I have added an option for Automated Fire for player ships to v5.0. If you set a ship to automated fire, it will automatically engage any hostile ship targets within range of its weapons. You won't need to set up fire controls and assign missiles as it will handle that by itself. You just click the Auto-fire checkbox on the Ship Window or Battle window, or click the Fleet Auto-Fire button on the Battle window which will set all ships in the fleet to automatic fire. Ships with automated fire will try to coordinate their fire so they don't mob one target and ignore a second. Missile-armed ships using automated fire will determine how many missiles should be fired against one particular target and then will change targets, even before any missiles arrive. In the case of multiple missile ships, each ship will be aware of how many missiles the other ships are directing against each of their possible targets. Automated Fire will be ideal if you are fighting hordes of small ships, such as the Star Swarm, or if you want more automation in large battles.
As an example, here is an excerpt from the next part of the Exodus campaign
"With so many targets to choose from, the senior Colonial officer, Commander Tadeshi Ryokai, orders all four destroyers to switch to automated firing. Their tactical computers will assign targets to fire control systems, engage and destroy those targets and then select new targets, all without the need for further human intervention. The computers of all four ships coordinate their attack and decide that each target will be engaged by a full salvo from two ships. The destroyers open fire, with each subsequent wave of missiles directed against a different pair of alien ships."
To cancel Automated Fire just uncheck the auto-fire checkbox or use the Fleet Cease Fire button on the Battle WIndow.
Steve