How does Autotracking work?

[Max Spain]

Hello everyone, I'm fairly new at VS, but with my trusty stock llama I've amassed about 2.5mil so I figure it's time to get these hyenas off my back I've purchased a stock Pacifier and I've been trying to make it kill everything that threatens me and I've been failing miserably. After doing some reading I decided that investing in autotracking beam weapons was a good idea. I was under the impression that upon purchasing this upgrade I would have turrets on my ship that automatically fired at enemies from any direction if they were in range. So far I am incorrect and am getting destroyed consistently. Can somebody please explain how autotracking is supposed to work?

[CLoneWolf]

The real turrets, for the ships that have them, already take care of themselves for aiming and firing once you set their target and order fire. The autotracking capability instead is meant for the manually fired, "forward-pointing" weapons; I didn't say "fixed" weapons, because they aren't: tho not flexible as turrets, they can move into a narrow cone to shoot at your target even when your aim is a little off. Lock on your target (its border changes form the 4 L corners to a full square), and even without autotracking you should see your shots reach it instead of going straight, as long as the target is not too far from the center of your reticle.

AFAIK, Autotracking capability widens the cone inside which your weapons can track the target, making it a lot easier to hit them; and if i remember correctly, it even helps dumbfire missiles not to be totally dumb

[Turbo]

The thing to remember about autotracking with beam weapons is that you will only do tiny amounts of damage unless the target is locked, after which it will do the appropriate damage (depending on weapons type, range, distance, etc). That can be a good thing if you destroy your enemy and your radar auto-selects an ally while you still have your finger on the trigger. Autotracking can also make other types of weapons including unguided missiles more accurate.

The challenge with ship turrets is not about autotracking. They simply do not know who to shoot at, even if you put them on "fire at will," until you designate their target. A few nights ago I decided to try capship-style fighting with turrets. Rather than buy or hack a capship, I made an over-the-top modification to my llama by adding 4 turrets (at a cost of half its cargo space) to create a low-budget gunboat which I call the "Alpaca".

A pack of Nicanders beat me up badly, because I wasn't practiced at commanding the turrets. So I'll keep flying my custom-painted Lancelot with its autotracking ktek beams, thanks very much.

[CLoneWolf]

The challenge with ship turrets is not about autotracking. They simply do not know who to shoot at, even if you put them on "fire at will," until you designate their target.

Well, I always considered that a normal feature; I wouldn't want VS to be so automated to be just another thing to watch while eating popcorn
And by the way, think about the blood bath it'd become if turrets fired at their own will at anyone even slightly hostile, like the typical Uln who just saw you killing a pirate

A few nights ago I decided to try capship-style fighting with turrets. Rather than buy or hack a capship, I made an over-the-top modification to my llama by adding 4 turrets (at a cost of half its cargo space) to create a low-budget gunboat which I call the "Alpaca".

Good job! you could add the screen to the game loading ones, even if Pacifiers will be tough competitors

A pack of Nicanders beat me up badly, because I wasn't practiced at commanding the turrets. So I'll keep flying my custom-painted Lancelot with its autotracking ktek beams, thanks very much.

Not sure it was your fault, they can be nasty in packs... I've had a much more positive experience with turrets in the past, with a long and wealthy session of fast AI trading and bounty hunting in a fully beamed Franklin; it's fast enough to let you decide the fighting distance, and once your turrets have tortured the enemy's shields, you can close up and fire everything else. Of course, if i had to turret-fight a pack of Aera, I'd feel safer in a Goddard, but that's just me

[loki1950]

I find that the Aera merchant marine a bit more aggressive than regular Aeraean forces at least they will chase you all over the place which is why i still like the Derivative as it's got the legs to run when the odds go south on you

Enjoy the Choice

[Max Spain]

Thanks for the info guys and that alpaca looks cool While the Pacifier is a decent upgrade from my Llama weapons-wise, it isn't very fast. It's almost impossible to avoid uln and pirates on my transport runs. For the future is there a special way to designate a target for turrets or is it the same select your target and space bar to fire as it is with normal weapons?

[CLoneWolf]

These are the relevant bindings from my current config, they should be the preset ones:

<bind key="P" modifier="none" command="TurretTargetKey" />
<bind key="o" modifier="none" command="TurretAIOn" />
<bind key="o" modifier="alt" command="TurretAIOff" />
<bind key="O" modifier="none" command="TurretAIFireAtWill" />

So this is what you do: target normally the ship you want to be hit by the turrets, press shift-p to assign it to the turrets, press o to activate the turret AI, then shift-o for fire at will, and turrets will fire by themselves (while you may press spacebar to fire your normal weapons instead, even at another target you select normally, while turrets keep firing at their own target)
Beware: AI status and fire order remain even after your target is destroyed, so if you're surrounded by friends be VERY ready to turn turrets off to avoid friendly fire

[loki1950]

And there is a Hud indicator that gives you the state that your turrets are in.

Enjoy the Choice

[ThinkSome]

To summarise the above for future self: select target. Press L. Fire. Rinse & repeat.