Vehicle Simulator Reference Manual

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Table of contents

About Vehicle Simulator Minimal requirements Obtaining more content Getting help Getting support

Graphic Settings Water Settings Land Settings Other Settings Vehicle Settings

Changing the weather The time dialog The advanced weather

Running for the first time Starting the program

Selecting a situation

The main screen Controls and keys

Using the mouse

Adding animals Changing the scenery

Using the map

Changing the settings

Video Settings Sound Settings Joystick Settings

Adding vehicles Towing your vehicle

The auto pilot dialog The replay dialog The viewpoints dialog

Using the instruments Using the HUD

Using the weapons Using the GPS Using the Radar Radio Navigation

Playing online Scenery Design Vehicle Design

About Vehicle Simulator:

Vehicle Simulator was created by Ilan Papini first version released in October 2008.

Vehicle Simulator is based upon two older programs developed by Ilan - Micro Flight and Virtual Sailor,

the first was a full fledged flight simulator and the second being a full fledged marine simulator.

During the years of their existence the power of the personal computer and 3D graphics increased so much that it became

possible to combine the best of both worlds into one program containing :

Excellent first person ground level graphics.

Excellent naval environment both above and below water.

Excellent atmospheric simulation up to space.

Excellent vehicle simulation for land, naval and flying vehicles.

Vehicle Simulator is a complete rewrite and complete conceptual redesign based upon the two programs above, resulting in

a much denser scenery than before, excellent physical simulation, and scalable design allowing it to grow and containmore types of vehicles and objects.

The greatest benefit of all is offering a single platform for content development for both types of applications, allowing

flight simulation to happen over the same scenery as naval simulations, and for planes to land on vehicles and more.

cle Simulator reference manual http://www.hangsim.com/vsf/help/print.ht

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Vehicle Simulator includes an intuitive and simple scenery design inside the 3D environment, making it much simpler for

users to create and share content than before.

The program uses fully documented formats for creating scenery, vehicles and animals, users are encouraged to get a

hands on experience designing and making add-ons and to share them with others.

Advanced add-ons can be created using DLLs for instrument panels, animals and scenery objects, source code for such

DLLs is given as part of the program to encourage advanced users to develop high quality content for the program.

The program is fully compatible with scenery, boats and planes made for Virtual Sailor or Micro Flight, after installing

these add-ons the program imports them automatically and creates the new vehicle paramters needed for them to run.

Vehicles can be edited and created inside the program and accurate physical properties can be set for them and tested in

fligth or sail, making the program an excellet tool for learing the phyisical properties of these vehicles and their design.

Documentation and tools for designing scenery, vehicles and animals can be found on the websites of Vehicle Simulator.

www.hangsim.com/vsf

www.qualitysimulations.com/vsf

Minimal requirements for running Vehicle Simulator

Vehicle Simulator was designed to run on the average gaming machine specs available for 2008, however it can be

adjusted to run on machines with less performance.

Vehicle Simulator is built to use DirectX9 with vertex and pixel shaders 2.0 and volumetric textures.

It is essential that your computer has a video card which is compatible with DirectX9.

Minimum Requirements

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz, Intel Core 2.0 GHz, AMD Athlon 2000 or better

RAM: 1GB

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro or better

VRAM: 128MB of Graphics Memory

Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c CompatibleOS: Microsoft Windows XP or Vista or Windows 7

DirectX: DX9.0c or DX10

Obtaining more vehicles and scenery

Vehicle Simulator has several websites in which you can download more vehicles and scenery, and also get more

information about creating these add-ons, these sites are the main sites and from them you can access the partner sites

which offer much more content:

www.hangsim.com/vsf

www.qualitysimulations.com/vsf

To install vehicles and scenery follow this procedure:

Copy the add-on file into the directory of the program (typically "C:\Program Files\Vehicle Simulator")

Run the add-on file, and allow it to unpack itself.

Run the program and examine the new vehicle or new scenery.

Running Vehicle Simulator for the first time

When you run Vehicle Simulator for the first time you will see one or more of these input screens:

The registration screen:

This screen is required for the program to identify your registration, if you have purchased your program online please

enter the first and last name you used for purchasing and the email you received the program to and press Ask for key.

If your registration is found your key will be sent to you by email after pressing this button.


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After receiving the key, run the program again and enter the key into the textbox below, then press "Activate Key" button.

If you do not have a key press "Skip registration and run the program", this will run the program in demo mode until you

enter the key for it.

Starting the program

Upon start the program will show the opening screen, this screen can be used to select the situation you want to use or

adjust any of the program's settings.


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Selecting an existing situation

When you press "Load" the following screen will appear, this screen is also accessible from inside the main menu of the

program.


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On the left side of the screen you select the scenery from which you want the situation file to begin, on the right you see alist of available situations for this scenery.

After you select situation from the right side, you see the screenshot appear above, and the description below.

When you are ready to start the selected situation press "Start".

Changing the settings

When you press "Settings" the video dialog will appear, this screen has several tabs as well which select the settings you

can adjust for the program, these include video, sound and joystick.

The video settings

Press the "Video" tab to see the video settings, this will show the following screen:


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In this screen you can select whether you want to use the program in full screen mode or window mode, and set the size

and refresh rate of the full screen mode.

Using full screen modes allows the program to run faster when using lower resolutions as less computations for pixel

shaders are performed.

The benefit of using a windowed mode is that it allows the program to be minimized and run minimized, and also allows

resizing of the program's window to suit your needs.

The top of this dialog shows available screen modes, to select one of them, you need to clear the option "Render inside

window" and press "Accept".

The "Use 24 bit depth buffer" allows you to render the view with less artifacts near the horizon, these artifacts are

sometimes created when the distance of objects from camera is almost identical and the video card cannot tell which is

closer, this results in flickering of some polygons near the horizon, this mode is also necessary for showing proper shadows

in some cases.

The Graphic Quality settings allow you to adjust the general graphic quality of the program before you open any situation,and also during an open situation.

If your computer exhibits low frame rates in situations close to the ground or others, you may select "Best Speed" to test

how frame rates can be when all the high level features such as generated objects and vegetation are turned off.

If your computer does not meet the minimal specifications or you are experiencing low frame rates open this dialog

and select "Best Speed".

The sound settings

Press the "Sound" tab to see the sound settings, this will show the following screen:


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This screen allows you to set the volume for the wind, waves, engine and other sounds, to enable music and speech, and

select the voice of the speaker to use.

The program uses the built in Microsoft text to speech engine, you can customize speakers by downloading additional

speaker voices from the internet.

To play speech inside the program, select "Play speech when required" and select the voice of the speaker you wish to set

from the list of speakers above.

To play music inside the program enable the "Play music when required", this will play an opening music on the main

screen of the program and also play music on situation start.

You can customize the music you hear during the game, look inside the music directory to add or remove mp3 files.

The joystick settings

Press the "Joystick" tab to see the joystick settings, this will show the following screen:


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This screen allows you to select axes and sensitivities of joysticks you have attached and assign their inputs for the

program.

Vehicle Simulator allows up to 6 joysticks connected simultaneously, for each joystick you see one line on the list that

appear on the upper part of the dialog.

To select which axes you want to assign for these joysticks, select the joystick first from the list above, then assign the

actions you wish to set.

