New Orbiter Beta Released (r.13, Mar 7, 2015)

[orb]

In Orbiter 2010, when you press the letter i, it toggles the Date/Time, MJD, Sim time, and FoV off and on.

{...}

Also in Orbiter 2010, when you press the letter f, it would display frames per second.

{...}

Finally, is there a way to make it so that the F4 tool bar is off by default?

Right click on the toolbar.

It's this way since 2011:

110817
{...}
* New main menu and info box implementation. Both can now be shown,
  hidden, or shown only if mouse is at top of window. Right-click on menu
  for configuration options. Additional "render statistics" info box.
* "I" and "F" keys no longer consumed by orbiter core. The "ToggleInfo"
  and "ToggleFPS" entries in keymap.cfg are deprecated.

 

[TMHLIVE]

It would be great if the MAP MFD and/or the map viewer in Orbiter could generate/show such a "2D heigh map" also
If this is possible, even the coastlines can be generated automaticly by the MFD, but maybe for performance it's better to have the coastlines as picture as it is today.
Or maybe a solution could be to generate such a map once, and to have the possibility to swich between different representations in MAP MFD. But this are just some ideas...

Would there be an API function to get the terrain evaluation heigh for a given latitude / longitude?

having a map that shows both height as well as boundaries, state lines everything due to the amount of detail that the textures now have i think would be a must. real pilots have all this so why not orbiter.

 

[Loru]

In legacy map mode you can display BMP as map texture - you can even draw "there be dragons" on it. Should work also in beta.

 

[Ripley]

...real pilots have all this so why not orbiter.

Maybe because Orbiter is not FSX?!?

Anyway, this sounds like a major issue for you, as you've been posting this same request in more than one thread.
I wish you luck. Maybe one day a developer will create the MFD of your dreams.

 

[orb]

A small note after pulling the beta: Textures directory contains unused, legacy and obsolete Earth_*.dds surface base tiles which were previously used by Canaveral base.


On a side note, SLF is so rough.

 

[TMHLIVE]

Maybe because Orbiter is not FSX?!?

Anyway, this sounds like a major issue for you, as you've been posting this same request in more than one thread.
I wish you luck. Maybe one day a developer will create the MFD of your dreams.

just because orbiter is not FSX or others like it does not mean people can get it right?

with all the focus in 2014 on the new textures and landmasses you would think that this is kinda a big deal. what is the point of flying to the grand canon now that it is there if you cant find the state its in without assigning a beacon to it or something. or hey lets fly to see Niagara wait I have no idea if i am in new york state or what ever. Im not trying to be a pain but I think that these things are important to who ever is using orbiter as a WHOLE SIM experience.

I would hate to have to dump one sim to go to another just cause I want to have actual flight instruments available. why can't we just do it get it right the first time. I would much rather be able to fly both on earth accurately as well as leave the planet as orbiter is so perfect for doing it. anyways Im done with the whole convo.

your right...maybe someone will come around to doing for me as well as others.

 

[Topper]

In my mind, political border lines should not be in the base package of MAP MFD, because from which year you want to use the borders? In 1969 you need different borders as today.
But hoever, you are free to create BMP files for MAP MFD which includes borders.
To navigate to your favorite sightseeing you can use VOR's as well or just use coordinates for navigation. (Or even [ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=5831"]WaypointMFD [/ame]if you would like to create a route before, but it's not tested in the new beta!)

The background of my post was more to have the terrain data available in the API. If you want to create an autopilot addon, you need to check the estimated flightpath in advance to not crash into a mountain or so.

And a demonstration of this can be realized using MAP MFD to show the heigh data (in the style of the image posted by Phoenix).

But I don't know if this is a good idea because performance issues.
Hoever, it would be great to have the data accessible using the API for each point you want to have it for on the surface, for example:
"double oapiGetTerrainHeigh(GBODY body, double longitude, double latitude);",
and not only for the position where a VESSEL is at the moment (I know there was a little discussion regarding VESSEL->GetAltitude() if this should return "radar" or "barometric" altitude).

