General Question DG-IV I want ALL damage disabled!

[deltagliderpilot]

Hello, is there any way to completely disable damage on DG-IV? I, unlike most people, like things to be easy for me until I have mastered that stuff, so I would eventually disable damage and challenge myself. I come in and try to land (I can tell if I am descending too fast or not) and the landing gear are like sticks, so they ALWAYS brake. Is there a config file somewhere in the orbiter directory? If there is, I can't find it.

 

[statickid]

I'm not sure that there is :blink:

There is the DG-IV configurator program, but it only allows you to have an un-killable crew. I also tried the ORBITER.EXE parameters to turn off damage and failure simulation, but both the DG-IV and XR-1 both still broke on a hard landing.

The DG-IV manual specifically says that odd effects may be observed when putting on "chicken mode" because it was not meant for being used this way.

 

[Hielor]

If you want things to be easy for you, use the normal DG that comes with Orbiter until you're ready for the DGIV.

 

[dbeachy1]

I also tried the ORBITER.EXE parameters to turn off damage and failure simulation, but both the DG-IV and XR-1 both still broke on a hard landing.

BTW for the XR1 all damage settings are controlled via the Config\DeltaGliderXR1Prefs.cfg file:

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Enable or disable ship damage due to wing stress, hull heating, hard landings,
# crashes, excessive dynamic pressure, and SCRAM engine overheat.
#   0 = damage disabled
#   1 = damage enabled
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
WingStressDamageEnabled=1
HullHeatingDamageEnabled=1
HardLandingsDamageEnabled=1
CrashDamageEnabled=1
DoorStressDamageEnabled=1
ScramEngineOverheatDamageEnabled=1
EnableDamageWhileDocked=1

 

[statickid]

Thats probably your best solution, deltagliderpilot. In case you hadn't tried it yet, XR-1 is very similar to DG-IV. A little different handling and flight computer, but very similar

 

[Koloss]

To be honest I wouldn't even turn off the damage simulation.
I am sure that the majority of the Orbinauts learned to fly exactly like this: Land the thing, break the gear, land the thing, break the gear, land the thing break the gear.

Eventually there will come the moment you land the thing and roll out on the runway. Success!

Same goes for reentry. I don't know how often I burned up until I finally managed to do a proper reentry... not to mention hitting a specific landing place.

Ahh, those were the days...

 

[PhantomCruiser]

There was a running gag about one of our members who built a virtual island of virtual XR-2 craft on the approach to WideAwake due to the amount of crashes they'd accumulated (I won't say who, but if they want to chime in and admit it it'd imagine there'd be plenty of funny stories).

You could hop into the DG (stock, DGIV or XR-1 whatevs) and do a whole slew of touch-and-go's. Just do racetracks around the pattern until you can stick the landing every time. Another drill could be to do your takeoff roll and pitch up at the end of the runway about 60-70 degrees. Once you hit around 4000-5000 meters altitude pull up through vertical (like you were performing a Cuban Eight maneuver) as you pass through vertical kill your engines and roll through inverted until you can see the runway. Aileron roll until upright and glide in for a dead stick landing.

I do this every now and again when I'm either bored or want to practice some fundamentals. Flying through the service building and under the cranes at Sagan are good fun too.

 

[Spacethingy]

To be honest, I find that the gear can take a right pounding in most ships in Orbiter (except the XR5, don't think I've ever got that beast down safely...). Did you get the DGIV down below its max landing weight? That may make the gear break easily if you haven't dumped enough fuel.

 

[ADSWNJ]

I flew for well over a year just on keyboard. You can still land successfully, but it's hard work. I use a joystick now just for atmo flying, and it makes a big difference. LPT: get a simple $20 joystick.

 

[TMac3000]

To be honest I wouldn't even turn off the damage simulation.
I am sure that the majority of the Orbinauts learned to fly exactly like this: Land the thing, break the gear, land the thing, break the gear, land the thing break the gear.

Eventually there will come the moment you land the thing and roll out on the runway. Success!

Same goes for reentry. I don't know how often I burned up until I finally managed to do a proper reentry... not to mention hitting a specific landing place.

Ahh, those were the days...

Actually I experienced very few burn-ups when I was learning to reenter. My main problem was coming down where I wanted to be. You can only learn that by trial and error

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Or the video by Oceanic, that's how I learned.

 

[Koloss]

Actually I experienced very few burn-ups when I was learning to reenter. My main problem was coming down where I wanted to be. You can only learn that by trial and error

Yeah that was huge problem for me, too.
I can't remember the video which explained AeroBrake MFD pretty well... probably a video from blixel (as he is my main mentor - thanks again for your videos David :tiphat

I still remember hitting Wideawake International the first time. That was an awesome feeling - returning from the moon and landing at Wideawake. Awesome

 

[Hielor]

Did you get the DGIV down below its max landing weight? That may make the gear break easily if you haven't dumped enough fuel.

There's an idea. OP, are you perhaps using infinite fuel?

 

[TMac3000]

Yeah that was huge problem for me, too.
I can't remember the video which explained AeroBrake MFD pretty well... probably a video from blixel (as he is my main mentor - thanks again for your videos David :tiphat

I still remember hitting Wideawake International the first time. That was an awesome feeling - returning from the moon and landing at Wideawake. Awesome

Well, I meant that you can really only learn to do it without Aerobrake by using trial and error. Being able to reenter safely and accurately without Aerobrake is a vital skill for those of us stuck with OGLA

 

[Koloss]

Well, I meant that you can really only learn to do it without Aerobrake by using trial and error. Being able to reenter safely and accurately without Aerobrake is a vital skill for those of us stuck with OGLA

Are you crazy? :lol: Reentry without Aerobrake... impossible!

 

[statickid]

Ive never even USED Aerobrake mfd even once...ever! However, i can dead stick land certain space craft. Part of my "space program" is testing vehicle reentry procedures and decent profiles.

 

[TMac3000]

Are you crazy? :lol: Reentry without Aerobrake... impossible!

Extremely difficult, to be sure. But not impossible

Like I said, you would have to keep practicing over and over, refining your approach until you find exactly the numbers you need. And I know, no two reentries are exactly the same, and there are a lot of variables. But that's why it's critically important to manage your energy effectively during the "cool-off" phase--between Mach 6 and Mach 3. If you think you're going to overshoot, pull up. If you think you're going to come up short, dump the nose.

If you manage it tightly enough, you should come out close enough for a dead stick. I'm still trying to get it right

 

[C3PO]

Extremely difficult, to be sure. But not impossible

Not by a long shot! I used to nail re-entries in the default Atlantis staying below 2Gs long before ReentryMFD came on-line. We even had to "cheat" by using side-slip to control speed because the speed brake wasn't very effective. I actually managed to wear down a Microsoft Sidewinder stick in the process, and those could take punishment like nothing else. :lol: It took me at least a year to perfect the procedure, and then we got a better atmospheric model. :rofl:But boy it was a lot of fun at the time.