For each joystick the assigned actions are different, selecting engine for example for joystick number 1 will unselect this

option for the other joysticks on the list.

Each axis you assign will be drawn on the upper right corner so that you can see its function.

When the program starts for the first time it will select the default axes of your joystick according to the settings it detects,

to set default axis assignment press "Set Defaults".

Vehicle Simulator also supports POV hats, and also Track-IR with vector expansion, when Track-IR is detected you

will see an option called "Track-IR appear near the POV hat option box.

For each axis you wish to assign enable the check box near it's name, then select the type of action you wish to assign to

it, in addition, you can adjust its sensitivity or reverse it's action.

The button settings:

To assign buttons for each of these joysticks, press "Buttons", the following dialog will appear:


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This dialog is much simpler, to assign an action for any button from any joystick you have connected, select the type of

action from the list below, and press the button on the joystick, if the button is identified it will appear on the list beside

the action you selected and the joystick from which it was read.

When the program starts for the first time it will select the default buttons of your joystick according to the setting itdetects, if you wish to set this default selection again press "Defaults".

Some joysticks use buttons for mode selection, when this is the case some buttons appear pressed without actually

pressing them,

To ignore these buttons press "Ignore Selected" and then proceed to assign buttons normally.

The ignored buttons appear on the right side of the dialog without a red rectangle, the other buttons you press appear with

a red triangle.

To clear an assignment or to clear the ignore button list, press "Clear Selected".

To clear all button assignments press "Clear", to return to the axes assignment press "Axes".

The graphic settings

This option is available only while the situation is loaded, select it from the main menu or press "O" see the graphic

settings, these include three subcategories: water ,Land and others.

A good understanding of these settings is essential for using the program to it's maximum potential, please read this

section carefully.

The water settings

Press the "Water" tab to show the water settings, this will show the following screen:


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On the upper left corner you will find the sea surface settings, these select how to render the sea and which graphic

options to use.

Rendering a realistic looking water can be a very demanding task on your CPU and video card, for some situations it is

best not to use waves, but to show ripples only, for example using the program for flight simulation does not require

animated water in most cases, but water animation may be required when you fly close to the water or land upon water.

Reflection and refraction require some heavier computations, as they require the program to render the land and objects

more than once.

In order to speed up the rendering, water settings are used when altitude is low enough to appreciate them, at higher

altitude the water becomes more simple and default to ripples and next to shaded surface very high.

Foam is formed on water when waves are used and wind and wave swelling are large enough, the roughness and wave

shape of water surface can be adjusted using the "Wave Swelling" and "Water Bump" sliders.

These are the available sea modes:

Shaded ( no waves ) :

This is the fastest and the default mode of rendering for

the sea surface, suitable for flight and general sea

visualization.

Adjust the wave length and water bump to change the

appearance of water in this mode, the tones of water are

determined by the depth of bottom and the color of the

sea.


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Refraction ( no waves) :

One of the best looking water modes, require more

processing power to render, to make objects appear in

refraction enable "Objects in Refs".

To see caustics above and below water enable "ShowCaustics".


appearance of water in this mode, the color of water is

determined by the color of the sea.

Reflection + Refraction ( no waves ) :

This is the most realistic and demanding sea mode,

suitable for shallow waters and relatively calm sea.

To see caustics above and below water enable "Show

Caustics".


appearance of water in this mode, the color of water is

determined by the color of the sea.

Shaded with waves:

This mode is best suitable for simulating ships and

seaplanes, refraction and reflection can be used as well,

but realism is adequate when shaded is used.

Adjust the wave length, wave swelling and water bump to

change the appearance of water in this mode, the color of

water is determined by the color of the sea.


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The view underwater:

Using all these sea modes will of course effect the

underwater view as well, basically underwater view is

dominated by the reflection of underwater view on the

surface of the water, so the most realistic views

underwater will be the last two modes above, usingrefraction will also allow you to see a "fish eye" view of

above water view.

Select "Show Caustics" to enable caustic lighting on the

bottom, and also show god rays.

In addition to setting the sea mode, you can adjust the color of the sea. use the three sliders to adjust the color by red,

green and blue.

Wave are rendered more densely close to the camera, depending upon the number of polygons used for rendering thewaves.

You can control the number of these polygons by using the "Wave Polygons" slider.

Wave swelling controls the shape of the waves, no swelling will make the waves very smooth, while high swelling will

make them choppy and breaking.

Water bump controls the intensity of water ripples, this is the main control for the sea without waves.

Wave length provides additional control over wave shape, use longer waves to create long swells, and shorter waves to

make ordinary wind driven waves.

The basic wave height is set in the weather dialog.

Water level adjusts the level of water in the entire scenery, water of different elevation is not possible.

Any water level may be set, slide the slide over and over again until the desired level is set.

Underwater visibility set the maximal viewing distance underwater.

Show Caustics is used to show caustics on sea bottom and objects, and also to show the god rays emanating from the sun.

The underwater settings, are found in the middle of the water dialog, you can select the type and complexity of the sea

bottom you wish to see, and also the properties of the water.

Additional under water effects:

Vehicle Simulator supports underwater scenery, when such scenery exists, the objects underwater will be shown with

caustics as well.

Marine life can be added to make the view more alive, rocks, plants and particles ( or little bubbles ) can be shown by theprogram even if not defined in the scenery itself.

The program creates by default particles, rocks and plants using standard textures read from the scenery, and allows you

to adjust their size and density, the five sliders on the right side of this dialog control these settings.

The land settings

Press the "Land" tab to show the land settings, this will show the following screen:


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This dialog adjusts the appearance of land and the objects upon it.

Maximal Distance, adjusts the land so that it appears dense even at a great distance from camera, the disadvantage of this

is that when you rotate the camera the land has to be calculated again to maintain this high level of detail, turn this option

off if you want to fly or rotate your view quickly.

Object Shadows, causes objects to cast shadows, these shadows are seen on vegetation and on dense land textures, if none

of these is enabled the shadows will not be seen.

Bump Texture, makes the land textures appear sharper due to pre calculated bump applied on them, this method is fasterthan applying bump continuously but requires the land to be re calculated when time of day changes by at least two hours.

Mip Mapping, allows the land textures to be reduced in size far from camera while maintaining the same visual

appearance.

Scenery Scan, allows the program to check if scenery has changed and load new one, based upon the geographic

coordinates at camera position.

Use this option always unless you wish to navigate away from scenery borders and prevent the scenery from being

unloaded.

Generated Objects, these objects are generated automatically by the program and appear relative to ground texture, see

object design for more information about creating and changing these objects, turn this option off if you wish to see aclean scenery with highest possible frame rates.

Dense Textures, these are the textures that appear as you go near the ground, upon these textures shows are drawn and

vegetation appears, these textures greatly increase the visual experience close to the ground, however are computationally

heavy as they use pixel shaders.

Vegetation, are arrays of plants or trees that are generated by the program and occluded upon objects or roads, greatly

increase the visual experience close to the ground, computationally heavy, as they include tens of thousands of elements,

turn off when high frame rate close to the ground is required, see object design for more information about creating and

customizing vegetation.

