Creating a simple base
A base is used in Orbiter to describe a spaceport to be located on a planet, minor planet, or moon by creating a base configuration file, which is used to describe the name, location, and other need information to describe the base.
Base config file
The configuration file to describe a base is located in the directory Orbiter\Config\<planet>\Base, for example, when Orbiter launches, it will use Orbiter\Config\Earth\Base\Canaveral.cfg to build the Cape Canaveral spaceport, and will contain certain information to build that base. Information contained in a base configuration file include the name of the base, its location, size, whether the objects described by the file conform to the texture of the planet's surface, any navigation beacons, and a list of objects in the base such as runways, pads, buildings, etc.
So let's build a base and see what it looks like as we build it. For this, select a location for the base. For this, I selected a location on the Bonneville Salt Flats figuring it should be pretty flat to build stuff. Looking up the coordinates of the Flat in Wikipedia, sent a ship there and found what looks like water covering much of the area, so I moved the ship a bit until I found dry land that looked reasonably flat for my base.
So, let's open Notepad or your favorite text editor. On the first line type in BASE-V2.0. This identifies the file to Orbiter that it is a base. Save the file in the directory Orbiter\Config\Earth\Base\ with the filename Bonneville.cfg. Now, Orbiter will build the base. All base configuration files must contain that as the first line.
The next line, name the base, in this case Name = Bonneville. It does not need to be the same name as the filename, for example, in the Canaveral.cfg file, the Name = Cape Canaveral. This way you can use a simple filename for a base with a more complex name.
The next line contains the location, so type in Location = <longitude> <latitude>, in the case of Bonneville, Location = -80.65165 +28.58438. The + for positive coordinates is likely not required, but, it may be best to include it to make it less confusing to the reader. This will be the center of the base, and where the yellow square appears when flying nearby the base.
The next line is the size of the base. Size = 1000 for example. This defines the radius of the base in meters. It seems to be arbitrary as there are objects listed in some bases that came with the stock Orbiter 2016 with buildings and other objects that are located inside and outside of this radius.
The next line is OBJECTSIZE = 100 which defines the size, in meters, of a typical object on the base. This allows Orbiter to determine the distance that base objects will be rendered on the screen during runtime. Default is 100, objects whose rendered size is less than one pixel will not be rendered until it's visual size exceeds one pixel.
The next line contains MAPOBJECTSTOSPHERE = TRUE or MAPOBJECTSTOSPHERE = FALSE. If this parameter is TRUE, the objects listed for this base will be mapped to the surface of the planet, if it is FALSE, objects will be placed on a flat plane from the elevation of the center of the base.
The remainder of the file contains the NAV list, objects such as runways, pads, buildings, etc. and Surface tile list.
So, here, save your file and launch Orbiter with any scenario. In any scenario, Orbiter will read this file along with all the others and build the base in accordance with your information for this base. If you fly nearby, you should see a yellow marker with the name of the base. Each time you edit the file, you need to exit Orbiter back to the launch pad and relaunch the scenario to see any changes. You can exit, make changes saving them, then relaunch. Or you can edit while the scenario is running, save, exit, and re-launch since Orbiter reads the file only during startup.
Navbeacons are navigation beacons located in various locations about the planet, particularly Earth, which are addressable by your receiver stack, and used by various MFD modes for navigation purposes. VOR transmitters not associated with bases are listed in the planet's config file, e.g. Earth.cfg.
VOR transmitters associated with bases are listed in each base's config file. So, lets add one for Bonneville. In the file Bonneville.cfg, type in the lines BEGIN_NAVBEACON and END_NAVBEACON with a space between them. In that space, type in VOR KBSF -114.05 4061 112.7 500.
Since VOR is the only beacon format used by Orbiter, VOR must be the first part of the line.
The next parameter is the name of the VOR. KBSF was chosen as a moniker for 'Bonneville Salt Flats' so it is unique, it's not used in Earth.cfg VOR list and not used in any base configuration files.
The next parameter is the longitude location of the transmitter in decimal degrees, east is positive (+), west is negative (-). KBSF is -114.05.
