Some ideas for DGIV

[DumaUK]

Atom wrote:

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?

True! To be honest I just like the idea of a failure that requires greater care during re-entry, and the overheating
fuel tanks were the only one I could think of that would be relatively easy to implement (My reasoning being that
conformal tanks don't need alterations to the current DG mesh, and that the re-entry display already shows
temperatures so much of the code would already be implemented).

Perhaps one excuse:
The tanks are made from ultra-lightweight materials and are only intended to withstand ascent and the temperatures
resulting from exposure to sunlight, hence

   a) at high temperatures the tank itself, along with the trace amounts of fuel, may disintegrate with potential
damage to the DG's hull (though this seems a bit of a feeble excuse for a fatal failure!)
or
   b) The tanks contain small thrusters - intended to controllably de-orbit an empty tank from at least LEO - and just
enough propellant to do catastrophic damage to the DG's main tanks if overheated...

It'd be great if someone can think of a more logical excuse!

[C3PO]

I don't think bringing drop tanks into orbit is a good idea.

But using them to get to high altitude sounds good. If the DGIV has scram engines it would be an even better idea.
The tanks would be very usefull when launching from a runway on Earth. The DG uses a large part of the fuel to get
above 15 km.

C3PO

[Atom]

I like the idea too.

[ExoToa]

- 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,...)

Dammit if i didnt get to that first.
See my idea is to write totaly optional panels for different parts of the spacecraft both internaly and externaly.
The panels would be circutmaps,screws, bolts and chips to be fixed replaced and modified in the middle(or before) the
mission by an EVA when one of these so called random failures occur. Im tired of having the landing gear collapes or
an antenna fail and me not be able to bloody do anything about it

[Wilko]

I just had an unusual idea... an unmanned DGIV. Considering that the DGIV would already be fully packed with a
crew, fuel and air, I doubt theres much room left for consumables (food/water etc). Water can be produced
apparently as a biproduct, but on a trip to Mars for instance, I don't see how such a craft can carry that much food?
For those that want to be ultra-real (like myself) maybe a consumables level should be set. If the pilot wished to go
to Mars, I really, do not see how it could happen without a Vespucci type craft. So if necessary, I think the DGIV
should be able to be operable without air or food as long as noone is present. The craft can land and then a new
crew on Mars (or further) can use the vehicle.

A pretty useless addition for sure, but needed to add something else.

[ControlledForce]

escape pods for panicers!what large space ship doesn't have escape pods? (at least 1 for the pilot) :applause:with its
own deployable parachute!
and oh yeah,landing beam lights,or night vision goggles
a co-pilot option
maybe random chatter(or cries when you screw something up)from passengers strictly for motivation but this would be a
soundpack issue.
pilot/passenger blackout when you pull too many G's,or redout depending wether positive or negetive
extendable ladder or staircase for planet/moon walking tourists
and last but not least...acid for blood ALIENS onboard8o

[AphelionHellion]

I have but one comment to make, and I'm afraid it won't be very useful or pertinent to the discussion, but hey, here
goes:
FRIKKIN AWESOME!!!!

Oh, and hiya guys! Long time no see
(Yeah, I know, I'm unreliable. But I just had to come back when the new version came out, X-Box addiction
notwithstanding)

[freespace2dotcom]

Yes, AH. Had you been around at the time, I would have put you in the super awesome summit pic, but you missed
out on it. (maybe a version 2 next year? hehe)

http://orbiter.dansteph.com/forum/index.php?topic=10136.msg163396#msg163396

(scroll down a bit)

[AphelionHellion]

 Haha Awwww nuts!
Heh, that pic rules, Free

[DocHoliday]

Welcome back AH

[AphelionHellion]

Thanks, Doc!  Though I'm having trouble freeing up enough space on my HD right now so I may not be using Orbiter
for a bit
Dang 40 gig hard drive I spose I could replace the drive with a larger one but then I'd need to move all my data and
I still haven't organized/burned the data from my OLD computer's HD. Then there's the fact that I have no idea how to
open/upgrade a laptop and I'm sorta afraid to try  If it were a desktop box, no problem, but I've never
performed innard surgery on a laptop before. I think I'm just going to get an external USB HD or something to store all
the stuff I don't use much (like all my orbiter add-on installation files

[andyman]

Hmmm, along with the scram jets that I belive somebody has already suggested in this thread, how about an
autothrottle? Perhaps even one that would be able to differentiate between Main Engine Speeds and ScramJet
Speeds. Or, failing that, one that would have a switch to tell it which engine to control.