Aerial Photos, each scenery can have one or more areas of photorealistic textures defined, these are defined inside the

scenery files, and override the default land texture and vegetation.Whenever defined, these photos enhance the realism of the scenery, but can be turned off to allow the default generated

texture to appear instead.

Land Polygons, are the number of polygons rendered for the land, you can increase this number to make land appear more


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dense far from camera, or turn on "Maximal Distance" at the expense of speed of rendering.

Shadow Altitude, is the altitude at which shadows and dense textures begin to appear, you can adjust this value to make

land appear more dense close to the ground.

Object Visibility, is the maximum distance for which user defined objects or generated objects are visible, the greater it is

the slower rendering will become.

Object Complexity, controls the density of arrays of all types, vegetation and user defined, increasing will make scenery

appear more dense at the expense of rendering speed.

Object Desnsity, controls the amount of automatic objects to be rendered, since the number of these objects can be very

big, loading and rendering times may be long, you can reduce these times by reducing the number of objects rendered.

Update Step, controls the distance between object loading points, when distance travelled is greater than update step, the

program releases far objects and load new objects, the greater the distance the more you can fly without delays, however

this will increase the time required to load objects as more objects need to be updated.

The Other settings

Press the "Other" tab to show the other settings, this will show the following screen:

Show Thermals, this option allows you to see thermals, even ones at a great distance from the camera.

there is a more sophisticated way to see thermal activity and more, and that is to see the flow field.

The flow field, is a unique Vehicle Simulator feature which allows you to see the flow field around the camera, points of

rising air are visualized as red lines, while sinking air is drawn as blue lines, the length of these lines is proportional to the

air speed at this point.

Using this dialog you can show or hide this field, change its density, and size around camera position.

Interesting atmospheric effects can be see using this filed, like the doughnut shaped thermal flows, cloud updrafts and

micro bursts, ridge effects and more.


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This screen also allows you to adjust current speed and direction, all objects floating on water are subject to this current.

Layered Fog, is one of the most visually pleasing and innovative features in Vehicle Simulator, enable it always if you wish

to enjoy a realistic atmospheric view, disable it to make atmosphere simpler with a uniform fog, the altitude at which fog ismaterializing can be adjusted in the weather dialog, using fog altitude.

Wind Shadows are the effects of wind obstruction between boats usually, when sailing in close proximity of each other,

and one boat is upwind of the other, wind may be partially obscured by it, effecting the boat downwind, this option

enables this effect and will influence all types of vehicles.

Wind Gusts, enables the turbolence and wind gusts, the actual paramters of wind gust can be found inside the advancedweather options dialog.

CPU idle time, controls how much time you wish the CPU to spend outside of the program, normally to get maximum

performance you need to set this time to 0, however you may force the program to give way some of the time and allow

other tasks, this slider controls this time and indirectly the CPU load that can be used by the program.

Simulation Step, this is the minimal time step used by the program for each update of its physical simulation, the

smaller it is the more stable the calculation will be and the more accurate, however it will also cost more CPU

resources, edpecially for multiple vehicles, and multiple collisions and reactions, a typical value for best accuricy will

be 5 ms, while for loose accuricy and better speeds, 50 ms is enough.

The vehicle settings

Press the "Vehicle Options" button to show the vehicle settings, this will show the following screen:


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Vehicle Shadow is implemented using several methods, shaders are used for creating soft shadows upon the vehicle itself,

inside it, or upon grass and ground at low altitude, high above the ground another method is used, and shadow becomes

sharper.

Enable vehicle shadow and vehicle shaders if you wish to see advanced and realistic vehicle view, with reflection, bump

maps, and self shadow, however the cost is lower frame rates.

Vehicle Labels, are the small labels that appear on vehicles, these make it easier for you to see where vehicles are and at


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what distance they are at.

Show Waypoints, this option draw waypoints as rotating 3D objects, and allows you to see them accurately, to increase

navigation realism turn this option off.

Tool Tips, are the hints that appear as you press your mouse upon a control or instrument on the panel.

G Effects, are the gray or red screens that appear as you pull your positive or negative g, this imitates the effects felt by

pilots pulling positive or negative g and is called blackout and redout respectively.

Check Limits, and Check Collision, these options detect stress and impact on your vehicle and break it when its limits are

exceeded.

Wide Fov, this option sets the camera field of view to a normal 45 degree view or a wide 57 degree view, press F7 to

toggle this option on/off.

Auto Zoom, tracks your vehicle while tower view is selected, press F6 to toggle this option on/off in tower view.

Helicopter effects, enable this option to make helicopters more realistic to fly, and include effects such as translational lift

effect, sink under power and torque, disable this option to make helicopter flight auto coordinated and more enjoyable.

Show Flight Path, use this option to see the path flown by your vehicle in 3D, press Shift P to toggle this path on/off.

Flight path is also visible when you show the replay screen.

Loop Waypoints, use this option to make navigation looping, making your first waypoint active as soon as you reach the

last one.

Show Navaids, is a new feature built into Vehicle Simulator, when navigation aids are selected for your vehicle, you can

see them visually and learn to navigate by them, these include VOR, ADF, ILS and typically looks like this picture.

See Panel Outside, allows panels of boats or planes to be see when outside of vehicle cabin, however this slows down the

rendering a bit.

Boat View Upright, when enabled allows boat view to be aligned with the horison, similar to the tendency of the human

head to follow the horizon when the boat pitch and rolls, diabling this option allows better feel of the wave motion but can

cause uneasy feeling for the observer.

Dampen Roatations, allows smoother and more predictable motion of boats and other vehicles, but can reduce turning

rates, especially when simulation step is large.

Land On Objects, allows the camera and vehicles to detect horizonal object surfaces quickly and not penetrate through

them, slow rendering a little and can prevent the camera or vehicle from entering structures such as hangars and buildings.

Free View HUD, when enabled shows the direction of the camera on the HUD, when disabled shows the direction of the

vehicle, when working with free view HUD remember that the compass heading is not the direction of your vehicle but

the direction of your view.

Limited Ammo, when this option is enabled the amount of cannon shells is limited, the number of stores is limited, and


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unless you reload will be depleted when fired.

Heat Plume, this option enables heat plume to be seen instead of smoke for jet engines, this option can slow down

rendering.

See Controls, this option shows the controls mini panel, on the lower right side of the screen, there you can see the state of

elevator, rudder, throttles, and ailerons.

Full Color, this option loads vehicle textures in full color, although smoother to see, it uses more texture memory and

might not be suitable for loading very large models.

Simple Chase, when enabled the chase view tracks the vehicle only in yaw and not in pitch, when diabled chase view also

tracks in pitch.

Collision Horn, when enabled boats that detect collision course, will sound the horn to warn each other.

Wind Shadows, when enabled will detect wind obstructions between boats and will effect the appearant wind felt on the

boat which is downwind of the obstruction.

Getting help

Press the "Help" tab to see the help options, these include four items: keys , about, manual and website.

Press the "Keys" tab to show you a list of keys used by the program, this list is also available inside the program pressing

K.

Press the "About" tab to show you short information about this program including your serial number.

Press the "Manual" tab to show you this help.

Press the "Website" to see the main website of Vehicle Simulator at www.hangsim.com/vsf

The main menu

Press "Start" to enter the program and start your selected situation, this will show you the program main screen.

When you move your mouse to the upper part of the screen the main menu will appear.

