready found a new interrest.
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End result the game dies out.
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Its like i would go on the COD/BF4 forums and start out crying loud that the game should be more like ARMA, and keep on banging that hammer till it becomes repative and boring to others.
Why not just play ARMA then. Same as here, you want instant gratification, easy flying autopilots and such, i recommend X3 Terran Conflict/Albion Prelude to the whiners here.
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It has a much smaller universe, thus shorter traveltimes, it has trading AND automated trading, and you can, travel the whole universe on autopilot, and it has combat too.
Matter of fact it has all ED has to offer for you too, but small, faster and automated too if wanted, best of all no player pirates as well, so your complete save from PvP..
So dont start ED has no alternatives, since there is.. So be nice, check that out, and leave ED to those who love the game, and i think most whiners here will like the X3 series what it has too offer..
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But sadly, they want to have ED turned down to their level, and dont bother looking for a game that suits them.. screw those who actually like it.

 

[zzzornbringer]

Why make it a module? Making things modules is a balance thing. Autopilot doesn't need balancing. It doesn't avoid damage for you, it doesn't make you trade faster, it doesn't generate credits, it just lets us plan our next move instead of staring at the throttle and making sure we don't overshoot wherever we're going.

i highly disagree with this. like the docking computer, it obviously should also use a module slot. so, you would have to make a choice of making life easier for you but at the cost of something else. integrating it to all ships for everyone would be too much hand holding and i personally wouldn't use autopilot. (i don't even use the docking computer, because it's more fun to dock manually. same goes with supercruise actually.)

i think peope just haven't figured out how to use it and how to approach planets properly with supercruise. flying in a straight line towards to target is the wrong way btw... actually you have to approach the station from the back of the planet. so you need to make a 180° turn around the planet the station is orbiting.

also, another question. if you're exploring and don't have a target destination to lock on, how do you think the autopilot should work? should it work at all? because, if you see a planet that you can't select yet, this is where you actually have to fly in a straight line for several minutes.

 

[Dissentient]

hand holding

Those words need to be added to the filter. I haven't seen a single sentence that contained them that said anything of value.

i think peope just haven't figured out how to use it and how to approach planets properly with supercruise. flying in a straight line towards to target is the wrong way btw... actually you have to approach the station from the back of the planet. so you need to make a 180° turn around the planet the station is orbiting.

It doesn't matter. I keep track of my docking times, by approaching the stations from planetside you save so little time that it's almost completely compensated by extra time in supercruise.

also, another question. if you're exploring and don't have a target destination to lock on, how do you think the autopilot should work? should it work at all? because, if you see a planet that you can't select yet, this is where you actually have to fly in a straight line for several minutes.

1. No one really needs autopilot for exploration.
2. Dedicated exploration ships have advanced discovery scanners that discover all object planets in the system regardless of the distance.

 

[zzzornbringer]

2. Dedicated exploration ships have advanced discovery scanners that discover all object planets in the system regardless of the distance.

as far as i know the highest tier of discovery scanner only has a 3000ls range. (plz correct me if i'm wrong. i only have the basic variant.)

i have explored systems that have stars that were over 10000ls away from me. those you actually have to find and fly to manually.

 

[Dissentient]

as far as i know the highest tier of discovery scanner only has a 3000ls range. (plz correct me if i'm wrong. i only have the basic variant.)

i have explored systems that have stars that were over 10000ls away from me. those you actually have to find and fly to manually.

There are three scanners: basic, intermediate and advanced. Their respective ranges are 500, 1000 and infinite.

 

[Rath]

There are three scanners: basic, intermediate and advanced. Their respective ranges are 500, 1000 and infinite.

I think infinite should be changed to "Entire system" otherwise you could scan the entire universe from Sol... and then sell the data for infinite cash!

 

[Geers]

i highly disagree with this. like the docking computer, it obviously should also use a module slot. so, you would have to make a choice of making life easier for you but at the cost of something else. integrating it to all ships for everyone would be too much hand holding and i personally wouldn't use autopilot. (i don't even use the docking computer, because it's more fun to dock manually. same goes with supercruise actually.)

i think peope just haven't figured out how to use it and how to approach planets properly with supercruise. flying in a straight line towards to target is the wrong way btw... actually you have to approach the station from the back of the planet. so you need to make a 180° turn around the planet the station is orbiting.

also, another question. if you're exploring and don't have a target destination to lock on, how do you think the autopilot should work? should it work at all? because, if you see a planet that you can't select yet, this is where you actually have to fly in a straight line for several minutes.

