Question Is orbiter.dansteph and orbiterfrancophone down or have problems ?

[garyw]

I hope no one is mistaken about what I say, I'm absolutely not angry, maybe I'm just searching some support and community friendliness so I can retrieve my full enthusiasm and finish stuffs.

I think that's fair enough. When a good addon dev does amazing work it's all too easy to say 'want, want, want' and not say 'thank you' so to you and every other addon dev out there 'thank you' for the contribution you've made to orbiter. It's work like that which helps keep orbiter fresh.

 

[Face]

But at a time when you make popular addon you need sometime to explain why the promised addon is still not released.

I can sympathize with that. I often feel the same urge to explain why I (again) did not deliver on time, especially when working in a team. I admit that I'm often guilty of over-promising, too. However, I've come to learn that this is only my feeling, outsiders are surprisingly more forgiving. After all, it is just the deadlines we set for ourselves, for the work we love to do. Call me lazy, but with time I've stopped giving it so much priority that it eventually nags on my sleep.

Now with all the reactions I'm really enthusiast about the new site and new forum and about addons. So thanks to all :tiphat:

That's really nice to hear. I've seen some French-speaking members trying out OMP in various ways, and your forum was the only gateway to this community for me. Even if I did not speak up there that much (due to language barriers), you will certainly remember that I visited often enough to report occasional spammers :lol: .

And by now I think I don't have to explain why I'm happy to hear that about your addons, either .

I think it is safe to say this on behalf of the Orbiter community: keep up with your excellent work, Dan!

 

[N_Molson]

Dan, to be very honest with you, I always loved your work, but my enthusiasm was also always limited by what you are saying now - I often felt you were uneasy with the fact of working for free -. But that's the way Orbiter works from the start - and it has to stay like this, by Martins will.

Your greatest achievement is IMHO OrbiterSound - it has become so obvious we use it as if it was a part of Orbiter's core. A lack of updates will be on the long term a severe blow. If you decide to stop the work on it, could you consider releasing the source code ? I'm sure some people here have the skills to continue the dream. The same for UmmU - it has become such a standard for many addons that a lack of updates will be sooner or later a problem (next Orbiter version ?). And there's also UGCO, that I personally don't use a lot, but many people around here are having a lot of fun with it.

I hope you'll find time to update the existing work - that would be fantastic.

Cordialement,

Nicolas

NB : BTW, I hope you are aware you have a "DanSteph fan-club" social group on this forum : http://www.orbiter-forum.com/group.php?groupid=83 :lol:

 

[Mojave]

Dan, we all love your work and it is invaluable. Especially Orbiter sound. Without that addon, orbiter would be nothing. Believe me, we are all greatful for your work even if you don't see it. :tiphat:

SE

 

[dansteph]

If you decide to stop the work on it, could you consider releasing the source code ? I'm sure some people here have the skills to continue the dream. The same for UmmU - it has become such a standard for many addons that a lack of updates will be sooner or later a problem (next Orbiter version ?).

Appart if I die suddenly of course I would. :lol:
I'm not that much confident about other peoples continuing OrbiterSound simply because there is ten years
of increasing programming learning curve code in it. It's well organised and commented (in english) but the
code might be very difficult to understand. Anyway I'm not leaving so it's not time yet.

About UCGO, the Arrow Freighter is one of the things I'm the most proud of. It push VC ambiance and interaction very far and the design is great with hi res textures.

Once the new site up, I'll finish it (it's almost done in fact)

 

[Quick_Nick]

I say little to nothing because I've never found the words to express my gratitude.
It is so much a combination of your work and Dr Schweiger's that has kept me on this forum for over 8 years of my 19 year life, and motivated me to pursue a career in aerospace and a hobby in programming. The DGIII/IV have always been my spacecraft of choice, and OrbiterSound is an amazing piece of work. UMMUs are now iconic to Orbiter, and something unexpected to me, and yet you filled a hole in Orbiter I didn't realize existed. Nearly every time I install Orbiter, I immediately install your add-ons. They are a core part of the simulator for me. I couldn't have nearly the same enjoyment without them.
Recently, there are a couple teams working on graphics engines for Orbiter as alternatives to the default. Yet you are the only one to implement sound AFAIK. Your work is more than anyone has even tried to match.
And I can't even imagine how many add-ons on OrbitHangar are built on your UMMU and especially OrbiterSound APIs. Virtually all of them have custom sound, and it's only thanks to your contributions. Hours you've spent for this community, have spared aspiring add-on developers from many hours of work each.
I hope you do know that your work really is appreciated. Even though I've probably never given more than a "thank you" and some feedback on your work, your work has been inspiring and significant to me. The work you and a few other developers do (Face included), that can total hundreds of thousands of lines, for no pay, inspire me as a programmer and as a member of this community.

 

[Ghostrider]

I hate peoples that burn what they loved

Yeah, damn pyromaniacs...

maybe I'm just searching some
support and community friendliness so I can retrieve my full enthusiasm and finish stuffs.

Well, no probs here. I'm absolutely addicted, to the point of insanity, to your addons and it brings me Justified Patriotic Pride that a Fellow Swiss can make this kind of Great Stuff.