It would be possible to use such a function also for example for Orbit MFD, to draw the terrain instead of the circle to represent the altitude of the planets terrain for a given inclination.

 

[TMHLIVE]

In my mind, political border lines should not be in the base package of MAP MFD, because from which year you want to use the borders? In 1969 you need different borders as today.

But hoever, you are free to create BMP files for MAP MFD which includes borders.

To navigate to your favorite sightseeing you can use VOR's as well or just use coordinates for navigation. (Or even WaypointMFD if you would like to create a route before)

The background of my post was more to have the data available in the API. If you want to create an AP addon, you need to check the estimated flightpath in advance to not crash into a mountain or so.

And a demonstration of this can be realized using MAP MFD to show the heigh data.

But I don't know if this is a good idea because performance issues.
Hoever, it would be great to have the data accessible using the API for each point you want on the surface, for example:
"oapiGetAltitude(GBODY body, double longitude, doublle latitude);",
and not only for the position where a VESSEL is at the moment (I know there was a little discussion regarding VESSEL->GerAltitude() if this should return "radar" or "barometric" altitude).

You could use such a function also for example for Orbit MFD, to draw the terrain instead the circle to represent the planets surface for a given inclination.

I agree with it not being part of the base orbiter pkg for sure cause you make a very good point. things change. But a updated vector file or something would be great for people who do want to go touring around without having to leave orbiter for something else. is there a template or something i can pump into photoshop so I can keep the lat and long right?

 

[kuddel]

A few points to take into consideration:

• ...
• In particular, external graphics clients will not yet be compatible with this beta. However, the D3D7 reference implementation on the "orbitervis" sourceforge project has been updated and can be used as a template by graphics client developers to implement the new features.
• ...

Happy beta-testing!

Hi Martin,
am I looking at the wrong repository[1], or did this not yet made it "into the wild"?

Hopefully I will be able to do something for the D3D9Client (the core DirectX code was from jarmonik, you know...)

/Kuddel

[1] http://orbitervis.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/orbitervis/orbitervis/D3D7Client/

 

[martins]

The OVP sourceforge site is here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/orbitervis/

The SVN repo is found under "Code":
http://sourceforge.net/p/orbitervis/code/HEAD/tree/

 

[blixel]

A small note after pulling the beta: Textures directory contains unused, legacy and obsolete Earth_*.dds surface base tiles which were previously used by Canaveral base.

Is it just one or two files? Or many?

If it's many, can you make a simple .BAT file that I can drop into my %ORBITER% directory that will delete the unused files?

 

[orb]

Is it just one or two files? Or many?

Earth_3_W0917_N0320.dds
Earth_3_W0917_N0323.dds
Earth_3_W0917_N0324.dds
Earth_3_W0917_N0325.dds
Earth_3_W0918_N0320.dds
Earth_3_W0918_N0321.dds
Earth_3_W0918_N0322.dds
Earth_3_W0918_N0323.dds
Earth_3_W0918_N0324.dds
Earth_3_W0918_N0326.dds
Earth_3_W0919_N0320.dds
Earth_3_W0919_N0321.dds
Earth_3_W0919_N0322.dds
Earth_3_W0919_N0323.dds
Earth_3_W0919_N0324.dds
Earth_3_W0919_N0326.dds
Earth_3_W0919_N0327.dds
Earth_3_W0920_N0320.dds
Earth_3_W0920_N0321.dds
Earth_3_W0920_N0322.dds
Earth_3_W0920_N0323.dds
Earth_3_W0920_N0324.dds
Earth_3_W0920_N0325.dds
Earth_3_W0920_N0326.dds
Earth_3_W0920_N0327.dds
Earth_4_W1835_N0650.dds
Earth_4_W1835_N0651.dds
Earth_4_W1836_N0650.dds
Earth_4_W1836_N0651.dds
Earth_4_W1837_N0650.dds
Earth_4_W1837_N0651.dds
Earth_4_W1838_N0650.dds
Earth_4_W1838_N0651.dds

This from Orbiter's directory should delete them (at least until next "svn up"):

del Textures\Earth_*.dds

I just left them where they are, but instead I didn't create symbolic links to them in my running copy of Orbiter (symbolic links to each file in the svn working copy, except for files being modified during runtime, compilation, or being replaced by add-ons).