Docking computers stop you from exploding yourself (in theory).

Autopilot doesn't do jack except keep you pointing in the right direction at the right speed.


I'm asking for autopilot because supercruise was a horrible idea to begin with and needs to be either replaced or completely redesigned. But the community is evidently far too stubborn for something so drastic. So I'm asking for something that's less invasive to other people's experience. If you don't want to use autopilot then don't. But there is NO reason to not allow other people to use it.

If you can lock on to it, autopilot should work. Otherwise get closer.

 

[Dissentient]

I think infinite should be changed to "Entire system" otherwise you could scan the entire universe from Sol... and then sell the data for infinite cash!

It's infinite because "entire universe" doesn't exist in the instance where you activate the scanner. All stars other than ones in your current system are just a skybox, you can't actually supercruise to a star, even though some systems are close enough for it within a reasonable time.

 

[zzzornbringer]

I'm asking for autopilot because supercruise was a horrible idea to begin with and needs to be either replaced or completely redesigned. But the community is evidently far too stubborn for something so drastic. So I'm asking for something that's less invasive to other people's experience. If you don't want to use autopilot then don't. But there is NO reason to not allow other people to use it.

well, that's just your personal opinion which is fine but don't think you're pointing out facts. actually, i could easily revert this sentiment about stubbornness to the other side. i mean, people are to stubborn to learn how to use supercruise properly.

anyways... adding autopilot to all ships would require to many changes to the core systems. adding it as a module would allow a more easy and coherent implementation. it would work similar to the docking computer which is also a method to automate a specific mechanic.

 

[Dissentient]

i could easily revert this sentiment about stubbornness to the other side. i mean, people are to stubborn to learn how to use supercruise properly.

You couldn't, because supercruise is far too simple and easy for that. People complain not because it's hard but because it's so easy there's no room for improvement.

anyways... adding autopilot to all ships would require to many changes to the core systems. adding it as a module would allow a more easy and coherent implementation. it would work similar to the docking computer which is also a method to automate a specific mechanic.

No, it would just require a couple more menu items and key bindings. There's already autopilot: NPC AI. Just make a button that enables it on your ship, and you are done.

 

[Rath]

It's infinite because "entire universe" doesn't exist in the instance where you activate the scanner. All stars other than ones in your current system are just a skybox, you can't actually supercruise to a star, even though some systems are close enough for it within a reasonable time.

Have you left your ship in supercruise for 48 hours to supercruise to another star that's nearby?

I think you'll run out of fuel....

 

[Nom Anor]

Gents and Ladies, we're flying around and around in circles... A bit like the people who are having issues decelerating out of Supercruise. Allow me to summarize, so we can move on:-


Argument: "Autopilot will make people play AFK a lot"
Response 1: "Pirates will start to Interdict more, so AP use becomes a riskier choice"
Response 2: "If people want to play AFK for the 5 minutes they're cruising through a system, so what? It doesn't affect you."
Response 3: "It's only a matter of time before someone makes a screen-reader and key-injector to make an Autopilot 3rd party app."

Argument: "Autopilot and interdiction contradict each other"
Response 1: "On the contrary, if someone's on Autopilot, AFK, and get interdicted, then they're in big trouble."
Response 2: "Autopilot can just be made to revert to manual mode at the moment of interdiction anyway"
Response 3: "If you like interdicting, you should be IN FAVOUR of autopilot! Two Words: Easy Prey"
Response 4: "If you don't like interdicting, you should still be in favour of autopilot: Two Words: Boring Supercruise"

Argument: "Autopilot wasn't in Elite, so why should it be in Elite: Dangerous?"
Response: "AP WAS in Frontier First Encounters, and reduced the annoying baby work, allowing you to focus more on the mechanics of the game"

Argument: "Supercruise is about looking out of the window, seeing USS's, enjoying hotdogging the rings of a planet!"
Response 1: "I'm here to trade, not fight, nor do loop-de-loops around moons."
Response 2: "Yes, the universe is a pretty place, but sometimes, just sometimes, I need to pee, or pick up the baby for a moment, AP will allow me to enjoy the game while giving me a break."