[MattNW]

maybe random chatter(or cries when you screw something up)from passengers strictly for motivation but this
would be a soundpack issue.

I like that idea.

[McBrain]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
STOOOOOP IT!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!

[freespace2dotcom]

Let's not forget about

"oh my God! Had I not wet my pants, I'd be so totally for doing it again!"

[DocHoliday]

"Mom, yeah it's me.... Thanks for the birthday gift, but I DON'T WANT TO FLY WITH LEO FARAWITZ ANYMORE!!!!!! He's
CRAZEEEEEE!!!"

[xp194]

i posted on main forums an idea for an air recycler.  it would separate the carbon in the co2 from the oxygen and
recirculate around the system. the carbon could be jettisoned. if anything went wrong though: when run out.
maybe make it more likely to have a failiure to even it out

[MattNW]

I'll have you all know that the review board and judge both cleared me after that fly by. It was officially ruled that I
was caught up in the exuberance of flight and decided to practice my aerobatics. I simply forgot that I had
passengers onboard. It could happen to anyone.

Anyone notice that the DG III can do one dandy of a Cuban 8. Haven't had much luck on a hammerhead stall yet
though.

[andyman]

Mr. Matt, are you, indeed, trying to pull something over on us? That ship appears to be a DG-S, not a DG-III.

[Aqua]

I'd still like to see an explosive canopy and ejector seat for the pilot. For cases where landing the ship would have made it
blow up if it could.

[MattNW]

andyman wrote:
Mr. Matt, are you, indeed, trying to pull something over on us? That ship appears to be a DG-S, not a DG-III.

Sort of yes and sort of no. That was the only screenshot I could find on short notice and the only one from outside
the ship. I posted a couple similar screenies from the cockpit perspective way back when the DG III was in the early
public beta (Dan called it an Alpha) testing phase. They tended to make people a little ill when looking at the sky and
earth reversed from the cockpit.

[Alrik]

Hi all

Ive got some ideas for the DGIII:

Something that the evas could repair could be good. Some circuits in the wings or something like that.

Obiously with the first idea you should need a Randomic Failure system that manage the first.

A lot of things could be done, for example when the evas moves in the earth or a planet or moon could move their
legs, or do a little jumps to move. That is no imposible, and I think that could do that the moving with eva be better.

[MattNW]

Alrik wrote:
Hi all

Ive got some ideas for the DGIII:

Something that the evas could repair could be good. Some circuits in the wings or something like that.

Obiously with the first idea you should need a Randomic Failure system that manage the first.

A lot of things could be done, for example when the evas moves in the earth or a planet or moon could move their
legs, or do a little jumps to move. That is no imposible, and I think that could do that the moving with eva be better.

The first one is hard to do because of a limitation in Orbiter. If you move too close (still too far away to be trying to fix
anything) to the ship then you kind of see right through the ship mesh. Not much that can be done about that
without a change in the way Orbiter renders meshes.

The second is something I think Dan has tried or looked at. Problem was that it didn't look good at all. For realistic
walking or even bouncing you need to render meshes with bones and a lot of processor power to make everything
move as it's supposed to and even then only on the highest end games does human movement look anything like
realistic. I'd love to see animated astronauts but I doubt Dan will be able to spend the time to do so.

Actually the games that mimic very realistic movement usually use a digitized human model utilizing a lot of expensive
hardware and imaging of real people. They strap reflectors on to people in black suits and have them perform the
basic movements while being scanned with lazer beams. The computers read the position of the reflectors and
integrate that into a bone system similar to a human skeleton. Once a skin is put on that you have realistic human
movement but that's using hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment (this is pretty much the way they
animated characters in the Lord Of The Rings movies). It's also only useful with very scripted action scenarios. Best
you can do with just the "off the shelf" animation is simple unrealistic movement. Not sure even then if they can
render any animation that can be used in Orbiter without really taking a hit in performance.

Of course a simple bouncing astronaut may be possible (and it's the best way to move around in low gravity). Just
depends on what amount of work Dan wants to put into it.

[Alrik]

Ok now I think that Im going to wait a long time to see that!

Thanks anyway

[andyman]

I would like to see a more sophisticated GPWS system, if possible...