OHM HoverMFD 1.1.1 for Orbiter 2010

[Donamy]

My Jason Lunar lander is both, depending on the vessel you are using.

 

[CaptBlanc]

Actually, Mythos, you will be happy to know that Spacecraft3 is easy-beyond-all-reason to use! Think of it as "Spaceship Design For Dummies" Just get the last version from Vinkas page: http://users.swing.be/vinka/ Then plug it in like any orbiter.dll resident module.

What it does is allow one to design the flight, visual, and sound, and animation parameters of a ship in simple, real-world parameters and terms. Say, Mass of 3.5e3 and Main thrust of 2.67e3, with a center of gravity located, blah, blah, blah. No programming needed. Many good ships have been made with the Spacecraft3 tool. And many good ideas that would have not otherwise existed because the originator can't code in C+ have come about.

Spacecraft3 ships use both the standard "Vessel" config, plus a "Spacecraft" config for added functionality. Both are editied with your text-editor of choice.

BTW, the Protocol Droid is correct. Trying to code your MFD for EVERY possible ship design will just drive you crazy. I suggest simply making a MFD to fit MOST common usage. Think "outside-the-box" when designing your functions.

For example, tail-sitters usually need to maintain a certain azimuth of launch. (Think of real-world craft...they are ALL tail-sitters at launch.) So perhaps allowing the user to input the azimuth would be nice! After launch, it's not that important. You are doing other on-orbit ops at that point. See?

 

[Mythos]

Actually, Mythos, you will be happy to know that Spacecraft3 is easy-beyond-all-reason to use! Think of it as "Spaceship Design For Dummies" Just get the last version from Vinkas page: http://users.swing.be/vinka/ Then plug it in like any orbiter.dll resident module.

That's what I found yesterday. But then I got irritated by the listed version numbers and dates on that page. I'll give it a try soon :thankyou:

 

[CaptBlanc]

Yep! To avoid confusion, you should know folk call it "Spacecraft3" as an abbreviation...It's actually "Spacecraft, Version 3"

Grab Spacecraft3 Full package, and Multistage2 Full package. That gets you up to date. Older Spacecraft2 ships are back-compatible with Sc3.

Then you can use it to make "Fast-Mockups" of any kind of ship you need for testing purposes without having to code and compile a .dll for what wiuld essentially be a "boilerplate-dummy"

Now I'm off to do more HoverMFD testing, myself! While I'm at it, are there any test flights you'd like me to try? Tell me what ship and what conditions you want me to use, and I will get you a test-flight report in a day or so!

 

[Donamy]

You also need the new stage.dll from BrianJ to use Multistage2 with Orbiter 2010.

 

[Ripley]

I have put up a "full pack" here:

http://www.tuttovola.org/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=956

It contains
multistage_050721
spacecraft3_060302
spacecraft3_2006-P1
stage_dll_2010_P1

 

[Mythos]

Thank you all for the help with Spacecraft3, I got one Heinlein to work (not with Hover MFD for now) :thumbup:

---------- Post added at 14:27 ---------- Previous post was at 14:16 ----------

Now I'm off to do more HoverMFD testing, myself! While I'm at it, are there any test flights you'd like me to try? Tell me what ship and what conditions you want me to use, and I will get you a test-flight report in a day or so!

I've tested with DG, DGIV, XR Fleet and Arrow on moon most cases. Tell me about other ships on other planets or moons.
One issue I know already: Hovering on Phobos takes Mars gravity into calculation and that gives some bad behaviour.
I have also tested on asteroids (90 Antiope and it's moon S2000 90 1) and that worked much better with some recently changed calculations. Maybe there a some more special bodies that will not work with current version?!

 

[Cras]

finally got a chance to try this thing out. Used to to land from about a 110km orbit in a Shuttle-A,and then did some hopping around the moon with it. Tremendous stuff, really is fun to use. Excellent work.

 

[Keatah]

Yeh isn't it?

 

[Mythos]

Given how well this MFD works already, why don't you go ahead and put in a switch allowing the main engines to be used instead of the hover engines, for tail-sitters (Like the Apollo LM and other tailsit rockets.) and variable-vector engines. (Like the Quad-J Firefly.)

Next version 1.1.0 (not coming real soon) checks engines by looping through all standard and user defined thruster groups. Depending on thruster direction they are used as needed. Maybe main will be used as hover, pod as retro or whatever. Also up to 2 engines are supported for one direction (e.g. adding pod to hover). ShuttleA's pod can now be used as retro, since it has no standard retro engine at all.

Useful sideeffect: The method to user thruster handles to get max thrust instead of engine-types is the more accurate one and automatically thrust reduction by atmospheric pressure (XR2 on earth) gets into calculation. The workaround to compare set thrust with wanted thrust in next timestep isn't necessary anymore.

