Any fans of Orbiter (spaceflight simulator) around here?

[Winner]

This Orbiter in case there is any confusion.

I've recently decided to give it another try (first time I gave up because it was so bloody hard to accomplish even the most basic tasks) so I am curious if there are others who have some experience with it.

Don't be shy, I'll only bother you with important questions

(Story from yesterday: "hm, what happens if I retract the landing gear while on the ground?" *bzzz... bang!* "Oh...")
(Story from the day before yesterday: "Hm, I wonder what this 'external fuel dump' switch does..." *all fuel dumped during ascend* "You must be kidding me!")

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(BTW, it's not really a game (far from it!), so I am posting this here in the off-topic forum.)
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EDIT: OK, since many people have expressed their interest in Orbiter, I feel I should help others overcome the newbie problems I hope this will help:

For all aspiring "Orbinauts", here's a sort of 'manual' to Orbiter - it really teaches you step-by-step how to do things in space, explains how things work, how to configure your program, how to use MFDs, how to fly here and there, etc. It helped me a lot, and I also learned a lot about spaceflight in general from it. I recommend you start with it

Go Play in Space by Bruce Irving

 

[Yared]

I tried it but it was too confusing for my 13 year old mind.

 

[Winner]

That's the reaction most people have But I am now trying various tutorials and it's beginning to look less intimidating. Seriously, if other people managed to fly to Mars (I have no idea how to calculate the transfer orbits, it's still magic to me) or even do a grand tour over the Solar System with multiple slingshots (gravity assists), then by Gods, I'll learn it too!


Link to video.
Link to video.

 

[Yared]

You have rekindled my interest Winner

 

[Winner]

First successful rendezvous&docking with ISS Considering that it is probably about 1000x harder in real life, my respect for astro/cosmonauts just went up by 100%.

Hm, there is even an EVA module, which allows you to send out members of your crew in spacesuits equiped with RCS. Extremely cool. Too bad I forgot one of them in orbit and he suffocated. Never mind

 

[warpus]

How far do the futuristic spacecraft take you? How far can you go?

 

[Winner]

There are tons of add-ons, I haven't had time to try them all yet. The most "realistic" (in terms of how it behaves, functions, etc.) plane is the Delta Glider IV. The first time I saw the cockpit, I wanted to delete that wretched program However, once you learn the few things you need, you can actually fly it without crashing all the time (first time I crashed after about 3 seconds of "flight" - I tried vertical take-off and panicked).

If you know how to compute transfer orbits, how to refuel, how to use gravity assists, etc., you can fly anywhere you want in the Solar System. It doesn't support interstellar travel as far as I know.

Now I have to learn the hardest part - how to survive the re-entry (this is really difficult, you have to precisely calculate your re-entry angle, otherwise you burn up - you can cheat and turn this off, but what fun would it be then?) and land within 1000 km radius from the airbase I picked as the target

 

[scherbchen]

this looks pretty neat.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

I used to have it.

But because of the kind of graphics card I have, my terraformed Pluto wouldn't display correctly. (the clouds didn't appear). I tried the terraformed Mars addon I found somewhere, but it made Orbiter crash.

So I gave up. I was able to learn how to fly though. But I'm too impatient to do uber-precise orbital calculations.

I even had a nuclear missile addon that I downloaded once.

 

[Winner]

There is plenty of all kinds of add-ons, most of them can be found on the Orbiter Hangar web. I've seen Firefly there

Oh, and there is also a group of French mod-makers who focus on ESA. They made a superb add-on: a European ATV-derived space-ship. They even made European lunar lander, so if you know how, you can launch an all-European mission to the Moon (where there is an all-European lunar station).

Spoiler :

I won't try it until I learn how not to burn up in the atmosphere though

 

[Yared]

I'm downloading it now.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Hmm.. this looks interesting, might give it a whirl later.

 

[Winner]

I tested a good add-on ship yesterday - it has scramjet engines which allow you to reach ~Mach 20 in the upper atmosphere, you you only need rockets for the take of and the final push that allows you to reach orbit.

Gods, I wish someone built this in real world.

 

[Winner]

Today I managed to successfully dock two spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The crew members shook hands and exchanged formalities, a great day for manned spaceflight.

The two ships shortly before docking.

Unfortunately, I forgot to close the hatches on the 2nd ship before I undocked, which resulted in cabin decompression and subsequent loss of crew. Horrible disaster, but those brave cosmonauts didn't die in vain - I definitely learned an important lesson today

 

[Pokurcz]

Seems awesome, is it possible to play without a degree in physics?

 

[Winner]

Given the size of the fan community, I believe it is entirely possible.

It's not easy though. Fortunately, there are tons of tutorials - I hope that with them and my knowledge of the basics of orbital mechanics I'll manage to learn it.

BTW, I discovered new add-ons which enable you to actually build your own spaceship/stations out of pre-defined building blocks. VERY cool

 

[TheBladeRoden]

Tell me somebody made a death star addon

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Tell me somebody made a death star addon

They did.

 

[cardgame]

Probably.

I actually tried this but it never would install right...

Either that or when I started it, it crashed on me.

I may try it again in the future...

 

[remake20]

Where can I download this? I want to try it and most likely crash . Maybe I'll fly into the world trade center .