Smart Autopilot

Gives your ship's autopilot a little more sense. It can launch from suitable surfaces, plan routes around celestial bodies, and brake to match your destination's velocity. It also checks for nearby physical obstacles and can stop and wait when the way ahead is blocked.

Video demonstration

Install (until approved)

Install the mod ZIP through Outer Wilds Mod Manager:

1. Open the manager and install OWML if prompted.
2. Use the manager's option to install from a ZIP file and select Depthbomb.SmartAutopilot-0.1.0.zip.
3. Enable Smart Autopilot and launch the game through the manager.

For a manual install on Windows, close the game and extract the mod ZIP into:

%APPDATA%\OuterWildsModManager\OWML\Mods\Depthbomb.SmartAutopilot

Make sure manifest.json sits directly in that folder, then launch through the mod manager.

This beta targets Outer Wilds 1.1.16.1372 on Windows/Steam with OWML 2.16.3.

Flying

Pick a destination and use the normal autopilot control. When you're landed, the prompt changes to Launch and navigate. The ship checks for overhead clearance, starts the engines, and climbs before heading toward your target. You'll need a reasonably level ship, usable thrusters, and enough fuel.

Use the same control to cancel and take over. Arrival leaves you near the destination with your velocity matched. Landing is still your job.

If a route or nearby obstacle blocks progress, the autopilot can hold position relative to a nearby body and warn you. Holding still uses fuel. You can select another target or cancel and move the ship yourself.

This is a beta, so stay at the controls. It doesn't navigate tunnels or interiors, find a path around every structure, or avoid every piece of moving debris. Late engagement, limited thrust, and unloaded geometry can still get you into trouble. Custom solar systems and other mods that change the autopilot or ship physics haven't been verified.

Settings

The defaults use automatic speed selection and 100m of extra clearance. You can change these in the mod settings:

• Optional speed limit: 0 lets the autopilot choose. A positive value caps normal navigation speed; emergency avoidance and launch may need to exceed it.
• Extra clearance: adds space around celestial bodies, adjustable from 40 to 500 metres.
• Log navigation changes: records launches, navigation phases, and disengagements. On by default.
• Log detailed flight samples: adds more frequent diagnostic information. Off by default.
• Show navigation debug overlay: draws the planned route, arrival boundary, avoidance zones, and clearance checks in the world. You can toggle it during flight.
• Debug overlay refresh rate: defaults to 60 Hz, adjustable from 10 to 120. The game's frame rate still limits how often it can draw.

If something looks wrong, turn on Log detailed flight samples and include the OWML log when reporting it. Mention your destination, where you launched from, other enabled mods, and whether you canceled the autopilot yourself. A short recording with the debug overlay on can help, too. Logs and recordings may contain spoilers!

Building

Open SmartAutopilot.sln in your IDE, or use the .NET 10 SDK specified in global.json:

dotnet build -c Release

The mod uses the same project layout and local output configuration as the official OWML template. Builds normally go into SmartAutopilot/bin/Release.

To build straight into your OWML mod folder, copy SmartAutopilot/SmartAutopilot.csproj.user.example to SmartAutopilot/SmartAutopilot.csproj.user. Edit its output path if you use a different install location. This file is ignored by Git. Close the game before building; your existing mod settings are preserved.

To make the release ZIP and checksum in artifacts:

.\Package.ps1

Packaging uses a separate output folder, so it works with or without the local install configuration. The Create Release GitHub workflow runs the tests, packages the mod, and creates a draft release using the version in manifest.json. Set the same version in the project file before preparing a new release.

Tests

dotnet test -c Release

Tests cover navigation, launch, braking, failure handling, and performance without needing the game installed. Each regression appears separately in your IDE's test runner.

For an optional in-game navigation test, with Outer Wilds and OWML installed:

.\tools\Run-AutomatedPlaytest.ps1 -Build

That launches its own game session, flies the test route, records the results, closes the game, and restores your saves. The game and launcher must be closed before starting. Other gameplay mods can affect the result. The automated runner doesn't replace testing physical inputs or flight feel yourself.