Project Enhanced Orion 20m (Update 3 - Feb 15)

[Izack]

The telescope controls mess with the normal third-person controls (they should be disabled when in third-person view but aren't.) The camera sound effect isn't annoying per se, but it brings up an odd point: why do the telescopes function like Polaroids, flicking between lenses instead of adjusting the distance between two of them? Galileo would be appalled. Cool effect, though. :lol:

And about the HUD text: is any of it really necessary? Just disarming the safeties and arming the nukes in cockpit view drops my framerate by 6-8 FPS (from 28 to 20) by adding four lines of information which is already available at the top left corner in a more easily-read format. Perhaps a line could be added to the config to disable debug text entirely?

Otherwise, no complaints. This ship is great.

 

[atomicdryad]

The telescope controls mess with the normal third-person controls (they should be disabled when in third-person view but aren't.)

Already noticed that and fixed.

The camera sound effect isn't annoying per se, but it brings up an odd point: why do the telescopes function like Polaroids, flicking between lenses instead of adjusting the distance between two of them? Galileo would be appalled. Cool effect, though. :lol:

Because I'm a C++ noob and that was the quickest and simplest way to implement it. The camera system needs alot of cleanup and refinement, thus beta releases etc.

And about the HUD text: is any of it really necessary? Just disarming the safeties and arming the nukes in cockpit view drops my framerate by 6-8 FPS (from 28 to 20) by adding four lines of information which is already available at the top left corner in a more easily-read format. Perhaps a line could be added to the config to disable debug text entirely?

o.o
Wait now, what? I didn't think a simple short array loop would have such a significant impact on framerate.
The log messages are meant for informational purposes, not debug, but I'll shuffle them off to a separate screen, and only display error messages which will fade out. (Like attempts to use the main drive when offline, blatant spacestation destruction, etc, etc).

I really need to correct the framerate issue. Mine is usually at around 320 FPS but I do see it drop by 15 or so with alot of log messages. I'm also noticing a rather large drop when the view is switched to an external camera, so it seems I have a good deal of optimizing to do.

What is your framerate in a similar scenario with no Orion? How much does it speed up when you turn the hud off entirely with ctrl-h?

 

[Izack]

o.o
Wait now, what? I didn't think a simple short array loop would have such a significant impact on framerate.

It's not the function, it's the antialiased text that smarts. Vistaboost would solve all this, but I sort of like those smooth MFDs.

[...]blatant spacestation destruction[...]

Alright, alright, sorry... :rofl:

What is your framerate in a similar scenario with no Orion? How much does it speed up when you turn the hud off entirely with ctrl-h?

Average framerate with nothing on screen, external view, no Orion: 115FPS
Average framerate with stock Deltaglider, no other ships: 32FPS
Average framerate with Orion, nothing else: 28FPS
Average framerate in Orion cockpit, list cleared: 26FPS
" " " " ", list full: 16-19FPS (depending on length of lines)
" " " " ", HUD off: 40FPS
" " " " ", list full with Vistaboost activated: 36FPS So it's definitely not your code eating resources. :thumbup:

 

[Izack]

Texture/mesh problem:

Notice the docking adaptors are solid black except where lit by the docking light. I've been puzzling over how to fix this but can't find a solution.

 

[atomicdryad]

Texture/mesh problem:

Notice the docking adaptors are solid black except where lit by the docking light. I've been puzzling over how to fix this but can't find a solution.

o.o
The towers? Is it consistent?

Thanks for the FPS infos, I hope to have FPS fixed next release

 

[Carmen A]

Wow, a nuclear propelled spaceship. Omg.

 

[atomicdryad]

I've never heard of a realiistic spacecraft that is so utterly insane...not even the space shuttle!

 

[Carmen A]

Its like one of those things you read about in comic books. Amazingly entertaining exiting Earth orbit in this ship

No fps issues on vistaboost. Works great.

I accidentally hit the big red button when thrusting away from the ISS, vaporising the station. It's one of those cat on keyboard moments, except I'm the cat


I think if we have a non-destructive version it can work on multiplayer, which does not support client side vessel deletion (will crash yourself).

 

[atomicdryad]

Let me know if there's a way for a dll ship to detect omp (without linking to a dll) and I'll have it automatically disable destruction (which doesnt delete vessels but might annoy people XD)

 

[Carmen A]

Before we touch on that if we just disable "destructiveness" in the cfg file it should be fine I think.

