Some ideas for DGIV

[Snuffkin]

Some ideas for DGIV;

- Indicator for Nosecone open/closed state
- Virtual cockpit.
- Retractable wings. This would be something like, wings that fold into the ship so they're out of the way when
they're not being used.

[felixar90]

if there is a virtual cockpit, we don't need of a nose state indicator because we see it...

excuse my bad english

[andyman]

How about barberpole gear and airlock indicators? Not essential, but Most aircraft nowdays have a mechanical
indicator to show the position of the gear. Of course, since you are completely screwed without power in that craft
anyways... maybe it wouldn't matter. Ehh, I dunno.

[felixar90]

you can see the gear state on the new orbiter hud, the tree small box

[Simonpro]

Snuffkin wrote:
- Retractable wings. This would be something like, wings that fold into the ship so they're out of the way when
they're not being used.

This would be very difficult to achieve on a spacecraft that must withstand reentry. The joints on the wing woul dhave
to be incredibly strong. Mind you, in 30 years time (or whatever it is) when the DG is supposed to be created it might
just be a little more possible

[DanSteph]

Simonpro wrote:
This would be very difficult to achieve on a spacecraft that must withstand reentry. The joints on the wing woul dhave
to be incredibly strong. Mind you, in 30 years time (or whatever it is) when the DG is supposed to be created it might
just be a little more possible

Well there is already two engine, power , computer and many things in 2m2
I don't think the wings would fit

Anyway the DGIV will be twice or three time the DGIII's size
far more possibilites and animations.

Dan

[Snuffkin]

Bleh, I still think retractable wings would be cool.. And like said, it's far in the future. Nobody been there to say it isn't
possible.

Ooh, ooh. How about self-destruct? Little practical implications, but nonetheless cool. It could be integrated with a
settable mission timer.. I've seen a mission timer on some ship recently.. can't remember which, but the main panel
was tinted red.

[BlackOmega]

I just hope that the DGIV's "low fuel alarm" fuel level is configurable. I find it VERY annoying how that alarm goes off
when absolutely nothing is wrong...

[freespace2dotcom]

I do agree that the RCS fuel alert goes off somwhat too early with the DG3.

instead of having the thing go off at 100kg, maybe you should use 50 kg? That's still a heck of a lot for the RCS
thrusters unless you're a manuevering madman.

[Wilko]

Sorry to be the one to start this up... but malfunctions. Not necessarily with visual cues, but maybe flight computer
cues, distortions in the power supply, something like that. Maybe someone else can expand on this?

I would love for all the visual displays to be integrated into 4 separate video monitors. Two would be the MFD's we
are accustomed to, the other two would be specific to the DGIV. I hereby coin the term FOSCAS (Flight Operating
System/Crew Alert System). In simple terms, a flight computer. It would have the functions the current flight computer
has (plus whatever Dan wants to add), but would combine the displays already implemented in the DGIII cockpit (two
monitors, one would be a backup if the other failed). So, selectable with buttons, the display could show:

Flight computer functions
Door status
Crew status
Oxygen/Nitrogen levels
Life support parameters
Fuel levels
Distribution of electricity (showing amperage use of each system currently on)
Antenna/Radiator status (visual cues to see where/how it is positioned, 2D side on, that sounds tricky though)
Current thrust (main engines, perhaps individual RCS
Angular velocity (currently seen at top of panel structure)
Consumables level (now I'm just dreaming)
(Anything else I can't currently think of)

This way, all the information about the craft can be found on a custom MFD window (but not actually a MFD, it would
have to be hard coded into the DGIV). Ideally the 3rd window should be between the current two MFD's. The
switches for controlling the functions of the craft can now all be moved into one cluster, separated by their individual
functions. Crew EVA display might have to be left alone. This should leave enough space for main and hover thrusters
to be shown in the bottom section of the whole panel. I think the autopilot and mini-hud functions are best left alone,
they are perfect where they are in quick reach. The backup FOSCAS screen could be placed anywhere.

Theres my ramblings. Wonder if anyone listened.

[Snuffkin]

Er, are you basically saying there are too many displays in the DGIII and they should be compiled into one?
I don't have a big problem with the large amount of screens, the only thing I think needs changing there is that when all power is off, -all- screens should be off (e.g. checklist).

Ooh, ooh. How about making the screens flicker occasionally under certain damage criteria?



Post Edited ( 02-01-05 13:15 )

[Travis Reed]

Snuffkin wrote:
It could be integrated with a
settable mission timer.. I've seen a mission timer on some ship recently.. can't remember which, but the main panel
was tinted red.

I think you are thinking of the Dragonfly..

[Snuffkin]

Yeah, that's it.

[Wilko]

Well, I don't mind either way to be honest, I just think it would be pretty cool to have the displays be video and on
the one screen rather than in all different spots. My father is a flight instructor at QANTAS for the 747-400, so I've
grown accustomed to the 'glass cockpit' type setup. Would be nice to see it replicated in the DGIV. And of course, it
would be pretty unique to Orbiter itself.