Next is the latitude location of the transmitter in decimal degrees, north is positive (+), south is negative (-). KBSF is 40.61.
The next parameter is the frequency of the VOR transmitter in MHz, valid frequencies are 85 to 140 MHz. KBSF is 112.7. It is advisable to check other base config files and the VOR list in the planet's config file to make sure there are not other transmitters using the same frequency that may overlap in any location. The ship's receiver receiving two transmitters' signal at the same time may confuse the receiver and direct you to the incorrect transmitter.
The last parameter is the distance in kilometers from the transmitter which the ship's receiver can detect a signal, default is 500. KBSF is 500.
Then the last line should be END_NAVBEACON which you typed in earlier.
Object List
The next section is the object list which builds objects such as buildings, landing pads, runways, and so forth. So, for the next section type in BEGIN_OBJECTLIST and END_OBJECTLIST on two separate lines with a space between. All objects will be entered between these two lines.
Each object is defined by several parameters which describes characteristics of that object, including some that have a default value unless you specify values within the object. The object's texture, or what it looks like will be described by one or more lines. For a texture to be used, there must be a file with the extension .dds in the Orbiter\Textures directory and it must be listed in the file Orbiter\Config\Base.cfg file. Note that if you browse the Textures directory you may find texture files that can be used as object textures but not listed in the Base.cfg file.
If you want to see that the texture looks like, you would need a texture viewer. Any textures you would like to use in objects, such as Cape17.dds, just open Base.cfg and type in the filename without the extension into the list in any order and save it.
Let's build a landing pad.
Landing Pad
Orbiter comes with a number of configuration files in the CONFIG directory. Those files describe the properties of objects.
Each planet has a CFG file. For example, for planet Earth there is an Earth.cfg file. In each planet CFG file there is a list of bases, and each base has a CFG file too.
Finding a location for your base
The first step to create a base is to find out the coordinates of our base.
Let's open orbiter and load a scenario. Any scenario is good.
As the mission is loaded, make sure it is not paused. Now press CTRL-F1. Now you see the "orbiter: camera" window.
There is a "+" in the left of the word "Sun" in that window. Click it. Now click on "Earth" (we are going to place a new base on Earth.
Now push the "apply" button. Use your mouse wheel to zoom in/out. Press right click and move your mouse until the place where you want your base is right in the center of the screen. You may want to zoom in once you have located the location.
Now press the "Ground button" and then the "Current" button. As you see, 3 numbers wil appear in one field in that window. We need to copy and paste the first 2 numbers.
So select the first 2 numbers and copy them to the clipboard. Now we have the latitude and longitude of the base.
Adding a base to the planet
Now close the Orbiter camera window. Now press CTRL-Q to exit Orbiter.
Open Notepad. Open the Orbiter directory, and then open the Config directory. Drag the Earth.cfg file to the Notepad window.
Scroll down until you find
; === Surface Bases === BEGIN_SURFACE
As you see, there is a list of bases right after that. Each base has a CFG file.
Let's guess we want to create a base called "Rincon de la Vieja" and let's guess your coordinates are -84.989845 +10.739155, and the base properties will be placed in a file called Rincon.cfg.
Between BEGIN_SURFACE and END_SURFACE add a line that reads:
Rincon: -84.989845 +10.739155
Notice that instead of those numbers I used, you should paste the numbers that you just had in your clipboard.
Save and exit Notepad. Now you have added your base to the planet.
Creating the landing pad
Now open Notepad. Copy the following text and paste in Notepad.
; === Surface Base === Name = Rincon de la vieja Size = 2000 ObjectSize = 2000 BEGIN_OBJECTLIST LPAD2 POS 0 0 SCALE 5 0.15 0 TEX Lpad02 NAV 128.05 END END_OBJECTLIST
Now save this as Rincon.cfg in the CONFIG directory, and then exit Notepad.
Congratulations!! You have created a base with a landing pad.
Viewing your base
You now can open orbiter and load a scenario. If you press CTRL-F1 and you click on the "+" that is next to "Spaceports".
Scroll down until you find your base. Click on the name of your base and press the "Apply" button.
Press the "Track" button and then press the "Movable target relative" button.
You should see your base now.