orbiter

[colubridae]

In case you guys have not come across this before

this is an interesting (and free) flight sim.

no weapons but unusual characteristics.

 

There is quite a sub-culture around it including tings like starwars and 2001, 2010 add-ons

 

sorry the website is http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/orbit.html

 

col

[bogusheadbox]

This sim is absolutely brilliant. Great community. And has a seemless transition from ground to space.

 

If you ever wondered how hard it is to get your little shuttle into space, then give this a go.

 

It has real newtonian physics.

 

Big thumbs up. fantastic project and its free. Definitely worth a look :thumbup:

[Shaman]

I'm orbiting in Orbiter for years, I'm glad you discovered it. Try ShuttleFleet 3.9.x addons together with STS-Payloads.

Since Orbiter has an open architecture it happened that there are countless community addons there, lots of them are very high quality since they've been developed/upgraded for quite long.

Did you know it is even multiplayer capable? (of course not with basic install, you'll need to run additional plugin). It's quite to randevou with a friend on Orbiter, dock with eachother, or even build own spacestation together.

Interstellar trips are quite entertaining too, and the sense of acheviement (since orbital flight & navigation is not easy task) is always there, no matter what you're doing. There are countless challenges you can create for yourself. Learning curve is very steep, but that's the cool part of every sim - actually learning new things. No worries though, there are many tutorials to get you started with everything.

 

I attach one boring Orbiter, I just made it now, quickly... undocked over boring Europe and did some unsafe manuver next to station

Pity that jpg compression pretty much removes starrs.. My Orbiter settings are set to accurately display 100.000 stars, though many are quite dim.

If someone is concerned about models, and textures?

Yes, models are very high poly, yes textures of one planet can weight 0.5GB, but.. Orbiter by default comes with "legacy" models and textures that you can use if your system can't deal with them. Though most Lock On PCs won't have a problem with that :D

[pho3nix]

I have been using this sim for years also, it was a worthy upgrade from microsoft space sim (1994). i love it, even took it back to my old high school and they now use it for an teaching tool for space physics!

 

its great stuff, i recomend it to any one even if you only view the tutes

[Guest IguanaKing]

Yup. Definitely an excellent sim, although I really haven't played with it much other than landing the shuttle in Florida. That was a pretty cool experience. The graphics and physics are awesome. Even if it cost $50 more than it does (which is currently...ZIP...ZERO...FREE...THE BIG GOOSE EGG) it would still be worth every penny. :)

[Solidburn]

Yeah....there's nothing so satisfying than that first time you circularize your first orbit around Mars. (Or the Moon for That matter)

 

^---and it only took me 3 years on and off to get there LMAO (Well...to figure it out and actually do it)

[leafer]

Do you need a degree in physics to play this thing because I tried it and for the life of me, couldn't get anywhere. I'm one of them stupid Asians. They're rare and hard to find, but they're around.

[Shaman]

You just need to have some common sense and basic understanding of Newtonian's and Kepler's laws from elementary school. There rest is just follow manual that comes with Orbiter 2006 edition and its basic tutorials and orbital mechanics explanation. Later try community tutorials, and don't be affraid to ask/search on orbiter forums. That's it.

 

There's a tutorial like for kids, yes, I know from forums like few years olds that are already orbiting! It is thanks to some dedicated teachers that brought Orbiter to their classrooms.

http://www.aovi93.dsl.pipex.com/pdfs/GoLearnInSpace_v2.pdf

grab this and this

http://www.aovi93.dsl.pipex.com/pdfs/GoPlayInSpace2dEd_060504.zip

 

Use only default fictional Deltaglider, until you get a hang of things. It is like a noob ship that forgives lots of things.

Then get an addon called Deltaglider III which is same fictional ship in most realistic manner.

Don't use default Atlantis Space Shuttle, it is very limited and quite inaccurate, instead grab latest Shuttle Fleet addon.

[leafer]

The manual...who would have thunk!!! :D

 

Curse the manuals, I hate them and the people who started the manual craze.

[Ardillita]

I have been flying this sim for about 2 years. It is awesone. The simulation of the phisics are imrpesive, and since the forst release, graphics have become excellent also.

Here we have a perfect example from where ED could learn a lot ;)

[Maulkin]

where can i find a shuttle texture like that in the picture?

[Pilotasso]

GOtta try this someday. I've always dreamed about exploring other planets better than throwing missiles through the air, but in the virtual world these 2 passions swap places. Its not the same thing to discover what another human mind has already concieved.

 

Too bad they are going to downgrade the space program to be based on technology that looks like something taken out of the NASA's bone yards from the mercury times.

 

I would have not guessed that the ship thats going make the first crewed trip to mars would not look strange to people who went to the moon almost 40 years ago. Todays aerospace vehicles do look minimalistic compared to the beasts of the cold war.

[Shaman]

where can i find a shuttle texture like that in the picture?

 

I already said, it is not a texture. It is a complete addon with realistic Space Shuttle, high poly, fully animated etc. etc. with bells and whistles.

It is Shuttle Fleet addon, and it is version 3.9.1

 

http://www.orbithangar.com/advsearch.php?search=name&text=space+shuttle&OrbVer=default

 

 

Also not only Orbiter Space Simulator is great.

I recommend to try this free alpha version of 3S: Space Shuttle Simulator - http://www.shuttlesim.be

[Maulkin]

Is it normal that I get no sound when using Orbiter, even from the launch pad? Is there something I need to do?

[dodger42]

You might have seen this sweet and brand new video of the virgin galactic space flights. Pretty interesting design. I'm going to save up my $$$ for sure.

 

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/e92d5924625fd010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html