However, I refrain from asking about release dates and completion status because once upon a time I have been a programmer as well (started out on an unexpanded VIC-20 and didn't write a line of code since the Amiga went out of favour) and I know from sort-of-experience how time-consuming coding, testing and debugging can be. RL also raises its ugly head now, again and again.

So, go at your own pace. I will be waiting, lurking around, and as soon as the Great Stuff is finished, I will download it so fast as to leave a gaping, incandescent rip into cyberspace.

Not one single byte will escape my greed!:ninja:

 

[dansteph]

(started out on an unexpanded VIC-20 and didn't write a line of code since the Amiga went out of favour)

Started also with the vic20 (5k of RAM, one smiley :rofl I wrote a simulator (well, it was one point turning like a fly with spacebar control)
Then switched also to amiga and never stopped to dev on each computer.

:lol:

 

[Ghostrider]

We need a place for retrocomputing fans here.

**** CBM BASIC V2 ****
3583 BYTES FREE
READY.
_

 

[Loru]

10 Print "Hail the Probe"
20 Goto 10

 

[Cairan]

You haven't lived retro coding until you have POKEd

 

[Ghostrider]

You have to POKE, PEEK, USR and SYS.
Nothing like having to write a routine in Assembler, print out the hex codes, manually convert into decimal, then store them into DATA statements to be read by a FOR...NEXT POKE(READ(N)) to punch the routine into memory before having to call it from within the very same BASIC program that punched it in...

 

[tabs123]

Hey all,
I may have picked a bad time to get interested with Orbiter. Respect to Dan, from what Ive read, he's made a real impact.

However, and I feel rude for asking, but is there anywhere I can download these popular files (like the DGIV)? Seems all the links point back to Dans site which seems offline for now.

Tabs

 

[C3PO]

The major addons are on Orbithangar:
http://www.orbithangar.com/searchauth.php?search=dansteph

The rest will have to wait for the new site.

 

[tabs123]

The major addons are on Orbithangar:
http://www.orbithangar.com/searchauth.php?search=dansteph

The rest will have to wait for the new site.

That was the first place I looked. Unfortunately they dont store the download file for the DGIV, just link back to Dans holding page.

 

[dansteph]

GOOD FORUM NEWS

Your password from the old orbiter.dansteph forum will work.
it was a md5 hash. After the first connexion the new SMF (Simple Machine Forum)
will switch on it's own check system. (nothing to do for you)

Yet all messages and profiles are restored

It miss still some work on details as tags, url (so old links contained in message point on
the correct thread of the new forum)

And of course, site design, download page, addons etc. etc.

Pfeew !

 

[Vast fury]

Hello Dan..

Hi Dan, I just wanna let you know that I am one of your number one fans,

I have always been in awe of your add-ons, there is beauty in such complexity in each one. I cannot visualize the hardwork and dedication you have placed in making such add -ons. It is these add-ons that truly make orbiter alive and worth experiencing.

Through these add-ons, you have brought us to the closest we can get to seeing the mesmerizing beauty of the cosmos through the visor of an astronaut. To venture it riding a realistic freighter-class vessel with the most graceful atmospheric glider docked to it. Both of which we cannot afford to fry in the atmosphere(although it always happens.. Sorry Dan ) Nor smash on the face of a moon. No one can ever retrace nor surpass the total Astronomical Units we have traveled riding in the comfort of these ships.

You have given each one of us a very important trait called inspiration..
This word may just be 11 letters long but its what gives us the life-long courage and determination to pursue our dreams.

Thank you so much for your efforts Dan, we may have not thanked you enough but believe me, words aren't enough to express our gratitude to you..

We salute you

 

[Ghostrider]

This word may just be 11 letters long

You just gave a programmer an 11-bit long word. WE'RE DOOMED!:lol:

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

I'm not really "leaving" I'll still promote and support the community (until the
very end ) and maintain my site and forum. I'll probably also update
OrbiterSound (at least) if a new Orbiter comes up. But I cannot sustain
any-more eight month for free for such few reactions, I'm not rich at all and
the whole story is about exchange : authors give their time, users must also
give some of their time at least to click some "thanks", make comments or
better, participate.

Thats understandable. As much as we love it, Orbiter has to take a backseat to more pressing issues in life, but there's always tomorrow :thumbup:. Are you planning on updating UMMU/UCGO as well, or is that a maybe?

Just to point out, however, several add-on devs, including yours truly have updated to OSound 4.0, but the betas of UMMU/UCGO really havent gotten enough attention. I apologize for this, it really isnt fair to you.

Appart if I die suddenly of course I would. :lol:
I'm not that much confident about other peoples continuing OrbiterSound simply because there is ten years
of increasing programming learning curve code in it. It's well organised and commented (in english) but the
code might be very difficult to understand. Anyway I'm not leaving so it's not time yet.

About UCGO, the Arrow Freighter is one of the things I'm the most proud of. It push VC ambiance and interaction very far and the design is great with hi res textures.

Would you be willing to share a peek? I cant even begin to grasp how the heck UMMU & UCGO work.

I would like to add to the list of thanks in this thread. My love affair with Orbiter was partly born one sunday morning after firing up the scenario with the Arrow freighter on Earth. Thank you Dan!

 

[Mojave]

The new website is looking good, Dan. Can't wait to see what else you do with it. :thumbup: