SteamGauges is a plugin for KSP that adds a number of og-style gauges based mostly around aircraft instrumentation. Simply drop the SteamGauges folder into your GameData directory, and then click the gauge icon to bring up a menu of available gauges. Toggle on or off the gauges you want, then close the menu again. All the gauges are draggable, and remember their positions. Please note, as this is a plugin and not a part-based mod, all settings are global and not vehicle specific.
Gauges in V1.5
Air Gauge:
- The Air Gauge is here to aid all your atmospheric flights! It features a radial airspeed gauge that can display either True airspeed (KSP’s native mode) or Equivalent airspeed. Equivalent airspeed is uncorrected for altitude and mach, and so it will always be lower than TAS. The EAS/TAS button toggles between the two modes. Around this airspeed indicator you will see three needles. The orange pointer is your current airspeed. The red and white “barber poll” indicates the current terminal velocity, and the blue arrow is the speed of sound.
- In the top center of the gauge is your current mach number, accurate to two decimal places.
- Below that is an Angle of Attack readout, and a stall warning indicator. It will display pitch AoA from 99.9 to -9.9 degrees. The red stall light illuminates when AoA goes above a user specified value (default is 25).
- At the bottom of the gauge is an air intake readout. The green arc means you have 200-500% more air than is required by your engines. The yellow arc is 100% to 200%, and the red arc is less air than needed. Try to keep the needle in the yellow or higher.
Radar Altimeter:
- This radar altimeter displays the active vehicle's current height above the terrain in meters, on a variable scale from 20,000 down to 0
- There is a tri-color indicator light that illuminates (while descending) green, then yellow, then red.
- There are switches at the top and bottom of the gauge to allow for automatic start of a suicide burn, and automatic termination when reaching the surface.
– There is a Time To Impact countdown at the bottom of the gauge. This is only functional on airless worlds.
Magnetic Compass:
- This compass is just that: a compass. It displays your heading in degrees.
Fuel Gauge:
- This dual purpose gauge displays the remaining rocket fuel (not oxidizer) remaining as a percentage of total fuel carried on board, as well as the amount of monopropellant remaining.
- There is a two color indicator light for both gauges. It turns yellow when the quantity is below 25%, and red when below 1%.
Electrical Gauge:
- Displays current battery charge as a percent, as well as draw or charge. Unlike the stock UI gauge, negative values show usage, and positive values show charge.
Orbital Gauge:
- This display has everything you need to get to orbit!
- Digital readouts of Apoapsis, Periapsis, and time to next Ap/Pe or node (HHH:MM:SS)
- There are 4-color lights next to the AP and PE indicators. They are normally off, but illuminate under the following conditions:
* AP Red = Apoapsis below atmosphere
* AP Yellow = Vessel is on an escape trajectory from current SOI
* AP Green = Apoapsis is above to 20% above the atmosphere
* AP Blue = Apoapsis and Periapsis are within 1% of each other
* PE Red = Periapsis is below ground level
* PE Yellow = Periapsis is below the top of the atmosphere
* PE Green = Periapsis is above to 20% above the atmosphere
* PE Blue = Periapsis and Apoapsis are within 1% of each other
- There are two green "B" lights next to the AP/PE readouts. These indicate the optimal burn window for that node.
- og inclination gauge
Rendezvous Gauge:
- This is a stack of three gauges in one! It is intended for vessel rendezvous rather than planetary rendezvous, although many of the elements will still be accurate.
- The left gauge displays the target vessel's Apoapsis, Periapsis, Period, and the active vessel's relative inclination.
- The center gauge displays relative velocity in meters per second. The cross represents horizontal and vertical drift, while the number in the upper left corner is forward motion.
- The right gauge displays target distance, the closest approach in the next orbit, and how long until that approach will occur.
- The distance indicator has a tri-color, normally dark light that illuminates when:
* Green = Target is within 1km
* Yellow = Target is within 100m
* Red = Target is within 10m
Maneuver Node Gauge:
- Displays information about the current (first) maneuver node for the active vessel.
- Total Delta V for the burn is displayed at the top
- Time until the burn should begin is displayed second
- Remaining burn time is displayed at the bottom
- The percent of the burn remaining is displayed by the orange needle along the right side of the gauge
- The current throttle setting is displayed by the blue needle along the right side of the gauge
- There are two buttons to control automatic start and stop of scheduled burns.
HUD Gauge
– Not really a gauge, the HUD displays a lot of information in an easy to interpret digital display. Pretty much the opposite of the rest of the gauges here.
- The center of the HUD is dominated by the pitch ladder which shows vessel pitch and (in chase/IVA) roll against the horizon. Each 10 degree line is labeled, while the 5 degree lines are not.
– At the top of the pitch ladder is a bank indicator for times when the horizon is not a valid reference. The top arrow is “Up”, and the bottom arrow is where the top of your craft is pointing. Line them up to be level, and bank to move the arrow in the direction you want it to move (If it is left of center, roll right to center it). There are marker lines at 10, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 degrees.
– To the left of the pitch ladder is an air speed tape (surface velocity). Below this is a groundspeed readout.
– To the right of the pitch ladder is an altitude tape. Below this is radar altitude.
– At the bottom of the gauge is a compass card.
– Around the outside of the tapes are additional readouts like Ap, Pe, throttle, etc.
– TTAp/TTPe are the time to Apoapsis and Periapsis
– Incl is inclination.
– TD is target distance, TAp/TPe are target Apoapsis/Periapsis, TAlt is target altitude.
– RVel is relative velocity. The last digit is 1/10th of a m/s, but I think the . is misplaced.
– CAppr is closest approach, and TTCA is time until closest approach. RIncl is relative inclination.
– Delta V and DeltaVRem are self explanatory. BurnT is burn time, and TTBurn is time to burn.
- The HUD will also display GPWS warnings (Ground Proximity Warning System), which will try to help you not crash into the ground. It is based on FAA systems, so will probably need more tuning for use in KSP, and is almost entirely inappropriate for vertical landings. It can be disabled through the advanced settings menu.
The opacity of all gauges can be adjusted using the slider in the main menu.
Advanced Settings Menu
The Advanced Settings menu allows users to fine tune the gauges to their liking. Each gauge has a Scale slider that can increase or decrease the size of the gauge. Several gauges have additional options:
Radar Altimeter:
* Green Light - Below this altitude and above the Yellow Light altitude, the green light illuminates.
* Yellow Light - Below this altitude and above the Red Light altitude, the yellow light illuminates.
* Red Light - Below this altitude, the red light illuminates.
Fuel Gauge:
* Fuel Lights R, Y, G - The red, yellow, and green lights on the fuel gauge light up below these values.
* Mono Lights R, Y, G - The red, yellow, and green lights on the mono propellant gauge light up below these values.
Orbital Gauge:
* Safe Altitude - The green light illuminates from the top of the atmosphere up to this altitude above the atmosphere. For Kerbin, a value of 1.2 means the green light is on from 70,000m to 84,000m.
* Circularization Threshold - The AP and PE lights illuminate blue when they are within this percent of each other.
* Burn Window - The burn lights illuminate this many seconds before and after the associated node.
Rendezvous Gauge:
* Distance Lights R,Y,G - The red, yellow, and green lights illuminate as the target closes past the given distances.
Maneuver Node Gauge:
* Throttle Delay: Additional burn time (in seconds) due to delay in throttling up the engines to 100%. Default value is 2 seconds.