DO you use auto pilot online?

[H3avyM3tal]

I used to use ap whenever I got it, but seeing as there are more less-skilled players online most of the time, I said what the hell, I won't use it. Got my butt kicked a few times for it, but it's ok. Point in case - it's not cheating, it's the same as getting 5 speed boosts in a raw (meaning something you can't control getting or not). But as I as still not at the level of some of the ace pilots here, I thought I'd drop it all together, if only to become better at flying around at some those damn reverse tracks.

Btw, this does have the chance of getting into a different discussion...

[xtriko]

I use sometimes. autopilot is very welcomed on chengou reverse XD lol and like you said, it's not cheating ;)

[Ally]

Quite often, but it seems that it's a bit more tactical than in previous WipEout games - if you don't use it for the right corner/couple of corners it'll just fly you between speed pads or miss them entirely. The last two corners of Moa Therma forward are perfect AP fare, whereas I never use it on Anulpha Pass as my lines are crisp enough, it's of better use to me as ship energy.

edit: grammar fix

[Connavar]

I would lose precious seconds every lap if I used it, so indeed it's not cheating at all (it's more like anti-cheating, people don't realise how much time they're potentially wasting using it); however it can be useful for tracks I have basically never played like Sol2 reverse on phantom, but switching to AP requires me pushing start and losing many seconds, so I would already lose the race!

[djKyoto]

Only on Phantom class when it's necessary.

Connavar - It's reguarding the Weapon pickup, not the permanent one thats on all race.

[Connavar]

Ah lol sorry, damn I shouldn't have said NO then, it's an item like the others, like a Turbo or a Quake, I use it especially when I need to relax, drink something etc :) Or some hard turns I know the AP does better than me. I thought it was the pilot assist, because he mentionned "cheating" and I know that some people thought it was some sort of cheating.

[leungbok]

I use it sometimes on technical turns. But most often i absorb it or i delete it after a second of use. But i'll NEVER use it again on the long left turn of chengou & on the second chicane of ubermall reverse. Try it several times, you'll understand ;)

[crawdad62]

I think a few of us are confusing Auto Pilot with Pilot Assist. Auto Pilot is a pick-up and I do use it. Pilot Assist is activated through the menu and is on the entire game. I don't use it. I wouldn't classify either as cheating though since their both available in the game.

I would like online however to have rooms set up for PA and non PA though.

[blackwiggle]

I confused the two as well before I voted...DOH!

I use it if I need to,but found it pointless if stuck behind another craft as you will just constantly bang into the rear of that craft.

Pointless using it while on a straight as well.

A good time and place to use it is if you are in a nudging battle on the overpass on Anulpha Pass,not as good as using a Turbo in the same situation [did that the other day,two craft just in front of me nudging each other,blamm straight between them knocking them both off the overpass] :P

[Darkdrium777]

Yes me too, I got confused.
My vote doesn't count, I'll use it sometimes online.

[trentdf]

But i'll NEVER use it again on the long left turn of chengou & on the second chicane of ubermall reverse. Try it several times, you'll understand ;)
haha yeah, also in ubermall forward, dont think if you barrel roll of the ramp towards the same chicane the auto pilot will bring you in.

I'll use it for hairpins and tight chicanes, but turn it off once thats done.

[H3avyM3tal]

Whenever I use AP, it takes me right through the crafts infront of me. No nudging what-so-ever. Goes through everyone.

[OBH]

tried it once.

never again.

[H3avyM3tal]

Sigh.

You are probably confusing AP with PA...
We are talking about auto pilot, not pilot asist.

[OBH]

woops :)

then too right i do use it!! especially after a dier start. An early auto pilot can bash you up a load of places, and knock the competition flying.

alright, there are times when the auto pilot is unfair, but the racing lines it uses, and the sideways flying cracks me up so often :)

[crawdad62]

I was actually thinking about this thread last night while I was online. What I found that I did was absorb a lot more AP's than I used. A lot of the time I'd get one when there really wasn't a need to use it and I'd rather be able to pick up something I can use. Also there are time you use it and it picks a line that's so "down the middle" that you don't hit any boost pads. But again if I've got one and it fits the situation I'll use it.

[Amorbis]

I'm sorry, but I voted never thinking it was pilot assist! How silly of me. I should have voted sometimes because it is always good to use it on the trickier bends such as the second turn on Chenghou forward and last fiddly bit on Ubermall forward. I've made the mistake that Leungbok did of using pilot assist on Ubermall reverse, it puts you off the track every time and I always forget.

I probably absorb more auto-pilots than I use, you need something to keep the shield up.

[H3avyM3tal]

But then the question becomes; if sometimes, than when? When it's convenient? Then what happenes to winning with skill, if that ap I just used took me through that chenghou turn and won me the race? It may not be cheating, but it IS cheating in a way that the game allows me to cheat. Hell, the AI on elite cheats, so why shouldn't I?

[Mad-Ice]

I will only use it when I know for sure it will fly better than me. I'd rather make mistakes myself than that the Auto-Pilot will put me in a respawn.

[lunar]

I mostly absorb. I will usually only use auto-pilot if there`s a section where it can provide me with an advantage before the next weapon pad comes up. That weapon pad will quite likely be much more useful. Autopilot can be useful in some situations where you know you`re going to take a hit from some sort of weapon. Autopilot in HD isn`t very powerful, you can almost always fly any section faster if you get it right, you don`t pick up weapons while it`s on, and you can`t autopilot+BR like you could in Pure. It`s a provided pick-up just like a bomb, missile, quake or turbo, and the game is to use these pick-ups to your best advantage. SL have designed the game well so no pick-up is too powerful, and I will use them all. But relying on auto pilot, and saving it for tough sections :naughty will not work out well, imo. Sometimes you don`t win with skill, such as when you win with a missile on the last lap against someone who has driven better than you, but this is rare and mostly the fastest guy wins, sadly ;), and no pick up can do your work for you.

