Vondy Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 I'm building a plane that has a basic 3-d autopilot (roughly equvalent to those available for bombers in late WWII and into the early 50's. How would you define this? I'm thinking about giving the plane TF: Large Airplanes (Self-Basically) and calling it a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Squirrel Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: Autopilot Hmmm. I'd give it Air Navigation; Only for Auto Piloting Precalculated Courses (-1/2). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted May 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: Autopilot Hmmm. I'd give it Air Navigation; Only for Auto Piloting Precalculated Courses (-1/2). Isn't navigation for actually plotting the course? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Squirrel Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: Autopilot I meant Precalculated Points, not Courses. Navigation is good for two uses. it is useful for figuring out where you are and figuring out the best way to get where you are going. If you bought it on itself, I don't think it needs to have TF to be able to operate itself. But that is more of a GM call than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted May 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: Autopilot I meant Precalculated Points, not Courses. Navigation is good for two uses. it is useful for figuring out where you are and figuring out the best way to get where you are going. If you bought it on itself, I don't think it needs to have TF to be able to operate itself. But that is more of a GM call than anything else. Fair Enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labrat Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: Autopilot How can a plane make a skill roll though? Wouldn't you have to install some kind of AI? Maybe you already thought of it and rejected it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted May 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: Autopilot How can a plane make a skill roll though? Wouldn't you have to install some kind of AI? Maybe you already thought of it and rejected it... Here's what I'm up to. The B-17's had a two dimensional autopilot through much of the war, and got a 3-d autopilot (capable of making altitude adjustments) towards the end of the war. It was technically a computer (as was the trajectory and range calculator on the bomb sights they had), but it did one thing and one thing only: fly plane from A-B on plotted course. Building a computer to do that is probably the orthodox answer, but it seems like overkill for the effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawksmoor Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: Autopilot I tend to just give the planes the following if they have crude Autopilots. TF: Type of plane they are. Modern Planes get GPS (Detece exact position on Earth) and Navigation but if the goal is just to go a to b then a Computer or INT is not needed since the plane will not react if a bad situation crops up. Technically, a computer *without* a suitable program would not either but that is too granular for my use in some instances. Hawksmoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhamin Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Re: Autopilot Keep in mind that if anything without an INT score gets a skill, that skill defaults to 9-. So if you need it to just keep flying straight it may be ok, but complex multi-step routes will require that you buy up the roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted May 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Re: Autopilot *poof* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Re: Autopilot I'd buy a Computer with an Int suitable for the complexity of the route you want to give it. It has one program, and one Skill: TF with the vehicle. It shouldn't have Navigation unless you want it to chart the flight path. You could add additional programs and/or Skills optionally (or later). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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