An Addon Developers Guidebook

[Zatnikitelman]

Was sitting in my boring *** study hall this afternoon and was struggling with the mdensities of LOX and LH2 and hit upon an idea: an addon developers guide book. Don't know what form it could take, but I was thinking we could put various little quick facts such as various fuel densities, important equations like DV, BurnTime etc. and various other helpful hitns organized into a helpful format easily accessible by just about anyone.
I'm just posting to bounce the idea off you guys.

 

[Andy44]

Alot of stuff like that can be found here, at one of the coolest websites out there for Orbiterheads: http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/index.html

I have a spreadsheet that I built which does various calculations, using Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation, to help you build a spacecraft. For example, you enter Isp, and thrust (based on propulsion system type and size), and enter in vehicle dry mass, propellant mass, and payload mass, and it will tell you how much total delta-V your vessel would have. It also works backwards; you enter the desired amount of delta-V and, based on the other parameters, it tells you the minimum amount of propellant needed to achieve that goal. I used it for both the LTV and the LSS addons, but one thing it won't do is tell you what is a realistic dry weight. You have to do that yourself based on materials and such.

A spreadsheet like this could be incorporated into your guidebook, and it has calculations built into it.

 

[Usquanigo]

Alot of stuff like that can be found here, at one of the coolest websites out there for Orbiterheads: http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/index.html

I have a spreadsheet that I built which does various calculations, using Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation, to help you build a spacecraft. For example, you enter Isp, and thrust (based on propulsion system type and size), and enter in vehicle dry mass, propellant mass, and payload mass, and it will tell you how much total delta-V your vessel would have. It also works backwards; you enter the desired amount of delta-V and, based on the other parameters, it tells you the minimum amount of propellant needed to achieve that goal. I used it for both the LTV and the LSS addons, but one thing it won't do is tell you what is a realistic dry weight. You have to do that yourself based on materials and such.

A spreadsheet like this could be incorporated into your guidebook, and it has calculations built into it.

Any chance you could post that spreadsheet?

 

[dougkeenan]

Second that ... please?

 

[eveningsky339]

Sounds like a good idea. We could also use a detailed C++ tutorial specifically for programming .dlls for Orbiter. The learning curve for me was about as steep as a wall, and a tutorial would help those who want to "graduate" from spacecraft3.

 

[tl8]

Orbiter wiki is your friend here

The surveyor tutorial is great.

 

[T.Neo]

The surveyor tutorial is great.

I second that, but I think we need other ship tutorials.

 

[Usquanigo]

Sounds like a good idea. We could also use a detailed C++ tutorial specifically for programming .dlls for Orbiter. The learning curve for me was about as steep as a wall, and a tutorial would help those who want to "graduate" from spacecraft3.

And MFDs. The idea of making them intrigues me (and no 3D modeling needed), but there seems to be even less tutorials for those (like zero) than for anything else.

 

[Istochnikov]

I second that, but I think we need other ship tutorials.

Mainly for implementating some technologies (Solar Panel tracking, communication-energy-life support systems... for example... for doing a Kliper Ultra )

Talkin' seriouslier it will be VERY USEFUL :speakcool:

 

[Andy44]

Any chance you could post that spreadsheet?

Wow, I can't believe this thread is a year old.

Anyway, here's the spreadsheet:

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3724"]Search[/ame]

It's a very simple thing, but you might find it useful. Some of the inputs are in lbs or tons (US), etc., but you can change that by unprotecting the worksheets and fiddling with the formulae.:study:

 

[n72.75]

Action Time

This would be a nice project to see get of the ground

We should put together a team and decide what we want to include. different experenced addon deveolpers can wride different parts and then someoe can edit and compile the project.

Is there anyone who wants to lead this project??

 

[Usquanigo]

Wow, I can't believe this thread is a year old.

Anyway, here's the spreadsheet:

http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3724

It's a very simple thing, but you might find it useful. Some of the inputs are in lbs or tons (US), etc., but you can change that by unprotecting the worksheets and fiddling with the formulae.:study:

Sweet! Downloading now.

 

[T.Neo]

Mainly for implementating some technologies (Solar Panel tracking, communication-energy-life support systems... for example... for doing a Kliper Ultra )

Talkin' seriouslier it will be VERY USEFUL :speakcool:

Not to mention making VCs, panels, other animations, etc.

I am worried about animations in C++. I think I have everything else down, because I learnt all that in the surveyor tutorial.

 

[tl8]

Not to mention making VCs, panels, other animations, etc.

I am worried about animations in C++. I think I have everything else down, because I learnt all that in the surveyor tutorial.

If you know animations in Spacecraft 3 then the API GUIDE should make thing easy, The Hubble.cpp file is just animations.

 

[T.Neo]

Where is the API guide?

 

[tl8]

Where is the API guide?

In the Doc folder under the OrbiterSDK

 

[Usquanigo]

In the Doc folder under the OrbiterSDK

My Orbiter install contained an OrbiterSDK directory, which I never looked at until recently. That subdirectory does not contain any "Doc" (or similar) directory inside it.

I have -
Orbiter
- OrbiterSDK
-- include
-- notesMFD
-- samples
-- SpaceShuttleUltra

It looks like some of the things I install place some stuff in the SDK directory, but that it was almost empty when the Orbiter install was intially unzipped.

Is there something else I could download and install? (like a downloadable SDK)

 

[tl8]

Ahh, you haven't downloaded the SDK yet, look on the main site, it will be there somewhere

 

[T.Neo]

CAn anyone show me how to set up my VC++ compiler correctly?

 

[Notebook]

CAn anyone show me how to set up my VC++ compiler correctly?

Have you tried this?

http://www.orbiterwiki.org/wiki/Free_Compiler_Setup

N.