Wipeout Pulse autopilot

It's pretty clear that the Pulse autopilot pick-up is much less powerful than its counterpart in Pure.

* You can't barrel roll with an autopilot in Pulse
* You can't obtain additional pickups when using the autopilot in Pulse
* The autopilot line in Pulse doesn't seems as "direct" as in Pure

My question relates to the latter issue, the autopilot line. It seems to me that the same line is always followed when an autopilot is used on a particular part of a course. So, if I use the autopilot on the final stretch of Talon's Junction black, I can expect that I will round the corner elegantly and hit two boost pads every time, for example... but on another track, I might always miss the boost pads and therefore receive less of a benefit from using the autopilot pick-up.

Anybody else think this is the case?

And if it is the case, does it suggest that an experienced wiper should decide whether to use an autopilot on the basis of the track and where in the track they get the pickup? If the autopilot line for your current part of the track is ****, then you should absorb that pickup for shield.

Most of the pilots here will absorb the AP on principal, but I tend to do just what you describe, using the AP when appropriate.
I will use the AP on outpost7 for example, because I hate those bends.
or when using a skillcut that I often make a hash of...
or when I've done a barrel roll just before a bend..
the AP still seems to to things that I cannot, so it's worth using in certain places. on outpost7 I will actually hold the AP for up to half a lap so that I can use it on the hairpins, it's usually worth it.

There were places in pure where using the AP was a terrible idea, however.
it couldn't navigate the entrance to the snaky windy section of citta nuova for example.

I am honestly of the opinion that correctly timing autopilot activation is almost as much of a weapons skill as being able to aim a plasma. This has only been the case since pure, it was not true of the PS1 titles which would stay on autopilot until you were level, even if that was a considerable time after it should have ended, and I didn't play enough fusion to comment.
it's definitely not just a win button like it was in (eg) 2097

yeah, i hate those bends in outpost 7 too. i can never figure out how to do them right, i ALWAYS hit the wall. i preferred the hairpin in pure, at least it was navigable. i practically rely on the AP to get through those hairpins from hell.

i also hate the windy part in tech de ra, AP saves my life there.

I am fairly new to wipeout tho, so i really can't do much of anything at speed classes above rapier(...including rapier....). maybe one day:D

but really, as a newbie i have found that i can use the AP to see what it at least looks like to make it through the parts i find difficult. it helps a lot to learn some of the finer points to using the sideshift or the airbrakes.

Using the AP at the right place, and the right moment, is part of the learning process of the game, I think.
Pulse's AP is indeed much weaker than Pure's, but still.
You can get your speed back after being hit much faster, if you trigger the AP at the right time.
It is a complete waste on some mag-strips though. Your ship will just go right to left and right again (at high speeds at least).

I guess learning to use the AP is the same process as learning all the bugs in the game. Once you know them, you turn them into features, you know how to avoid them (mostly), and it becomes a part of the game. Though it wasn't such a painful process in Pure as it is in Pulse (but that's off-topic I guess ;)).

when i use the AP on outpost i feel like I'm cheating. imho autopilot in phantom is a kind of blessing, because you can finally take a breath and let your eyes rest for a while.. (of course, in my case,it is also useful to stop bouncing on the walls :g)

My feeling is that the autopilot in Pulse breaks the physics rules of the game for executing tight turns-- just like in Pure.

So IMHO it's a no-brainer to always use the autopilot for the hairpins in Outpost 7-- and probably for the hard turns in Tech-De-Ra, Fort Gale and Basilico.

Elsewhere, though, it's more of a crap-shoot, and probably not worth it for top tier pilots.

So do you guys think that the autopilot path is hard-wired for a given track?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lion

.......I am honestly of the opinion that correctly timing autopilot activation is almost as much of a weapons skill as being able to aim a plasma. This has only been the case since pure, it was not true of the PS1 titles which would stay on autopilot until you were level, even if that was a considerable time after it should have ended.......

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In W3O, the autopilot would frequently throw you into a wall as it deactivated just before exiting a corner. But in every version of WipEout, there seem to be at least one or two places where use of the autopilot results in better times even if most of the time it slows you down. It is a tool like any other pick-up, and as Lion says, use of it's a skill. Proper timing of it takes experienced judgement.

Well... actually this "throughs you into the wall after it ends"-issue wasn't really an issue as far as I can remember. Because you could deactivate the AP every time. And if you knew "ah, next corner and the AP will through me into the wall" you could easily deactivate it before it did so.
Same with Pulse, btw.

Imo the AP required more skill in Pure, because you could not deactivate it. You had to know at which placed the AP would make your racing just worse (Citta anyone?) and where it made your racing better. You had to pre-estimate when the AP ends.

It could be deactivated, but the critical speed-gaining sections I would use it on were long enough that the AP would cut out while there were still lateral Gs on the ship whether I deactivated at will or the AP deactivated itself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sausehuhn

Same with Pulse, btw.

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Wait-- what? I've never done that! Do you just absorb it prior to the time reaching 0?

*runs off to try*

Honestly I use the autopilot on Outpost 7 for the dual Vs. That's it. Makes me scrape the wall a bit when I get to the chicane after the Vs if I don't deactivate it prior to them (There is a chicane near the finish line in black and a chicane before the memorial bridge in white) but that's not too much of an issue.
Otherwise I rely on myself for the turns. I find that the autopilot doesn't go over the boostpads much on certain tracks, while I would go there.

Yeah, Frances_Penfold, just absorb it. It does not give you energy back if it's not completely used, though.
So you don't get any energy from absorbing if you just used the AP for one second or something like that.

Indeed correct use of an Auto pilot is as much a skill as correct use of a Plasma because get an AP wrong it it WILL screw you over badly.

I eat them on most tracks but there are places and certain corners where I'll put it on for a few seconds, I usually disengage it manually as it lasts longer than I need it to.

I'll always use it if I think it will give me an advantage, which is rarely considering the appalling line it takes, or put me in front because then you could essentially bomb/mine the **** out of the guys behind you yes :g

And for the record whoever asked earlier the Fusion Auto Pilot was just a pile of useless shite no matter where you used it. You might as well have handed your ship over to a drunk, Stevie for example :beer:g

I also need to use the AP on Outpost 7's corners, they are way to tight, Citta Nuova was just right.

I never use it before the last corner of Vertica White as it misses the speed pads completely and takes a stupidly wide route round the corner like the AI