The main menu has access to all functions of the program, these include:

Situation - loading a situation, saving a situation, exit the program.


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Change - managing vehicles, changing scenery, changing weather, managing animals.

Design - designing textures, vegetation and objects in your scenery.

Network - shows the net play connectivity dialog, activates the chat window.

Options - Allows you to adjust settings for the video, sound, joystick and the graphics of the program.

Help - Shows you the keys used in the program and the information about this program and your serial number

Controls and keys

Vehicle Simulator has three ways of controlling vehicles :

click and drag of the mouse, using the joystick and using the keyboard.

These are the keys used by the program to activate all of these functions:

Simulation and time:

F3 - lower sim rate

F4 - increase sim rate

F10 - pause simulation

Shift + F3 - lower sim rate ( unlimited )

Shift + F4 - increase sim rate ( unlimited )

Shift + M - toggle FPS and application data

Escape - pause and show exit

Camera controls:

PgDn lower camera or vehicle

PgUp raise camera or vehicle

Z - zoom inX - zoom out

Shift + Z - normal FOV

Shift + X - normal FOV

Shift + V - Viewpoints

Shift + T - Telescope

Home - move forward

End - move back

Numkey5 - center view

Numkey4 - pan leftNumkey6 - pan right

Numkey8 - pan up

Numkey2 - pan down

Numkey9 - move forward

Numkey7 - move back

Numkey3 - move right

Numkey1 - move left

Numkey. - move up

Numkey0 - move down

Control + Space - center view

Control + Left - pan leftControl + Right - pan right

Control + Up - pan up

Control + Down - pan down


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Mouse + Rbutton - pan camera

Vehicle selection:

Tab - change vehicle

Shift + Tab - change view point

Control + Tab - change and track

F1 - attach to vehicle - cockpit view

F2 - chase view - detach from vehicleF5 - toggle tower view

F6 - toggle auto zoom ( in tower view )

F7 - toggle wide view ( in cockpit view )

Mouse wheel - zoom ( in cockpit view )

Mouse wheel - change distance ( in chase view )

Panels and screens:

K - show keys

M - show map

N - show NAVH - toggle HUD

P - toggle panel

A - show auto pilot

W - show weather

V - show vehicles

O - show options

R - show Radar

Shift + P - show vehicle path

Shift + W - show wireframe

Shift + G - show GPS

Shift + V - show viewpointsShift + T - Telescope

Shift + N - Echo sounder

Shift + R - show marine radar

Control + P - select panel

F8 - replay mode

F9 - show messages

F12 - show chat window

Shift + F8 - show scripts

Escape - close any open dialog or show exit

Vehicle controls:

PageDn - lower/repair vehicle

PageUp - raise/repair vehicle

J - toggle joystick on/off

Shift + J - toggle sound on/off

Joystick axes - move selected controls

Joystick buttons - do selected actions

Mouse + Left button - control stick ( joystick off )

Mouse + Left button - pick and manipulate ( joystick on )

Mouse + Left + Shift - pick and hold controls


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Up - stick forwards

Down - stick backwards

Left - stick left

Right - stick right

Space - center controls

Shift + Up - throttle up

Shift + Down - throttle downShift + Left - rudder left

Shift Right - rudder right

Shift + Space - throttle to idle

Backspace - shoot

Shift + Backspace - change weapon

Control + Backspace - reload weapons

Insert - trim down

Delete - trim up

Shift + A - auto pilot on/off

Control + A - animation on/off

B - brakes on/off

Shift + B - parking brakes

C - cable or hook on/off

Shift + C - attach anchor

Control + C - open canopy

D - deploy parachute

Shift + D - dock boat

Control + D - open doors

D - fill ballast tanks

Shift + D - empty ballast tanks

E - engine on/off

Shift + E - reverse engine

F - lower flaps

Shift + F - raise flaps

G - gear up/down

G - running on/off ( hang glider, para glider)

Shift + H - play horn

S - lower spoilers

Shift + S - raise spoilers

Control + S - seep wings

L - cockpit light on/off ( not in replay )

Shift + L - flood light on/off

T - adjust trim

1,2,3,4 - select view point in cockpit

Shift + Tab - toggle view point

5 - throttle down


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6 - throttle up

7 - lower prop pitch

8 - increase prop pitch

9 - leaner mixture

0 - richer mixture

F8 - replay modeF11 - eject/return to vehicle

[ - left throttle up

] - right throttle up

Shift + [ - left throttle down

Shift + ] - right throttle down

Sail boat controls:

Insert - Jib sail upDelete - Jib sail down

PageUp - Main sail up

pageDn - Main sail down

Shift + Insert - Jib sail up

Shift + Delete - Jib sail down

S - spinnaker on/off

Shift + S - auto sail on/off

Using the mouse

Vehicle Simulator is very intuitive to use, any control on the vehicle or its panel can be manipulated using the left mouse

button, the direction of view can be rotated in all directions using the right mouse button.

When the camera is attached to a vehicle the left mouse button will manipulate controls you pick, the right mouse button

will change view direction.

When the camera is free of any vehicle the left mouse button will allow you to move forward inside the scenery, the right

mouse button will change your direction.

The mouse wheel can be used to zoom in or out if you are onboard a vehicle, or move forward or back if you are outside

it.

When onboard a vehicle you can move freely and see any point of view you like, to move to a desired location use the

camera keys, you can store this point of view for later use by pressing Shift + V to show views, and add this view to

the list.

Almost any control you have on a vehicle or an instrument panel can be manipulated my the mouse, if the control can be

manipulated pressing the left mouse button upon it will show you a tool tip.

Many instruments can be manipulated directly with the mouse, for example the GPS, RADAR, MAP and NAVall can

be manipulated using the mouse even if they appear on the panel of a vehicle and not directly on screen.

Adding and selecting vehicles

Press V to show the vehicle selection dialog, this dialog consists of three categories; index, vehicles and options.


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The vehicle index

This is the dialog which lets you select your own vehicle by its name and type.

When you select the type from the type box only vehicles of this type will appear on the upper list.

After selecting the vehicle from the list above, the properties of this vehicle will be shown below and its picture will

appear above.

Press "Select Vehicle" to select this vehicle as your own vehicle, if you had another vehicle, this vehicle will be added and

placed in the same position as the vehicle you had.

The vehicles dialog

This is the dialog that lets you manage the vehicles in the scene, using it you can add vehicles, remove vehicles and adjust

some settings for each vehicle.


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On the right side of this dialog you see the list of vehicles in scene, on the right side you see a list of available vehicles.

To add a vehicle to the ones in scene, select it from the right side list and press "Add Vehicle", after that you will see this

vehicle appear on the left side list.

To remove a vehicle from scene, select it from the left side list and press "Remove Vehicle", it will be removed from the

scene and left side list.

If you wish to replace your existing vehicle with one of the available vehicles, select it from the left side list, and press"Select vehicle".

This dialog also lets you tow or be towed, vehicle tows can be ground tows, land tows, or aerial tows.

Towing your vehicle

You can tow your vehicle by a ground vehicle, or by an another airplane, to select towing method, first be inside the

vehicle you wish to tow, and then select towing method from the buttons below.

