Auto Pilot

Evil lord because the GAME should not have to supplement actual things to do (let alone be largely about) the mundane and boring task of flying your ship from one place to the next, but rather about what you do when you get there and anything else you might do in between.

For some of us, the task of flying one's ship from A to B is exactly what we love about the game.
What you do when you get there is often the 'mundane and boring' task.
 
hi its a NO thanks from me.... although I'm the type of person to fly a flight simulator from country to country in normal time.... not speeded up.

I want to play the game rather than press go and return later
 
hi its a NO thanks from me.... although I'm the type of person to fly a flight simulator from country to country in normal time.... not speeded up.

I want to play the game rather than press go and return later

Sure but what if in a flight simulator you needed to set your direction and hit a button every minute to get from one country to the next, avoiding the giant obstacle in your way each time ? (e.g. Flying a great distance in the galaxy from one star to the next)

I like long trips in flight simulator as well. But you can set your auto-pilot and then do other things while you travel, occasionally checking in on things and staying alert for alerts.
 
I don't think it really needed. If we add a bot and a few macro and such the game will play itself. Then we add gold sellers. Then they can sell the accounts to new players.

This is the stock answer from the immershun squad.

Never quite understood why people here think an autopilot should have downsides. I can't think of a single autopilot or flight management system that has a downside, obvious exception is a degradation of hand flying skills if the use of automation is abused.

Because it’s the sweetener required to hopefully convince the immershun squad that it would be a good idea to add it to the game.


But I agree with several other comments - it’s pointless talking about the autopilot because the community is full of “I don’t want this so no one else should be able to have it” type of people. The reason for this attitude is beyond me. Play the way you want to play is my approach, who cares how anyone else is playing provided it’s within ‘the rules’.

I like the suggestions that 777driver had, make it more interactive.
 
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But I agree with several other comments - it’s pointless talking about the autopilot because the community is full of “I don’t want this so no one else should be able to have it” type of people. The reason for this attitude is beyond me. Play the way you want to play is my approach, who cares how anyone else is playing provided it’s within ‘the rules’.

Except it's not within the rules is it? Otherwise using bots to automate play wouldn't be a bannable offense. What you want to do is to change the rules to suit the way you want to play it. Play the way you want to play basically encompasses all the rule breaking as well you realise, what should CL be pilloried left and right since they are only playing it the way they want to lay it.

To me having an autopilot would be pointless, I wouldn't use it if it was available because basically I don't fly from station to station, but if you want it go for it, you are welcome to lobby FDEV, but keep in mind ED is essentially a "spaceship flying game" and the devs may not even consider anything that takes away the spaceship flying part. There are other problems I see with this automation business, or "autopilot" if you want to call it that but really it's just software automation. It only really applies to one profession, trading. Combat, mining, exploring can't make use of it, so people will get the game, use the "autopilot" to make their billions out of trading and data delivery, then suddenly find they can't actually fly it manually through an asteroid field, or handle it for combat when they spend their billions fitting out a fully kitted combat ship, or even land on a planet. Or with other games I have seen that automate leveling in some fashion, people will make billions auto-trading, then balk at actually spending time in game gathering mats for engineering and demand that be automated as well. Either that or you will see a huge turnover of players who can't hack the game out of the autopilot bit and just leave after a few months having acquired every ship and billions spare cash with nothing to spend it on.

But look, if that's what it takes to keep you playing go for it, but don't expect to get anywhere with the Devs, there's a vision for this game and I don't think it involves auto piloting your way around the galaxy.
 
Good Lord why? This would be like going into Flight Simulator and expecting the plane to do all the work while you're reading a book, washing the dishes, cleaning the house. If that's what you're looking for, perhaps you need to find a different game to play.
:x ...pssst, U missed where I said I was firmly against that gameplay

About 1% of my dockings (probably less) have been with an auto-dock C and only out of curiousity in 3 years of flying. I never use gimbles and been to Hutton quite a few times by now without loosing my mind.
I have zilch problem with flying manual, I was just trying to be nice for a change and conjured up a reason for using an auto-pilot, hence the Guinness part. You're really, rrreeaally talking to the wrong guy here. ♥
 
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Except it's not within the rules is it? Otherwise using bots to automate play wouldn't be a bannable offense. What you want to do is to change the rules to suit the way you want to play it. Play the way you want to play basically encompasses all the rule breaking as well you realise, what should CL be pilloried left and right since they are only playing it the way they want to lay it.

