Those who've followed the development of my Lunar Lander or who read my thread in in the general forum are already in the know, but here's the the official reveal.
Announcing the Apollo Application Project for Orbiter (AAPO)
Description
The intent of this of this project is to balance a historically accurate simulation of the Apollo spacecraft with accessibility and ease of play. In addition to the historical missions and spacecraft I also intend to model the various Apollo follow-on projects proposed by NASA in the 1968 Apollo Hardware Applications Program.
These projects included a 2nd Generation of Apollo Spacecraft and Boosters, Earth and Lunar Orbital Workshops (later revived as Skylab), Additional flights to and longer stays on the Lunar Surface, as well as manned and unmanned interplanetary missions.
What to Expect
The initial release willl include the CSM and LM. Launch scenarios will use Sputnik's Velcro Rockets in conjunction with my own meshes. Once I am' satisfied with the core spacecraft I will get to work on a, DLL based, family of Saturn boosters, and the first batch of AAP proposals
Non-Historical, IE canceled and theoretical missions / spacecraft will be collected in their own download package titled "Apollo Next Gen" (ANG)
Source code and project files will be included as part of the OrbiterSDK
Questions:
Screenshots
AAPO family photo taken on Pad 1 at Brighton Beach. LM, CSM and a UMMU named "Buzz".
AAPO CSM
AAPO LM
Status updates...
*Current as of June 16th 2013*
AAPO:
ANG:
Links
Development Gallery
[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=6101"]Download Alpha Release #2, updated June 11 2013[/ame]
Notes:
Announcing the Apollo Application Project for Orbiter (AAPO)
Description
The intent of this of this project is to balance a historically accurate simulation of the Apollo spacecraft with accessibility and ease of play. In addition to the historical missions and spacecraft I also intend to model the various Apollo follow-on projects proposed by NASA in the 1968 Apollo Hardware Applications Program.
These projects included a 2nd Generation of Apollo Spacecraft and Boosters, Earth and Lunar Orbital Workshops (later revived as Skylab), Additional flights to and longer stays on the Lunar Surface, as well as manned and unmanned interplanetary missions.
What to Expect
The initial release willl include the CSM and LM. Launch scenarios will use Sputnik's Velcro Rockets in conjunction with my own meshes. Once I am' satisfied with the core spacecraft I will get to work on a, DLL based, family of Saturn boosters, and the first batch of AAP proposals
Non-Historical, IE canceled and theoretical missions / spacecraft will be collected in their own download package titled "Apollo Next Gen" (ANG)
Source code and project files will be included as part of the OrbiterSDK
Questions:
- Q: How will AAPO differ from the existing Apollo addons (AMSO and NASSP)?
Upon initial release. the major distinguishing features will be fully interactive VCs and UMMU / UCCGO support for all manned modules. Individual modules are also being designed with an eye towards compatibility with 3rd party addons and launch vehicles. Want to put an AAPO CSM on top of a Falcon 9? Go for it. You want to use the mighty Saturn 5 to launch your Space Station or Interplanetary Probe? I want you to as well.
- Q: What do you mean when you say you want to "balance simulation with accessibility"?
Essentially it's about modifying the historical Apollo to match Orbiter rather than trying to modify Orbiter to match the historical Apollo. Specific examples would be things like supporting and utilizing MFDs or Orbiter's default autopilots even though doing so represents a breach of technical and historical accuracy. As much as I love NASSP, I will not be trying to design a 100% accurate reproduction of the Apollo Guidance Computer.
I also want to ensure that an Orbinaut can open up the Scenario Editor, add a LM to their session, and take it for a spin around Brighton Beach with a minimal amount of fuss and frustration while at the same time giving the sim junkies plenty of switches and knobs to play with. The level of complexity that I'm aiming for is somewhere between AMSO and NASSP and pretty close to Dansteph's Delta Glider or Moach's G-42-200.
- Your Question here...
Screenshots
AAPO family photo taken on Pad 1 at Brighton Beach. LM, CSM and a UMMU named "Buzz".
AAPO CSM
AAPO LM
Status updates...
*Current as of June 16th 2013*
AAPO:
- CSM: exterior meshes complete, VC in progress
- LM: Meshes complete, VC and displays complete, subsystem modeling and general debuggery in progress.
- Launchers: Saturn 5 meshes complete, currently conducting flight tests using Velcro. Saturn 1B meshes in work.
- OWS/Skylab: on the to-do list.
- Scenarios: Test scenarios only at the moment, plan to include historical launch scenarios for Apollo's 7 - 17 with initial release.
ANG:
- Coming soon
Links
Development Gallery
[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=6101"]Download Alpha Release #2, updated June 11 2013[/ame]
Notes:
- I'm looking for 2D artists to help me with textures and surface tiles of the Apollo Landing sites. I'll also need help writing scenarios and documentation.
- Special thanks to Loru for the Project Patch.
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