Is it normal for a 14 year old to be playing this?

[ADSWNJ]

You know what? I don't think it's 'normal' for a 14 year old to be playing this. It's exceptional. As a teenager growing up in this hyper-connected world, with SO many choices of games on consoles, tablets, phones, macs and pc's, you have to be made of the right stuff to be intrigued by this simulator and the things you can do with it.

This is a fantastic learning tool for anyone interested in mathematics, physics, engineering or science. It's also an amazing opportunity for anyone wanting to get into programming, from writing a simple MFD all they way to coding graphics clients and delivering full 3D models of your own.

You can take any of these aspects to whatever level you want. Jump in a Delta Glider, fly into orbit and just look at the prettiness of the scenery flying by. Then start to understand the orbital parameters (periapsis, apoapsis, etc) and how and where to nudge the ship to circularize the orbit. Then do the same starting from Brighton Beach on the Moon, and get a feel for how the lack of atmosphere and the small gravity field affects the flight.

If you are interested in the physics, then there is a bench of deep rocket scientists right here ready to engage you at any level of your understanding, and usually more than happy to explain peturbations, or trajectory optimization or the effects of gimballed thrust.

If you want to get into the developer side, then this platform takes on a whole new side. You will learn to work with open source, sharing ideas with other developers, and getting the gratification of creating new functionality to keep this forum and hobby fresh and interesting.

Or ... you could go play the latest shrink-wrap game on an Xbox, and leave all this.

Normal? I don't think so. Congratulations for being exceptional.

 

[csanders]

If Orbiter existed when I was 14, I would have played the hell out of it.

12 even.

I'm 36.

---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:48 PM ----------

What Orbiter would have looked like when I was your age:

 

[Ripley]

Yes! And this was my first flight sim!

 

[KrazyKyle]

Ripley - Could that be Sublogic FSII for Apple II ? I ran it on an Apple IIc with t 9" monochrome monitor. The engine sound was random speaker clicks. And where did you get the screenshot?!

 

[mojoey]

Ripley - Could that be Sublogic FSII for Apple II ? I ran it on an Apple IIc with t 9" monochrome monitor. The engine sound was random speaker clicks. And where did you get the screenshot?!

You probably still could, in fact I just got finished with Oregon Trail not too long ago.

http://www.virtualapple.org

 

[OrtSurfer]

I think the real question you want to ask is, Is it impressive?

And, not to toot my own horn, but i think it is impressive for anyone to be utilizing this simulator (Not a Game, although I'm sure most of us have turned it into a game in our minds). Estimate or find out how many people are in space programs around the world and relate that to how many people are actually on our planet. I would have to guess there are a relatively small number of people that actually understand space flight, even on the level that orbiter presents it, and even then it's not what I would call intuitive.

I am 20 and started playing at 17. Ive succesfully travelled to the moon, by the books, with a slight handicap, multiple times.

I don't know much about how the real world is progressing in this direction, but I would say that, at 14, you have a very real prospect for being in either a private sector space program or governmental program. Not neccesarily as a pilot, but hey, there's nothing stopping you from trying.

 

[worir1]

thanks.
i always wanted to be a comercial pilot to get my 1000 flying hours to be an asttounaut

 

[Cras]

As close as FSX is to getting a 777 into the air.

You say that now.....

The PMDG 777 is just around the corner.

 

[Ripley]

Ripley - Could that be Sublogic FSII for Apple II ? I ran it on an Apple IIc with t 9" monochrome monitor. The engine sound was random speaker clicks. And where did you get the screenshot?!

It was for C64, and here it is:
http://www.gamebase64.com/game.php?id=2811&d=30&h=0

Sorry for the late reply.

 

[george7378]

I don't know much about how the real world is progressing in this direction, but I would say that, at 14, you have a very real prospect for being in either a private sector space program or governmental program. Not neccesarily as a pilot, but hey, there's nothing stopping you from trying.

I think you'd have to do a bit more than play a computer game at 14 to get into the space programme. Sure it's realistic and all, but it's not THAT impressive.

 

[Locutus]

Dear Worir1,
There is nothing wrong with being a 14 year old Orbiter player. At least I hope not, otherwise we'd both be in trouble because I'm 14 too. I think Orbiter is pretty real. The thrust simulator is real enough, but I'm kinda concerned about how the orbit works. You see, the mfd display shows a closed circuit around the planet, and you can add a prograde burn and then compress time and the mfd will not show any noticable spiraling. However, I once had this mmu docked to the Blue Danube and undocked him and I thought that he would go a little faster than the station and that if he stayed in that orbit he would come back to the station. As it turned out I was wrong. A time compress showed that he missed the station in a slow spiral away from the planet. So maybe the mfd probably calculates an orbit tragectory halfway around the planet and then just mirrors it. Anyway, it's just some kind of graphical representation based on the charts. There is an addon called galactic 3d mfd or something it shows your path through the solar system, displays orbits, displays all the planets and where they are. I'm not sure if it displays stations and vessels but I think it does. That will help you with interplanetary travel and orbiting. Also, there is an addon called universal autopilot mfd where you can tell the ship what to do in a totally customizable sequence. It will help you launch, dock, land, and go to other planets. And of course, there is always transx mfd- if you know how. In the Docs file there is a file named transx open it and you will find a transxmfd quickstart manual, full manuel, and a guide to space travel which should help you also.