 

[Phoenix]

It would be great if the MAP MFD and/or the map viewer in Orbiter could generate/show such a "2D heigh map" also
If this is possible, even the coastlines can be generated automaticly by the MFD, but maybe for performance it's better to have the coastlines as picture as it is today.
Or maybe a solution could be to generate such a map once, and to have the possibility to swich between different representations in MAP MFD. But this are just some ideas...

Would there be an API function to get the terrain evaluation heigh for a given latitude / longitude?

It wouldn't surprise me if the MapMFD was already going to be updated to include elevations. Such a MFD would probably read the ".elv" files to generate the images, and probably have some shading added to add a relief effect like the CSHADE maps found here: http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/data/LRO-L-LROC-5-RDR-V1.0/LROLRC_2001/DATA/SDP/WAC_CSHADE/

---------- Post added at 10:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:43 AM ----------

Hi Martin,
am I looking at the wrong repository[1], or did this not yet made it "into the wild"?

Hopefully I will be able to do something for the D3D9Client (the core DirectX code was from jarmonik, you know...)

/Kuddel

[1] http://orbitervis.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/orbitervis/orbitervis/D3D7Client/

I hope you will be able to update the D3D9Client for use with terrain.

I have a question: Are you going to use a full-spectrum normal map - one that utilises the full-sphere capacity of RGB normals - for rendering planets and do away with vertex normals? The rendering quality will certainly be much better, as it will depend less on mesh density - the proper shading of mountains will occur at much greater camera distances - and it might be more efficient too, as the planet vertex format will be smaller, and you won't have to calculate vertex normals each time a terrain patch is created.

 

[Topper]

Regarding terrain maps:

I remember the old DOS game Comanche 3 had a good terrain map MFD mode.
You can see in this video ~ at 1:00:

In this MFD mode, terrain which is higher as the current flight level is displayed in red, and terrain lower as the flight level green, terrain with same altitude as flight level yellow.
Such a MFD mode for Orbiter would be great!

 

[Urwumpe]

Such a MFD mode for Orbiter would be great!

Want to join forces on making a [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARINC_661]ARINC 661[/ame] inspired MFD framework? This standard includes a map widget, with exactly this kind of display being defined there - this kind of map display is typical of GCAS displays in glass cockpit aircraft.

I think it is a nice kind of standard to base MFDs on, especially since it is very MVVC-like and thus pretty close to recent software development standards (only annoying is the lack of a scripting language in the DF files, everything has to be done in the view controller software, even the small stuff).

I already started researching there based on an older version of the standard, since I started looking at making a new version of Sensor MFD.

 

[Topper]

I always get a CTD when I try to open the Radio/mp3 panel MFD mode. I only have the Orbiter sound module active.
But there seems to be nothing special in the logs...

**** Orbiter.log
Build Apr 16 2014 [v.140416]
Timer precision: 3.18525e-007 sec
Found 3 joystick(s)
Devices enumerated: 6
Devices accepted: 5
[ ] RGB Emulation (SW)
[ ] Direct3D HAL (HW)
[x] Direct3D T&L HAL (HW)
[ ] Direct3D HAL (ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series) (HW)
[x] Direct3D T&L HAL (ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series) (HW)
Module AtlantisConfig.dll .... [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module AtmConfig.dll ......... [Build 140412, API 140412]
Module DGConfigurator.dll .... [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module OrbiterSound.dll ...... [Build 121120, API 100830]

