Take the Solarnauts challenge!

[Diziet Sma]

on the back to the right of the table sticker is a 51... could that be 1951??

That's probably it.. all the sites I've seen on the subject of Thornton PIC slide rules simply mention it as a two-digit code referring to the year of manufacture.

[Wildeblood]

Tichy has just posted this link in another part of these forums.

Maybe you are looking for Rogue System
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFlrRfVeNA

I lasted three minutes and 32 seconds before I gave in, and that was painful. If you've completed viewing the Solarnauts, try this new challenge!

[Diziet Sma]

Tichy has just posted this link in another part of these forums.

Maybe you are looking for Rogue System
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFlrRfVeNA

I lasted three minutes and 32 seconds before I gave in, and that was painful. If you've completed viewing the Solarnauts, try this new challenge!

Heck.. I was getting right into those tutorials.. finally, a proper Space DCS! I need a new computer!

[spud42]

3m40.... had to outdo wildeblood.. lol

sorry Dizzy but this looks like one tedious game..too much micromanagement for me.

please explain to me why a ship that is dockes IS NOT already hooked up to dock power???

P.S. the youtube guy sounded a bit like Scott Manly....

[Diziet Sma]

please explain to me why a ship that is dockes IS NOT already hooked up to dock power???

It IS hooked up to dock power.. but the ship is in a powered-down state.. so there's emergency lighting only until you start bringing systems online.

[spud42]

i thought he talked about charging the batteries around the third minute? but i could be mistaken as my vision was starting to glaze over.. lol

[Diziet Sma]

i thought he talked about charging the batteries around the third minute? but i could be mistaken as my vision was starting to glaze over.. lol

Ok.. having gone through the first few minutes again, it's basically as follows.

In powered-down mode, whilst the ship is connected to the station's power umbilical, that power line is also off (at the ship end, not the station end). Therefore the ship is running on internal batteries only, with only emergency lighting active. So the first thing to do is connect the primary battery to the main bus, then turn on the power feed from the station, after which it can be used to charge the batteries back to full power.

Clear as mud?

Apparently, the game designer used to be a USAF mechanic, working on the B1 bomber. He's based the ship systems on his experience there, as well as the Space Shuttle and ISS systems. So the ship systems are about as true-to-life as he can make it..

[Wildeblood]

Okay, Dizzy claims to have enjoyed it. And two of us say it's a challenge to watch. Anyone else?

I immediately thought it was Scott Manley's voice, too. I spent most of three & half minutes going, "Scott, what's that guy's surname?" Without that distraction I wouldn't have persisted that long.

[Disembodied]

Yes, I watched it all the way through ... quite interesting, I thought. I doubt if I'd fancy it as a combat game, but if I had huge amounts of money for the Oculus Rift etc. and no external commitments I could see myself getting quite in to a really obsessively detailed starship simulator. I think the best thing about it is that the systems all make sense, within the fictional setting: there are internally logical reasons for pre-heating the fuel, and so on. And the layout and design of the controls makes sense, too (probably that's the result of the designer's background in flying B1s).

[Norby]

I enjoyed it. I think after some practice you can undock within a minute so the game will not be painful if you are able to like the longer than usual learning phase also.

[Diziet Sma]

doubt if I'd fancy it as a combat game, but if I had huge amounts of money for the Oculus Rift etc. and no external commitments I could see myself getting quite in to a really obsessively detailed starship simulator.

Yeah, Newtonian physics will suck in combat.. especially since orbital mechanics are properly simulated too.. so manoeuvring in combat will also have the side effect of altering your orbit (as he demonstrated in another tutorial). During combat, you'll need to be aware that too much retrograde thrusting could well put your periapsis down into atmosphere, or worse, the ground. It's a big enough concern that the targeting reticle actually displays your apoapsis and periapsis just above the reticle. If you don't have sufficient fuel left to correct your orbit, you'll be in big trouble, as I suspect the fighter craft won't cope with re-entry temperatures.

If the game is as realistic as it appears, getting close enough to a distant target to shoot at it will be a challenge too, I suspect. Orbital rendezvous is a complex subject. The matching of orbital planes, Hohmann transfers and phase-matching required can involve multiple orbits of a planet, and quite a few hours (or even days) real-time. Hopefully the game would have some kind of time-warp facility, as KSP does.

However, I don't think an Oculus Rift would be necessary.. a three-monitor setup and a TrackIR-style rig would do just fine.

[Rorschachhamster]

However, I don't think an Oculus Rift would be necessary.. a three-monitor setup and a TrackIR-style rig would do just fine.

I just realized, in the not-so-far future (2 Years? 3? More?) almost everybody reading this will think "Why so complicated?"

If the brand Oculus is still known by then, at least.

[Ranthe]

Tichy has just posted this link in another part of these forums.

Maybe you are looking for Rogue System
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFlrRfVeNA

I lasted three minutes and 32 seconds before I gave in, and that was painful. If you've completed viewing the Solarnauts, try this new challenge!

Ha! 8m28s for me, and I only stopped to post this comment! Like Dizzy, I found it quite interesting - and it's certainly easier to follow than a Blender tutorial