Orbiter

March 22, 2003 1:48 PM

Orbiter - A Free Space Flight Simulator Starving for a high realism space simulator ever since Microsoft's Space Simulator was discontinued? Look no further than Orbiter, a free realistic space simulator written and maintained by Dr. Martin Schweiger. How realistic? You might want to start off by consulting NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Basics Of Space Flight to get you grounded so to speak. This is a free, non-commercial simulator that uses accurate math and orbital physics (more or less) to try to model space flight. However hard it may appear, after orbiting Earth with the high-res (8192x4096) mod-pack installed, or sitting on the launch pad with the seamless OrbiterSound 2.1b sound environment installed, you will be well rewarded for reading the manual and participating in the dance of the heavens. (Even if all you want to do is fly around the solar system!)
posted by Tystnaden (10 comments total)

Coolest. Post. Ever.

I can't wait to get home and head for the sun!
posted by will at 2:08 PM on March 22, 2003

sounds fun! may I also refer you to this thread in case you missed it.
posted by gravelshoes at 2:16 PM on March 22, 2003

Ooh la la, thanks gravelshoes.
posted by will at 2:24 PM on March 22, 2003

Looks super good. Wish the Mac crowd could play too.
/jealous
posted by thirteen at 2:34 PM on March 22, 2003

Screenshots here, here, and here.

Here too.
posted by Tystnaden at 2:35 PM on March 22, 2003

[e-mail]
posted by tiamat at 2:58 PM on March 22, 2003

I've been playing with this off and on for about a year now, and it's too cool for words. (Now if only it had sound support built-in--anyone try the sound add-on yet?)
posted by Zonker at 3:01 PM on March 22, 2003

Zonker: Works well for me.
posted by Tystnaden at 3:18 PM on March 22, 2003

Downloading now, and I can't wait to play it. Thanks for the link!
posted by Inkslinger at 5:00 PM on March 22, 2003

i wonder if you can fly into a black hole...
posted by atom128 at 5:49 PM on March 22, 2003