I managed a one metre tail-hover above the surface of Sol. The ship was a Constrictor. The hyperdrive had to be removed to give it a high enough thrust to weight ratio to manage that feat. Setting down on the surface at all resulted in instant destruction, because the acceleration across that metre was very high.

For anyone curious about the technical aspects, here's the deal. Inside the code, things with terrain on them are of type TERRAINBODY. STAR and PLANET are both TERRAINBODYs. Apart from things like size and terrain/colour selection, they perform almost identically. Under PLANET, there are three further specialisations: GAS_GIANT, ASTEROID and TERRESTRIAL, though these are only really used to limit certain things like atmospheres, rings, etc.

Anyway, the code that detects if you've landed on things only runs if you're colliding with something of type PLANET. So no matter how well you do at getting near the surface of the star, the landing code will nveer trigger. Conversely, the landing check does not limit itself to particular kinds of planets, which is why you're able to land on a gas giant.

This could be "fixed" trivially - its the addition of a few characters of code, not even a whole line. Its one of those things we dont' bother with because we know that even if we did, the model is still wrong. You probably should be crushed by the pressure of a gas giant before you get anywhere near the "surface", in the same way you should probably fry in the star's corona long before you get anywhere near its "surface". We're just waiting until we think and figure out exactly what we want to do and how to do it.

here's what a gas giant surface would be like (first few minutes of vid)...please ignore the lame metaphorical explanations for everything.

Thought I would point out that King Haggis's awesome video has now reached 26000 views! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//shok.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':O' /> And still zero dislikes <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_cool.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='8-)' /> And to think too, he made this with Alpha 3! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

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My goodness, now over 30600 views! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//girl_crazy.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Brilliant

My latest video has a meagre 224 views as I write this. )-:

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Its because its not a sexy vid. It needs more oompf and ahhhh factor. <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_biggrin.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

Well Loki, that depends on what you think is sexy! For some, including me, it's a great vid as there is a heck of a lot going on there.

There are a couple of things going on. A glimpse of the new UI screens for one. Also, showing off the precision of the engine - that's a single burn to re-entry and landing from HEO. Note how little fuel is used. The ship fell to Earth, rather than flew. Finally, you get to play spot-the-landmass as the final approach is over the northern Mediterranean.

Nice ballistic landing!! Had the slide rule out for THAT one, eh? <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

Looks like you weren't watching. I wrote the calculations in Lua and attached them to the UI. It gave me the precise speed required to come down like that.

Oops... yeah, I was doing a few things at once and didn't see every second of the video <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

So... OK, I'm actually a bit less impressed by your piloting skills, now <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

What, because you could do it better? Piloting in space is all about the maths. If your hand's on the throttle and stick, and you aren't about to land, you're doing it wrong.

If you go back though my YouTube videos you'll find one where I use a spreadsheet to calculate an orbital rendezvous.

I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants!

Those magnificent men if their flying machines.

They Go Up, Tiddly, Up, Up.

They Go Down, Tiddly, Down, Down.

They Enchant All The Ladies And Steal All The Scenes

With their Up, Tiddly, Up, Up

And They're Down, Diddy, Down, Down.

<img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />