IRCMFD
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History
IRC MFD was a plugin addon for Orbiter that connected to the Orbiter IRC network and allowed users to chat live on-line with others whilst flying in Orbiter.
Secondarily there were (undocumented) features that allowed users to transmit, over a hidden IRC channel, telemetry of their position relative to planets or other ships and have other connected users automatically parse this information and render their ships locally.
Consequently this was the first recorded interactive multiplayer addon for Orbiter.
The method of operation was crude, requiring the user to manually activate a telemetry burst after each attitude or thrust. Time acceleration, ever a thorny problem with multiplayer environments, needed to be used carefully. Docking was unmanaged. IRCMFD was therefore deemed the first-generation multiplayer environment.
Current status
IRC MFD has fallen into abeyance since 2003. Future development is unlikely and a public download site is not known.
See also
Multiplayer -- an overview of multiplayer addons for Orbiter