To have another vehicle tow you, you must be in control of one vehicle and then select the towing vehicle from the list

on the left side, and press "Tow me", this option is suitable for case where you wish to have the vehicle in front of you tow

you.

To have a ground vehicle added and tow your vehicle, you select the option "Ground tow" on the right side of the

dialog, this will add a dummy vehicle which only functions as a ground towing point and disappears as soon as you release

your tows.

To have a real vehicle be added in front of your vehicle, and tow your vehicle, select the option "Vehicle tow", this will

actually add another vehicle at cable length in front of you and set its auto pilot to tow your vehicle.

For each of the three towing options, you have also some paramters you can adjust, these include:

Constant tension.

Constant length.

Cable length.Cable force.

Towing speed. ( ground tow only )

You can select either a cable with fixed force and variable length, or a cable with a fixed length and variable force, the

safest method to tow is the fixed force cable, this is the default method used.


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To adjust the speed, force or length of cable enter the values you wish into the text boxes below, these values are set by

the program according to the weight of the vehicle you select, but you can modify them as needed.

To select a ground tow press "Ground Tow".

To select an aerial tow, be inside the vehicle you tow, and select the towing plane for the right side list, then press "Vehicle

Tow".

To release the vehicle you are towing or ones that are towing you, press "Release all tows".

The Vehicle Adjustment dialog

Press the "Vehicle Adjust" button to show the vehicle settings, see details of this screen below.


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This screen allows you to adjust quickly some of the vehicle state, here you can enable the auto pilot, turn on the engine,

refuel the vehicle, reload weapons and repair a broken or sunken vehicle.

You can also adjust the altitude, heading and speed of any selected vehicle.

Any vehicle can have a replay loaded and saved, replays are available immediately as you fly, or also after the flight is

over, provided you have saved the replay for the vehicle you are interested in.

When you are loading a replay, the vehicle for this replay is also loaded, and the replay plays continuousely and functionsas a traffic vehicle in the area in which it was recorded.

The Auto Pilot dialog

Any type of vehicle has its own auto pilot with its own functions, for planes the auto pilot screen contains automatic

landing and take off as well as the elevation, heading, rate of climb, collision avoidance and navigation.

Press A to show the auto pilot screen, this is the layout for airplanes :

The auto pilot layout is based upon the Bendix/King auto pilot family, the functions of the buttons are:

AP - enables or disables the autopilot functionality.

HDG - enables the heading control, when pressed sets the current heading as the value to maintain, pressing the left andright arrows on the right side of the instrument changes the heading by 10 degress.

NAV - enables waypoint navigation, when active the and waypoints exist, they take precedence over the heading function.


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ALT - enables the altitude control, when pressed sets the current altitude as value to maintain, pressing the up and down

arrows on the right side of the instrument changes the altitude by 500 ft.

ROC - enables the rate of climb control, when pressed sets the current rate of climb as value to maintain, pressing the up

and down arrows on the right changes the rate of climb by 100 ft/min.

COL - avoids collision with land, when imminent collision is detected throttle and steering are used and take precedence

over all other functions.

LIFT - this function attempts to find best lift when flying a glider or without engine power.

LAND - this function auto lands the airplane at nearest runway when available.

TO - this functions performs automatic take off, turning on engine, turning off brakes, and establishes a climb untill 500 ft

AGL is reached.

Press A to show the auto pilot screen, this is the layout for boats :



HDG - enables the heading control, when pressed sets the current heading as the value to maintain, pressing the left and

right arrows on the right side of the instrument changes the heading by 10 degress.


SPD - enables the speed control, when pressed sets the current speed as the value to maintain, pressing the up and down

arrows on the right side of the instrument changes the speed by 5 knots.



SAIL - sets the auto sail function for the sailboats, when enabled sails are adjusted to be optimally oriented to the

appearent wind, also when enabled the boat will try to avoid sailing into the wind.

The Replay dialog

Press the "Replay" button to show the following screen, you can also press F8 to show this screen.

The replay mode, stores up to 5 minutes of vehicle replay, you can scroll through this replay, go back to a moment you

wish, and then play it again.


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You can also exit the replay at any moment and continue the flight from there, for example, when you practice a difficult

maneuver, you can go over and over again to a point in time, and make the maneuver differently, the replay will record

every attempt you made and will you them all if you choose.

Replays can also be saved and used as traffic in the same position they were recorded.

To save the replay of your current vehicle, press "Save My Replay".

When you load a replay it also loads the vehicle the replay was recorded on.

The replay dialog also shows the flight path, so you can see the replay path, you can also turn on this path by pressing

Shift + P.

When loading a replay, the vehicle loaded will be in a looping replay mode, you can press "Clear My Replay" to turn off

this mode.

The View Points dialog

Press the "View Points" button to show the following screen, you can also press Shift + V to show this screen.

This dialog becomes active once you have a vehicle, then you have the following view options:

Pilot View - sets you at the cockpit, with default point of view for this vehicle.

Chase View - sets the camera in chase view around the vehicle, you can move the camera with the mouse.

Remote View - sets the camera in a stationary position outside the vehicle, you can move the camera with the mouse.

Leave vehicle - releases control of the vehicle and moves the camera outside, you can undo this by pressing Pilot View.

The list on the left side shows you views you have defined and saved, you can select any of them from the list to go

quickly to this point, when you are in pilot view you see through this point, when you are in chase view you see around

this point.

You can move your point of view with the three sliders, you can move the X, Y, Z coordinates of the view relative to the

vehicle's body, you can also move your point of view using the mouse and keyboard.

Once you wish to save your position as a new view press "Add Position", when you wish to delete the last position press

"Delete Position", all of these positions are saved in a file called views.cfg inside the vehicle directory.

There is a great similarity between the file views.cfg, lights.cfg and smokes.cfg, all of these files are in the same

format and are all relative to the vehicle's body, you can easily measure positions on the vehicle and add views, thus

creating a file you can use for other purposes as well.

The Scripts dialog


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Press the "Show Scripts" button to show the following screen, you can also press Shift + F8 to show this screen.

In this screen you see for each vehicle in the scene, if a script is loaded and the state of its execution.

A script is a set of commands which operate on a higher level that the vehicle auto pilot, and control the behavior of the

vehicle for a specific task and time, for example "takeoff" or "land" are high level script commands that make the vehicle

perform a series of operations untill a certain situation is reached.

If your vehicle shows very abrupt response to auto pilot commands, you can adjust the auto pilot gain, using vehicle

design mode, a safe value can be 0.5, then save the properties for this vehicle.

For detailed explanation of the script language used see the Script Readme.

The script dialog, can be used to load a script of your choice from the scripts directory of the program, to clear an assigned

script and to set the point of execution inside a script.

When you save a situation, the script or replay loaded for each vehicle are saved as well, and function as soon as this

situation is reloaded.

Changing the weather

The Weather dialog

Press W to show the weather dialog, this dialog consists of four categories; weather, time, forecast and advanced.

The weather category is for changing current weather and time, selecting it shows the following dialog:


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In this dialog you adjust all aspects of weather you can control, this includes sea and atmospheric conditions.

Vehicle Simulator allows you to select three altitudes of primary atmospheric effects, these are the cloud base, the fog

altitude and the cloud tops.

The Cloud Base effects the base of the clouds and also the thermal activity, thermals are strongest below the cloud base,

and gradually diminish until cloud top is reached.

