OHM Falcon9 for Orbiter2016

[Marg]

Just tried it again... It's great, except for some particle effects (and maybe cockpit). Main exhaust of the first stage is quite generic, it could be made better even within Orbiter limitations. As it is harcoded unlike in Multistage2015, I can't make changes. Maybe good texture can be used as well? The reason is - I came across Delta-IV-Heavy addon a few years ago, and THAT exhaust blew me away. Great texture and particle combination made it look amazing.
P.S. Just look again - there are KeroExhaust.dds textures in Velcro or other addons. Such long narrow texture would look good in combination with particles...

And launch deflection particle lifetime could be longer. My Space Shuttle 2015 multistage addon deflection clouds stay for a couple of minutes, I feel no FPS drops.

 

[BrianJ]

Hi Marg,
I remember you commented on the exhaust effects before. I haven't forgotten But I tend not to spend so much time on exhausts, I have more fun making up guidance algorithms. Also, I never have much success trying to crank up the effects - they end up looking like puffballs or something. I do think framerate can have an effect, and that depends on the PC.

But if you want to have a go at making some "particle stream" exhausts using Multistage2015, post the parameters here - I will give them a try. If it works for me, I'll put them in the next update, otherwise you can have your own .dll for them. You can have 2 "particle streams" and they are applied to each Merlin engine.

Pad smoke effects, I tend to keep minimal. It can still impact my FPS but not as bad as on my old PC where the fps drop was pretty bad.

All the best,
Brian

 

[Marg]

Hm, I have forgotten... My memory fades... Well, I experiment a bit. I have reached some progress, this KeroExhaust.dds, I mentioned, looks quite nice, combined with particles.

 

[francisdrake]

The reason is - I came across Delta-IV-Heavy addon a few years ago, and THAT exhaust blew me away

Maybe you are referring to this Delta iV Heavy Versatile from 2005?
I spent some time re-running the launch video and tweaking the exhaust, to get this reddish-pale Hydrogen exhaust right. If you are interested, I could transfer it to Orbiter 2016 on a dummy-launcher and then publish the parameters and bitmaps.

 

[francisdrake]

Played around with exhaust textures and particle streams. The Kerosene exhaust flame is very different from a pale Hydrogen flame. It is insanely bright, like an inverted candle. This is not easy to reproduce and not look blocky.

As a first approximation I staggered several exhausts below the engines to create this brightness. Have look yourself with the attached test vessel, called 'TheStick'. Source code included.

 

[Donamy]

That looks sweet.

 

[Marg]

Yes, that last screenshot is impressive, maybe the flame could be a bit more yellowish... (texture of exhausts, but anyone can change it to his liking, knowing file name), but realistic feeling is there...

 

[Donamy]

Would cool if the thrust, could come from the outside engines, and be angled outward as the air thins.

 

[BrianJ]

Would cool if the thrust, could come from the outside engines, and be angled outward as the air thins.

I don't think I ever thought of that Not sure if it's possible to change "particle stream" direction on-the-fly without changing thrust direction, but could work for the static exhaust visual.

As a first approximation I staggered several exhausts below the engines to create this brightness. Have look yourself with the attached test vessel, called 'TheStick'. Source code included.

Hey, thanks for the input! I'll take a look. Although after separation, the 1st stage has gimballed engines so multiple exhaust levels may look weird in that case.


I've implemented Marg's textures and particle stream parameters, and it looks pretty good for the 1st stage going up - not so sure about the single engine landing burn though. Try it out, .zip attached to this post.
Unzip into orbiter folder as usual, overwrite old .dlls, textures are in their own subfolder: Textures/Falcon9R_V12/ExTex.


Cheers,
Brian



View attachment falcon9_o2016_marg_200606.zip

 

[francisdrake]

I kept playing around with the exhausts. The left-hand side is the low-altitude version with a yellowish-orange tint.

But the high altitude exhausts are completely different. Due to lack of ambient oxygen, the brightness of the flame vanishes. I tried here thrustless hover thrusters as a separate set, with just smoke coming out and white-glowing meshes inserted into the engine nozzles. Still not quite happy with this look.