[Prandini]

More ideas:

- Randomic Failure: something realistic (very rare) that makes the pilots skill necessary. We talk about it during the
  DGIII release(Left engine failure, systens bug, right Rcs not working,...)
- Bay Door: So we can put small sattelites in orbit
- Another hatch: So we can perform EVA while docked (maybe using the canopy??)
- Reduction of the Z-Buffer while in EVA suit: To the images resolution comes closer (Should talk to Martins I guess)
- Some real function for the Antenna: download of a program during a system crash(random crash accident)
- Reentry and Ascent buttons working: We must input the code thats something primitive and boring
- Hover Buttom: Would be great to have this one. Forget about P200S8, the P200S7 do the same work

The 1ª, 3ª and 5ª ideas are the best ones...

All I can do to help is to give the ideas, wish I know how to help more.

hugs all

[andyman]

How about being able to tell the idiotic sods in the cabin to put on pressure suits, and being able to depressurize the
cabin, for canopy EVAs? And definitely, failures would be nifty.

[DocHoliday]

Good ideas guys, keep the thread running. But try to run it as a brainstorm session.. no criticism and similar..

We contribute ideas and Dan will decide what to implement when he decides to work on the new DG, perhaps based
on how many of us support a particular idea

I second the failures, the configuration of warnings, self-destruct.. and if sensible additional indication light, kind of
like the new stock DG has..

My suggestion:
It would be great if the astronauts once they enter the cabin REMAIN vessels (only without the suit and O2
restrictions), so you could switch to them..
- They might possibly have their roles, as mission specialists - you have the pilot already, someone could be in charge
or radar, and another could be in charge of say... electrical systems? propulsion, consumables?
- Imagine the implications if multiplayer is ever fully implemented and you might also have the possibly to interact
with them,
- Most importantly, you could have a "passenger" perspective of the flight.

Cheers,
Janez

[andyman]

Would it be possible to have red and green navlights on the bird, like it would need to be night-legal in the US? And
also, maybe a consumable fuel for the APU, with the ability to run the main systems off of battery power, like you can
run them off external power? And, perhaps lastly, Electric powered wheels, so we don't have to use up fuel taxiing to
the runway from the tarmac?

[Atom]

I just had a nice idea, but it's probably really hard to implement, but here it goes.

You can select different crew members and each one will have a different part of the panel or a different panel, and in
virtual cockpit, each crew member has a different veiw of the cockpit. This would work better with a bigger vessel, but
seeing as Dan has said the DGIV would be alot bigger than the DGIII, it would make sense.

I realise this is a hell of alot of work. It's just a suggestion.

[DumaUK]

-(Jetisonnable?) Conformal fuel tanks ( lightweight extra fuel tanks mounted to the side of the fuselage - see
http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/rafale/rafale9.html ).

       (Building on Prandini's suggestion of random failures, you could require that the fuel tanks are jetissoned before
re-entry, and have a random failure where one or both tanks fail to seperate, requiring a more precise re-entry to
ensure the tanks don't overheat)

[Atom]

precise re-entry to ensure the tanks don't overheat

Surely you would be on the main tanks by then and the jetisonable tanks would be empty?

[freespace2dotcom]

I'm still looking for my blasted brakes button on the panel.

I'd love one of those virtual cockpits...

those extra buttons we asked for on the calculator wouldn't hurt either....

I also think that a scramjet wouldn't be a bad idea..... I mean, come on, you already have the intake thingy!

And what do you think of adding a maximum ampage output to the DG's generators? say, about 45 amps? (maybe
less?) that way, you can have more fun with playing around with the electrical systems.

Aside from that, I'd like to mention to dan about the internal air pressure monitoring system on the DG3. You know
that the chart and readings are measured in PSI, which, in a darn-near otherwise completely metric environment,
looks kinda funny. I'm the last person to nitpick on this sort of thing, as I still don't understand pascals, nor have any
desire to. but for the sake of conformity on the whole thing, maybe you could have them in metric too, so we don't
have any pressure accidents due to a faulty conversion and give metricators yet another reason to hate me.

[Krytom]

What, tonnes/m^2? You may be surprised at the amount of air that is pressing down on you all the time. It's several
tonnes I think but can't remember.

[Prandini]

DumaUK wrote:
-(Jetisonnable?) Conformal fuel tanks ( lightweight extra fuel tanks mounted to the side of the fuselage - see
http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/rafale/rafale9.html ).

Extra Tanks !!! Loved the Idea!!! Makes much more sense than the radical consumption change on config for long
trips!

[DocHoliday]

Atom wrote:
I just had a nice idea, but it's probably really hard to implement, but here it goes.

You can select different crew members and each one will have a different part of the panel or a different panel, and in
virtual cockpit, each crew member has a different veiw of the cockpit. This would work better with a bigger vessel, but
seeing as Dan has said the DGIV would be alot bigger than the DGIII, it would make sense.
I realise this is a hell of alot of work. It's just a suggestion.

Hehe, that's basically what I suggested a post or so before yours

Glad you have the same wish