Question Addin a landing guide box for a particular area?

[richfororbit]

Hi,

I wanted to enquire, does anyone have any expertise that could create a MFD which displays the target craft for landing on a particular point. I was never able to land at Pathfinder, but the files for it never worked.

Ignoring that, I had been meaning to setup a new scenario where I have a chance of landing at several feet or meters or what ever above the landing site of Pathfinder.

As the pathfinder addon is all hollow with the exception of a small area near the probe that is level, I'd like to define that.

Is this quite a complex modification? I'm thinking it might be...

 

[TachyonDriver]

Can the existing VOR/VTOL MFD not be used for this? Set up a pad in the scenario. Select its frequency in the NAV MFD, then call it up in the VOR/VTOL MFD and you have the guidance info to drop straight on to the pad.

Or do you mean an MFD displaying a series of boxes you fly through from de-orbit & reentry?

 

[richfororbit]

No not at all, I'm thinking along the lines of the docking MFD, where you have a fixed diagram area and the craft has to fit in that area along with the other for docking as an obvious guide to precision docking.

Is that Ascent MFD VTR

As for adding a landing pad, I don't want anything there, is that possible?

 

[TachyonDriver]

Possibly having a beacon or a pad at a location, but not having it displayed - I'm not sure how to go about creating an invisible landing pad.

 

[4throck]

You can have a base with a pad scaled to zero size

That will work with LOLA for an autopilot landing.


If you place a vessel on the surface, you can use DockMFD normally to get directions and speed If you don't want to see the target vessel, set it up pointing to an invisible mesh!

 

[richfororbit]

I don't know how to do any of that, and I am using the Mars for Less hab to land manually several feet up from the pathfinder location. The scenarios never worked for me. The hab only has so much to fuel for that kind of approach for landing.

I did land the MER on Mars so that was successful. So that was a first actual landing on Mars. I had the idea that it was an accurate recreation of the early part of that mission which it isn't, perhaps the first rock may be there it went to I had gathered that via the old press releases. I have yet to send it off on it's way, ofcourse I have to remember twenty minutes between movements.:rofl:

 

[4throck]

Sure, some things in Orbiter are a bit technical.
So let's start with the basics.
When I mention having a vessel on the surface, I'm talking about the scenery editor.
You open it, name your ship, choose the vessel type (use a default ship like the Delta Glider), and then place it on the surface.

After that pilot your ship to "dock" with it.

This is the first step into understanding and latter on editing scenario files, adding simple vessels, etc.

Remember, Orbiter it's free. So you don't have the user friendly tools games like Kerbal have :thumbup:

 

[richfororbit]

Ah you mean place another craft there so that I have that as a point of reference to guide the craft I am controlling to land in the safe area..hmm Not quite what I had in mind.

 

[gattispilot]

Yes. Or add a base in the cfg with scale 0

 

[4throck]

Ah you mean place another craft there so that I have that as a point of reference to guide the craft I am controlling to land in the safe area..hmm Not quite what I had in mind.

That's the simplest solution. Other ways require that you know more about orbiter and how to customize bases or create vessels.

So let's start simple, and use one craft as reference for DockMFD.
Latter on you can create an invisible vessel with just a text file. If you look into your config\vessels folder, inside Orbiter, you will see config files.
But right now better leave those alone, otherwise you may break your orbiter install!

 

[richfororbit]

Hmm, I have yet to mess about with that Mars file, I still have the setup file for landing. I have been focusing on the orbital probes.

The only config file understanding I have was when the user Phantom edited one for me a couple of years ago, for the Farscape module, how ever the wings don't work, never mind about that.

I'll try that way of using a vessel, and return again to change the scenario if it looks out of place.

 

[4throck]

Yes, start by setting up your own scenarios and see about editing them.
Look at how stuff appears when it's landed, when it's orbiting, etc.