Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator News

0.72 has been released!

This update adds the preliminary VR capabilities seen in Mercury to Gemini, and starts the public alpha testing of the Mercury Control Center Live module.

While this is in testing and feedback is gathered, the work related to TSS for Apollo will start, scheduled for update 0.75. TSS for Apollo is the highest priority task on my list now, as the entire Apollo program tech stack lags behind Mercury and Gemini.



These are the main features of the update:

GEMINI VIRTUAL REALITY
The preliminary support of VR for Gemini has been added. As in Mercury, this creates the base platform for VR development in Gemini. It's not yet complete, but the basics of operating Gemini and flying missions should be supported. Advanced procedures such as EVA and Docking still needs some of the basics in place.

EVA in VR changes how EVAs are performed. As in real life, the Handheld Maneuvering Unity is controlled and operated by the hand controller, and you point in it the direction you want to change. The forces are applied relative to the body center of mass. It takes some time to practice and get used to.


MERCURY CONTROL CENTER LIVE, Public Alpha Test Round 1
The first round of MCCL testing is now active. The purpose of this is to start getting feedback on the network logic, infrastructure, and traffic rate (a metric on the server). The first round is scheduled to last until November 30, but might be shorter if critical issues requires it. Keep in mind that this module is not as high priority as the TSS for Apollo update and the core features of Reentry, and fixes will be prioritized accordingly.

The Mercury Control Center Operators manual can be found here:
http://reentrygame.com/gamemanuals/MercuryControlCenterManual.pdf

The quick start manual of the Mercury Control Center Live module can be found here:
https://github.com/sundhaug92/mcc-manual




MERCURY INTERACTIVE CURSOR
The new interactive cursor is in testing in Mercury only. This changes the mouse cursor to behave more to what we see in other simulators such as DCS. Currently the cursor will be a cross, and its color changes if you hover interactive elements. The plans for this is to support custom cursors, configurations and tooltips on the controllers you are interacting with.

IMPROVEMENTS & BUGFIXES
A lot of minor fixes has been made based on feedback. Many typos has been fixed, as well as critical things such as the Gemini "sinking" bug after splashdown. In addition, you will see some new background elements being rendered, menu improvements and so on.


FUTURE
We are getting closer and closer to the point where everything in Reentry is running on the latest game and interaction engine (aka. TSS). The focus is to get these technicalities out of the way first, then start working on some of the remaining critical systems needed for Apollo (such as Optics), and the Apollo campaign.

Once we have this in place, a lot of dev cycles will go into stability, polish, performance, language support, etc. as we get closer to version 1.0.

So what is version 1.0? Version 1.0 is just a milestone, not a final product. Once reached, the long journey towards 2.0 will start. Reentry is a project that will live as long as you are interested in the project. Once we reach the 1.0 milestone, the goal is to still improve and add systems to the existing crafts we see in Reentry today (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo Command Module and the Lunar Module), realism, stability, and more historical missions. In addition, we might also see new spacecrafts being added to the Reentry family of spacecrafts.

The next update of Reentry (version 0.72) has rolled out to the Test Pilots. It will contain the first iteration of VR support for Project Gemini. The implementation is similar to what you already have for Project Mercury. In addition, multiple bug fixes has been made (for example, the floating issues of the Gemini capsule after splash down).

In addition to this, I have a wish to start public alpha testing of the Mercury Control Center Live multiplayer module. This is potentially the start of other multiplayer modules as well. The main goal behind it is to start testing the basic building blocks I have made for multiplayer modes.

Once this is out, I will enter the long and painful path of porting the entire Apollo implementation to the new TSS enabled game engine, and start working on some of its missing systems. The Apollo TSS implementation will be part of the 0.75 update, and Apollo systems are planned for 0.8 and beyond.

Happy Halloween, I will be spending the night in Orbit.

// Petri

This is the first iteration of the 0.7 updates. 0.7 has been split into multiple parts to avoid having too big updates with too many features.
The next few iterations will hopefully cover VR for Gemini, TSS for Apollo, and the Mercury Control Center.


