Auto-Pilot

[MadArkael]

Hello all once more

I wanted to drop a question about the auto pilot because I feel like it's doing things it didnt used to a long time ago. When flying to a planet the auto pilot appears to take a vector directly at the planet, instead of a vector at where the planet is going to be at time of intercept. The long acceleration happens and instead of just coasting until a negative acceleration is necessary the auto pilot continues to 'waste' fuel making adjustments. Unfortunately, as you may imagine, this leads to empty fuel tanks and death. This effect seems to be most noticed when a satellite of a planetary body is targeted. The pro grade vector constantly drifts to and fro aiming at the location of the satellite.

Since all the orbital mechanics are simulated in game I figured taking the data from the generated properties of a system and being able to calculate an intercept wouldnt be too terribly difficult for people as smart as you guys :) Or maybe you already do this, and I'm noticing another phenomenon?

[bszlrd]

Hi!

Yes, it's a known problem, but one that nobody works on right now sadly.

[FluffyFreak]

We did have a thread with ideas about how to fix this somewhere, does anyone know where that was? Or went?

[MadArkael]

Hi!

Yes, it's a known problem, but one that nobody works on right now sadly.

Roger. Yeah unfortunately, manual flying takes so much longer.

We did have a thread with ideas about how to fix this somewhere, does anyone know where that was? Or went?

Well, I'm not sure about that, but is it a trajectory issue or something else?

[bszlrd]

Actually with practice you can fly more efficiently in most (if not all) cases then the autopilot.

[MadArkael]

Actually with practice you can fly more efficiently in most (if not all) cases then the autopilot.

You should make a tutorial video on how you accomplish this.

I don't pay close enough attention. I love the auto pilot so i can accomplish other things while I'm making the multiple AU journey.

[bszlrd]

Not a video, but there's a writen tutorial on the wiki.

[Keeper]

Perhaps a nice addition would be the ability to set a waypoint. For example, set a waypoint along the orbit path of a target (your best estimation as to where the target will be by the time you get there) and have the autopilot fly to that.

[bszlrd]

The ability to target arbitrary fixed points on an orbit is a good idea I think. Especially since you can advance the time in the orbital map, and in theory at least could vaguely calculate your time of arrival with the brachistochrone equation (sans constant acceleration, but hopefully that will also happen).

[Keeper]

The complication comes in selecting a point along an orbit of something that orbits something else. Perhaps only being able to select a waypoint along the orbit of a primary body (i.e. that which orbits the main star only), until such time as you are within a certain range of it, then you could try setting a waypoint along a moon/station orbit (or not if that's too complicated due to drift from the parent's orbit -- getting to the primary body is where the most benefit is to be made, after all).