Drone operations

The drone operations screen provides controls over drones, which are unmanned ships that can be remotely controlled if the player ship has a drone controller.

Drone selection

A drone selector at the top left contains all drones within connection range of the drone operator's ship. Click the selector and choose a drone, then click Connect to connect to the drone.

If no drones are within range, the drone selector is empty and disabled.

Drone connections

When not connected to a drone, the drone operator's screen displays a radar that extends up to their ship's current drone connection range. An info display at the bottom right displays the drone operator ship's callsign, energy, heading, speed, and shields (if any).

When connected to a drone within range, the drone operations screen's radar changes to the drone's short-range radar, and controls appear for the drone's functionality, such as propulsion controls, beam and missile weapons, and shields, in a similar manner as the Tactical crew screen. Clicking/tapping the radar while connected also sets the drone's heading as on Helms. An info display at the bottom right displays the connected drone's callsign, heading, speed, shields (if any), and distance from the drone operator's ship and the operator's maximum range.

However, drone operators don't have access to the drone's Engineering, Science, or Relay operations. The drone operations screen displays limited data about the drone's health and thermal capacity, but the operator can't repair damage or mitigate heat on their own.

The drone operator has a limited range of control over drones linked to their ship, and that range can be influenced by the Sensors system's effectiveness if present. If a drone and the drone operator's ship are too far from each other, the drone operator loses control of the drone and can't reconnect until their ship moves back into range.

Drone orders

Drone operators can issue very limited automated orders to drones within range, including:

• Idle: Remain motionless and inactive at the current position, and don't defend yourself against hostiles.
• Stand ground: Remain motionless at the current position, but fire on nearby hostiles that move into range.
• Defend position: Patrol close to the current position, and attack nearby hostiles without pursuing them.
• Return: Return to the drone's linked ship and initiate docking once in range. Drones share the linked ship's radar and can always find their way back, but might run out of energy or become damaged during their return.

A drone follows its orders even after moving out of connection range of the drone operator's ship. If issued orders and then connected to by the operator, the drone remembers its orders and resumes them after its connection is terminated.

Docking bays and drones

If the player ship also has a Docking bay, the docking bay officer can use the carrier ship's resources to resupply, repair, energize, and vent heat from docked drones.

An internally docked drone can't be launched by the drone operator, and doesn't appear in the list of controllable drones. The docking bay officer must launch the drone before the drone operator can control it.

Scripting configuration

An entity must have the DroneController component to enable the drone operations screen. For an entity to be controlled as a drone by the drone operator, the drone must have the AllowDroneLink component, and the components owner member must be set to the drone operator's entity.

When the drone operator connects to a drone, the operator's entity gains the DroneLink component, and the target is set to the drone entity. Scripts can force a drone connection by changing the target of any existing DroneLink component from the operator's ship, or by adding the component and setting the target if it's missing. However, the target entity must have the AllowDroneLink component.

It is possible for a PlayerControl entity to also have the AllowDroneLink component. Such ships don't automatically follow drone orders until or unless the PlayerControl component is removed.