DeZmond
Junior Administrator
Orbiter
A free spaceflight simulator
http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk
A review, by DeZmond
ORBITER is a free space flight simulator that has been independantly developed for several years now, and is making good progress. The program aims to offer realistic spaceflight, as well as a realistic simulation of the solar system and the physics that holds it all together. That physics is what prevents this from being a conventional game.
If you go to the official website, you're able to download some of the modules required: the core module, and I'd highly recommend downloading the hires textures unless you have a geriatric PC or an antiquated internet connection.
So... on to the graphics. They are, in short, pretty good if you install high-res textures. Without those, much less so. It'll run on geforce 2 -spec cards, so I wouldn't expect there to be many problems when running the engine.
The actual spaceflight can be hard work. Usually the first few flights barely get off the ground, and once you've got off the ground you'll usually end up back on it much sooner than you anticipated. The reason is, as mentioned before, the realistic physics model. These things are hard to control, as you will soon discover!
As this is a realistic simulator, you'd expect to be able to do some of the things you've always dreamed about being able to do on your PC - I am of course talking about shuttle and rocket launches! Yes, the shuttle has a subsection of scenarios all to itself, from missions at the ISS to launching and re-entry.
This game also has, surprisingly, a thriving mod community. For example, there's a Firefly mod in progress (the official ETA is the end of this week!) and also mods for the Apollo missions, Star Trek, Star Wars, and just about anything you can think of.
So assuming you have a small amount of patience, there's no reason not to dive in. Go and get downloading!
A free spaceflight simulator
http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk
A review, by DeZmond
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Note: This is not a game in the conventional sense; people expecting a laser light show will be disappointed! You have been warned.
ORBITER is a free space flight simulator that has been independantly developed for several years now, and is making good progress. The program aims to offer realistic spaceflight, as well as a realistic simulation of the solar system and the physics that holds it all together. That physics is what prevents this from being a conventional game.
If you go to the official website, you're able to download some of the modules required: the core module, and I'd highly recommend downloading the hires textures unless you have a geriatric PC or an antiquated internet connection.
So... on to the graphics. They are, in short, pretty good if you install high-res textures. Without those, much less so. It'll run on geforce 2 -spec cards, so I wouldn't expect there to be many problems when running the engine.
The actual spaceflight can be hard work. Usually the first few flights barely get off the ground, and once you've got off the ground you'll usually end up back on it much sooner than you anticipated. The reason is, as mentioned before, the realistic physics model. These things are hard to control, as you will soon discover!
As this is a realistic simulator, you'd expect to be able to do some of the things you've always dreamed about being able to do on your PC - I am of course talking about shuttle and rocket launches! Yes, the shuttle has a subsection of scenarios all to itself, from missions at the ISS to launching and re-entry.
This game also has, surprisingly, a thriving mod community. For example, there's a Firefly mod in progress (the official ETA is the end of this week!) and also mods for the Apollo missions, Star Trek, Star Wars, and just about anything you can think of.
So assuming you have a small amount of patience, there's no reason not to dive in. Go and get downloading!