By this one group of tailsitters can be served now: The ones that have main engine aligned to y axis or are able to do so dynamically (Quad-J Firefly? - I've not tested this so far).

The other group of tailsitters has to be supported by later changes: The ones that are standard main-z-aligned and by this have to be at 90° pitch for a stable hover by main engine... Pitch about 90 is difficult, because there is no 91 pitch, it's 89 and 180 bank... and so on... I'll think about that some more :hmm:

Also I'm still working at a travel mode to use main and retro (standard hover mode) to reach some distant target. My problem here is a missing course correction in x-axis and the problem that decelerating in slightly wrong direction leads to raising course error - unstable (whereas acceleration is pulling speed direction towards target direction - stable). In the other heli mode traveling by hover using pitch/bank works very well.

I'm still at work although you didn't hear from me for some time now.

 

[Mythos]

not coming real soon

More than a year has passed and whoops there it is: HoverMFD 1.1.0

I didn't manage to get deeper into the tailsitter topic in this version, but somewhere in my mind the ideas may grow up to some later development.

You should try the new "Travel" page for AP control. You'll also find some informations there, like how much constant thrust or pitch angle would be needed from now on to reach target.

I also enjoyed this dynamically assigned engines for pod thrusters and such. Maybe this already helps for some kind of "not supported" vessel configurations.

I would like you to play along with it and then please give me some feedback .

 

[blixel]

I watched a couple of your videos and thought I'd check out this MFD. However, on my system, the MFD text is not properly aligned when using the D3D9 graphics client. If I load the inline client, the text is properly aligned.

But this is what it looks like on my system with Orbiter 2010 P1 (August 30, 2010 build) and D3D9Client R12.

 

[Mythos]

MFD text is not properly aligned when using the D3D9 graphics client.

I never used D3D9 client so far. I think this has to be my next experience with orbiter.

Until now I never heard of this problem, but it must have existed with previous versions of HoverMFD. The screens look like the small font is ignored and always the big font used. Is this a problem any MFD developer encounters?

---------- Post added at 22:49 ---------- Previous post was at 21:06 ----------

Now I've got a D3D9ClientR12 installed and running. And I also have the same problem there. Maybe someone developing already tried some stuff and can help before I start weird experiments: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=33110

 

[Ripley]

I watched a couple of your videos and thought I'd check out this MFD. However, on my system, the MFD text is not properly aligned when using the D3D9 graphics client...

The previous version (1.0.2) showed the same behaviour too.
(XP + D3D9 R12)

 

[Interceptor]

I never used D3D9 client so far. I think this has to be my next experience with orbiter.

Until now I never heard of this problem, but it must have existed with previous versions of HoverMFD. The screens look like the small font is ignored and always the big font used. Is this a problem any MFD developer encounters?

---------- Post added at 22:49 ---------- Previous post was at 21:06 ----------

Now I've got a D3D9ClientR12 installed and running. And I also have the same problem there. Maybe someone developing already tried some stuff and can help before I start weird experiments: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=33110

HI,I use HoverMFD all the time with newest version of d3d9 r12,and I have not seen this problem,but I have seen this with other MFDs,maybe someone could add a fix for this problem for d3d9R12.

---------- Post added at 10:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:02 PM ----------

Oops! I apologize,I just noticed you released a newer version of it I was :facepalm:talking about the older one apparently,sorry about that.

---------- Post added 01-21-14 at 01:52 AM ---------- Previous post was 01-20-14 at 10:20 PM ----------

OK,yeah I am getting the same problem in D3d9R12 too,couldn't you just go back to the way you did it in the last release it doesn't appear to have this problem.

 

[Mythos]

OK,yeah I am getting the same problem in D3d9R12 too,couldn't you just go back to the way you did it in the last release it doesn't appear to have this problem.

I didn't change anything text related. It has to be in 1.0.2 also. Are you really sure about that? Maybe you looked just on pages with short labels where you wouldn't notice the difference?

The previous version (1.0.2) showed the same behaviour too.
(XP + D3D9 R12)

 

[Mythos]

Problem solved

It's just a display problem with D3D9 only, so this isn't worth a new version number with OH release. For now I just put a fix here and wait for some more feedback before updating OH again.

 

[blixel]

Problem solved

It's just a display problem with D3D9 only, so this isn't worth a new version number with OH release. For now I just put a fix here and wait for some more feedback before updating OH again.

Looks good on my system. Thanks for the quick fix. Now I just have to learn how to use it.

 

[Mythos]

Now I just have to learn how to use it.

RTFM... I really spent a lot of time with that

My few videos aren't that much help with that. Also my checklists in the manual don't address a wide range of tasks. Maybe someone want's to do a real tutorial and will be linked in next manual?

 

[perseus]

Very nice but I hope the new version to contain put in a switch allowing the main engines to be used instead of the hover engines, for tail-sitte