GEMINI SYSTEMS
Many of the Gemini Systems and physics has received an overhaul, such as pressure and a full electricity system overhaul. A Gemini Mission will now feel much more immersive and realistic (especially if you perform the full procedure from T-90 minutes - see the new campaign!). There are still things in the works, and things waiting for feedback, but this will evolve. Abort modes are also introduced (both ejection seat (just for fun) and spacecraft aborts), but not yet complete.


GEMINI CAMPAIGN
The new Gemini Campaign will take you through many of the new features. Some slight changes have been made to the Mercury campaign as well. The Campaign will be open sourced at github.com/reentrygame, so you can see how it was made.


GRAPHICS UPDATES
There are multiple graphics improvements in Project Gemini. The cockpit has received some new things and changes, as well as the Gemini external model.

PANEL STATE
Gemini can now load custom panel states such as Cold and Dark. This can be done in the Mission Editor, or by using the Console.

FAILURES
Preliminary failures are added to Gemini, but this will have a bigger focus in the next few updates. It works as in version 0.6 for Mercury.

INTEGRATED GEMINI MISSION EDITOR
The Gemini Mission Editor has been integrated into the game and can be used to create missions!

EXPORT OBC/AGC/LGC DATA
You can now use the Live Feed setting (check SETTINGS) to output the displays of the OBC, AGC, and LGC to files. They are saved as JSON and located in the export folder under AppData for Reentry. This can be used to display its data on external IoT devices etc.

A minor patch has rolled out to fix some issues surrounding a redundant realism setting, and correcting that the Jukebox is visible by default.

The Jukebox should now be invisible when starting a mission, and this should be the correct behavior. If it's still visible for some of you, please let me know.

The "Simplified Rendezvous" realism setting is now redundant, and will be redefined soon. This setting caused an issue with the orbit and rendezvous logic in Gemini (Ap and Pe suddenly jumping back to their initial values on burn completion). This should now be fixed, but I would still untoggle the setting.

Thanks again for reporting!

First of all, thank you all for reporting issues and for contributing to the simulator. This patch had a long delay due to a blocking issue surrounding Rendezvous in Gemini. This bug was triggered by some major logic changes needed to fix a few if the issues reported. However, we should be good to go again!

This patch aims to fix some of the critical issues reported from the 0.65 update, and has the following fixes:
- Infinite Roll Program Rates fixed during the ROLL PROGRAM on Gemini ascent.
- Bad save state in Gemini: Due to a bug, when loading a save state, the free play mission state was loaded instead.
- EVA offset position is fixed and you will spawn next to the spacecraft.
- Radar range and Encoder now works when docked.
- Mercury abort in Atlas had a bug that would bring the capsule into a proper orbit. This is now fixed can the campaign mission should be working agian.
- New feature: Launch Azimuth logic and inclination (see below).
- Exit button should be visible and longer scrollable main menu, for those using wide screen.
- Gemini thruster volume reduced.
- Agena engine is tuned down.
- Gemini FDAI sphere texture.

Still looking into some of the other bugs reported but this is a start.


New features:
Azimuth calculations (basics)
Special thanks to pclaurent for helping me with the new azimuth calculations logic. This is just a start, and will be the basis for improved ascent guidance algorithms.
Using the OBC, can you insert the target inclination into the OBC Core 09, and it will automatically calculate the roll needed in the roll program, and reconfigure the OBC (Core 10 and 11). You will need to run the pre-launch program to align the platform. Keep in mind that the target inclination can not be less than your launch latitude, and should not deviate too much from 28.5 and 32.5.

Ap, Pe and ascending/descending node markers in Gemini orbit view
New markers are placed to easier visualize where the orbits apogee and perigee is located. These points are important as they are used to move the point on to opposite side of the orbit in or out. The ascending and descending nodes are the points where it's best to perform inclination/plane changes. These are still WIP, but I wanted to start testing the logic.

If the IVIs show a dV in the middle field (plane change), you should null this at the ascending or descending node.