Obviously there are
some players who would enjoy the game more if there was some method of autopiloting jumps. Equally clearly, there are others who would feel this to be a dumbing down of the game or would detract from the sense of scale that is an integral part of the ED galaxy. Without arguing the merits of either viewpoint, how could both groups of players be satisfied?
Firstly, autopilot must be optional. Off by default in the right hand UIs functions panel. If you want to use it, turn it on before charging your FSD for the first jump.
Secondly, autopilot needs to != rapid travel. It must not be possible to "get there" faster with an autopilot than you do by manually flying it. In fact, you should be able to shave several minutes off even a four or five jump route by manually flying it well or by being prepared to tolerate greater heat buildup than the autopilot will allow etc. The possible mechanics I outline below will handle this quite nicely.
So, those mechanics....
- Autopilot will not jump to a system for which you do not have system data unless that system has a nav beacon. If your plotted route passes through such a system the autopilot will, instead of jumping there, drop to normal space and signal for your attention. You will have to pilot the next jump manually, and if you don't want to be stopped there again be sure to honk it before you try and move on. Obviously this means explorers will be piloting most jumps manually once they get beyond the bubble, at least on the way out. If they come back in along the same axis as they departed they are likely to be returning through systems they honked on the way out and so the autopilot will transit those systems on the way back in.
- Autopilot will not scoop fuel. Nor will it execute a jump beyond the last star on your route known to be scoopable (IF you have a scoop fitted) or to have a nav beacon indicating a resident population - whichever one is further along your route and within your unrefuelled range. Note that careless autopiloting can still strand you without fuel if you use up the last of your tank jumping to a system that is populated, has a nav beacon, but only has outposts and you're in a ship that needs a large pad, or that last jump lands you in a system where for whatever other reason you can't refuel there!
- Autopilot will not attempt a jump that requires neutron star assistance or synthesized FSD boost. It will drop to normal space and disengage, waiting for the pilot to fly that next jump manually.
- Autopilot will always enter a system at zero throttle and immediately orient on the next waypoint. If the jump target is obscured, it will change course 90 degrees directly away from the center of the obscuring mass and fly in that direction until the jump path is clear, at which point it will orient the ship accordingly. Once the jump path is clear, the FSD has cooled down and ship heat is 55% or lower, the autopilot will engage the FSD and throttle up for the next jump.
- If ship heat exceeds 95%, the autopilot will make a safe drop to normal space, zero the throttle and disengage.
- if interdicted, the autopilot will submit, zeri the throttle in normal space and disengage.
- Autopilot will slow down and make a safe drop to normal space before crossing a star or planets SC exclusion zone (or orbital flight limit - it won't cross either the blue or green lines, it will make a safe drop just outside those limits) but - and this is important - it won't maneuver to avoid them either. It will just safely drop, zero the throttle and wait for you to handle the situation.
So yeah, if you want to you can automatically netflix across the galaxy, provided you're traveling through known systems, taking over the controls only to refuel, run away from a pirate or deal with autopilot brainfarts. If you're more a hands-on type then you'll get there quicker, if you're a hair-on-fire buckyballer you'll get there a LOT quicker. Exploring can't be shortcut by autopilot either.
I don't think your suggestion would be unreasonable, some of it would give the automation a natural slow down, to artificially slow it more down is quite silly, and should not be needed.
Personality I'm ok with only travelling to known star systems, it should then be possible to purchase maps to those systems already in the cartographer starmap.
As mentioned before, the rough mechanics to make a AP is not that complicated, the complicated would be to make it satisfy those who would like the feature, and make those who don't like it accept it.
That being said, please don't make claims that what we got now is challeging, less netflixing or in anyone form a great way of travelling around in the galaxy. It makes you look silly and it's not needed.
Exploration will not be watered down, it simply can't be more basic than it already is, I support a more interresting exploration mechanics, i don't say exploration is fine! because it's not. Just like the mechanics of travelling around is not "fine".
This was suggested in the early days of the DDF, it was already in the DEVS awareness that this was needed. Somehow it didn't get a place in the game, however that is not the same as we should stay with what we got.
a lot of people would like this feature, and I'm guessing here, more people would like it than people who desperately are clinging to what we got now, for to me unknown reasons.
The aim is to make the game fun, challeging and interresting, to keep the playbase playing the game, and to attract new players?
This is not instant ship transfer, nor is it instant module transfer, nor is it instant anything. What is suggested is that a small part of the game get leaned, by adding a choice, autocruise or hands-on-stick, you make the choice, you play it your way, not by playing it as
the boy next door what you to play it.
It will not make you win, it will not make you get there first, however it will make you actually enjoy playing the game during all its phases and not just those parts you was actually going to play.
automation as suggested will not take anything away from anybody, it will only give people a choice.
[video=youtube;XcHy6V7qUKo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcHy6V7qUKo[/video]
The guy who made this kindly asked FD if it was ok, it was not, we respect this by not using it, however we know people are using similar tools, they just don't tell about it, it's not difficult therefore it will be done by those who got the skills, that is just facts, so what you got is a dilemma.
Unless someone got a really good argument to why we should keep the current mechanic, I can't see why this is going to ruin the game for other people.
And where does it stop? trading tools? any tool outside the game? where do you want to draw the line?
