XR2 Public Release Candidate Testing

[James.Denholm]

Doug may inadvertently discovered a new type of torture. Too bad it only works on orbiteers.:rofl:

Yep, it sure puts time travel in it's place...

 

[TSPenguin]

Doug may inadvertently discovered a new type of torture. Too bad it only works on orbiteers.:rofl:

But since Orbiter is addicting on it's own, you just have to inject the subject a little bit of orbiter and let it sit there for a few hours. After that the subject will tell you anything you want for a new XR2 screeny :speakcool:

 

[RisingFury]

Can someone tell me what the XR2 is for?

Flying around in a cool looking ship and attracting hot chicks.

Wanna ride babe?

 

[Woo482]

why wont the T key work ??? !!!!

 

[TSPenguin]

Finaly I have something to contribute to the perfection of this ship.
It seems that (again) I am the only one to use the playback function, and there are some bugs that, luckily, should be fixable before release. Be aware, some may not.

• Trim is not recorded at all
• Lights are not recorded at all
• Timers are not recorded at all
• Interlocks are not recorded at all
• The whole fuel subsystem is not recorded at all. Including cross feed, dump, refueling lines, refuel etc. etc. see below
• Baydoors recorded. No effect
• Chamber pressure recorded. No effect

In case of opening doors after interlocks have been used the appropiate error messages appear. This is also true for the chamber pressure.

In case of recording opening baydoors and changing payloads, in the playback the inventory is changed, however grappleable payloads are not displayed in the grapple screen. (Screen off by design when doors closed?).

There seems something wrong with the fuel load when quicksaving and starting a recording (which is basicaly the same thing), leading to unexpected results. This includes, but is not limited to,
empty main tank not beeing saved at all ("PRPLEVEL 1:0.948" instead of "PRPLEVEL 0:0 1:0.948") resulting in RCS tank value not beeing red correctly and giving me an empty tank. (Not reading the RCS tank value in this case is probably a problem of orbiters scenario parser).
Also I had a case where my tank was full rather than beeing (partialy) empty.
I will investigate this further.

The lower panel can not be scrolled verticaly. This is bad if you run orbiter below a vertical resolution of 606 pixels, as you are unable to control the turbopacks. If you can't make it scrollable I suggest moving the turbopack control a few pixels up. Although 800x600 is not exactly a "supported" resolution, it would be nice to make the ship usable with it. Especialy since a lot existing beamers only accept 800x600 and some laptops require it to output a TV signal. (Some require 640x480, but friendship ends at some point)
rant: yes, 606 pixels is accurate. no, don't ask. I said DON'T!

Conclusion:
In terms of playback, the interlocks and chamber pressure are vital functions as they actualy could change the outcome of the playback in terms of ship status.
For recording whole missions at least the O2 managemant will have to be included as it is likely that this is replenished at some base. Not including it would mean having a "dead ship" in the middle of the playback performing all sorts of very lively maneuvers. This wouldn't be so bad if the MFDs still worked, as one could at least gather data about the flight that way.
The rest of the fuel system has to include at least the dump, as having a heavier ship would most likely cause gear collapse at the very least.
Most of it really is just cosmetics and (to my surprise) usaly no one notices. Also I suspect this ship will be recorded more than others, even if it is just for the purpose of video making, as it is probably the most beautifull ship so far in orbiter history.
The only real bug that will affect day to day life is the fuel saving bug.
This is a major thing that might require hardcore code diving. At least if I can replicate it. Which I will focus my attention on after a good meal and some eye rest.


-----Posted Added-----

why wont the T key work ??? !!!!

Because only the t key works. Pressing shift and holding the t key results in T. Using caps lock, however, is fine.

 

[Woo482]

whats the take of speed of the XR2 ?

 

[orwellkid]

whats the take of speed of the XR2 ?

I'm going to assume here that you are talking about the rotation speed, which varies depending on weight, etc. However, you can expect between 140~160m/s.

 

[Pilot7893]

NGAH!!!!!!
I WANT IT!!:compbash2:
COME ON STUPID TIME!! BE THE FIRST WEEK OF OCTOBER ALREADY!!

 

[Woo482]

ok thanks orwellkid

 

[TSPenguin]

Don't forget that time is relative. You just need to go fast enough... or gain a lot of weight.

 

[Woo482]

hey I will give you £1 if you give me your beta

 

[dbeachy1]

Finaly I have something to contribute to the perfection of this ship.
It seems that (again) I am the only one to use the playback function, and there are some bugs that, luckily, should be fixable before release. Be aware, some may not.
...snip...

Ouch! I forgot all about the playback function since I never use it. Going through all that in detail and getting test builds to the XR2 beta team will take a fair amount of time, so I don't want to hold 1.0 for a few more weeks while I test and fix those issues. What I will do for 1.0 is add a release note stating that some record/playback events do not work correctly, and that it will be fixed in the 1.1 release.

