Ultimate space simulation software

 
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Mosfet
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

12 Aug 2017 17:17

With apps like Trinus VR (or others, depends on hardware compatibility) installed on PC and Android phone I'm testing SteamVR capability of  latest SE beta. The downside of this setting is the lack of proper controllers, you have to find a balance between mouse/keyboard and phone sensors. You need a phone with accelerator and gyroscope sensors.
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| My mods: http://forum.spaceengine.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=80 | My specs: Asus x555ub - cpu i5-6200u, ram 12gb, gpu nvidia geforce 940m 2gb vram |
 
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

15 Aug 2017 17:04

 Now that the new planet classification system is ongoing development, I wonder if my original idea for procedural info text for a object in the universe could be implemented. I worked on different text models with a lot different variables for asteroids, planets, stars and galaxies, so I just tought that since this is being worked on, it would be a good time to bring the subject up.

 Another thing would be changes to the map. I would appreciate different map views (one that is full screen for example, just like E:D), different icons for different objects, so a black hole could be a little icon of a black hole with accretion disk, a red dwarf would be a red star with 4 little rays coming out of it, a supergiant could be a red one with 6 rays instead of four, asteroids could be represented as something other than grey markings, changing the map color, showing stats like: "Distance to center", or "Distance from Earth", "Distance from ship/homeworld", etc. Also, just like in E:D, a tab for options and searching objects while in-map.

 For spaceships, I think that when ou are selecting a star to warp to in the map, time required in-warp travel should be displayed, like this:
Screenshot_2.png
Spaceship travel time
Image

 So, this guy also figured out plate tectonics (again):
https://niltestudo.wordpress.com/2017/0 ... eneration/
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Sunconure11
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

16 Aug 2017 08:38

Is better ocean topography planned? Oceans are rather flat. As a result, it causes some weirdness. I actually figured out a way to port space engine worlds into minecraft for instance, but the oceans end up too flat.
 
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spaceguy
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

16 Aug 2017 21:01

Realistic starlight maybe?
(i,e realistic, dynamic bloom effect for stars.)
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CCWashout
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

18 Aug 2017 07:23

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but is there or can there be a kind of "random tour" function in Space Engine that does the following:

Starts at a point anywhere in the universe
Randomly selects a nearby star system within say 20 LY
Flies to that star system
Selects a planet or moon if present
Does an orbit or flyby with maybe the focus on the next body in the hierarchy, so you get planet and sun/star rises for suitable cinematic effect
If the body is landable then have a % chance of doing a low level atmospheric flyby on a second orbit
Selects another planet in that system and loop that last two steps for say a maximum of 5 bodies
Loops to step 2 above to go to another star system

If not I may see if I can achieve this from the scripting functions myself, as what I'd ideally like, is to use Space Engine as a kind of mesmerizing beautiful screensaver, plus I feel sometimes the most stunning scenes can be just stumbled upon by accident.

If anyone knows how I can achieve this int he scripting language I'd be very grateful, as I'm not the world's fastest coder...
 
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FastFourierTransform
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

18 Aug 2017 08:20

If anyone knows how I can achieve this int he scripting language I'd be very grateful, as I'm not the world's fastest coder...
This is a great idea.
It has been proposed several times (for example here) since the last release.
Even a dedicated thread was created half a year ago (here you have it)

So by now it's something that only Vladimir Romanyuk (the creator of SE) can introduce. But in the next release of SpaceEngine (0.9.8.1) we are going to have at least this feature. With those scenario scripts you are going to be able to generate planned tours. Maybe with some kind of programming (with python or something) you are going to be able to create the random tour you are talking about. But for now this is not possible.
 
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

18 Aug 2017 09:24

Thanks FastFourierTransform

I have this habit of skim reading stuff, so missed the bit where the scenario scripts weren't released yet. I will have to be patient for the release of 0.891 then...let's hope there is some kind of Randomize function.

Thanks again for the links.
 
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

18 Aug 2017 12:28

 Space Engine's terrain should contain a analytical derivative function to make terrain look better and smoother.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/429 ... derivative
 Domain warping it's probabl alread used in the game on gas giant clouds, but iquilezles made a function where it is animated.
http://www.iquilezles.org/www/articles/warp/warp.htm
 And, I know what Sean Murray did, but his talk about procedural generation on planets it's excellent, and he even mentions SE at some point. The results are realistic.
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024514/Bu ... rlds-Using

 Also, his site for more, there is a lot of stuff there.
http://www.iquilezles.org/www/index.htm

 Expanding on the idea of icon maps, this one doesn't fit correctly with the map, but still a nice idea.
Screenshot_1.png
A red dwarf with 2 selenas and 1 enceladus like, and on the right, how our system would look like.
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Julian
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

20 Aug 2017 23:15

In 0.9.8.0e, distant objects now have a lot more bloom around them than they used to, but this means that in the planetary system view, it's impossible to make out any surface features on moons and small planets. Can the amount of bloom be reduced for just the planetary system icons?
scr00280.jpg
 
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

21 Aug 2017 14:37

A new UI option. Ignore the colors.
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T Man42
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

22 Aug 2017 19:37

While in Free Mode travel, pressing and holding center mouse button allows you to look around freely why still traveling in the direction you were heading. 

