changes in Orbiter 2006

This page summarizes the known changes in orbiters coming version. This is currently mostly based on interpretation of Martin Schweigers posts in the Orbiter forum and leaked information from the beta testing group.

It is still possible that the information collected here will only be rumors or will get implemented in a later orbiter version.

If possible, links to references and sources should be given. If it appears on the Orbiter gallery page, its not neccessary to link to the source.

Extra windows for MFDs

The next version will support additional windows for displaying MFDs, allowing a higher numbers of displayed MFDs.

File structure

The configuration files for vessels will get moved into the subfolder "config/vessels". Its currently not known, if this applies to bases and planets, too. [1]

Gravity gradient stabilization and disturbance

Vessels will get affected by gravity gradient torques. The effect will get calculated in orbiter using the PMI of the vessel, so nothing will change for developers. [2]

Level 10 planetary textures

The maximum possible texture resolution for textures will raise to 32768 x 16384. This feature will also change the structure of all planetary textures, so planet textures for the current version will not work properly anymore.

Visualization of forces

The forces acting on a vessel will get visualized in the next version. It is not known yet, how this feature gets activated and if it's possible to customize the display for custom forces.