auto-pilot will be used once in a while - and become part of muscle memory. when I arrive at a station and sc assist drops me out - before I can even think "i want to do the approach myself" my fingers have done tab-1EEFX and auto-docking is in progress - it's not even laziness, it's muscle memory.
Travel Methods
- Thread starter avarusbrightfyre
- Start date
I'm actually more hands on with the supercruise assist than I have to be. It takes forever for the assist to get you to your destination. I do the 7 second thing to get dropped into the target area much faster than either manual supercruise or just letting it run on its own could do. I personally don't use the auto dock feature much because it takes much longer than doing it myself. I usually fly manually through the entrance of the station, then click it on at the last second because it does actually put the ship on the pad much faster and safer than I usually can.
I agree with all that, but would prefer, being able to jump system to system, like now,
to be able to "Honk" for exploration details during the process, in case of a find.
Otherwise maybe a setting based on fuel, to set the system jump limits.
Well, if you have to be paying attention to do the honk part, then an autopilot doesn't really do that much for you. You still have to sit there and babysit the process. For me, at least, autopilot would only be useful for long trips where I'm not worried about collecting exploration data, hence why I prefer a long jump setup. If I'm going to forego the data anyway, I might as well just bypass the systems entirely.
That would be super awesome and actually much more consistent (with other flight mechanics) than jumps.
So we would have 3 main travel modes: sub-light, supercruise and hypercruise.
I suppose Thargoids can do hypercruise and use their hyperdictors in a similar way as we're using interdictors in SC.
I'd love to travel between different systems, to be able to have full control in the hyperspace...
Sad this thing (and a lot of other amazing ideas) won't be implemented in ED ever :-(
On the list of things we've discussed so far, that has been my favorite idea, but we've mostly agreed with the statement it probably won't happen.
I see it working like this, you use the map to plot your course,
Auto Launch takes you out, then hands over to super cruise assist,
SCA takes you out of mass lock, brings you to bear on the first jump target,
then hands over to FSD, and you jump,
then SCA brings you to bear on 2nd jump target,
Fuel scoop and honk on auto, as you orbit around the star toward 2nd target, then hand over to FSD,
and jump, until you reach your destination, however many jumps are within your fuel limit.
You can stop, pause and restart toward the next star anytime prior to jump, allowing for other actions,
or a complete change of direction.
Any emergency will put you into normal space, after a 5-30 secs Warning with Info, to deal with it.
Allowing time to take manual control of the ship.
Auto Launch takes you out, then hands over to super cruise assist,
SCA takes you out of mass lock, brings you to bear on the first jump target,
then hands over to FSD, and you jump,
then SCA brings you to bear on 2nd jump target,
Fuel scoop and honk on auto, as you orbit around the star toward 2nd target, then hand over to FSD,
and jump, until you reach your destination, however many jumps are within your fuel limit.
You can stop, pause and restart toward the next star anytime prior to jump, allowing for other actions,
or a complete change of direction.
Any emergency will put you into normal space, after a 5-30 secs Warning with Info, to deal with it.
Allowing time to take manual control of the ship.
it won't happen for sure. Frontiers can't even fix a minor annoying UI/UX bugs, and never implemented anything really cool suggested by players which changes existing things... That's VERY sad but, well, we have no choice :-(
I personally can't go quite that far. The honk adds value in the form of money, and in my opinion any activity that directly adds money to your account should require manual input from the player. I put an exception things like courier missions or transportation of goods and passengers because that is mostly about the time involved to get from one place to another rather than the effort of making the jumps. Honking is a value added activity, so I think I diverge from agreeing with you there.
In the end, I think adding all the autopilot stuff would be quite a bit harder than just adjusting the equation to base jump range on fuel. A longer jump option may be far more likely since it only requires minor changes. I can only imagine the bugs inherent in trying to fully automate all the aspects of flight in the current model.
Well, I think the first thing we need to do is be encouraging rather than disparaging toward the developers. No one wants to listen to someone complaining at them. All you can do is your best to work with the developers, and they'll either listen or not. Being negative about it doesn't really help, and it just makes you and the people around you feel more depressed.
I know and I'm sorry to developers. Being a game developer by myself, I can feel this. But as a commander I'm just plain desperate here about any such fixes/improvements and, again, as a developer I just don't understand FDevs policies - why they do some weird things and don't do the things which are highly requested by players for a long time.
Yeah, it kind of sucks, but all we can do is keep asking until they take it seriously. The more positive we are about it, the less defensive they're likely to be and the higher the chance things change.
I think there has been a learning curve for both Frontier and the players,
and I believe there has been a Big Catch up for everyone.
I see a lot of positive steps taken, between the start and now.
How long have players asked for legs, and now we are getting them.
There is a lot of Great Talent working to make the game better, and I have faith they will come through.
And the players here are Over Flowing with Creative Ideas, that out shine the rants and grumbling.
YEP, I think everything is moving in a positive direction, and we will keep on trucking, better and better.
WOW, you Players are Great, and what a Fine Crew we have putting this game together for us.
Just think, what it would be like, without this game, this community, during the Lock downs !!
Gee what a drag that would be, So Think positive, Live Long and Prosper
yeah, the landing pad thing is basically why i use auto-dock - even I like to do the approach myself - if my fingers let me, I do not even think about it, it's like in a car with manual gear shifts - you never think about how to do it or when to do it, your hand and foot do all by themselves - muscle memory. Or in a helicopter flare and hover before touch down is something I never think about how to do it - my hands and feet do this on a subconscious level perfectly by themselves.
Yes, the approach is much more efficient if you do it manually. It skips the pre-arranged approach points, you can boost toward the entrance and even fly through at high speed, then click on the auto-dock once you're inside and it pretty much just slams you down on the pad. It's really satisfying when you get it just right.
Sadly not all are Ace Pilots like you people, some of us, use to be, until age caught up to us.
So once again, options are the best way to go.
OR maybe I could just buy a NPC Robot that would do all the manual stuff for me,
I would name him Robbie, Data, or get a her named Rosie.
I'm not sure where that came from, lol. I didn't say anything other than it's more efficient to do it manually. If you want to use auto-dock, go for it. I've already stated I'm not necessarily against full on autopilot.
Didn't mean anything against Yall, sometimes my ptsd gets triggered by memories I don't remember.
I like to turn on the auto dock, and crank up the music, with "Heavy Metal" or "Flight of the Valkyries",
just wish we could start the docking sequence further out, in order to finish the tunes.
eventually boost towards the rear end of the station in this case, then auto-dock will have to go around the whole station.
it is just sad that the SC isn't showing a new CMDR how to approach a station from the planet-side, but drops them off wherever the vector led it. it could have been an educational tool otherwise. What I like with the docking computer for example, is that it actively performs power distribution and is by that an educational tool as well.