Support UAS – user manual
Translated from the Finnish manual (manual/fi); the Finnish text is authoritative.
Status: development version 0.1-dev (phase 1). This manual grows with the game: each phase (PLAN.md) is complete only once its features are described here from the user's point of view. The line at the start of each chapter says which version the chapter matches. This is the English translation (manual/en/); the Finnish manual (manual/fi/) is authoritative.
Audience: remote pilots, remote-pilot observers, image analysts and instructors of SuDPe (Suomen Dronepelastusseura, the Finnish drone rescue society) and Vapepa. The manual assumes the reader knows real flight operations; it explains how the simulator differs from them and what can and cannot be practised in the simulator.
Chapters
| # | Chapter | Matches version | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Installation and hardware requirements | 0.1-dev | developer install |
| 2 | Controls: keyboard, gamepad, TX16S | 0.1-dev | works in the development version |
| 3 | Display and HUD | 0.1-dev | works |
| 4 | Flying: aircraft profile A, flight modes, RTH, battery | 0.9.2 | spec-sheet values, wind and its limits, flight times |
| 5 | Cameras: wide, zoom, thermal, palettes, split view | 0.9.2 | zoom 4.7–16.9×, ten palettes, measurement, isotherm, alert |
| 6 | Launch site and VLOS / E-VLOS / BVLOS | 0.4-dev | scenario: IPP, the search leader's segment, task, profiles |
| 7 | Scenario: briefing, profiles, segments, tasks | 0.4-dev | situation picture, task queue, POD |
| 8 | Search methods in the simulator | 0.4-dev | method selection and comparison; no programmed routes |
| 9 | Finding and marking the person | 0.9.2 | finds, reporting to the leader and the leader's orders |
| 10 | Weather, season, light and time | 0.9.2 | time, sun, season, FMI and manual weather, ground mist, sleet |
| 11 | Multiplayer: pilot, camera operator, image analyst | 0.5-dev | pilot + observer, LAN / internet |
| 12 | Debrief and flight report | 0.9.2 | map, summary, missed moments, files |
| 13 | Instructor's guide: building and assessing scenarios | 0.4-dev | coach mode, exercise settings |
| 14 | Your own area: building a terrain package from NLS data | 0.7-dev | picking the area on the map, building, library |
| 15 | Differences from real operations and known limitations | 0.9.3 | up to date |
| 16 | Troubleshooting | 0.9.2 | logs, start-up, performance, controls, multiplayer |
| 17 | How a search usually proceeds | 0.9.3 | overview, search area, the leader in the simulator |
| 18 | Main menu, mission, settings and controls | 0.7-dev | menu, automatic/manual mission, settings, remapping keys and axes, fi/en |
| 19 | Dog parties and how scent travels | 0.9.3 | the dog's states, air scent, trailing, ground, weather, snow and air currents, calibration |
Rules for maintaining this manual
- The manual is written in the same commit as the feature, or at the latest before the phase is marked complete.
- Every chapter starts with the line
Vastaa versiota: x.yand a date. - Screenshots are stored in
manual/kuvat/(shared by Finnish and English) and named after the chapter (06-vlos-ympyra.png). Pictures are taken from the demo terrain, not from real mission data. - Chapter 15 is the most important: every deliberate simplification is recorded there (for example VLOS as a 500 m circle, ADR 0008) together with what it means for training.
- The vocabulary follows SLPS and Vapepa terms (launch site (kauko-ohjauspaikka), flying pair (lennätyspari), flight group (lentorypäs), segment (lohko), IPP), not game terms.
- The HTML version is built with
python tools/build_manual.pyintomanual/html/(not in version control; the release package carries it). Figures arelines in the markdown.