However, in Spacecraft and Aircraft modes the center mouse button does not function as intended: the camera moves only slightly instead of freely, as though it is trying, but can't. 

I've had this same problem on my old computer, where I cannot look around freely while traveling in Aircraft or Spacecraft mode, across multiple versions of the program. 

Not sure if this is a bug - but as a quality of life issue this would be wonderful to be fixed.  Thanks for your time. 
 
DeathStar
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

23 Aug 2017 11:29

How hard would procedural trojan asteroids be to implement?
 
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

23 Aug 2017 23:19

My suggestion isn't so much about the program itself, but more how it could be distributed. This will likely be a very unpopular opinion, but honestly I feel like it would be better in the long run. Okay here goes:

I think there should be two different versions of SpaceEngine. One free, and one paid. The paid one is exactly as it is now, plus maybe a few new features. The free one has everything that the majority of users ever use - but all of the "sciency", less-known features would be saved for the pro version. The free version would fill the needs of most people in the community, while the Pro version would offer extra features to people willing to pay. It wouldn't need to be expensive or anything, maybe $15 or so.

Why? Well I was reading some past conversations here, and SpaceEngineer mentioned that the money from donations wasn't enough to both make a living and hire artists or other people to work on the program. I think that in the end, this would not only benefit SpaceEnineer, but also the program and the community as a whole, by allowing him to spend more time on it and maybe hire additional people to work on it. Personally I think it'd be worth the trade off. 

Some of the features that could be saved for just the pro version:
  • The more advanced planetary info that most people don't understand or read anyway (Roche limit for satellites, Influence sphere radius, Argument of Pericenter, etc.)
  • Spacecraft (Once they're fully completed it'd make sense for it to be in the free version, but currently they seem out of place in whats otherwise just a realistic simulator)
  • Video recordings could still be present but without all the advanced controls they currently do - I don't think many people understand what all those do anyway
  • Exporting planets/systems
  • Advanced display options (Projection options, for example)
Anyway, just an idea. Hope people understand why I'm suggesting this, I don't just want people to have to pay for something, I do think it would be beneficial.  :)
 
DeathStar
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

24 Aug 2017 04:56

My suggestion isn't so much about the program itself, but more how it could be distributed. This will likely be a very unpopular opinion, but honestly I feel like it would be better in the long run. Okay here goes:

I think there should be two different versions of SpaceEngine. One free, and one paid. The paid one is exactly as it is now, plus maybe a few new features. The free one has everything that the majority of users ever use - but all of the "sciency", less-known features would be saved for the pro version. The free version would fill the needs of most people in the community, while the Pro version would offer extra features to people willing to pay. It wouldn't need to be expensive or anything, maybe $15 or so.

Why? Well I was reading some past conversations here, and SpaceEngineer mentioned that the money from donations wasn't enough to both make a living and hire artists or other people to work on the program. I think that in the end, this would not only benefit SpaceEnineer, but also the program and the community as a whole, by allowing him to spend more time on it and maybe hire additional people to work on it. Personally I think it'd be worth the trade off. 

Some of the features that could be saved for just the pro version:
  • The more advanced planetary info that most people don't understand or read anyway (Roche limit for satellites, Influence sphere radius, Argument of Pericenter, etc.)
  • Spacecraft (Once they're fully completed it'd make sense for it to be in the free version, but currently they seem out of place in whats otherwise just a realistic simulator)
  • Video recordings could still be present but without all the advanced controls they currently do - I don't think many people understand what all those do anyway
  • Exporting planets/systems
  • Advanced display options (Projection options, for example)
Anyway, just an idea. Hope people understand why I'm suggesting this, I don't just want people to have to pay for something, I do think it would be beneficial.  :)
SpaceEngineer already has a plan for a paid version. The free version will be the planetarium, while the paid version will be the actual game(base building, ships, etc.).
 
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General suggestions for SpaceEngine

24 Aug 2017 15:50

  Atmospheric disturbance when on telescopic view, and general blur as an option for the camera, so it gives a more "realistic" feel when zooming on moons, planets, or other objects. tRetro-visor images on Recreation Image Dump ilustrate what I mean. (No, I didn't get the idea from MRoth1138, he just remembered it).


 
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"Atmo disturbance" being the "shakiness".
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