Auto-resource ferrying & More Launch-pads

[iStickyDuck]

Multiple times in KSP I have built a space-station with fuel storage. And then after that I have to ferry fuel up there with about 10 long and tedious flights.

The first part of my suggestion is to have an auto-pilot like Mech-Jeb fly ships up to within 100m of the space-station and do the normal redezvous procedures. To make this balanced you would have to design the refuel ship to begin with so if it failed then it would be your fault. When transferring fuel the docking procedure would be done "automatically" if it's not currently the active vessel and then return to orbit. It would stop it's automation if the current active vessel is within 2.5km because otherwise it would have to automatically perform a docking but it would then resume once the active vessel is beyond 2.5km. If the player chose to do so, by switching to the automated vessel they could control it without making any changes to the recorded flight. If the space-station is full of fuel the automation stops until it has empty space.

The way I picture it is that you build the ship, put a part on it that allows for automation and then you must fly it to within 100m of the space-station and safely land it back on kerbin. You would then go to space center, select the second launch-pad and click the ship you would like to automate. It would need to have been successfully tested at least once. It would need to be retested if any parts are added or removed.

In flight the part records the position of the station at the time of starting the flight and records the flight so that it recreates exactly what the ship did during the test flight in it's automated flight. You would then have to dock with the space station and it records the amount of fuel that gets transferred, maximum fuel capacity of the station and final amount of fuel in the station upon undocking.

It would then be able to calculate when the space-station is fuel by adding the amount of fuel that gets transferred to the final fuel amount and if it is equal to the maximum capacity then it performs the recorded landing.

I don't consider it to be cheating (Maybe a little lazy) because it's using the players flight patterns to perform it's own flight.

The second part of this suggestion links into the first part. More than one launch pad. That way you can have automated ships going on one and you can still perform your own missions on the other(s).

[EDIT]

Another suggestion that occurred to me is to be able to see ships in and around KSP in the Space Center Screen so if you had a ship on the lanchpad and returned to space center you could see it sitting on the launch pad. This could be implemented with my previous suggestion by animating the recorded rocket so it space center screen you can occasionally see the door on the VAB open and watch a rocket roll out onto the launch pad and then launch. It would be cool to have launch alarms and such happening at this time to make the space center screen a bit more... Alive...

[/EDIT]

I hope what I have written can be understood.

Please ask questions down below if you don't understand and if you think you can do a better job explaining then please do so because I don't think I was very clear

Edited September 18, 2013 by iStickyDuck
New Suggestion

[llamatoes]

You really shouldn't suggest automation.

BUT, I agree with you that having to do the same launch ten times in a row is dull.

Normally when I launch now, I tell mechjeb the parameters of the orbit and go and make a cup of tea, I do Everything else though, but launches are just dull.

[amo28]

What you're asking for exists: Davon Supply Mod

[Comrade Jenkens]

Though I prefer most flights manual, I agree with this.

Doing 10 refuelling flights in a row is very boring.

[boomerdog2000]

Also since the launching, rendezvous, and docking are all a little different each time, I don't see how the computer exactly copying you would really work.

[SuperWeegee4000]

Autopilot is on the WNTS List.

[iStickyDuck]

As I said in my post, docking would happen "automatically" meaning that no actual docking would take place but it would simulate it so the fuel still gets transferred and then it returns to kerbin

[SuperWeegee4000]

As I said in my post, docking would happen "automatically" meaning that no actual docking would take place but it would simulate it so the fuel still gets transferred and then it returns to kerbin

I don't understand how "automatically" differs from "automatic docking."

[allmappedout]

It's all very cheaty really. The OP is more suggesting (I think?) that it's not an auto pilot, but more a box that you tick to say 'launch this to here' and then it dumps the fuel at the station and burns up in the atmo.

If its that, then definitely not. If its more like auto pilot, then also definitely not

[TwoHedWlf]

It's all very cheaty really. The OP is more suggesting (I think?) that it's not an auto pilot, but more a box that you tick to say 'launch this to here' and then it dumps the fuel at the station and burns up in the atmo.

If its that, then definitely not. If its more like auto pilot, then also definitely not

No, what we're saying is that once you've designed the rocket and run the flight manually at least once you can delegate the day to day menial tasks to other crew. They can run the refueling flights in the background.

[UbioZur]

Your autopilot is part of the what not to suggest list as autopilots under Flight

New launching sites is part of the what not to suggest list as More types of launch facitilies under Flight.

For the edit suggestion. It would be better to make suggestion on different threads. and at the moment, the space center is more of a 3D menu, It's why there is no ship loaded.