Continuing from the previous update with another large patch that focues on Project Gemini, Virtual Reality, and rendering across all space programs.
Note: If you are experiencing issues with this build you can roll back to the previous using the Steam Betas Tab accessible from the Steam client (games properties).
Virtual Reality
This updates contains a lot of minor logic changes and rewires in the general Virtual Reality logic layer. This is all to shape and tune the current VR implementation. This should fix the VR input Action mappings in Apollo missions being disabled on-load. This also fixes an issue where loading previously saved Input Action Mappings.
A new test implementation of what could be the basis of a VR Keyboard/Mouse/Gaze based cursor has also been implemented into this patch. The goal of this is to start a development path where you can use your Virtual Reality headset to render the game but still interact with the panels and UI using the mouse and keyboard. Keep in mind that this is the first test implementation of this. Over the next patches I will iterate on this, as well as writing the logic that hides/disables the controllers if this mode is enabled. For now, the main purpose is to see how this initial implementation behaves.
Mercury and Gemini Academy Overhaul
A huge update has been rolled out to the Mercury and Gemini Academy. It aims to improve the academy flow and adds a lot of new learnings to the academy. It is also now much better at showing you where things are and waiting for you to find things. I also walk you through the ascent before you get to try it yourself. This builds up a good basis of what to expect during your first ascent in a rocket, before doing it yourself.
It is also important to share that the academy tries to teach you the basics and what you really need to know to enjoy flying and operating a craft to the best of my ability. However, I might not be the greatest instructor/teacher.
It is important to remember that the astronauts in-real-life also had to try a maneuver or learn a system more than once before understanding them fully, so if you feel overwhelmed after your first or second execution of a mission, keep in mind that some of this is brutally advanced and that it is OK to not get it all at once.
This means that it might help to run through an academy lesson twice (it is what I recommend in the academy instructions too). First to get a good overview of the system, and then again to understand it with that overview as a base. The community over at the official Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator Discord server tries to help and answer all questions you might have.
Thank you all for some really good feedback on the academy so far!
Orbit atmosphere rendering, color banding, and clouds
I have spent a lot of time writing shaders in this update. A shader is basically a small program that runs on the GPU, instructing it how to process vertices and pixels for example. This update improves the rendering logic and shaders used to draw the atmosphere in space, and somewhat more realistically renders density.
Sunset/Sunrise from a dark Mercury cockpit
Twilight line (with color banding issues, corrected below)
The most important aspect of this change is that I now have better control of the atmosphere rendering, making it easier tune this going forward.
I have also corrected camera and HDR logic to remove visible color banding both through internal cockpit view and external view (was especially visible in Mercury and Gemini). You can see the compassion below.
I made some improvements to the experimental 3D cloud rendering. It increases the sampling iterations and changes the shader to remove visible "slices" used to render the illusion of clouds while in orbit.
Note: The aim of this game is to get volumetric clouds, especially during ascent as the rocket flies through clouds, but my skills are not there, yet.
Launch Pad external view fixes
I have also taken some of this shader work to rewrite and restructure the old placeholder logic to improve and make it easier to work with the external view while on the launch pad.
This is a very complex place where I have to try and render Earth from inside the atmosphere for all times of the day, support an ascent through the atmosphere into orbit, while being able to render details on Earth with very limited precision (Unity is floating point based). This update cleans up the logical infrastructure, making it easier to improve this in one place going forward.
What you will see in this update are fixes that removes a lot (but not all) strange artifacts, clipping issues, z-fighting issues etc. that typically was visible on the pad before. It also changes my architecture for external view pad rendering, making the visual quality issue mostly a 3D modelling problem.
Going forward I will try to improve the launch pad and pad environment models of Mercury and Gemini.
Gemini internal logic updates
Multiple updates and tuning has been implemented into the Gemini electrical system, the environmental control systems, and the horizon scanners.
Gemini Rendezvous Optics Sight
A "Cockpit Functions" menu has been added to the Gemini MISSION TOOLS UI. This will let you toggle a rendezvous optics sight (like a COAS) used during rendezvous. The optics sight can be used to center the flashing light of Agenda during coasting towards it after a rendezvous burn, and during final approach. It is not used for docking as Agena did not have a docking target for it.
Gemini: Reset Event Timer to 00:00
I added a QOL feature that will let you reset the digital event timer in Gemini to 00:00. This is to avoid having to spend time with the event timer time-set knob just to reset the timer. Stop the digital event timer (DET) and then use the UI to reset it before setting it with the time-set knob.
Gemini: CORE 19 (Tr, time to retro) shows time as MMM:SS
I have modified the output formatting of CORE 19 to instead of showing total seconds left to retrograde, it shows minutes and seconds. The Gemini OBC displays data through 5 digits. If you input 19 and press READ OUT 20 minutes before retrograde, the message will show 02000. This can be read as 020 minutes and 00 seconds, 020:00.
Depressing READ OUT on Core 19 shows time as 000:00. On the image above the message 02041 is shown, meaning 20 minutes and 41 seconds until retrograde.
Note: It will take some time to roll this out in the games content. I have so far updated the academy lessons to cover this, as well as the checklists. However, there still might be some references to it being in seconds somewhere.
Gemini: External illumination while in cockpit
I have made the light and reflection logic much more realistic while maneuvering the Gemini craft through the cockpit views. I have re-enabled the external reflection probes used to render earth shine and reflection on objects visible through the windows. The earlier builds had this disabled, making objects look flat and not properly illuminated while in the cockpit seats (external view had them enabled). I have tried to correct the reflection probe flickering whenever I have discovered them and will continue to iterate on it.
Historic Mission: Gemini-Titan 3
I have added a new historic mission to the game that puts you in the cockpit of Gemini-Titan 3. This mission did not have all audio available but I have tried to create a fun and interactive re-creation of the mission to the best of my effort and limitations of the sim.
I have also added some GT-3 mission specific cockpit toggles (MISSION TOOLS -> COCKPIT FUNCTIONS) that lets you toggle a Gemini-Titan 3 interactable flight plan:
And the famous Corn Beef Sandwich Young brought with him:
Patch notes:
- VR: Fixed Apollo Input Actions being disabled on load
- VR : First test implementation to start gathering data and experience reports of a VR Mouse cursor to allow using the mouse to interact with UI and cockpit during VR sessions.
- Mercury: Full revamp of the Mercury Academy
- Gemini: Full revamp of the Gemini Academy
- Updates to the Earth Atmosphere Renderer
- Increased cloud layer sampling to avoid the floating sliced used to build the cloud height
- Removed HDR/FP16 color banding
- Historic Mission: Gemini-Titan 3 - Molly Brown
- Corrections to the Insignia Graphics on Gemini and Apollo.
- Gemini: Added a Mission Tools function to reset the event timer to zero.
- Updates to Gemini internal electrical system, environmental control systems, horizon scanners.
- Gemini: Added the "Optical Sight"/COAS
- Gemini: Updates to reflection probe logic to allow the external probes to function while in the cockpit (as it works in the other programs) - let me know if you experience heavy flickering
- Gemini: Updated the model and materials of the external parts visible through the CDR/PLT window
- Gemini: Material updates and shader updates to Agena rendering
- Updates to the Gemini Mission Editor
- Gemini EVA: left/right trigger correction
- Fixes to the Apollo 13 historical mission
- Gemini OBC, Core 19, Time to Retro shows time in minutes:seconds (MMM:SS) instead of total seconds. You can override the missions Time to retro time stamp using the UI buttons, through mission control or insert total seconds to retrograde directly into Core 19.