Installation Where to begin with my install.

[maltman]

I am, for the first time, to really legitimately get into this simulator. I am following the Absolute Beginner Guide videos by David Courtney. I am excited, the only problem I have is that I can't figure out what I need to install to get my game looking good.

My main purpose is for my game to look as good as possible, to have a nicely textured ship with a nice cockpit, and to just in general put my nice new gaming computer and monitor to good use, oh, and also to have all of the standard quality of life utilities and MFD's which you veterans would never play without.

I plan on making some nice videos of this game and also I would like to enjoy some of the beautiful sights I've seen on youtube.

I've already figured out some of the elementary ideas of addons and I have like the sound mod installed (which is great). I know about Orbit Hangar and found some neat stuff on there.

It would be a ton of help if you forum experts could clear me up on some of my points of confusion:

1. Orbiter 2010 or 2016(or whatever the latest build is). Which one should I be using to achieve my aesthetic goals? Does 2016 have more support for higher resolutions?

2. Do I need the dx9 or dx11 graphic client? Why hasn't dx11 superseded dx9 completely?

3. What are some links to decent ships with decent cockpit views?

4. How can I satisfy my digital OCD and have the ultimate Orbiter experience. (Or is there no satisfying this wily urge)

5. Can I make the default delta glider look better so that I can progress through the tutorials with a better view?

In general there's so many options and links, I've been getting confused. How would you old timers go about with your addons in 2016 if you had to build a fresh?

Forgive me if I missed some kind of sticky or something which explains a lot of what a first timer in 2016 should download. I did some searches but maybe not diligently enough.


Thanks

 

[Face]

2. Do I need the dx9 or dx11 graphic client? Why hasn't dx11 superseded dx9 completely?

This one I think I can answer: because nobody develops dx11 graphics client anymore. The one driving force - asmi - is long gone as it seems.

The other questions are too much OCD for me .

 

[maltman]

Well one out of five ain't bad.

 

[martins]

5. Can I make the default delta glider look better so that I can progress through the tutorials with a better view?

Yes you can! But it rather depends on your modelling and programming skills.

 

[maltman]

Yes you can! But it rather depends on your modelling and programming skills.

If only I had any! By the way, can you add guns and aliens and stuff to the game?

I'm only joking. Much respect.

 

[Lucy]

If only I had any! By the way, can you add guns and aliens and stuff to the game?

I'm only joking. Much respect.

If you want some, get some. The Orbiter SDK is a great resource to learn the programming skills you'll need. As for modelling skill, it comes with practise, like all things.

 

[Face]

By the way, can you add guns and aliens and stuff to the game?

For guns, there is a combat simulation project here, although I'm not sure if it is still active. For aliens, download XR2 and wait for Halloween.

 

[ADSWNJ]

1. Orbiter 2010 or 2016(or whatever the latest build is). Which one should I be using to achieve my aesthetic goals? Does 2016 have more support for higher resolutions?

2. Do I need the dx9 or dx11 graphic client? Why hasn't dx11 superseded dx9 completely?

3. What are some links to decent ships with decent cockpit views?

4. How can I satisfy my digital OCD and have the ultimate Orbiter experience. (Or is there no satisfying this wily urge)

5. Can I make the default delta glider look better so that I can progress through the tutorials with a better view?

IMO:

1: Orbiter 2016 for the elevations and beautiful views. Not sure the res is better, but it runs fine on a big screen.

2: D3D9 all the way. (Run Orbiter_NG.exe and select the right graphics engine, of course).

3: XR-2 and XR-5 ... cannot beat them: just beautiful to fly and with awesome cockpits.

4: depends what you are in to ... single screen, multiscreen, full sim-pit with tablets as MFD's, deep technical immersion and faithful mission planning, or exotic ships in far away universes. If graphics are your thing, and you have the horsepower on your gaming PC, go into visual effects and go crazy (e.g. all effect, max resolution 19, all shadows, etc.

5: I think of the stock DG as my first vessel, and I like it just the way it is. You don;t need to do David's tutorials in the DG if you don't want to, so pick what you like. Maybe look at the DG-IV, or the XR-1 as alternatives.

Enjoy!

 

[N_Molson]

Turning Orbiter into a space shooter is definitively doable. The only limitation I see is that your targets will all have to be a "sphere" from the simulator engine point of view. Still, you could probably do something more accurate using a lot of intersecting small spheres.