The Fog Altitude effects the visibility and layered fog effect, it can be set to be equal to cloud base, to form a typical

atmosphere, or to lower to form a typical morning fog covering the low valleys.

The Cloud top is used to set the top layer of clouds, typically of type cirrus.

You can have low clouds and high clouds, and control the coverage of both, you can also control the thickness of the

lower clouds, which are typically of cumulus type.

Volumetric clouds are visually 3D, and also exhibit atmospheric activity, they can produce updrafts below them and

downdrafts around, typically resulting in a doughnut shaped flow.

You can control the amount of thermal activity produced by volumetric clouds by adjusting "Cloud Suck" in the advanced

weather dialog.

The Time dialog

Selecting the time tab will show the following screen.


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This screen will allow you to set time of day and exact date and year, this will set the sun, moon and stars to the exact

orientation they have in the sky depending of time and the location you are in.

In addition, you can also control the amount of visible stars for the purpose of navigation and oreintation on the night sky.

Press Set Time To Now to set time in the program to your local time, the position of sun is determined by the time position

and date.

Vehicle Simulator calculates the orientation of sun, moon and stars according to standard astronomic calculations,

however deviation from reality may occur.

Selecting the forecast tab will show the following screen.

On this dialog you can set the weather conditions to be used at the time specified as forecast time, the weather then


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changes smoothly between the weather conditions defined on the weather dialog, and the conditions defined on this

forecast dialog.

When forecast time is reached, a new forecast is automatically generated and the forecast time is set to 6 hours ahead of

currect time.

Weather forecast can be turned off to make your flying or sailing experience predictable and constant, use the advanced

weather dialog to enable or disable the weather forecast.

The Advanced dialog

Selecting the advanced tab will show the following screen.

This dialog allows you to control some of the advanced atmospheric features of Vehicle Simulator.

You can control thermals, changing their existence, density, radius, strength and visibility.

You can control vertical gust activity inside clouds, this creates some well known effects such as micro burst and more,

and can be very dramatic to fly through.

You can enable wind gusts, and control its frequency, strength, horizontal and vertical components.

You can enable the wind shadows, which are the effects of wind obstruction between boats sailing close to each other,although the effect is active for all types of vehicles, the most common use is for sail boat overtaking tactics.

You can also turn on or off the weather forecast, using the weather forecast makes the weather change between the

current weather conditions defined in the weather dialog, and the forecast weather conditions defined in the forecast

weather dialog.

Pressing the other options opens the advanced atmospheric options which overlap and complement the advanced weather

options.

See more on this page


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Adding animals

Vehicle Simulator allows you to add many different types of animals, the program was made to have additional types of

animals created as add-ons, and also to have their behavior fully customizable by add-on makers.

Select from the main menu Change Animals to show the animals dialog, or press Shift + A.

On the left side you will see the list of existing animals in the scene, you can add up to 64 animals of any type to the

scene.

On the right side you see a list available types of animals, for each one you select you will see a picture and a short

description below.

To add animals select the type you want from the right side list and press "Add", to remove animals select the type you

want from the left side list and press "Remove".


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Each animal is visible once the observer is close enough to it, if for example, you add shallow water fish they will be

visible only at shallow water, for each animal there is also a different behavior, for example, sea gulls will not wish to fly

at night or in rain and will head off to shelter.

Animals can be also created by users as add-ons, there can be simple animals and also more elaborate ones defined

by a dynamic link library.

Changing scenery

Vehicle Simulator supports a global scenery model, this means that whenever your vehicle is inside any scenery boundary

the appropriate scenery is loaded for this area.

Scenery boundary extends in 3D as well, if your vehicle is above 80000 ft scenery is unloaded and the global scenery is

loaded instead, global navigation is possible inside and outside of scenery borders, and your coordinates are used to

determine your position upon the globe.

You can conduct flights inside or outside of atmosphere up earth orbit, once you enter the atmosphere you can land in any

scenery you choose.

Sceneries can be made for smaller area inside a larger scenery area, when the vehicle enters this area the more

detailed scenery is loaded.

To disable this option by turn off "scan scenery" in the graphic options dialog.

To change your position and your scenery, press Change Scenery from the main menu or press "M" to show the map.


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Each of the existing sceneries is shown on the map as a rectangular bright area, and also is seen on the right side list.

You can add more scenery areas by downloading them from the websites of Vehicle Simulator, or by importing digital

topographic maps directly.

To select the area of interest, select them from the map, then zoom in until you see the area on the map clearly, and then

press "Move to point", this will move your vehicle into this position and scenery.

When several sceneries overlap for the position you selected, the more detailed area will be loaded.

Scenery scanning

When several sceneries overlap for the position you selected, the more detailed area will be loaded.

However you can control this behavior, for the purpose of using the scenery you desire instead of the scenery the program

selects automatically, to disable the automatic scenery selection disable the "Scenery Scan" inside the land options dialog.

When scenery scan is turned off, you can manually select the scenery to use, using the Change -> Scenery dialog, this

allows you to use multiple scneries defined for the area you are in, for example using the Aegean_sea instead of the

"Aegean_sea_west", etc..


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Using the map

The most important tool in Vehicle Simulator is the map, learning to operate the map properly is the key to exploiting the

full capacity of the program.

Press M to show the map dialog, the map can be marine or aeronautical map, to select the type of map use the "Marine"

option at the bottom of the map.

By default the marine map has topographic lines of sea depth, and the aeronautical map has topographic lines of land

elevation data.

To see the distribution of objects upon the map press "Objects", the automatic objects are shown in yellow, the user

objects are shown in red.

Zoom out until you see the borders of your scenery, part of the world map, and other scenery areas.

You can create waypoints between these sceneries and navigate to them.


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Moving around on the map:

To move quickly between sceneries press the press the Scn icon on the bottom part of the map, then select the scenery of

your choise, then press Accept, you will see the selected scenery appear on the map, but not loaded yet, then select your

position using the map cursor, and then press "Goto", this loades the selected scenery and moves your view and vehicle to

the selected position.

The top two buttons are used for zooming in and out, to move the map simply click on the map and drag it with your

mouse, to center your view press the camera position button.

Moving objects on the map:

Vehicles and waypoints can be moved on the map, to do so press the "move selected item" button, pick the object and

drag it to the new position, press this button again to exit this mode.


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You can also move the camera or your vehicle to a desired location, to do so pick on the desired location on the map and

then press the "move to point" button, if you were onboard a vehicle the vehicle is moved, if your camera was free only

the camera will be moved.

Measuring distances:

Press the "measure distance" button and then move your mouse around your position, the distance between you and the

selected point as well as the azimuth to it will be shown on the map, once done measuring, press this button again to exit

this mode.

Any point you pick in measure mode, is also copied to the clipboard, this is particularly useful when designing a scenery,

see more on that below.

Managing waypoints and routes:

In Vehicle Simulator you can have up to 64 waypoints, these waypoints are shared between all vehicles in the scene,

however you may assign different waypoints to each vehicle, thus creating different routs for each vehicle.

To add a waypoint pick the desired position on the map and click the "add waypoints" button, to remove a waypoint,

select it on the map and click the "delete waypoint" button.

