Microsoft Spaceflight Simulator...more impressions
Marcus Lindroos INF
detailed vector polygons for space stations and spacecraft. My major
complaint is the navigation map, which doesn't display the orbits
or orbital parameters, so it is very difficult to simulate historic
missions like Apollo 11 or Voyager 2. The flight computer should
be more "delta-V - oriented" as well, now you can specify the duration
of the burn but no engine cutoff at a preset velocity value. Also, it
should be possible to input the orbital elements of your spacecraft
as a starting point...Microsoft could recommend sci.space.news as an
online source for data. A built-in calculator for doing back-of-the-envelope
mission planning (perigee/apogee velocity, plane change delta-V, Hohmann
transfer, orbital periods etc.) is another missing feature.
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The selection of spacecraft is basically OK, you get the Manned Maneuvering
Unit, Shuttle orbiter, Apollo CM, Apollo LM and Space Station Freedom.
Annoying omissions include Soyuz/Mir, Skylab (& a Saturn V third stage
so you can simulate an entire Apollo mission, not just the LOR & lunar landing
part!) and perhaps Gemini. It would also be nice to have an X-33 SSTO instead
of the silly-looking "All Terrain Lander". The purists will ignore the
fantasy spaceships (six different models available:
a Bussard ramjet, antimatter spacefighter, antigravity UFO, fusion freighter,
SSTO lander, interstellar fusion explorer craft), but having an available
delta-V of several hundred km/s does simplify things a great deal for the
novice astronaut. A nice touch is the ring-shaped large space station from
"2001", and I think the other sci-fi spaceships should have been based on
famous movie spacecraft as well (for example, USS Enterprise, "Star Wars"
X-wing fighter, "2001" Discovery, "Aliens" USS Sulaco...).
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The program comes with a large number of built-in missions you can fly
automatically. I would like to see more of these, like Gemini 6/7, Apollo 11,
Mariner 10, Voyager 2, Cassini, Galileo, Apollo-Soyuz, Soyuz & Shuttle
missions to Mir, Alpha...
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The manual is a nice introduction to the subject, although the spacecraft
descriptions only list the mass of the spacecraft, maximum acceleration
in Gs and fuel duration. _VERY_ annoying - dry mass, fuel weight, thrus,
max. delta-V and exhaust velocity would have made far more sense.
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All in all, a nice first attempt though.
If "Flight Simulator" is any indication, MS SFS III should be a killer...
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MARCU$
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Do you think you can tell,
A smile from a veil,
Do you think you can tell...?
Marcus Lindroos
PL 402 A
07880 Liljendal, FINLAND
Email:mlin...@aton.abo.fi
Fax:358-15-616667
WWW:http://www.abo.fi/~mlindroo
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Bob Mosley III
writes:
>The selection of spacecraft is basically OK, you get the Manned Maneuvering
>Unit, Shuttle orbiter, Apollo CM, Apollo LM and Space Station Freedom.
>Annoying omissions include Soyuz/Mir, Skylab (& a Saturn V third stage
>so you can simulate an entire Apollo mission, not just the LOR & lunar landing
>part!) and perhaps Gemini. It would also be nice to have an X-33 SSTO instead
>of the silly-looking "All Terrain Lander". The purists will ignore the
>fantasy spaceships (six different models available:
>a Bussard ramjet, antimatter spacefighter, antigravity UFO, fusion freighter,
>SSTO lander, interstellar fusion explorer craft), but having an available
>delta-V of several hundred km/s does simplify things a great deal for the
>novice astronaut. A nice touch is the ring-shaped large space station from
>"2001", and I think the other sci-fi spaceships should have been based on
>famous movie spacecraft as well (for example, USS Enterprise, "Star Wars"
>X-wing fighter, "2001" Discovery, "Aliens" USS Sulaco...).
>The program comes with a large number of built-in missions you can fly
>automatically. I would like to see more of these, like Gemini 6/7, Apollo 11,
>Mariner 10, Voyager 2, Cassini, Galileo, Apollo-Soyuz, Soyuz & Shuttle
>missions to Mir, Alpha...
.You have to understand something about this program and its true
significance to software design. MSS is officially the last DOS-based
applications program that Microsoft will release. According to an inside source
at Gatesland, this program was somewhat rushed out the door at the last minute
so that the resources dedicated to the DOS apps division could be reassigned to
the MS-BOB and/or Win95 sections that needed their services.
.According to the same source, some of what you wanted in MSS was
planned, especially the Saturn V. These will probably appear in either
an expansion set (possibility=low) or the Win95 version
(possibility=medium), but neither will appear anytime soon.
.One other tip that I've not looked at yet is the hint that the
graphic definition files for the spacecraft may be in the same format
as the planes used in Microsoft Flight Simulator. If this is the case,
it might be possible to edit and add new ships. Not having any of the
scenery or plane editors for MFS, I can't put this one to the test.
.As for the Sulaco, Discovery, etc, ships, keep in mind that these
are registered trademarks of a sort, and are the properties of the
respective companies. Microsoft wouldn't be interested in paying
royalties to -anyone- for something that to them would be considered
"frivolous" and "trivial".
Still, all in all, it's a good sim when you get down to it...
OM