**** Creating simulation session
DirectDraw interface OK
Direct3D interface OK
Graphics: Viewport: Window 1914 x 1052 x 32
Graphics: Hardware T&L capability: Yes
Graphics: Z-buffer depth: 32 bit
Graphics: Active lights supported: 8
Loading 15382 records from star database
---------------------------------------------------------------
>>> ERROR: DDraw error DDERR_BLTFASTCANTCLIP
>>> [OrbiterGraphics::clbkBlt | .\OGraphics.cpp | 1556]
---------------------------------------------------------------
Module Sun.dll ............... [Build 140410, API 140412]
VSOP87(E) Sun: Precision 1e-006, Terms 554/6634
Module Mercury.dll ........... [Build 140410, API 140412]
VSOP87(B) Mercury: Precision 1e-005, Terms 167/7123
Module Venus.dll ............. [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module VenusAtm2006.dll ...... [Build 140412, API 140412]
VSOP87(B) Venus: Precision 1e-005, Terms 79/1710
Module Earth.dll ............. [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module EarthAtmJ71G.dll ...... [Build 140412, API 140412]
VSOP87(B) Earth: Precision 1e-008, Terms 2564/2564
Module Moon.dll .............. [Build 140410, API 140412]
ELP82: Precision 1e-005, Terms 116/829
Module Mars.dll .............. [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module MarsAtm2006.dll ....... [Build 140412, API 140412]
VSOP87(B) Mars: Precision 1e-005, Terms 405/6400
Module Phobos.dll ............ [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Deimos.dll ............ [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Galsat.dll ............ [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module Jupiter.dll ........... [Build 140410, API 140412]
VSOP87(B) Jupiter: Precision 1e-006, Terms 1624/3625
Module Io.dll ................ [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module Europa.dll ............ [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module Ganymede.dll .......... [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module Callisto.dll .......... [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module Satsat.dll ............ [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module Saturn.dll ............ [Build 140410, API 140412]
VSOP87(B) Saturn: Precision 1e-006, Terms 2904/6365
Module Mimas.dll ............. [Build 140410, API 140412]
SATSAT Mimas: Terms 113
Module Enceladus.dll ......... [Build 140410, API 140412]
SATSAT Enceladus: Terms 33
Module Tethys.dll ............ [Build 140410, API 140412]
SATSAT Tethys: Terms 101
Module Dione.dll ............. [Build 140410, API 140412]
SATSAT Dione: Terms 59
Module Rhea.dll .............. [Build 140410, API 140412]
SATSAT Rhea: Terms 68
Module Titan.dll ............. [Build 140410, API 140412]
SATSAT Titan: Terms 100
Module Iapetus.dll ........... [Build 140410, API 140412]
SATSAT Iapetus: Terms 605
Module Uranus.dll ............ [Build 140410, API 140412]
VSOP87(B) Uranus: Precision 1e-006, Terms 1827/5269
Module Miranda.dll ........... [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Ariel.dll ............. [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Umbriel.dll ........... [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Titania.dll ........... [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Oberon.dll ............ [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Neptune.dll ........... [Build 140410, API 140412]
VSOP87(B) Neptune: Precision 1e-006, Terms 391/2024
Finished initialising world
Module ShuttlePB.dll ......... [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module DeltaGlider.dll ....... [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module LuaInline.dll ......... [Build 140410, API 140412]
Module ShuttleA.dll .......... [Build 140410, API 140412]
Finished initialising status
Finished initialising camera
Finished setting up render state
Finished initialising panels
---------------------------------------------------------------
>>> WARNING: Obsolete API function used: VESSEL::GetHorizonAirspeedVector
At least one active module is accessing an obsolete interface function.
Addons which rely on obsolete functions may not be compatible with
future versions of Orbiter.
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
>>> WARNING: Obsolete API function used: VESSEL::GetShipAirspeedVector
At least one active module is accessing an obsolete interface function.
Addons which rely on obsolete functions may not be compatible with
future versions of Orbiter.
---------------------------------------------------------------

