Greetings from Illinois

[paradineai]

Hi, I'm here in IL in the USA and have been using orbiter for a while now but I don't really post much on here so now that i have the time i am doing this and would like to know as much as i can about this Sim as i can because so far i have had this Sim running continually on one of my older pc's that is running win 7 and i have even gone as far as saving and copying a file after updating my PC from win xp so that it has not lost any real time other than about 5 min during the reload so it has been running for 7years, 2months, 3days, 9hours, and about 15-20mins as of this post so far. so if anyone can help me with some stuff then i would be very grateful. the first thing i was wondering is if there is any program out that can take the config file of a ship and search for, copy, and compile all the necessary files into a dll that can run in orbiter to make running orbiter go along more smoothly and faster with a higher frame rate or at least make the Sim/ship more stable so there will less of a chance of a ctd if i share my ship with others also we need an up to date version of the programs that check for errors and that allow us to use other computers to link into orbiter if anyone out there has some programing knowledge then please feel free to drop me a line as i can get pics and bits and pieces for most things i am also looking at build a few Sim pits and have many designs available and will be selling them as plug and play kits with the computers to run them. some will be full enclosures and others will be simple one panel control boards i even sell panels that you can use to make your own custom pits. if you have any experience then shoot me a line because i can draw out wire diagrams and can get the 3d images of the pits done up so that you can view them with flash player.

 

[Kamran]

I'm fairly new to Orbiter myself and as soon as I found out that you can make your own ships and control them using program code, I've been hooked. Working on a project right now!
As for converting cfg files into dll format, I believe that this was the original plan which is why the spacecraft .dll series was released. Spacecraft.dll was a default dll that read a config file so that others can create their own spacecraft, but due to the limitations of what was thought up at the time of the creation of the spacecraft.dll many things were not included and so people now make their own .dlls.
The config file is still necessary as it assigns a value to changable properties that you might like to alter without too much programming knowledge after release. And it's best not to "hard wire" variable values in code.
If you would like to program your own vessel .dll you will need something like Visual Studio Express (free from here), set up the interface by following Mohd Ali instructions in his video here and you're all set to start programming your first .dll controlled vessel.
The orbiter class reference can be found in your orbiter directory under orbitersdk/doc/API_Reference.chw.
Search for Vessel in the API_Reference.chw and it will show you all the methods, functions and properties that every vessel must have (whether you assign them or not, is your choice of course).
The main crux of what I'm trying to get at here is that orbiter now calls a method called the clbkSetClassCaps which exists in every Vessel which reads the associated config file parameters and sets them according to your method implimentation. Your .chw file will tell you this if you search for this method.
After that it's an emotional rollercoaster of throwing your hands up with joy and throwing your computer through the window with frustration.

 

[Ripley]

Hi paradineai, and welcome to OF!

 

[Swigert]

Good day, fellow Illinoiser

 

[MaddogK]

Greetings fellow Illinoisers,
Am new here too, and new to Orbiter. I tried it years ago but it was too complicated for me at the time but chose to revisit it again last week. Spent the last week in a self imposed 'trial-by-fire' by undocking from ISS and moving to Mir and redocking, without reading the manuals or using autopilots. Thanks to a good tutorial (orbital operations) I figured it out and successfully docked with Mir (in darkness) last night. I think I'm ready to sit down and read all the manuals and bump up the realism. I just wanted to jump in here and say thanks to the community for the helpful posts I've been reading in the last few days because If I hadn't found this forum I'de still be falling out of orbit trying to figure out how to change planes and sync my orbit.