Show off your work

vlad01 · 04 Sep 2018 04:19

Gnargenox wrote:
I've always loved the idea of a computer simulation program encompassing the entire Universe. I think that is the simple reason I love Space Engine.

Things have come a long way since the days I first played around with a cassette tape recorder and a Radio Shack TRS-80 MC-10 produced by Tandy in the early 80s. I couldn't wait to be able to fly through the Solar System exploring each planet someday. So the first chance I got, I created my own! The Unreal Tournament game was released in December 1999. It was an arena styled first person shooter game. It was a doorway to a new universe for me.

Unreal Editor, also called UnrealEd, was the level editor used to create levels for the series. All Unreal games on the PC had the level editor included for free. Amateur level designers from all corners of the world created their own levels for the game and uploaded them to various forums, providing a near endless amount of additional content for the game. In addition, the built-in scripting language called UnrealScript (similar to Java) allowed for editors to customize game content. So, that's what I did!

The arena or level had limitations, especially the size of them. I had to stay within a certain sized box basically. I maxed out the area and placed all the orbits (perfect circles) of the planets, including Pluto. I found out though, if I kept the scale of the planet inline with the scale of the orbit, they would be way way too small to ever see from anywhere. I had to enlarge them all, except the sun, which stayed in scale with the orbits. The final result was a playable map with all the game play elements and a chance to finally see textured spheres rotating and orbiting all at their correct speeds while I could fly around and day dream.

It is almost laughable now at the horrible graphics and clunky movements, but I share it with you now in hopes that you can fully appreciate the shear awesomeness of Space Engine.

Release date: 11-23-2002 with 1,124 Downloads (I just CANNOT believe it but someone actually downloaded it around 8 hours ago! LOLOL)

Version 3 was re-writen by someone else in 2014 to fix OpenGL issues

You can check it out at:
http://www.mapraider.com/profiles/Gnargenox
http://www.mapraider.com/maps/unreal-to ... olarSystem
Screenshot.jpg

Man I love unreal Tournament! I still play it to this day.

I used to map as well, not in UT but sort of similar game called red faction. It is also a first person shooter with similar multi player to UT but the main story line was based on mining on Mars and revolting against authority, getting back to Earth etc...

The engine is quite unique, it has a real time environmental destruction engine and some pretty neat physics.

I made a few maps based on space travel and extreme physics and it's own editor was called Red Editor.

I even figured out how to make a black hole of sorts. Not bad for a game that released 2001 and had some form of alpha dating back from 1997.

Here is a video of it. I have managed to make rockets and grenades orbit it stable a few times haha. A sight to see for a game that does not actually have physics to do such stuff.

Stellarator · 04 Sep 2018 10:57

Watsisname wrote:
Photos from a late summer hike. Snow cover is about at its minimum for the year, and the foliage is getting its colors. A whisper of winter is in the air, and it will not be much longer until the storms return.

So the wildfire smoke cleared up?

04 Sep 2018 12:57

Stellarator wrote:
Source of the post So the wildfire smoke cleared up?

Yes, it has improved dramatically: image

midtskogen wrote:
Interesting to see how pines mark the upper limit for trees. In Scandinavia there is a zone where dwarf birches take over where pines have to give up.

That's a gorgeous shot.

I always find it interesting how the vegetation changes as you go up in altitude. Here the deciduous trees tend to give up in favor of pines and firs, which then become stunted, and finally give up for heather and rock and ice. But there are some isolated areas in eastern Washington that break that pattern, where the highest species are alpine larches -- deciduous conifers whose needles turn golden and drop in the autumn. Very beautiful trees and I'm hoping to get a chance to see them in peak color in the next couple of weeks.

midtskogen · 05 Sep 2018 00:52

Watsisname wrote:
Source of the post I always find it interesting how the vegetation changes as you go up in altitude

I also find it interesting how vegetation changes with time. If I had a time machine and went back in time, I would experience striking changes in the forests surrounding Oslo. Going back 100 or 200 years, if would see much less forest, since there is less logging now, no charcoal production, and much less pasture land. Going back another 1000 years, the trees would be different. Today the spruce dominates, but this is fairly recent. Before that there was mostly pine and birch. Going back another few thousand years, the forest would be more mixed, both broad-leaved trees of various kinds and conifers due to the milder climate at that time. Also, all the rubble left behind by the ice would be more visible, since it takes time for soil to accumulate. The coastline would be different since the sea level was much higher. I also imagine birds being unfamiliar: probably looking much like today, but sounding different.

11 Sep 2018 03:38

Meteorological autumn has arrived, and as I lay on the edge of an island and watched the weather roll in, I wrote a poem. (Yes, I love poetry). I didn't worry too much about fitting formal poetic devices, but I think it worked out nice.

I lie on winter's precipice
Surrounded by never ending waves.
A spirit of summer stands alone
A distant memory of forgotten days.
Roots twisted in crumbling stone
Armor peeling in the wind.

Dark clouds rush overhead.
The Sun peeks, a flare of red,
Swallowed by the rising storm.

midtskogen · 11 Sep 2018 03:47

If you think of adding poetic devices, remember alliteration, which for some reason is often forgotten these days. For instance, wouldn't the last sentence sound so much better as "swallowed by the surging storm"?

11 Sep 2018 04:04

Yeah, I was thinking of alliteration (spirit of summer stands), and also used a lot of s's and soft c's, and generally getting sounds to repeat or flow together, but I didn't always hit it on the first syllable. (Like the s in rising.) Surging is a good one.

midtskogen · 11 Sep 2018 05:53

I think for alliteration to work, it must be on the stressed syllable. So alliteration works well for Germanic languages which generally stress the first syllable (but English has warped quite a bit). I don't see modern authors use that much, though. Tolkien may have used it to some degree modelled on old poems, but the metre is likely more important.

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19 Sep 2018 22:22

Perfect reflection.

20 Sep 2018 09:14

Watsisname wrote:
Source of the post Perfect reflection.

I hope someday we can see such reflections in SpaceEngine! 8-)

Stellarator · 20 Sep 2018 19:59

Verrrry nice! I can almost feel the cold :oops:

.

Nahor · 21 Sep 2018 18:57

JackDole wrote:
Watsisname wrote:
Source of the post Perfect reflection.

I hope someday we can see such reflections in SpaceEngine!

I hope someday we can see such *trees* in SpaceEngine! 8-)

28 Sep 2018 22:58

I've been having extraordinary luck with these alpine lakes lately... This is Blue Lake in Washington, 1915m ASL, which I visited today to see the larches changing color.

I'll have some photos of the trees to share as well after while.

Stellarator · 28 Sep 2018 23:29

I've been to Blue Lake

. It was raining that day, but as beautiful as ever.

29 Sep 2018 00:16

That's awesome! Yes, it can be hard to find a sunny day there (I guess they didn't call it Rainy Pass for nothing), depending on the time of year, but it's beautiful in any weather.

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