Also it would complicate the stage programming, as the stage would need to ramp down the main thruster exhausts and increase the hover thrusters.

Although after separation, the 1st stage has gimballed engines so multiple exhaust levels may look weird in that case.

Yes, I think after separation the thrusters would need to be re-defined to have conventional (non-stacked) exhausts.

 

[DaveS]

I kept playing around with the exhausts. The left-hand side is the low-altitude version with a yellowish-orange tint.

But the high altitude exhausts are completely different. Due to lack of ambient oxygen, the brightness of the flame vanishes. I tried here thrustless hover thrusters as a separate set, with just smoke coming out and white-glowing meshes inserted into the engine nozzles. Still not quite happy with this look.

Also it would complicate the stage programming, as the stage would need to ramp down the main thruster exhausts and increase the hover thrusters.



Yes, I think after separation the thrusters would need to be re-defined to have conventional (non-stacked) exhausts.

What you need to do is add in a bit of yellow (sulfur) and black (soot) to the low pressure exhaust to simulate fuel-rich propellant mixture. That would do it.

 

[Tim13]

Both of those new exhausts look good.

Unrelated question: After SECO, I manually separate from the second stage of the Falcon. Is that how it was done IRL? Everything seems so hands off and computer controlled, I thought maybe second stage separation would be automated, like the shuttle sep from the external tank.

One more question. Is there a mission elapsed time on the virtual cockpit instrument panel?

Thanks for all the work going into this addon. It's much appreciated.

Tim

 

[BrianJ]

After SECO, I manually separate from the second stage of the Falcon. Is that how it was done IRL? Everything seems so hands off and computer controlled, I thought maybe second stage separation would be automated, like the shuttle sep from the external tank.

One more question. Is there a mission elapsed time on the virtual cockpit instrument panel?

Thanks for all the work going into this addon. It's much appreciated.

Tim

Hi,
actually I don't know how payload/capsule separation is done IRL. Probably pre-programmed.
No MET on the panel as such, but you can probably find an MFD that does that. IMFD might, if nothing else.
Cheers,
Brian

---------- Post added at 12:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:18 AM ----------

Also it would complicate the stage programming, as the stage would need to ramp down the main thruster exhausts and increase the hover thrusters.

Yes, I think after separation the thrusters would need to be re-defined to have conventional (non-stacked) exhausts.

Looks very good - I don't know if I'm going to get that far into it though - there's enough going on with that main engine level already, without having to factor in an alternative set ;-). Will take a look at the "Stick" idea when I can.
EDIT: Hmm, does look good though. Maybe when I've got more time....

 

[francisdrake]

Thanks Brian for having a look into it!

Updated the zip-file on the previous page to
- include the yellowish exhaust texture
- hover engines for high-altitude exhaust example

 

[BrianJ]

Hi Marg & francisdrake,
I'd like to use elements of both your exhaust/contrail variants in the next update.
Is it OK with you?
Thanks,
Brian

 

[Marg]

Yes, no problem, FrancisDrake's version even has a better look than mine.

 

[francisdrake]

Yes, that's fine. Flew the Falcon with Marg's textures and it looks really good! I think the difference is Marg made a 'classic' exhaust with one flame per engine, while I combined all exhausts into a single big one.
Looking forward to see your composition out of these! :thumbup:

 

[BrianJ]

Many thanks :thumbup:

 

[BrianJ]

Updated on OH, version 200630:

New exhaust and contrail textures by Marg and francisdrake.
New grid-fins by Donamy.
Uppers stage payload illumination light.
A few other cosmetic tweaks.
Better booster stage reentry burn timing.
Better booster stage "EDL-only" profile steering and ASDS estimated position.
Added GPS3 launch scenario (sat mesh is GPS2, but close enough ;-)

Big thanks to Marg, francisdrake and Don for their contributions :thumbup:

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Kyle]

Really love the new MVac glow!