To assign a waypoint as the next waypoint for any vehicle you wish, select the vehicle on the map, select the waypoint onthe map and press the "set next waypoint" button.

Instrument panels

Vehicle Simulator has two types of instrument panels, the ones you see directly on screen, and the ones you see attached

to vehicles.

These panels function in the same way, all their instruments and switches work when you manipulate them with your

mouse, and the data they show is related to the vehicle you control.

Press P to show the panel, this will show you a panel specific to the vehicle you control, for example the panel for planes

looks like this:

The onboard panel of this type looks like this:


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Panels can be used also in tower view of your vehicle, and you can control it from a distance like a radio controlled

vehicle.


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Any vehicle can show any panel you wish to show, press Control + P to show panel selection dialog.

Using the HUD

The head up display or HUD is used to show vital flight information around your point of view, press H to show the HUD.

The HUD is also used in some instrument panels, and displays the same data as the onscreen HUD.

These are the types of data displayed on the HUD:


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The heading shown on the HUD can be the true heading of the vehicle, or can be the heading of camera view, to

select camera heading select "Free View HUD" from the vehicle options dialog.

Using the weapons

Any vehicle can be configured to carry weapons, weapon types include; bombs, cannons, rockets, guided missiles and

torpedos.

To select a weapon press Shift + Backspace, this will cycle between existing weapons and show you the selected type in

the HUD view.

Weapon will only be selected for vehicles which have a weapons defined.

When a guided missile is selected a diamond shape will appear on the HUD and a lock tone will be heard when another

vehicle is in view, this means the weapon is locked on the other vehicle and will intercept it when fired.


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Each weapon can be aimed to your point of view, to select a weapon press Shift + Backspace, or use the weapon view ofthe aerial radar, you can use the Telescope view, or the HUD view as sight to aim your weapon, the HUD also shows lock

on status and sound when the weapon is guided and locked upon a target.

When a bomb is selected a square shape will appear under the plane, and a line connecting it to the center of your HUD,

this square marks the Continuously Computed Impact Point ( CCIP ), using this point you can plan your bombing more

precisely.

To shoot the selected weapon press Backspace, or joystick button 1.

Each vehicle and each scenery object you shoot upon can sustain a certain amount of damage, when hit a simple

explosion will be seen, when the damage is larger smoke or fire will be seen as well and vehicle will be broken.

To manage weapons, targets and ranges use the RADAR screen below.

Weapons can limited or unlimited, when weapons are limited their weight is subtracted from the weight of the vehicle

when they are shot, and also the quantity diminishes untill no shells are left for this weapon type.

The amount of shells available for each weapon type is shown on the HUD for each weapon selected.

Weapons can be reloaded using Control + Backspace.

Using the RADAR

Vehicle Simulator contains two types of radars, marine radar and aviation radar.

The AVIATION RADAR is responsible for showing targets around your vehicle, weapon status for your vehicle, and for

engaging and firing upon these targets.


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Press R to show the following screen:

The RADAR instrument has two screens, RADAR and WEAPON, to show either one press the appropriate button on the

top.

The two buttons below zoom in or out, any target closer than the maximum distance shown, is drawn as a cross, or as a

rectangle when selected.

To select targets and display their data press Next or Prev, when a target is selected the selected weapon will lock upon it,

and you will see its data in all four corners of the screen.

To clean a selection or unlock a weapon press Clear, to shoot the locked or selected weapon press Shoot.

Pressing Weapon shows the Weapon screen:

The weapon screen, shows you the available weapons you vehicle has, and also the stations on which they are attached.

The weapon screen has similar functions as the RADAR screen, but the Prev and Next buttons select weapons and nottargets.

When a weapon is locked upon a target its status will appear inside the selection rectangle.

The quantity of rounds left for each weapon is shown inside the parenthesis.


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The MARINE RADAR is responsible for showing targets around your vehicle, collision prediction for these targets, and

elaborate tracking information.

Press Shift + R to show the following screen,this dialog has several modes which are typical to a modern radar

instruments.

Adjusting position - to move the map use the four arrows at the top, this also puts the radar in the off center position and

you see the "OFF-C" appear on the bottom right of the screen.

The bottom side of the screen shows your position, speed and heading, when the map is in off center mode, the position is

the position of the center of the map and not the position of your boat.

To return the map to the center, press the "CTR" button.

Adjusting range - to adjust the range of the radar press the "Z OUT", "Z IN" buttons, you will see the range appear on the

top left side of the screen, and the spacing between each ring in nautical miles.

Adjusting zoom - after you press the arrows or the zoom buttons the knob goes into zoom mode, drag the mouse over the

knob to control the zoom level, the zoom is shown on the lower right side of the screen.

Selecting modes - the radar map has four modes of display:

North up - the map is pointing north.

Head up - the map is pointing where your ship is heading.

Track up - the map is pointing to the next waypoint.

True motion - the map points up, and the land becomes static, your ship is moving just as it would move on a regular static

map.

The selected mode is shown on the top left side of the screen, the white line going from the center of the map, is the

heading line, it shows your heading.

Measuring azimuth and distance - the radar can measure azimuth and distance from the center of the map to any point

on the map, to do so use the "EBL" and "VRM" buttons.

The "EBL" bottun shows the yellow EBL line on the map, and sets the knob to EBL mode, you can adjust this line using

the knob and read the angle on the bottom part of the screen.

The "VRM" button shows the yellow VRM circle on the map, and sets the knob to VRM mode, you can adjust this circle

using the knob and read the distance on the bottom part of the screen.


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EBL and VRM can be used together to get the exact distance and azimuth to a target.

Acquiring targets - when the radar identifies a moving object as a target this target becomes acquired, you can acquire

any boat including your own and see its information displayed on the upper right corner of the screen.

The information displayed is: the name of this boat, the range to this boat, the bearing to this boat, the course it is

traveling, the speed it is traveling, the length of track shown, the closest point of approach, the time to closes point of the

approach.

When you acquire a target the knob goes to track mode, you can adjust the length of visible track line by adjusting the

knob, the track line is shown in green behind the targets, and its length is measured in minutes.

Measuring collisions - When two boats head towards each other and their courses are not parallel their courses willintersect, the boats will become closer and closer until they collide of pass by each other.

The closest distance between the boats is calculated by the radar and is shown on the upper left area as closest point of

approach and time to reach this point.

When the closest point between the two boats ( TCPA ) is less than the radius of the two boats combined there will be a

collision between these boats, the time to this collision is shown as time to closest point of approach ( TCPA ).

The image above shows such possible collision about to take place in 74 seconds.

Man overboard - when you press the "MOB" button, a yellow rectangle will appear on the map at the same position you

are in, this will allow you to return to the same point, your path will also be shown in green.

Using the GPS

The GPS is one of the most used instruments in aviation, and navigation in general, press Shift + G to show the GPS.

The GPS has several modes which are typical to a modern GPS with map, the layout used is similar to the one used in

various Garmin hand held devices.

Switching between modes is done by pressing the "NAV" button.

The Time screen - this screen shows the time of day, time to go until the next waypoint is reached, estimated time at next,

time elapsed since start of navigation, distance to go until next waypoint and total distance passed since start of

navigation.

You can reset the trip and the elapsed time using the menu of the GPS.


