Intra-Vehicular Activity
During an Intra-Vehicular Activity (abbr. IVA) the player takes control of a Kerbal within a vehicle's command module. Vehicle handling works the same as if the vehicle were viewed from outside. One can enter/leave IVA by either selecting "IVA" when mousing over the passengers of the vehicle, or pressing C to toggle.
The primary advantage of Interior View is the Altimeter within certain command modules. Rather than orbital altitude, it shows the vessels altitude above ground, taking mountains and valleys into account. This information can be especially helpful during landings on uneven terrain.
However, even though Intra-Vehicular Activity is implemented, the player can only interact inside, but cannot move a Kerbal. Squad Team has decided to improve in this a newer version.
Contents
Monitor
When you go into the IVA mode, the control panels will change appearance. Some things in the new control panels are easy to understand, others are a bit more difficult. Here is a simple instruction on how to read the monitors:
This is only one variant of the IVA monitors, different Command modules have different looks.
Roll, pitch and Yaw
Roll, pitch and Yaw looks approximately like the corresponding one in the normal game HUD.
Monitor
The monitor shows things that can be difficult or impossible to see from inside the vehicle, they are indicated as green lights.
Speed
The speed is shown in metres per second.
The nav ball looks and works exactly as the normal nav ball. However, in IVA mode you can zoom in on the navball, allowing precision alignment difficult to accomplish with the third person interface.
Radar Altimeter
While the altimiter displays height above local "sea level" the radar altimeter displays height above the ground directly below the vehicle. This information is not displayed on the third person interface, which means that IVA landings have a unique advantage. The advantage is offset by the fact that the third person view can swivel freely, affording a more comprehensive view of the surface than the IVA perspective.
Atmosphere
This gauge displays the atmospheric density. It is identical to the corresponding display in the third person interface.
Altimeter
The Altimeter (or Height Monitor) shows the vehicle's current height above sea level. This information is displayed in analog form familiar to airplane pilots. However, unlike airplane altimeters which work on air pressure, this one works even the cold dark hard vacuum of space. How does it do this? The magic of electronics!
The example above shows 2000 meters.
Vertical speed
Shows the vertical speed.
