Autopilot
This is a basic help guide detailing how to use the autopilot function.Getting Started:
You should firstly buy a ship and launch from your starting planet (using the LAUNCH command from the control room). You cannot move your ship if it's grounded, after all.
Using Autopilot (with menus):
To use the autopilot function, you need to type MOVE (or just M for convenience) and your ship's cruise control computer will display a list of possible destinations, which should look something like this:
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Cruise Control (general-purpose starship autopilot) Version 2.0
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Planets:
[1] Saturn
[2] Uranus
Moons:
[3] Tethys
Debris:
[4] Debris
Jumpgates:
[5] Jumpgate to Central Jumpgate Hub
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When you are given this list, you may type a number of one of the destinations (for example, type 2 to begin a flight to Uranus, which is labeled [2]) and your ship will go there automatically.
If you fly to a planet with autopilot, you will be prompted whether or not you wish to land on it.
Would you like to request landing clearance at Uranus?
[Enter `yes' or `no']
Obviously typing 'yes' will bring you into autopilot landing and anything else will not.
Using Autopilot (with names):
In addition to the menu-based movement above, you can also move your ship by specifying a destination name. The syntax for that is MOVE (or just M for convenience) [destination name]. For example:
MOVE SATURN
This will cause your ship to move to Saturn. You could also type the name of a ship to move to that ship, debris to move to the first piece of debris, etc.
Using Autopilot (with coordinates):
Autopilot will also accept coordinates using the same syntax as moving to an object with a name. For example:
MOVE 5, 5, 5
This will move your ship to the coordinates 5, 5, 5. The range for coordinates is 1, 1, 1 to 20, 20, 20.
Using Autopilot to Navigate Through Sectors:
If your ship doesn't possess an FTL drive, or its FTL drive is lacking, your ship's autopilot system can help pick up the slack. Most sectors are connected to each other through a system of jumpgates. Your ship is aware of this fact and can automatically navigate the jumpgates for you. To do this, you use the FTL command. For example, if you want to travel to sector 15, you would type:
FTL 15
Your ship will determine, if possible, which jumpgates it needs to use to reach sector 15, saving you the time of plotting a course through the jumpgate network yourself.
Conclusion
There are other methods of flying your ship, but they are more complex. Once you have mastered automatic navigation, you may wish to refer to the help file 'Manual Navigation'.
Related Topics: Manual Navigation | Ship Commands