With the completion of the magnificently constructed MCRN Leviathan Super Carrier, the popularity of fleet management and interests in carriers is on the rise in Empyrion. This together with tiered expectations of devices led me to suggest a couple new tiers for the otherwise humble Cockpit. Tier 2: Personal drones are ever handy for galactic survival, and they prove the game engine does handle remote control on some level, so I propose a remote controllable, Tier 2 Cockpit, to extend the usefulness of drone technology, surely a must for any high-tech survivor. This next generation of the Cockpit, in addition to accepting a human pilot, can be remotely controlled at certain ranges in safety (until someone sneaks up on you!). Those ranges could be dependent on the quality of certain, otherwise decorative (and fragile!) antennas, also graded on a tiered basis. For example, while a Tier 1 antenna could allow control of an SV or HV within a certain range (until the vehicle stops functioning!), a Tier 2 antenna could control a CV within an even longer range. Having an antenna of like quality for transmit at a BA/CV location, including with a Controller Cockpit (including at a base, a true virtual cockpit) might be necessary. Tier 3: Super Carriers change everything when they arrive on the field. With a Tier 3 Cockpit, full robotics might be a game changer for fleet operations, expanding the capacities of a fleet with more craft than humans to pilot them. Craft with (expensive!) Tier 3 Cockpits could launch self-patrolling vehicles which can be pre-trained to repeat the path a human flew earlier in a recording mode, their turrets shooting whatever targets are opportune along the way. Low fuel/ammo reactionary circuits, causing the craft to follow a pre-trained path (hopefully safely back to the carrier) would be ideal. Tier 3 is not very smart in flight patterns otherwise, just following pre-set routes and reacting to resource levels. Nonetheless, different paths might be selectable by hand through a Controller Cockpit of sufficient tier, and routes may be loopable as needed, for example a patrol route circling the carrier, or a pre-trained landing pattern selectable when the Super Carrier is ready to move once more. Now we can really break out those "warning, armed robots" signs. Tier 4: Empyrion does show a glimmer of pursuit AI, and so a (very expensive!) Tier 4 Cockpit would multiply the game impact of development into improving the AI, by allowing the player to use it for automated, pursuit-capable craft with the route selectability of Tier 3 but with the added function of a pursuit AI when a target is out of range. Pursuit ranges should be configurable. Tier 4 might only be for SVs/CVs (you'd put something this expensive on an SV??); AI-controlled craft is not recommended for hovercraft due to terrain concerns, until the AI gets more refined than current.
It is my expectation that being able to build automated craft would start a new genre of craft styles, one not concerned with human survival but on combat and exploration, and letting the player weigh expendability with resilience in the construction. Who wouldn't want drone carriers?
Somebody who is more concerned about the actual state of the game and fixing all the broken or half assed features in the game before thinking about implementing new stuff.