 

[atomicdryad]

Destructive 0
(case sensitive)
The internal variable is cfg->Destructive, if you wish to add a check

 

[Izack]

o.o
The towers? Is it consistent?

Yup. They go solid black unless lit by the Sun or a spotlight (which is fine if you play on 0 ambient light but a little awkward otherwise.)

 

[Dambuster]

I think 'Sent Items' always remains blank unless you choose to save a copy of the PM you sent.

Just as an off-topic FYI: if you go here, you can check an option to save your sent PMs by default.

 

[Ark]

I found a good way to launch the Orion from Earth without completely wiping WIN off the map:

Use a velcro Nexus first stage to boost it out of the atmosphere and over open ocean, then fire the pulse engine to achieve orbit. WIN may still require some heavy EMP shielding, and the Nexus first stage will probably not be reuseable. :lol:

Don't even ask about abort options...

 

[Izack]

I can't help but hum We'll Meet Again every time I start the engines now, after finding that little tidbit you hid. How very fitting! :lol:

 

[Jason_25]

This is really nice so far, good job. The download was slow for me though.

Looks like Ark beat me to posting a launch design and/or idea. I had the same idea just to fling it up above the ocean where it would not cause as much emp damage. So far I have come up with a semi-economical launcher to put it 250k high with +1500 m/s when the last stage runs out. Of course I could use a Nova design but I wanted to put it up in the most economical way. Maybe I will post pictures and more info soon.

 

[atomicdryad]

Yup. They go solid black unless lit by the Sun or a spotlight (which is fine if you play on 0 ambient light but a little awkward otherwise.)

o.o wtf! that makes no sense..did this start happening in a previous version?

 

[Carmen A]

I was about to velcro something like 24 SRBs to it like youtube showed

 

[atomicdryad]

I found a good way to launch the Orion from Earth without completely wiping WIN off the map:

Use a velcro Nexus first stage to boost it out of the atmosphere and over open ocean, then fire the pulse engine to achieve orbit. WIN may still require some heavy EMP shielding, and the Nexus first stage will probably not be reuseable. :lol:

Don't even ask about abort options...

This is really nice so far, good job. The download was slow for me though.

Looks like Ark beat me to posting a launch design and/or idea. I had the same idea just to fling it up above the ocean where it would not cause as much emp damage. So far I have come up with a semi-economical launcher to put it 250k high with +1500 m/s when the last stage runs out. Of course I could use a Nova design but I wanted to put it up in the most economical way. Maybe I will post pictures and more info soon.

Great ideas guys, but...FAIL!

"Starfish (1.4mt @ 400km alt) disabled, or caused degradation to, up to one-third of all low-earth orbit satellites at the time. Starfish's resulting electromagnetic pulse (or EMP) reached the Earth's surface where it disrupted radio stations, communication circuits and caused outages or malfunctions in electrical systems in and around Hawaii. The effects were similar in fashion to the fictional EMP employed by the characters in the movie Ocean's Eleven that disrupted electricity in Las Vegas and helped them rob a casino. EMPs can also affect heart pacemakers."

High-altitude and in-space nuclear testing

Orion's dry weight is ~300 - ~400 KKG, however. I plan to make the habs / tanks / propulsion units / etc as detachable modules which might just make the max (unfueled) launch 150 KKG, however launching the 4980000kg of bombs needed to fuel the thing will require alot of tedious launches if the launch platform is a normal superheavyweight. Not to mention expensive...

However the dV cost of shipping fuel to orion can be significantly reduced: Uranium Found on the Moon...but generally, uranium seems to be in expensive places - mercury, venus, earth.

ICAN-II's ACMF drive seems to require fuel composed of 90% D-T / 10% Uranium, but there's the problem of getting enough antimatter. Cheap to launch, expensive to produce.

That's why my Orion pilot is from the Northwest Union >.>

 

[Mandella]

Great ideas guys, but...FAIL!

"Starfish (1.4mt @ 400km alt) disabled, or caused degradation to, up to one-third of all low-earth orbit satellites at the time.

So what megatonnage are the shells propelling the Orion? Much less than 1.4mt I hope!

But that does pull up the question of what degree of pulse would be generated by the bursts, and at what altitude the Orion could be safely used.