manuals manuals manuals... orbiter has a manual for running the program, each spacecraft has a manual for operating it, and although there isn't always one, pretty much EVERY MFD needs a manual to use it as they use a lot of abbreviations or have their own way of operating. overall i'd say about the only thing orbiter has in common with flight sims is that it can be used on a computer, or perhaps some of the atmospheric flight is similar but in general, transitioning between atmoshperic flight and space flight is one of the HUGE, more advanced challenges of playing orbiter. if i could offer some general advice, it would be to learn different operations by themselves. for example:
0. My first advice is to NOT use the space shuttle at all until you learn the basics, the shuttle packs tend to be more on difficult side because they use very limited amounts of fuel and unless you KNOW the basics you will only run out of fuel and never even achieve orbit. even giving the shuttle unlimited fuel makes it too heavy to achieve orbit. start with unrealistic spacecraft that have no damage or explosions to start out with and tons of fuel and unrealistic thrust outputs. the DGIII is pretty good at all these things, so do alot of people's scifi VINKA spacecraft, although some are difficult to install, so the DG is good for ease. also the SHUTTLE PB is nice and simple. I like the DG because it has at least SOME kind of cockpit and labels that can help identify some of the functions or you can click them with the mouse and not need to memorize the keystroke.
1.practice launches and exiting the atmosphere, and achieving ANY orbit whatsoever
2.start the program with one of the many scenarios that is already in space, such as docked to the space station. from there, practice moving from one docking port to another using only RCS thrusters
3.Try the scenarios that are on final approach to docking
4. Try transforming your orbit in ways that you control, such as transferring from a 250km orbit up to a 500km orbit and back again.
5. try using the basic MFDs until you understand what it does. for example, start try aligning your orbital plane with the moons plane with the orbital alignment mfd and understand the meaning of all standard orientations for navigating. if you don't know what Rinc, AN+, DN-, Ap, Pe, ALT, RAD, PRO, RET, TGT, NTGT or NAV, are, then you need to read the MFD manuals and the physics primer everyone keeps referring to on the nasa website, which is EXACTLY where i started out. these are the absolute barebones of knowing whats going on.
6. if you have trouble remembering all the short names for things, make youself a quick reference glossary
8. try to RENDEZVOUS with the iss or the moon. even getting close to the moon or hitting the moon with your ship will be an accomplishment to start out with! hahah so is getting close enough to see the ISS from a distance, don't expect it to be large or easy to find until you understand how to use the instruments and basic orbital mechanics.
9. Try using a small vehicle to make a short flight on the moon, its probably harder than you think and will teach you about trajectory and managing your altitude when there is no atmosphere to keep you aloft. also, if you can fly away from a moon base, then turn around and get back to that SAME moon base without crashing, then you will be on your way to great success!!
10. all the little missions you assign yourself will give you the basic skills to do the big stuff you want to do.
---------- Post added at 04:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:23 PM ----------
p.s. one last thing is that if you feel like you are having trouble getting the information you want out of this, try downloading some of the playbacks that people post on the orbit-hangar. sometimes its easier to know what to do if you see a playback recording or someone else doing it. no single post or tutorial could ever do more than scratch the surface of answering every question.