********************************************************
OrbiterSound 4.0 (3D) Build Nov 20 2012 01:00
********************************************************

Orbiter version: 140416
Error CoInitialize
Advanced OrbiterSound settings: (Edit: 'Sound/cfg/Editable_Advanced_Configuration.cfg')
-------------------------------
Primary buffer            22050hz 16bits  (default 22050/16)
DopplerFactor            1.00        (default 1.00)
VaccumAttenuationFactor        1.00        (default 1.00)
SoundDistanceFactor        1.00        (default 1.00)
MaxSoundProcessPerSecond    60        (default 60)
MaxAnimCheckPerFrame        10        (default 10)
PlayWhenOrbiterInBackground    false        (default false)
WriteInLogAllLoadedSound    false        (default false)
-------------------------------

Orbiter directory:  C:\Orbiter\Orbiter Beta 2013\orbiter\
Listing planets winds and bases sounds:
  6 planet wind sound found
  4 bases sound found
Passed initModule - Ok
Passed ExitModule - Ok

P.S.

Is this the right thread to post bugs in the beta?
Or do I have to write the build version into the description field and use the option "Revision denoted in description field"?

 

[Ripley]

Maybe at this point in time, it's better to ask/post over at Dansteph's forum.

 

[Topper]

Olympus Mons Bug

Another bug report...

As soon as I activate the hover engines of the GL-02 which is landed in the crater of Olympus Mons just a very little (just so little that the ship will not takeoff), the ship will fall through the terrain (so contact detection is not working here). Landing is even not possible here.
I tested this on different locations at the Moon and there Orbiters contact detection is working correct. Also on some different places on Mars, I can't reproduce the Bug.
Maybe the reason is that Olympus Mons is really very high...
I'm using the high resolution files.

BEGIN_DESC

END_DESC

BEGIN_ENVIRONMENT
  System Sol
  Date MJD 52007.1344865632
  Help CurrentState_img
END_ENVIRONMENT

BEGIN_FOCUS
  Ship GL-02
END_FOCUS

BEGIN_CAMERA
  TARGET GL-02
  MODE Extern
  POS 25.297581 76.606101 -12.379293
  TRACKMODE TargetRelative
  FOV 50.00
END_CAMERA

BEGIN_HUD
  TYPE Surface
END_HUD

BEGIN_MFD Left
  TYPE Launch
  NAV 0
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD Right
  TYPE Map
  REF Mars
  POS 0.00 0.00
END_MFD

BEGIN_SHIPS
GL-02:DeltaGlider
  STATUS Landed Mars
  POS -133.2923730 18.0615130
  HEADING 31.49
  ALT 2.532
  AROT 101.684 -34.025 -52.057
  AFCMODE 7
  PRPLEVEL 0:0.985094 1:0.993020
  NAVFREQ 0 0 0 0
  XPDR 0
  GEAR 1 1.0000
  TRIM 1.000000
  AAP 0:0 0:0 0:0
END
END_SHIPS

---------- Post added at 18:15 ---------- Previous post was at 16:50 ----------

Engine smoke trail will "stay" at a flight level of 0 (Spheric alttitude) I guess.
If I fly lower, the smoke trail is not connected to the vessel anymore

 

[Face]

Engine smoke trail will "stay" at a flight level of 0 (Spheric alttitude) I guess.
If I fly lower, the smoke trail is not connected to the vessel anymore

FWIW, I noticed the same effect while flying through Valles.

 

[Felix24]

I'm having trouble extracting the file Moon_HiRes.7z.002, which I downloaded via torrent. Its md5 sum is correct, but when I try to extract it in 7-Zip, I get an error message saying 7-Zip cannot open it as an archive.

Moon_HiRes.7z.001 also had the correct checksum and extracted fine, and was from the same download.

What am I forgetting to do?