To me having an autopilot would be pointless, I wouldn't use it if it was available because basically I don't fly from station to station, but if you want it go for it, you are welcome to lobby FDEV, but keep in mind ED is essentially a "spaceship flying game" and the devs may not even consider anything that takes away the spaceship flying part. There are other problems I see with this automation business, or "autopilot" if you want to call it that but really it's just software automation. It only really applies to one profession, trading. Combat, mining, exploring can't make use of it, so people will get the game, use the "autopilot" to make their billions out of trading and data delivery, then suddenly find they can't actually fly it manually through an asteroid field, or handle it for combat when they spend their billions fitting out a fully kitted combat ship, or even land on a planet. Or with other games I have seen that automate leveling in some fashion, people will make billions auto-trading, then balk at actually spending time in game gathering mats for engineering and demand that be automated as well. Either that or you will see a huge turnover of players who can't hack the game out of the autopilot bit and just leave after a few months having acquired every ship and billions spare cash with nothing to spend it on.

But look, if that's what it takes to keep you playing go for it, but don't expect to get anywhere with the Devs, there's a vision for this game and I don't think it involves auto piloting your way around the galaxy.


Four points in reply to your partly misguided post:

- firstly I didn’t state at any point I wanted autopilot so you are incorrectly suggesting I want this, I want to change that or I need it to continue playing.
- secondly the devs have added QoLs throughout the game, therefore each time a feature is added it becomes part of the rules
- thirdly whoever makes billions in whatever way, shape or form I’m not interested. Once a certain relatively small amount of credits are earned an additional 30 billion makes no difference. I have no care about it. It’s up to them. Why does that affect you or me?
- fourth as per my final previous point, I agree with you, but I will repeat, it’s pointless talking about the autopilot because it’s not on the devs list.
 
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Please introduce autopilot FD.

My pirate account is getting moist at the idea of traders flying around SC slowly with no ability to defend themselves. It's literally a hall pass for taking their entire cargo hold instead of the five units people seem to think is the most it's acceptable to ask for.
 
Please introduce autopilot FD.

My pirate account is getting moist at the idea of traders flying around SC slowly with no ability to defend themselves. It's literally a hall pass for taking their entire cargo hold instead of the five units people seem to think is the most it's acceptable to ask for.

If only open play piracy actually worked in this game. I used to give away cargo to pirates, just because I felt sorry for them.
 
If only open play piracy actually worked in this game. I used to give away cargo to pirates, just because I felt sorry for them.

Agreed, but that's a discussion for a different thread.

True as it was, the underlying point was that convenience suggestions such as autopilot rarely have implications contained to just the pilot. Ignoring for a moment the abuse potential behind setting up automated trade runs etc., FD would have to make a decision between protecting the vessel in any form, meaning the tool is no longer just an innocuous "affects only me" tool and changes the dynamics of player interaction for the worse, or putting the effort into a tool and - despite every disclaimer possible - handling an inordinate number of ongoing tickets for people that bought an autopilot, got killed, and want to blame someone for their risk taking.

I suspect that between sanitising player interaction and risk further, and having to hire a new support team to process the myriad incoming complaints about AFK deaths, FD have little justification to create such a tool for the purpose of ultimately removing gameplay for the player.
 
Agreed, but that's a discussion for a different thread.

True as it was, the underlying point was that convenience suggestions such as autopilot rarely have implications contained to just the pilot. Ignoring for a moment the abuse potential behind setting up automated trade runs etc., FD would have to make a decision between protecting the vessel in any form, meaning the tool is no longer just an innocuous "affects only me" tool and changes the dynamics of player interaction for the worse, or putting the effort into a tool and - despite every disclaimer possible - handling an inordinate number of ongoing tickets for people that bought an autopilot, got killed, and want to blame someone for their risk taking.

I suspect that between sanitising player interaction and risk further, and having to hire a new support team to process the myriad incoming complaints about AFK deaths, FD have little justification to create such a tool for the purpose of ultimately removing gameplay for the player.

Already explained in a previous post, it is all about the implementation. People really need to get it out of their minds that adding automation has to be a case of pushing a single button that allows the computer to do everything with no further input from the CMDR. Really no need to think on such a simplistic level.
 
Really no need to think on such a simplistic level.