Argument: "Supercruise is a core mechanic. You can't remove it because it's what Elite is all about"
Response: "SC is the modern-day equivalent of the [J]ump in original Elite. It's there because it was in the original. Nothing else."

Argument: "I love Supercruise. I will never use an Autopilot"
Response 1: "You don't need to be so emotional about it. Just because you like it, doesn't mean everyone else has to."
Response 2: "Fine, don't use it, then."
Response 3: "Yes, I'm with you, Supercruise is great. I won't lose sleep over a lack of AP, but I do respect the view that other people hate it."



I think that captures all the major arguments. My own view is along the lines of Responses 2 and 3 of the last argument: Fine, don't use it, but I haven't seen a good reason for there not to be one.

Apologies for the long summary.

 

[zzzornbringer]

Fine, don't use it, but I haven't seen a good reason for there not to be one.

like i have pointed out earlier. supercruise is a big part of the game. if there is an automatic system that replaces it (and people use it), the game potentially becomes more boring, because autopilot requires no user interaction. so, in reality, the main issue for people (supercruise is boring) is replaced by a even more boring mechanic. autopilot will not make the game more exciting or less boring for you. if anything, it may achieve the opposite. so, it's actually not about boredom but merely about lazyness.

it's not a super easy question to answer, because there may be unforeseen repercussions and consequences. hypothetically, if autopilot will be implemented in the future, it should be an optional module for you to equip your ship with. it should not be implemented as a core mechanic that replaces another core mechanic. because then supercruise is effectively obsolete.

 

[Vasea Azure]

I almost never had to do anything in long SC runs so there is nothing lazy about this I think. Also almost all the time I`m alt tabbing during longer SC to do something else.

 

[Vasea Azure]

And that got me thinking - if all I have to do is point my ship to the destination and pull the throttle then I don't need the AP. But if this would be automated than AP should get disconnected when proximity/interdiction happens.

 

[Poisonberry]

The part of supercruise that annoys me is the auto speed reduction as you get closer. In theory, this might take forever if they make the reduction in speed a bit slower than it is now. I think they should let us have more control outside of this "automatic" zone of control. Not asking for faster supercruise, just less hand holding on approach. Make it a skill thing and not this 5 seconds of hell that lasts for 10 minutes.

 

[KellyR]

How about this? Mr. Braben, please go with your design vision. If an autopilot for supercruise is in that vision, then whenever you get a chance, include it in an update. However if it is not in your design vision, then ignore what these people are saying and make your game the way you want it to be. I'll keep playing either way. You're not going to please everyone; it's just not possible. So go with what your original design vision was. This is a great game and I humbly thank you for it from the bottom of my heart.

 

[zzzornbringer]

How about this? Mr. Braben, please go with your design vision. If an autopilot for supercruise is in that vision, then whenever you get a chance, include it in an update. However if it is not in your design vision, then ignore what these people are saying and make your game the way you want it to be. I'll keep playing either way. You're not going to please everyone; it's just not possible. So go with what your original design vision was. This is a great game and I humbly thank you for it from the bottom of my heart.

i haven't been here from the early alpha but i think supercruise as it is, is in fact not the design vision of braben and his team. it's a result of community feedback.

 

[KellyR]

i haven't been here from the early alpha but i think supercruise as it is, is in fact not the design vision of braben and his team. it's a result of community feedback.

Actually I think some kind of supercruise or FTL was intended from the get-go. I mean, with the distances involved here you have to have FTL in-system. Otherwise you'll literally spend days going from the star to the 3rd or 4th planet out. And what if it's way out there? Like Jupiter, Saturn or Uranus? No, they had to have some in-system FTL unless they went with the time compression model of Frontier and FFE which I just don't think would work in multi-player.

Now the velocity that that FTL drive would propel the ship was almost certainly community feedback. In one of the videos I saw, Mr. Braben said that the closest they could come to a consensus was about 4 minutes travel time. I assume this is an average as I can get to Reamy Dock in Apathaam from the entry point in about a minute or a bit less. But some kind of FTL cruise was and is mandatory.