The new Vizzy update has a lot of new ways to use vectors. However, I'm having trouble understanding how the vectors map to things like headings and pitch.

Does anyone have documentation on vectors and how they behave in the game? Is X 'up', or 'east?'. What is 'z'?

For example, I'm trying to create a program that gently removes horizontal surface velocity. So it would conceptually be:
* set heading to surface retrograde heading
* set pitch to minimum ( surface retrograde pitch, 10)

Since I don't see a way to GET retrograde vector, I started working with Velocity Surface vector.

From my testing, it appears that from that vector, X is the velocity in the 'up' direction (kinda?). Y looks to be velocity towards North. And Z appears to be the velocity towards West (kinda?)

X and Z seem to have some sort of relation to each other that I can't figure out. When your velocity away from the surface increases, both X and Z increase. When your velocity towards the surface increases, both X and Z decrease.

That really confuses me. I would have expected either Z or X to solely represent your m/s away from the surface.

Can anyone help clear this up for me?

Thanks! :)

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Vizzy

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    This is my understanding

    PCI coordinates are the games reference frame to keep track of everything moving about the center of the sun. Most of the vectors returned are PCI vectors.

    Converting to LatLongASL helps intuit the vectors a bit. They are in the form (E(-180,180),N(-180,180),height) where you are given degrees offset from the equator , meridian and the de level.

    I’ve done made an “ENZ” expression to convert vectors to ground-locked coordinates in meters. To accomplish this I used the LatLongASL vector, planets radius, pi, and my ASL altitude.

    +1 4.5 years ago
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    I'm also confused by the vector system, I'm new to the game and tried to program routines that keeps an airplane at a certain altitude or keep the roll at zero, but even when printing nav vectors on my screen I can't completely figure out how this works. I have experience with math and programming, I'm just missing some documentation for the definition of readouts in vizzy. Does such documentation exist or will it be made?

    4.7 years ago
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    Mod sflanker

    There is a lot to unpack here, but firstly, most vectors (velocity, position, etc) are in PCI coordinates (Planet Centered Inertial) which basically means that one plane of the coordinate system is lined up with the equator of the Planet whose sphere of influence you are in, and the third direction is up and down toward the poles. In SR2 PCI the "up/down" axis is Y, and X/Z represent the "celestial plane". so moving away from the planet will affect X or Z or both depending on where you are in your orbit around the planet. The X and Z axis remain fixed relative to distance stars, which means that a given point on the planet will change as the planet spins and a vector toward the sun will change as the planet moves in its orbit.

    I touch briefly on many concepts regarding dealing with vectors, finding prograde (and therefore retrograde by extension) vectors, and converting from a vector to Heading/Pitch, in the video I recently shared and some of the Flight Program laden craft I have shared. However I don't have time or space to go into all of it here.

    That said, the key concepts are sprinkled here and there and I think a focused tutorial on vectors in SR2 is in order. Now I have my next video project, I'll let you know when I post it.

    +2 4.7 years ago
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    Opps - miss wrote one thing. As velocity away from the surface increases, both X and Z DECREASE.

    .
    The more I look at it, the more X seem to be very much attached to velocity toward and away from the surface, but Z is a little weird and seems to get a slight boost/decrease with vertical velocity....which I'm not sure how to deal with.

    4.7 years ago

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