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The position screen - this screen shows your position, speed, elevation, time of day, date, heading, bearing to next

waypoint, distance to next waypoint and total distance traveled.

The compass screen - this screen shows your bearing to next waypoint, your distance to next waypoint, your heading and

your speed, the rosette shows the compass and the next waypoint relative to you, the needle shows the direction to the

waypoint.


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The map screen - this screen shows you the map, upon it your position is marked as a black triangle pointing to your

heading, the waypoints and route are seen also as they are on the main map of the program.

You can pan in all directions and zoom in and out to see the area of interest on the map.

The goto screen - If you wish to set your next waypoint press "GOTO" button.

If you wish to set man overboard waypoint, press "GOTO" and then "MOB".


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The mark screen - You can mark your position as a new waypoint by pressing "MARK" and "ENTER".

The menu screen - You can also perform other functions using the "MENU" button.

To accept a menu command press "ENTER", to cancel press "QUIT".


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Radio Navigation

The most challenging flights are made when visibility is poor or when complicated navigation has to be performed, few

planes have actual moving maps and GPS displays, but almost all of them have radio navigation instruments which can be

used for finding your location and performing accurate approaches and landings in limited visibility.

When you open the map you see radio navigation aids colored in white, these consists of NDB , VOR, ILS beacons.

NDB can be picked up by the ADF or RMI instrument on your plane.

VOR can be picked up by ILS, VOR, NSD, ADI instruments on your plane.

ILS can be picked up by ILS , ADi instruments on your plane.

Selecting these navaids is done using the NAV dialog or by pressing N, the following screen appears:

In this screen you have selection of ADF, NAV1, NAV2 frequencies, and also DME ( distance measuring equipment )

readings for NAV1 and NAV2.

Only appropriate navaids can be selected for each type of navigation instrument you have, selecting a wrong type will

result in the frequency showing 000.

Instruments have a limited range for which they are effective, if you select an instrument which is too far, the instrument

will show you the red indicator and will not receive the signal from this device.

Each radio or navigation instrument can be adjusted using the mouse only, to adjust an instrument use left mouse drag and

pick on the instrument you wish to adjust, then move the mouse up or down.

The following instruments can be adjusted:

Gyro - moving mouse up down will adjust the heading.


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ADF - moving mouse up down will adjust the heading.

RMI - moving mouse up down will adjust the heading.

VOR - moving mouse up down will adjust the OBS.

ILS - moving mouse up down will adjust the OBS.

RMI - moving mouse up down will adjust the OBS.

To clear all adjustments and frequency selection use the Reset button.

To visualize radio navigation use the option Show Navaids in the vehicle settings, this shows you the ILS, VOR and NDB

as seen in the following picture.

Using the Auto Pilot

Any type of vehicle has its own auto pilot with its own functions, for planes the auto pilot screen contains automatic

landing and take off as well as the elevation, heading, rate of climb, collision avoidance and navigation.

Press A to show the auto pilot screen, this is the layout for airplanes :






ALT - enables the altitude control, when pressed sets the current altitude as value to maintain, pressing the up and down

arrows on the right side of the instrument changes the altitude by 500 ft.

ROC - enables the rate of climb control, when pressed sets the current rate of climb as value to maintain, pressing the upand down arrows on the right changes the rate of climb by 100 ft/min.




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LIFT - this function attempts to find best lift when flying a glider or without engine power.

LAND - this function auto lands the airplane at nearest runway when available.

TO - this functions performs automatic take off, turning on engine, turning off brakes, and establishes a climb untill 500 ft

AGL is reached.

Press A to show the auto pilot screen, this is the layout for boats :






SPD - enables the speed control, when pressed sets the current speed as the value to maintain, pressing the up and down

arrows on the right side of the instrument changes the speed by 5 knots.



SAIL - sets the auto sail function for the sailboats, when enabled sails are adjusted to be optimally oriented to the

appearent wind, also when enabled the boat will try to avoid sailing into the wind.

Playing with others online

Vehicle Simulator can connect to other users and let you see their vehicles, interact with them and chat, connection can be

done using the internet or LAN.

Several trackers exist to track and show you active network sessions, and more trackers can be easily added using an

external file inside the network directory of the program.

Up to 24 user can share each session, each user can have his own vehicle or can be a guest on a vehicle controlled by

other users.

Weather conditions, waypoints, vehicle position and actions, and chat messages are passed between all users in the

session, any change made to weather, waypoints or vehicles is immediately copied on all machines sharing the session.

The host machine is the first machine to start a session, guest machines are the machines that join in.

Whenever a host quits the game hosting is passed to another user in turn, so that the session continues, however this

session will not appear on the tracker any more.

To connect online select Network Connect from the menu, this will show the connection dialog.


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At the top of this dialog you see your IP address and port used, below you can enter your name, this name will be used for

the online session as your call sign.

You can host a new session or join an existing one, to host a new session press "Host a new session" and wait until session

is established.

You can select "Publish my IP" if you wish others to see your session on the internet and join you.

To see other sessions currently active press "Find sessions", you will see a list of sessions below, the time they were started

( given in GMT ), the scenery they are at and the name of player hosting this session.

To join any of these sessions select it from the list below and press "Join an existing session".

Alternatively, if you know the IP address or name of computer you wish to join, type this address at the remote IP textbox

and press "Join an existing session".

Names can be resolved without the use of specific IP addresses, if you are on a LAN you can enter the name of the

machine instead of its IP address.

Once session was established this dialog will disappear and you will see a message "session has started".

The chat mode - the chat mode is much more than just a tool for chatting, it can be used when you are not playing online

as well.

The chat mode is activated by pressing F12, this will show the chat dialog and also a list of chat messages made by players

in the session.

Type in your message and press Enter to send it, if you press Escape the message is discarded.

Each player that joins the game is seen as avatar on the right side of the screen in chat mode, you can customize youravatar by changing the me.jpg image inside the network directory of the program.

Your avatar is sent to others players and appears by your name.


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The passenger mode - by default each vehicle is controlled by a single player, and seen as such on other players machine,

however you can join as a paseenger on any vehicle controlled by another user, and chat with this user as you sail along,

in such case you will see a messge appear "controlled by [user name]" on the top mid part of the screeen.

Basic scenery design

Creating a new scenery

Any scenery in Vehicle Simulator is based upon a digital elevation matrix of the selected area.

This area can be obtained by downloading DEM or SRTM data from the internet and saved using a program called

3DEM

http://www.hangsim.com/3dem/

To download 3DEM and topographic data see this website

http://www.hangsim.com/3dem/

The matrix should be exported from 3DEM using "Save Terrain Matrix" and selecting "Binary Signed Integer" as the

format.

This creates two files [something].bin and [something].hdr, these two files should be placed into an empty directory inside

the scenery directory of the program.

Start the program and move into this scenery by selecting "Move To Point" from the map view, this will place you inside


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the scenery and you will be able to design and customize it.

Texture Design

Each scenery is composed of a number of textures, up to eight different textures can be used.

Each texture is placed on the scenery by a set of rules which can be customized, the result can be very elaborate and

forms a non repeating pattern that resembles a realistic photographic texture.

Select Design Textures from the main menu, the following screen will appear:

Here you can see the textures that compri

Documents

Vehicle Simulator Reference Manual