Testing and Current Status

The mod has been tested on only two configurations:
1. A large overhaul modpack + this mod.
2. A large vehicle/transport modpack + this mod.

The mod is in excellent, fully playable condition. Don't let the lack of a full playthrough worry you: all content is focused on the early game, so there is simply no need to play until the very end just for testing. That said, I spend a massive amount of time fine-tuning each release with targeted tests, so there shouldn't be any game-breaking issues (though minor bugs are always possible).

I will be sincerely grateful to anyone who participates in testing and shares their feedback, bug reports, and observations on Discord or opens a thread here on the website:
https://discord.com/users/613036301863747615

Safe Mod Removal / Disabling:
If you ever want to disable or remove the mod, make sure to stop all vehicles currently en route and all vehicles actively engaged in combat with the auto-enemy sensor beforehand. This ensures that internal dummy passengers properly exit the vehicles and will not linger or interfere with your gameplay in the future without this mod.

Mod Features

• One Remote for Every Vehicle Type: control cars, tanks, spidertrons, and modded vehicles with a single unified remote control.
  
• Full RTS-style Control: intuitive vehicle selection and quick move orders via right-click (RMB).
  
• Command Queue (Shift + RMB): queue waypoints and sequential task chains.
  
• Patrol Orders (Ctrl + Shift + RMB): cyclical waypoint patrolling along designated patrol routes.
  
• Long-Range Convoy Movement: robust vehicle formation navigation over extended distances.
  
• Smooth Vehicle Separation (Aura): vehicles keep their distance, avoid clumping into a mess, and smoothly navigate past each other without twitching, jittering, or abrupt teleports.
• Moving and Arriving in Formation: vehicle groups won't clump into a single pixel — they neatly spread out in formation across the area.
• Honest Collision and Destruction Physics: the mod does not alter or bypass the base game physics engine — everything works honestly, with real collisions, tree crushing, and no cheat magic.

Equipment Modules (Installed in Vehicle Grid)

• Vehicle Follow Sensor: activates escort mode for following the player or a convoy leader. Allows configuring escorts and tactical formations (rear semi-circle, vanguard, circular defense, snake/column). I dedicated the least time to this module so far and this functionality remains experimental, but it already works much better than it did before.
  
• Vehicle Enemy Sensor: automatic fire control for onboard weapons. Supports target prioritization (units vs. spawners), mouse cursor focus fire, and independent filters per weapon slot.
  
• Vehicle Repair Bot (2x2 and mini 1x1): repairs the vehicle using repair packs from its trunk, powered by the equipment grid. In the original mod, balance was broken and vehicles became virtually immortal. Here, repair speed is carefully balanced against the vanilla energy shield recharge rate:
• Energy Shield: provides extra hitpoints on top of armor, needs no consumables, but consumes slightly more power.
• Repair Bot: requires repair packs in the trunk, but uses less energy and repairs the vehicle's significantly larger base health pool. Multiple modules stack, and repair speed scales with quality.
  
• Vehicle Fuel & Ammo Sensors: automatically refuels the vehicle's engine and reloads ammunition, shells, and rockets directly from the trunk inventory.
  
• Vehicle Logistic Sensor: provides the vehicle with personal logistic request and trash slots whenever inside a logistic network.
• Vehicle Cleaver Sensor: detects trees and boulders blocking the path and automatically clears them using onboard lasers from the equipment grid.
• AI State Visualization Module: projects colored status rings beneath the vehicle (pathfinding, driving, unjamming maneuvers, target lock, idle) — intended for debugging and easier overall understanding.

Useful Tips and Lifehacks

• Quick Remote Access: rapidly pressing "Q" three times with an empty hand immediately puts the remote control in your hands — very convenient once you get used to it.
• Command Queue (Shift + RMB): chains waypoints of any length to navigate around biter nests. A regular RMB click instantly resets the whole queue.
• Patrol Loop (Ctrl + Shift + RMB): connects waypoints into an endless loop. Ideal for automated, 24/7 perimeter base defense.
• Manual Fire Override: the auto-fire module takes control of your weapons (protecting against accidental friendly fire), but if you want to shoot manually and don't feel like toggling auto mode off — simply press the forced fire key ("C" by default) or the switch weapon key ("Q" by default). The module will temporarily yield control and switch to your chosen weapon without blocking manual shooting.
• Safe Nuclear Spidertron: thanks to independent filters for each weapon slot, you can now equip a Spidertron with nuclear rockets without fear. Simply configure the desired slot to target only enemy bases (Spawners) — and it will never launch a nuke at a stray biter right beneath its own feet.
• Gates and Narrow Passages: vehicles open all gates automatically. However, pathfinding always includes a safety clearance buffer (vehicle dimensions + a margin of a few tiles). If a gate opening or land bridge near water is too narrow — the autopilot won't path through. Build wider gate openings and bridges.
• Colorblind Accessibility and Visual Customization: the mod settings provide a wide range of visual and behavioral options. You can fully customize the colors of any markers (path lines, patrol routes, combat crosshairs, stuck arcs, AI status rings) to fit your preferences or visual needs, adjust line thickness and dash spacing, or disable visuals entirely.

Roadmap and Optimization

• Aircraft and Helicopter Support: the current limitation applies strictly to remote control via the remote — helicopters (from the Helicopters mod) and certain specialized aircraft cannot yet receive click-to-move path orders on the map. However, absolutely all equipment grid modules (auto-targeting, repair bots, refueling, logistics, etc.) work on any vehicle without any restrictions. Full autopilot support for aviation is one of my top priorities, and I will definitely implement it.
• Performance and Native Engine Functions: I heavily refactored and re-hooked all legacy modules to native game engine events and functions, allowing them to work completely autonomously (even without autopilot) without causing unnecessary performance overhead. In normal gameplay, the mod runs smoothly and stably; minor short-term FPS/UPS dips may occur when dispatching very large vehicle formations over long distances simultaneously. Continued pathfinding and movement optimization remains a key focus that I will keep improving.

Development and AI Disclosure

I want to be completely transparent with the community: I did use AI during development, but I did so moderately, thoughtfully, and under strict supervision, rather than through mindless "vibe-coding". Almost every AI-assisted change was targeted (no more than 50 lines of code at a time), and I made a backup before every single step — resulting in a whopping 1,106 backups...

This mod took a massive amount of effort, time, and nerve — over two months of continuous work, countless physics tests, vehicle behavior debugging, and fine-tuning mechanics.

Origin and Credits

This project is a fork of the original AutoDrive mod, heavily overhauled, redesigned, and improved across the board. A huge thank you to the original authors of AutoDrive for the great foundation and original idea!

Why did I decide to make my own?
I couldn't find a single mod on the Factorio mod portal that offered genuinely intuitive, clean, and simple RTS-style vehicle controls — with honest collisions and destructions, an intuitive, minimalist feel, and without vehicle teleports.