The RTF LexxThe RTF Lexxis a ship inspired by the Lexxs as seen on the TV series Lexx and the movies "Tales from a Parallel Universe". It is not the Lexx but rather a ship designed from plans obtained by Caprican Scientist from the crew of the Lexx. The Lexx was a bio-mechanical ship capable of destroying planets with a single burst of its primary weapon. Like the Lexx the RTF Lexx is quite large at 10km but doesn't carry very much personal, equipment or cargo. It is intelligent and only answers to its Captain who has absolute control of Lexx. It features an FTL drive as seen in the series as well as bio-mechanical shuttles know as Moths.
Compatibility:It was compiled against the 2010 (100606) release version of Orbiter but it has been tested on the 2006P1 build and seems to work just fine.
Dan's UMMU and UCGO are required installs in order to have that functionality although it should work without them. It should go without saying that you will have no cargo or EVA without Dan's add-on.
The cargo capacity is 40 of the standard 1.3x1.3x1.3 meter cargo containers used by Dan's UCGO add-on. In addition to the UCGO compatibility it has minimal UMMU support in that it can carry 20 UMMU astronauts.
The Moth can carry 2 UMMU astronauts but no cargo as it is quite small.
Dan's site for download of UCGO:
http://orbiter.dansteph.comA word of warning: The ship was not really designed to be landed and be flown in atmosphere and if you land and eject cargo it will appear on the ground at about the midway point on the ship. This is also the cargo load area. I have included a yellow beacon at this location. If you decide to EVA while landed your astronaut will appear at the docking port at the tail end of the ship. Remember that the RTF Lexx is really big and it can take a long time to get an UMMU from the airlock to the cargo area which is almost 5km away.
Installation:You do this at your own risk. I am a computer support professional and there is nothing that I can see that would harm or disrupt your computer. That said; it is expected that you have a certain level of ability in the install and removal of software and especially in Orbiter add-ons. Don't go blaming me or my add-on if you frack up your system. If you are unsure about installation then JUST DON"T INSTALL IT. It is that simple.
Installation is pretty simple really. I keep the folder structure intact so all you have to do is decompress into your Orbiter folder and over write files when asked.
Removal is a little trickier because I use common folders for docs, textures and scenarios. If this is the only add-on of mine you have then remove the following folders and files.
Folders:
In the Doc folder remove the Rag Tag Fleet folder.
In the Scenarios folder remove the Rag Tag Fleet folder.
In the Textures2 folder remove the JTM folder.
Files:In Meshes remove the QJLexx.msh, QJLexxS.msh and QJMoth.msh
In Modules remove the QJLexx.DLL and QJMoth.dll
IN Config\Vessels remove the QJLexx.cfg and QJMoth.cfg
If you have other add-ons of mine and only want to remove this one then remove the files above. DO NOT remove any folders but do remove the relevant QJLexx and QJMoth files from the Rag Tag Fleet Scenario folder and Rag Tag Fleet Docs folder. Do not remove anything from the Textures2/JTM folder.
Using the add-on.I've included some basic scenario files with the Lexx in space, on the ground and separate ones with the Moth in space or on the ground. The Lexx also has a full complement of Moths in one of them.
Flight characteristics in atmo leave a bit to be desired. It's a spaceship and doesn't have aerodynamic control surfaces. This means that it relies completely on RCS and pure power to fly. That said, it does handle quite nicely but just be aware that you are not going to glide her in or fly level without using hover thrust.
The Moth on the other had flies great in atmo and has full aerodynamic surfaces. A word about wings. Wings don't do anything without atmosphere and the Moth is smart enough to know this so it will only flap its wings in atmosphere. Even a really, really thin one where it has limited effect but a flapping Moth is a happy Moth.
Here are all the keyboard functions:
SHIFT key with:
3 Cycle debug FTL values of 1 and 10 meters which can be handy to use at times.
5 Select Shuttle PAD
Lexx onlyCONTROL or Ctrl key with:
F8 Shut FTL HUD on and off
The Moth is default offF11 Spool up/down FTL Drive
F12 Jump
Just the Key:
3 FTL Scale factor down
4 FTL Scale factor up
J Launch Ship
G Enable/disable auto-dock
Lexx Only5 Cycle though views
F8 Show FTL star animation display from cockpit.
All standard Orbiter keys are supported.
UMMU keys are supported.
UCGO keys are supported.
***WARNING***
Nothing stops you from doing an EVA or launching shuttles or cargo while traveling with FTL drive. The problem is that you will leave behind whatever you launch because it is no longer with the ship and thus in normal space. Of course a big challenge is to eject something while in FTL and then turn around to recover it. I've never been able to do it. Can You?