There seems something wrong with the fuel load when quicksaving and starting a recording (which is basicaly the same thing), leading to unexpected results. This includes, but is not limited to,
empty main tank not beeing saved at all ("PRPLEVEL 1:0.948" instead of "PRPLEVEL 0:0 1:0.948") resulting in RCS tank value not beeing red correctly and giving me an empty tank. (Not reading the RCS tank value in this case is probably a problem of orbiters scenario parser).

Regarding this:

"PRPLEVEL 1:0.948" instead of "PRPLEVEL 0:0 1:0.948"

That is actually the same thing: the Orbiter core handles saving/loading of all propellant values, and it never writes out "0:0" for an empty tank. Only tanks that have propellant in them are recorded.

Also I had a case where my tank was full rather than beeing (partialy) empty.
I will investigate this further.

Did you have any bay tanks attached at the time or did you add one to the scenario manually after it was saved? If any bay tanks exist and contain fuel, that fuel is immediately drained into the main tank on startup or during flight. So you will never have a case of a partially empty main tank but still having fuel in one or more bay tanks. If you are seeing something different and can reproduce it, please post or email a scenario and I'll take a look here once I get back on the 27th.

Conclusion:
In terms of playback, the interlocks and chamber pressure are vital functions as they actualy could change the outcome of the playback in terms of ship status. ...

I agree; however, given that fixing/implementing/testing all the playback events will take a fair amount of work, and given that recording and playback is a non-critical feature, I will defer that to the 1.1 release. It should be ready a few weeks after 1.0. I'll be sending out 1.1 beta builds to the XR2 beta team, so guys, don't go anywhere just because 1.0 ships!

The only real bug that will affect day to day life is the fuel saving bug.
This is a major thing that might require hardcore code diving. At least if I can replicate it. Which I will focus my attention on after a good meal and some eye rest.

Saving/loading fuel tank levels is all handled by the Orbiter core, but in any case, if you can reproduce the issue I will take a look here when I get back on the 27th.

 

[Woo482]

does the crew habitat module effect the amount of passengers you can hold ?

 

[TSPenguin]

It does not.
But keep in mind that it holds everything humans need to be comfortable. Like a toilet, food etc.
Without it, any more than quick hop out of the athmosphere will be 'messy'

 

[Woo482]

but my slaves who are makeing the landing gears dont need a toilet when they are going from the earth to Pluto

 

[James.Denholm]

Damn, damn, damn. I am hopeless. Why do all my ideas have to pop into my head to late? Anyway. Perhaps for release 2. But I digress, on with the idea.

Firstly, can fuel be "drained" back into any fuel pods, or perhaps have the automagic main tank filling be disabled? I ask, because that's probably the only way that people will be able to transfer fuel between two landed XR2s. Yes, I know, you can fill the vessel anyways when it's landed, but, hey, it's my idea.

Secondly, and perhaps more implementationable, given the lack of warning I gave you two, but has any consideration been given to the idea of having the XR2's fuel pods UMMU grapable? Unless, of course, they are the size of the QE II.

 

[yagni01]

Every time I walk around this bad girl, I'm continually amazed at level of detail you continue to put into her Steve. Masterful work.

Picking at nits, I think the aft nav light is too far back.

Returning to previous versions, I think the roll response may be tweaked a little high now, she feels a bit twitchy. Anyone else feel the same?

 

[dbeachy1]

Firstly, can fuel be "drained" back into any fuel pods, or perhaps have the automagic main tank filling be disabled? I ask, because that's probably the only way that people will be able to transfer fuel between two landed XR2s. Yes, I know, you can fill the vessel anyways when it's landed, but, hey, it's my idea.

No, there is no way to transfer fuel from the main tank back to the bay tanks: fuel only drains one way (bay -> main).

Secondly, and perhaps more implementationable, given the lack of warning I gave you two, but has any consideration been given to the idea of having the XR2's fuel pods UMMU grapable? Unless, of course, they are the size of the QE II.

The tanks are pretty heavy when full (~3300 kg), so it probably wouldn't be practical to move one with an astronaut. However, it would be easy to add a UMMu attachment point to the payload tanks' config files, so I'll play around with that when I get back home on the 27th.

I'll also take a close look at the roll response and see if it needs any more tweaking.

 

[James.Denholm]

No, there is no way to transfer fuel from the main tank back to the bay tanks: fuel only drains one way (bay -> main).

Ah. Still, is there any way to shut of automatic drain, or have I read something wrong somewhere?

The tanks are pretty heavy when full (~3300 kg), so it probably wouldn't be practical to move one with an astronaut. However, it would be easy to add a UMMu attachment point to the payload tanks' config files, so I'll play around with that when I get back home on the 27th.

In space, no-one can care about you whining about how heavy stuff is...

Seriously, you know just as well as I do that heavy things don't weigh much in LEO, Doug!

 

[TSPenguin]

In space, no-one can care about you whining about how heavy stuff is...

Seriously, you know just as well as I do that heavy things don't weigh much in LEO, Doug!

But things still have their mass. So you will still need a fair amount of force to accelerate such objects.

3.3 tons should be roughly your average mercedes. Try moving that around. In an enviroment where you will have to do everything twice! Accelerate and deaccelerate. Sure it can be done, but then again there are people swallowing swords right now...