Automated active crafts, (or, return to KSC without cutting throttle).

[The_Rocketeer]

So, this is a mod that would more or less allow your rovers to drive around on their own while you're watching time tick by at the KSC.

Bear with me here...

I've started building ocean-going ships. My reasons for doing this are off-topic, so PM me if you really want to know. Anyway, they are awesome to behold, but really, really slow - like, 12 hours full-throttle cruising to get to the next continent slow. I'm not unhappy with the speed - 10m/s is pretty ok by RL standards. What I am unhappy with is the fact I have to leave my computer running overnight just to move the ship to anything like close to it's destination. (before anyone says it, fuel's not an issue - they're electric!)

What I'd like to do is leave my boat running while I go off to Mun, or develop my next Jool mission, and then check back a bit later when it's closer to target. In theory, this could be applied to UAVs and rovers as much as naval ships - leave them driving/flying/sailing around while you get on with something else (rovers might need waypoints to avoid obstacles, but you get the idea).

Now, my thinking is this - the issue is that when you return to KSC, the game needs to stop calculating physics for the vessels that are no longer active or in range of the active vessel. But what if an 'autopilot' took over the active vessel and kept those physics calculations running in the background? In theory, if you have the computer power, you could have a handful of autopiloted vessels floating, driving and gliding around while you're tinkering with your latest VTOL project.

DMP allows client instances to connect to a host server and update vessel locations etc, basically making multiple active vessels possible. If this was combined with something like Romfarer's Lazor autopilot, MechJeb, etc, couldn't this do more or less what I'm describing?

I'm not a modder, and I realise that DMP isn't exactly your bog standard mod. Still, this wouldn't need all the features of DMP, just a background script or something to work out how far the vessel/rover had moved on its appointed route and update the game with it's new location.

That should work, right?

EDIT: Before any smartass mod shuts me down for suggesting 'autopilot', please note that really isn't what I'm suggesting at all. AT ALL.

Edited October 19, 2014 by The_Rocketeer
Postscript

[Tery215]

It would be... quite tragic for you to time warp while this is happening.

[The_Rocketeer]

Possibly, tho there are also work-arounds for this in DMP/KMP. Depending on the sophistication of the calculations, it could just be as simple as estimating location after time interval and using a 'best guess' update.