Again I really respect your knowledge but actually yes, we do need to be careful about this. While I am sure that FD could turn ED's travel into an experience nearing a flight simulator, why would they? We have a game with a learning curve already known to be steep as a cliff, and to integrate tools that require understanding of different types of autopilot control would be somewhat needless.

And as much as I hate to say it, I don't think everyone is on board with you about using autopilot as a SC excitement tool; the core of most suggestions I've seen is about pressing a big red button to be sent to destination. Some players just are not into anything but being at destination doing their thing.
 
Again I really respect your knowledge but actually yes, we do need to be careful about this. While I am sure that FD could turn ED's travel into an experience nearing a flight simulator, why would they? We have a game with a learning curve already known to be steep as a cliff, and to integrate tools that require understanding of different types of autopilot control would be somewhat needless.

And as much as I hate to say it, I don't think everyone is on board with you about using autopilot as a SC excitement tool; the core of most suggestions I've seen is about pressing a big red button to be sent to destination. Some players just are not into anything but being at destination doing their thing.

Oh I agree 100% that not everyone is on-board with the idea. It's a suggestion forum, and this topic has been around with both sides of the argument since back in Alpha.

Am simply making two points -

A. Counter arguments that suggest an A/P has to be a simple one push and forget is an incredibly simplistic way to look at the potential implementation. I would rather no A/P in game if the devs operated on such a simplistic level

B. Counter arguments that suggest implementing an A/P opens up the possibility of abuse or leaving the user open to risk is a very good point, however those issues have been resolved in both the gaming industry and in both aviation and shipping.

Cheers
 
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Ignoring for a moment the abuse potential behind setting up automated trade runs etc., FD would have to make a decision between protecting the vessel in any form, meaning the tool is no longer just an innocuous "affects only me" tool and changes the dynamics of player interaction for the worse, or putting the effort into a tool and - despite every disclaimer possible - handling an inordinate number of ongoing tickets for people that bought an autopilot, got killed, and want to blame someone for their risk taking.

I suspect that between sanitising player interaction and risk further, and having to hire a new support team to process the myriad incoming complaints about AFK deaths, FD have little justification to create such a tool for the purpose of ultimately removing gameplay for the player.


Automated trade runs?

Correct me if I'm wrong, I've not been playing long, but from my limited experience I seem to be much more likely to be interdicted by an NPC if I have things in my cargo hold. At the very least I'm going to be shot at after a successful interdiction should I have things in my cargo hold. And should you be moving slower while using the auto pilot you're going to be easier to catch.

By-the-way, seems some have missed the part about potentially being interdicted which disables the auto pilot. This feature isn't intended to be one in which you can set it and walk away from your PC for a long period of time. Well you can, but the likelihood of making it to your destination decreases with every minute you're away.
 
Whilst I agree mainly that a lot of actions in the game may seem "boring and repetitive", there's something to be said for manual interaction.

Philosophically- with technology advancing as much as it has even in our age, you would imagine that at least 1000 years from now there would be automation in almost any and every aspect of life, you wouldn't need to manually pilot a ship at all. Whether it be navigating between systems, stations, outposts or even engaging in combat for that matter.

Realistically, this is a game. It's sole purpose is to create challenge and manual interaction. It's expected that you will need to "do" something in order to achieve results, rather than just letting the computer do everything for you.

If you want complete automation... perhaps you should just watch a sci-fi movie?

(On second thought, there's plenty of YouTube videos of other people playing you could watch instead, too)
 
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Couldn't have said it better myself, Sylveria!
I am out in the black. Just for the hell of it! Getting bored along with the hell of it! But to automate travel is a no-no-never!
 
So what do you expect to happen if an NPC decides to interdict you? and if you had any cargo, they demand you to drop some, and since you are busy doing other stuff than playing the game, you do not get notified about it, and later come back to a rebuy screen!

This situation sums up why this is a terrible idea to begin with... as I would expect you to be very upset that your ship got blown up for no "apparent" reason...
 
It has definitely been brought up before, and the answer is always "No". Currently the only form of flight auto pilot is the Standard Docking Computer. I believe the attitude of FDev is that Players should PLAY the Game, and not ask their computer to do so.

However, your downsides do have some merit, as (IIRC) they have not been suggested.

Problem with that mentality is that your not playing the game when you are watching loading screen after loading screen.

While I like the idea of getting the players to explore, jumping system to systems for a long distance is counter to fun game play.
 
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