I know that /ShowShipPos was changed to /ShowsHippos for a reason, but is there any reason why we can't have the velocity vector and the acceleration vector (not the position vector, mind you) of both our ship and our ship's target for use with lua add-ons?

Also, for something to use that with, can we get a lua function capable of actually modifying the placement of the auto-aim reticule as a function of those vectors? Don't get me wrong, the current prediction algorithm for auto-aim reticule placement is great, but it would be even cooler if the mathematicians amongst us got the option to create our own algorithms and swap between them -- for instance, having one for chasing, one for rollers, and maybe even one that can be modified on the fly based on the opponents patterns.

It wouldn't take the skill out of killing rollers and that kind of thing since no algorithm is perfect, but it would add that extra bit of customization and aiming mastery for the veterans amongst us. And, of course, killing people with math skillz is badass.

Plus, RP reasons: I'd imagine that if I bought a ship with a turret aiming algorithm, I'd have the option to modify the software on the fly.

Anyways, yeah, thoughts? Can we have this, pretty please?

Or you could learn to shoot.

I'd imagine that if I bought a ship with a turret aiming algorithm, I'd have the option to modify the software on the fly.

You don't buy much software or computerized equipment do you?

This would be neat though.

Of your own ship, I can see it. But I see no basis for giving any position/momentum/direction information beyond distance about others. Should a space ship be able to calculate all that info on a target? Sure. But it's never been available before, and there's no reason to make it available now so some script kiddie can craft buffed autoaim.

Turn AA off and learn to aim. Consider it killing them with math done in your head on the fly.

That's the thing; for most intents and purposes, nothing beats turning off AA and using intuition (and nothing probably ever will). I should know, I've been playing this game long enough. One of the major points of attraction of VO is the modularity of the user interface, though, and it feels as though tools like this would be quite quick to implement (velocity/acceleration vector information, at the very least). Just because you don't enjoy it doesn't mean that others don't, either.

Besides, there have always been some special cases when aiming reticule behavior gets really wonky, as good as it is in most scenarios (and I don't mean rolling -- rolling is easy to counter if you know some basic physics about circles). Have you ever tried to aim energy weapons at somebody who is turboing toward your general vicinity, for instance? Yeah, the usual case is that the auto-aim will pick the firing solution that is directly behind you, which has always bugged me throughout my years of play. Providing some simple tools, however, can outsource these types of issues to the community. Like it or not, VO never was perfect in every regard.

Should a space ship be able to calculate all that info [position, velocity, acceleration] on a target? Sure. But it's never been available before [...]

You're wrong about that. Remember when /ShowsHippos would /ShowShipPos? The reason why it was removed was because people were using the position vector to making trading bots and the like. The velocity and acceleration vectors don't have that problem, though. They only matter in the local coordinate system, so to speak. So really, there's no real reason to not have them.

In short, it would be a nice treat for us lua coders to have; and I think you're blowing the "skill" repercussions out of proportion.

You don't buy much software or computerized equipment do you?

Ha, good point. I'm sure Corvus jailbreaks their TPG tech, though :3

Just to be pedantic. It's /displayshippos

"can we get a lua function capable of actually modifying the placement of the auto-aim reticule as a function of those vectors"

It's already a feature.

I was interested in this sort of thing when I first started writing Lua plugins in VO for the purpose of creating autogunners for turrets in some of the ships. They'd use additional alt slots you had for your character. I wasn't even going to get really fancy with the prediction algorithm; a simply linear one would put up sufficient flak to make things interesting. (of course if you want the turret to actually hit something, you'd likely use a cubic or quartic, but that's another matter) Sadly, all the functions affecting aiming a turret were disabled a long while ago. It'd be nice if some kind of compromise could be had. While I do realize you just need to get someone to gun your turrets for you, that's often not a realistic option, leaving just 2 things: 1) build some kind of auto gunner (which isn't possible given the current API), or 2) make modifications to the game to allow a pilot to man his/her own turrets (again, not possible, but still nice).

I'm pretty sure autoaim being based on the ships current vector rather than any of its derivatives is intentional. Autoaim should not be realistically good. Ships should not be realistically fast. Etc....

Uh, /displayshippos was never available for one's target, only one's own ship. Just. Like. I. said.