FTL drive.
On the left side of the main screen is the FTL HUD information. The display is default on. The display is as follows.
Line 1: FTL STATUS
Line 2: OFF-LINE, ON-LINE, OFF-LINE IN: or ON-LINE IN:
Line 3: FTL FACTOR: ( 1 through 10 and adjusted via the 3 and 4 keys)
Line 4: FTL DRIVE: ENGAGED or DISENGAGED
FTL Navigation
The FTL drive will allow you to travel outside of normal space were normal physics don't apply and you can travel great distances very quickly.
"Flying though hyper space isn't like dusting crops"
Well in this case it kind of is. My FTL drive will get you into the general area of your objective rather than precisely to your objective. The direction of travel is where you are pointed so target alignment is subject to your skills.
FTL distance traveled.
At FTL factor 1 you travel 100000 meters every Orbiter time cycle. This doesn't sound like a lot but it does get you from the Earth to the Moon in about 1 minute. For the other FTL values I multiply by a number I just picked as reasonable to get you around the solar system. Factor 10 is insane and will get you to Jupiter in minutes. These FTL speeds are nothing like the ones on the TV show because on the show they traveled between solar systems and for us I 'm limited to ours. If at some point in the future Orbiter supports travel between multiple star systems I will adjust my FTL drive accordingly.
FTL Table
FTL Distance traveled in meters
1 100000
2 100000 * 3
3 100000 * 5
4 100000 * 10
5 100000 * 15
6 100000 * 20
7 100000 * 100
8 100000 * 250
9 100000 * 500
10 100000 * 10000 (Jupiter in minuets)
FTL navigation is quite simple and only approximate. I wanted to offer at least some challenge so basically you point and engage the drive. If you are in Earth orbit and want to go to Mars all you do is spool up the drive by pressing Ctrl F11, set the FTL value using the 3 & 4 keys, point yourself at Mars and press Ctrl F12. You will then eventually get into the general Mars area where you will press Ctrl F12 again to get out of FTL. Getting into a stable orbit is your problem from that point on. All of your velocities at the point of Warp entry are intact so you may have a challenge to get into orbit. You can leave the FTL drive ON-LINE but it does use fuel so keeping it always ON-LINE is not a good idea unless you like Sun diving. Ctrl F11 toggles between ON-LINE and OFF-LINE.
FTL Key recapCtrl F11 Put ON-LINE or OFF-LINE.
3 Decrease FTL value.
4 Increases FTL value.
Ctrl F12 Engage or Disengage the FTL drive.
Moth operations.
Very simple really. Select the Moth pad using
Shift 5. If there is no Moth docked you will see a white beacon light at the proper landing area of the selected pad while in external view. The HUD will also show the selected pad. If there is a Moth docked then pressing J will release the Moth . If you are setting the pad up for auto-dock then pressing G will do that for you. G will also toggle off auto-dock if on. The Moth will auto-dock when it is within 2 meters of the pad beacon light. The orientation of the Moth doesn't really matter but it should be at least upright. In the HUD you will see each pad number and an X or O under it. The X means there is a Moth there and the O means it is free.
Special parameter for the SCN file Lexx only.
There is a FTL FX display that may cause a problem with some graphics cards because it uses a semitransparent texture. If this is the case you can set the SCN param WSFX to 0 to disable the effect. So in the QJLexx section of the SCN file enter the param WSFX 0 to disable the effect . The default is set to 1 or enabled.
Credits etc.....
I wish to thank the following for their programs and inspiration.
Dr. Schweiger for letting us play with his toy.
All the people that are continuing his work and that have worked on this latest version.
All the people involved with Star Gate Universe for their TV show.
R. Steven Glanville for the Anim8or modeling program.
Dennis Krenz for his Anim8or to mesh script.
The members of the Rag Tag Fleet that tested this prior to release.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction intended to compliment Lexx. No infringement on copyrights, ideas or products is intentional on my part. All models other than the ones in Orbiter and Dan's add-ons were created by me based on information and pictures found on the Internet or derived from watching the TV shows. All textures were created by me from scratch or derived from freely available images on the internet. If you are a copyright holder and feel that I have infringed on your rights then feel free to contact me so that we can rectify any issues.
Everything in this add-on is a Copyright by Jon Marcure 2010 and cannot ever be sold for any reason. Models and textures can be used with my permission although I'm pretty easy on that and only would like credit for them if you do use them.
You can contact me via jtmarcure( at )gmail.com
Have fun with this add-on and remember to be nice to your Moths because they have feelings to. They also might not eat you.
Jon Marcure.
August 1, 2010
