The BOBBY AI Module is a block used to incorporate AI into ships and turrets. There is an option menu to enable the AI and what it will target.
Ship or Turret Creation[]
SHIP[]
To enable a BOBBY AI Module, you first need to build a ship. Add the module anywhere on the ship. Press 'R' when facing it to open the interface. Make sure it is set to <Ship> and <Any>, and make sure 'Active' is checked. It will now seek out and attack any enemy vessels it encounters.
Tips and tricks:
- Chain docking is possible with the new rail dockers the disadvantage of this is that there is only one axis of movement but this can be solved by docking a ship that has a rail turret block facing along the other axis to the ship rail port, then docking the barrel of the turret to the other on the ship you just docked. If done correctly the two docking ports work together as a team to provide full range of motion.
ps: bobby AI must be on the barrel of the turret.
- AI Ships can be used as decoys and can attack enemy ships.
- To do this, you will need a seperate ship which can:
- fly on its own (enough thrusters)
- has adequate shields
- is able to produce enough energy to keep shooting and flying
- has enough lasers to be effective against your target
- has an active faction module
- When you have a ship which can do all of these things, you will now need a mothership:
- Motherships are used to transport drop ships and drones.
- They do not need any armor or even cannons - ships with no armor are faster, more agile and are more maneuverable.
- They need shields, thrusters and an adequate docking system.
- The ship will need its own power generation system.
- They need active faction modules.
- When you dock an AI ship to your mothership, you will need to activate its faction module and set the AI to target <ANY> and <SHIP> mode. Do this for every docked ship you have.
- Once you have all the ships docked, you need to enter your mothership and go to Weapons menu. There, you will need to assign numbers from 1 to 9 to your AI ships.
- If you have more than 9 AI ships, you will need to drop them in waves i.e. drop 9, set numbers for the other ships you have, then drop them off.
- When dropping ships, zoom out and make sure they are undocked. If some ships didn't undock correctly, you will need to try and undock them again.
- Once undocked, the ships will quickly target enemies in range.
- It's important to drop the AI ships close to the enemies because of their limited range. Within 500 meters should be fine, closer if the enemy has a large and slow ship.
- An advantage of dropping many small ships off is that enemy base and ship turrets will target them instead of targeting your faction ships. Therefore, you can use them to attack and to act as counter measures or decoys for enemy turrets.
TURRET[]
To create a turret, you'll need a turret docking port . You will need to have a working ship. Place the AI Module and set it to <Turret> but keep active off for the moment. Now enter the ship and use the Ship Core docking feature (usually on 0) to connect it to the turret docking system. Now that it's docked, you can activate it (you can not set activate to on as long as you are in the ship core. Disembark and then set it on). You now have a docked turret ready to attack.
If your turret doesn't attack nearby enemys, make sure that your Bobby AI is online. If the AI is online, the problem could be the placement of the turret and/or a lack of thrust. Remember, a turret is just a ship docked on a special block, and to allow a ship to turn effectively, you need enough thrust power.
Tips and tricks:
- Turrets take energy from the ship. Be sure to add Power Reactor Modules to give the turret power.
- The turret energy bar will look like it's not at full capacity. This happens when the turret stores less energy than the ship. This is normal and your turret will work correctly even if the energy bar (on the turret) has become completely empty, for when it does, it begins to take the ships energy instead. A good guideline to follow when making turrets is to make generators in proportion to the turret <-> ship size ratio.
Example:
If your turret is about 10% of the mass of your ship, you only need between 5-10% energy storage on it.
If your turret is around 50% of the mass of your ship, have it store 50% of its own energy. Add more tanks and generators in case you are filling the entire turret with antimatter cannons.
- If you enter the turret ship core, it will disable the AI. You will then need to set it up again.
- Normally, turrets should be set to target <ANY> and <TURRET> mode. Faction blocks on turrets are important - if you don't have any active faction blocks on the turrets, they may start shooting allied ships.
- Turrets don't need to have a flat underside - it is possible to make a turret which covers up the docking area with a protective skirt. To do this, you need to dock the turret before it's complete and build around the docking area. A turret like this can be placed further away from the ship and stay fully protected from enemy fire.
- Always allow yourself access to the Ship Core, BOBBY AI and Faction Modules. You may need to reset the turrets from time to time and having easy access is a tremendous help.
- When you dock a turret, always make sure it's activated. Remember that AI deactivates if you enter the turret core, but it'll stay active if you are just in your ship core, allowing you to fly a ship while the turret automatically targets and destroys any enemies in range.
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