I know, some people will say, there is no Autopilot, but there is. My ships are doing things that I did not tell them and against my wishes. I would like to be able to turn that off.
For Example the automatic dismissal of the main ship once an SRV is about 2 km away. I picked that parking spot, I wanted my ship to stay there. But now I have to recall it and trust the autopilot to land it properly. It always lands far away from my current position in the most awkward places, sometimes hanging halfway in the air... Not to mention the continuous reports of Commanders losing their ships to the autopilot.
I have heard arguments that it is for the safety of the ship. What if the ship gets attacked when you are far away? Well, the ship could potentially have hardpoints deployed when landed, and shoot back automatically (if it has turrets set to fire at will). I will get a notification that the ship is getting attacked anyways, and could dismiss it manually. Those that play in Solo or Private modes, can usually just know whether or not there is even a chance the ship could get attacked. No PP Faction, no bounty, and no cargo? No hostiles.
I have also heard that some Commanders might not be able to find their ship again, or be unwilling to drive all the way back. Now, we can dismiss and recall it at any time already - so that is not an issue. It could also still be an option to dismiss it automatically, but seriously at 2 km? I can fly a fighter 30 km away before it goes out of range. That would be a more reasonable distance for SRVs as well. And speaking of fighters...
Another example would be the autopilot that takes over the mothership once the pilot takes control of a fighter. Usually I want my ship to stay in the exact condition I left it in. The course and speed I set, hardpoints deployed or not, power distribution, module setup... Instead the ship automatically changes my power distribution and starts following me, ramming into asteroids and ships. And it disables any module that has no ammo left. Yes sure, once you know it you can try to remember reactivating those modules when you have them restocked, but it did almost kill me the first time it happened because my shield cell banks would not fire, they had been depleted previously and were still disabled - so pressing the button did nothing. I use a dedicated button for SCBs so I dont have any indicator on my HUD for them. That could be added as well by the way. Next to heat sinks, chaff, and point defense - which are shown on the HUD even if not bound to a firegroup.
There is a "Hold Position" command, and I have tried it. Well at least the ship does not ram anything anymore, but it still turns around - always facing me. What if I want specific turrets to fire at my pursuer, or get the big ship with the big shields between me and the enemy with gimballed beams? Also, whenever I get close to the ship, it moves away from me... why? What in "hold position" says "move around"?
Then there is the "Recall Fighter/Board Mothership" Command. It seems to include the "Follow me" command. So when I am behind my ship, ready to land, and use the board command, the ship turns around to face me, and moves. So now I have to fly around to the other side of the ship, while maintaining medium distance so it does not move again, before I am able to land.
If I wanted an NPC/AI to control my ship while I fly a fighter, I could hire a NPC crew member. I do not do that, deliberatly...
I also have the suspicion that the mothership autopilot is responsible for this bug that I have recently encountered, but only on ships with fighter bay, and always related to launching a fighter: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/397886-Large-ships-with-fighter-take-off-while-deploying-SRV
Considering that I dont actually leave the ship when controlling a fighter, but just project my telepresence into it, There is no reason why the mothership can not just maintain speed and course while I am keeping the enemy busy in the fighter. If I am controlling it, and dont touch the controls, it does not start the autopilot either.
Think about the options for traders, being able to fight an interdictor, while the ship gets out of the way, then get back when the FSD is cooled down.
Yes it is possible with multicrew, but not everyone has a friend available at all times to sit in the ship just in case. An NPC pilot would also be an option, but some people like to fly the fighters. Both multicrew and NPC pilot would not allow the Helm to fly the fighter themselves (why is that the case with multicrew by the way?) while the ship moves away from the combat.
And disabling modules (even if empty) is absolutely unnecessary, until the power plant gets heavily damaged.
TL;DR/Suggestion: Add an option to the functions panel "Autopilot uncontrolled ship: ON/OFF", and if OFF leave it be as I left it, and where I left it (on planets).
For Example the automatic dismissal of the main ship once an SRV is about 2 km away. I picked that parking spot, I wanted my ship to stay there. But now I have to recall it and trust the autopilot to land it properly. It always lands far away from my current position in the most awkward places, sometimes hanging halfway in the air... Not to mention the continuous reports of Commanders losing their ships to the autopilot.
I have heard arguments that it is for the safety of the ship. What if the ship gets attacked when you are far away? Well, the ship could potentially have hardpoints deployed when landed, and shoot back automatically (if it has turrets set to fire at will). I will get a notification that the ship is getting attacked anyways, and could dismiss it manually. Those that play in Solo or Private modes, can usually just know whether or not there is even a chance the ship could get attacked. No PP Faction, no bounty, and no cargo? No hostiles.
I have also heard that some Commanders might not be able to find their ship again, or be unwilling to drive all the way back. Now, we can dismiss and recall it at any time already - so that is not an issue. It could also still be an option to dismiss it automatically, but seriously at 2 km? I can fly a fighter 30 km away before it goes out of range. That would be a more reasonable distance for SRVs as well. And speaking of fighters...
Another example would be the autopilot that takes over the mothership once the pilot takes control of a fighter. Usually I want my ship to stay in the exact condition I left it in. The course and speed I set, hardpoints deployed or not, power distribution, module setup... Instead the ship automatically changes my power distribution and starts following me, ramming into asteroids and ships. And it disables any module that has no ammo left. Yes sure, once you know it you can try to remember reactivating those modules when you have them restocked, but it did almost kill me the first time it happened because my shield cell banks would not fire, they had been depleted previously and were still disabled - so pressing the button did nothing. I use a dedicated button for SCBs so I dont have any indicator on my HUD for them. That could be added as well by the way. Next to heat sinks, chaff, and point defense - which are shown on the HUD even if not bound to a firegroup.
There is a "Hold Position" command, and I have tried it. Well at least the ship does not ram anything anymore, but it still turns around - always facing me. What if I want specific turrets to fire at my pursuer, or get the big ship with the big shields between me and the enemy with gimballed beams? Also, whenever I get close to the ship, it moves away from me... why? What in "hold position" says "move around"?
Then there is the "Recall Fighter/Board Mothership" Command. It seems to include the "Follow me" command. So when I am behind my ship, ready to land, and use the board command, the ship turns around to face me, and moves. So now I have to fly around to the other side of the ship, while maintaining medium distance so it does not move again, before I am able to land.
If I wanted an NPC/AI to control my ship while I fly a fighter, I could hire a NPC crew member. I do not do that, deliberatly...
I also have the suspicion that the mothership autopilot is responsible for this bug that I have recently encountered, but only on ships with fighter bay, and always related to launching a fighter: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/397886-Large-ships-with-fighter-take-off-while-deploying-SRV
Considering that I dont actually leave the ship when controlling a fighter, but just project my telepresence into it, There is no reason why the mothership can not just maintain speed and course while I am keeping the enemy busy in the fighter. If I am controlling it, and dont touch the controls, it does not start the autopilot either.
Think about the options for traders, being able to fight an interdictor, while the ship gets out of the way, then get back when the FSD is cooled down.
Yes it is possible with multicrew, but not everyone has a friend available at all times to sit in the ship just in case. An NPC pilot would also be an option, but some people like to fly the fighters. Both multicrew and NPC pilot would not allow the Helm to fly the fighter themselves (why is that the case with multicrew by the way?) while the ship moves away from the combat.
And disabling modules (even if empty) is absolutely unnecessary, until the power plant gets heavily damaged.
TL;DR/Suggestion: Add an option to the functions panel "Autopilot uncontrolled ship: ON/OFF", and if OFF leave it be as I left it, and where I left it (on planets).