[Connavar]

But then the question becomes; if sometimes, than when? When it's convenient? Then what happenes to winning with skill, if that ap I just used took me through that chenghou turn and won me the race? It may not be cheating, but it IS cheating in a way that the game allows me to cheat. Hell, the AI on elite cheats, so why shouldn't I?
The AP is part of the game, knowing how to use it is a skill.
If you use it, you know it can skip some speed boosts, you won't be able to collect a weapon item, you won't be able to recharge your shields.
It's very tactical, in no way it's a cheat.

"if that ap I just used took me through that chenghou turn and won me the race?"
=> I can say that for EVERY item, everyone won races with a final turbo / mines / missile etc...

[Sideshow]

There's nothing ethically wrong with using the autopilot. I don't use it though, as I found it to be pretty crap. In 2097 the autopilot would get you back up and running in no-time if you were stalled out due to weapon hit, and it would take you cleanly through any set of corners no matter how bad you screwed up going into them (basically, in 2097 the autopilot disobeyed physics :) ). But here in HD I (and I'm fairly average) fly better than the autopilot. Only time I could see it being any use would be to activate it before entering a set of corners you find extremely difficult: end chicane on Ubermall, or the hairpin left before the double-jump on Chengou, but in both the cases I'd say you'd be better served always flying manually, getting the practice and learning how to take them. In short: the (a) powerup is actually just an (e) in disguise :P

[djKyoto]

The only times I use Auto-Pilot is on the twisty stuff on CP, SC and Sol2. Everywhere else it's just not necessary.

[OBH]

The only times I use Auto-Pilot is on the twisty stuff on CP, SC and Sol2. Everywhere else it's just not necessary.

Thats just not true.

AP lets you carry more speed round many corners that just isnt possible without it. Especially if used after br's and speed pads.

Take ubermall for example, br after the first jump, bouce over the chicane, br onto the double speed pads, turn on auto pilot, and as long as your lines correct you fly round the last corner sideways at a stupid speed. Your never, ever gonna carry that much speed normally, and anyone unlucky enough to be in your way gets pounded.

Another use is on Anulpa Pass reverse, on the final right hander, if you turn on your auto pilot after a barrel roll you'll hit each speed pad all the way round, and if fighting for the lead will easily bash them off course.

Theres all sorts of other istances, ubermall reverse, after the chicane backwards you can hit 2 br's off the jump, take the left route, land on the speed pad, hit you auto pilot and you fly straight through, already at a silly speed, and you still hit all the speed pads on the way through.

Im not saying you didnt know any of these! :) or that you cant do some of these happily without AP, some corners like the last ones on moa therma & metropia the AP takes a hirendous line!! but if used correctly its brilliant. After being hit painfully mid corner, AP brings you back on course and up to speed almost instantly, often before youve even been overtaken.

I can totally understand people not wanting to use it, or believing its cheating, or hate being beatern cos the guy ahead got lucky with an ap every lap, but to say its not necessary is rubbish. Ive been saved from defeat at the last minute many times just because i had an AP to pull me forward incase i get hit.

In your defense (kinda worried it looks like a rant at you :)) it isnt exactly "necessary" as such. The games hardly dependant on it, If you took it out, wipeout would be an equally good game.

[Sideshow]

You've had much better luck with the AP than I have - the handful of times I've activated it it has: flown into the wall (I activatd too late going into the Chengou hairpin), flown past a boost pad, and flown into a stream of mines. I think the autopilot is entirely fair in this version of wipeout (compared to the cheatingly good AP in previous versions), but since it is it's not something I ever want to use.

[Reuben]

no coz i noticed that it dosnt always work so well, driving me into walls, and mines etc ad i feel that it slows me down

[OBH]

You've had much better luck with the AP than I have - the handful of times I've activated it it has: flown into the wall (I activatd too late going into the Chengou hairpin), flown past a boost pad, and flown into a stream of mines. I think the autopilot is entirely fair in this version of wipeout (compared to the cheatingly good AP in previous versions), but since it is it's not something I ever want to use.

Some corners the AP really is nothing more than garbage. Others such as the twisty bits on sol2 rev depend entirely on your line and how much before the corner you activate it.

Avoid using it before jumps, instead use it once you land or immediately after the br. The last corner on Anulpha Pass reverse for example flies you off into nowhere if used before the jump, yet works a treat afterwards.

Some things though you just cant avoid, like plowing headfirst into mines like you said :)

[mic-dk]

OK, I also now regret my 'Always' vote.

Mainly because, like most here apparantly, I only use it if it comes up right before appropiate corners. Usually I need the energy in absorbing more than a little assist through the twisty bits :P

[OBH]

I'm honestly amazed so many people say they never use it.

Me personally would never, ever have got rank 1 on chengoue reverse without some well placed auto pilots. Never.

[pildog]

I have used it online, several times, but only if I'm approaching a "nasty bit" in the track. When I first played the game I was often using it at the wrong time, so the ship sailed between speed/weapon boosters without touching either!!!

Otherwise I think it should be taken out of the roster in online games.

[Maschinengeist]

If it means faster lap times, I'll use it, regardless of who my opponents are, or their apparent lack of skill, luck, or both...on the other hand, when my opponents aren't noobs, I need any advantage I can get, lol. :)

[captain howdy]

for me, it usually depends on whether or not there's a particularly nasty turn coming up. i never like losing control of the ship, but if it makes the difference between me getting through a sharp turn intact and me slamming straight into a wall, the choice is clear.