Mars Bases ...

[llarian]

Hi all.

I'm compiling a list of all Mars bases that have been prepared for Orbiter since day one, and pinpointing their locations on Google Earth Pro.

So far I have Olympus, Sheffield (my own, not yet published), Orcus Patera and New Rome.

I will be looking at any in OH that I can find. If you would like to, and I do ask for help here, please post any that you know of (and their coordinates) and perhaps the addon they came from.

I look forward to the list we come up with. In the end I will be posting the .kml file them all.

Thanks in advance for any help forthcoming.

Cheers all.

 

[Marijn]

One of the things I like most in Orbiter 2016 are direct re-entries in the Martian atmosphere and enjoy the hi-res textures and elevation data along the way.

I am planning to do some recording for YouTube to show off the Martian terrain in Orbiter 2016.

The problem I am having is that is that the area around Olympus Base happens to be quite featureless. So often, I launch Google Earth to find a place on Mars which seems more interesting and create a duplicate of Olympus Base with the new coordinates I found.

Since these bases are just copies, I am not intending to release them as an add-on. At the same time, I might confuse my future viewers by landing on a base which doesn't exist in Orbiter or as an add-on.

So I think it would be a good idea to think of some more locations for bases on Mars which offer better sight-seeing opportunities and make these available in OH or perhaps the next version of Orbiter.

Since you seem to care about these bases on Mars, perhaps you have suggestions yourselves for this?

 

[Urwumpe]

Having the locations of Red Mars in a marker list might also be fun... or a Red Mars add-on...

 

[llarian]

Having the locations of Red Mars in a marker list might also be fun... or a Red Mars add-on...

Those I've got. Figured you might have noticed the reference to Sheffield in my posting. I've been flying out of Pavonis Mons for quite a while now.

 

[Urwumpe]

Those I've got. Figured you might have noticed the reference to Sheffield in my posting. I've been flying out of Pavonis Mons for quite a while now.

Sure - I also read New Rome and think I saw it there. But there had been a lot more around mentioned in the books.


A space elevator in Sheffield would be a nice addition though.

 

[dgatsoulis]

The World of 2001 addon has two bases on Mars.

Korolevgrad 81.669°W 13.237°S (Texture color changed)

Port Lowell 101.557°W 4.773°N (Texture needs fixing)

 

[4throck]

Better remove the ground mesh (or mesh group) totally and just use 2016 terrain.

Other bases I use are:
- Marineris Base
- Marineris Drill site
- MarsOne

Some work better than others but in general they are usable on 2016.

 

[llarian]

Sure - I also read New Rome and think I saw it there. But there had been a lot more around mentioned in the books.


A space elevator in Sheffield would be a nice addition though.

In the early days of my development of Sheffield, I used Kulch's Space Elevator addon, just moved it to Mars. Looked and worked fantastic then. However much of his work was broken by Orbiter 2016. I think he provided his source files, so if someone wants to take a stab at updating his stuff, I think it would be very much appreciated. I don't have enough coding experience and lately I've been very involved with my Irish language coursed at UDC.

Dgatsoulis New Rome addon is a great bit of eye candy in the Tithoniae complex of the Valles Marineris complex. Would be even better if DanSteph would update his UMMO or for OMMO to get finished. Patience is.

---------- Post added at 11:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 AM ----------

Thanks for the imput so far gentlemen.

Just a thought to dgatsoulis comment about discarding terrain meshes for 2016, if you flatten a large enough area around the base will the terrain meshes still be usable? I tried this method with OrcusPatera with mixed results.

 

[Urwumpe]

In the early days of my development of Sheffield, I used Kulch's Space Elevator addon, just moved it to Mars. Looked and worked fantastic then. However much of his work was broken by Orbiter 2016. I think he provided his source files, so if someone wants to take a stab at updating his stuff, I think it would be very much appreciated. I don't have enough coding experience and lately I've been very involved with my Irish language coursed at UDC.

Reminds me that I still wanted to learn scottish Gaelic one day. :lol:


I can't do much graphics heavy right now until I have replaced my broken notebook.



Would somebody make graphics then, I could code the elevator and Phobos station at its end. But right now, I lack some hardware. And it makes no sense to just replace the GPU of a 7 year old notebook...

 

[llarian]

Reminds me that I still wanted to learn scottish Gaelic one day. :lol:

Sorry for delving off topic:

Urwumpe, just like I wanted to work on my bit of German for a six week trip to Kiel in '91. Found that if I at least tried, the effort was appreciated. The world was sane the week I went over there. Then Bush I started bombing Iraq. They pulled all of the Americans with us back home and left two Canadians and a bunch of Europeans (Norway, Greece, France, et al) together for the balance of the six weeks. What a party!

Lots of demonstrations, though. I think the Europeans had it pegged right: "Keine blut fur oel!". And I learned a whole new appreciation for the sub-accenting that can go along with "Auslander".

As for the Irish. It is my ancestral language. Useful for passwords too and for pissing off the constabulary.

Back on topic. I'm pretty sure that Yuri Kulchitsky's meshes will still work, if even as static eye candy. The dlls need updating. Sure wish he was back in the fold. He did good work.

 

[4throck]

Indeed, with D3D9 self shadows even untextured meshes will look OK.
If you add some lights and beacons (code only), that would make it look great at night.

So no need for new meshes I think.

 

[llarian]

Okay, here is a first pass of detailing what Mars bases I know of. I have included all Orbiter Mars bases that have been suggested by other members thank you all very much. There is one notable exception so far and that is the bases detailed in the DRM addon (about 20 bases). I have also included the Ares bases from "The Martian" and the Mars locations from Robinson's Mars Trilogy. Any errors are mine and mine alone. If you have corrections and additions they will be gratefully accepted.

Please note that the Mars Trilogy locations are placed as well as I can estimate. Robinson did not provide good areographical coordinates for them or good terrain descriptions, but that's fiction for you, isn't it?

You can download my preliminary copy at

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vczp4ye8dof08xg/Mars%20Bases.kmz?dl=0

Edit: I have updated that file. It now has all of the Mars bases I have been able to find and I have fixed the "flying" between locations.

 

[dgatsoulis]

Back on topic. I'm pretty sure that Yuri Kulchitsky's meshes will still work, if even as static eye candy. The dlls need updating. Sure wish he was back in the fold. He did good work.

Actually it works ok in Orbiter2016. You just need to install the Space Research Centers over the Space Elevator.

Even on Mars

Shuttles, animations and custom HUD show up and work fine. The only problem is with the cargo jettison. The jettisoned DGs spawn a few km away from the shuttle.

Sure the meshes, textures and code could use an update, but for a 15 year old addon, it is amazing to see that it works at all.

Kulch did good work indeed!

 

[llarian]

Thanks Dimitri. All I wanted was the eye candy. Forgot about the Space Research Centres. Thanks.