I want to remark this link:  https://scijinks.gov/clouds/

Hi, I am an old space engine user. I write to you for asking if the development of volumetric clouds is still working in progress or he had started on a recent period. Will this thing be developed on a next future? I really love the atmopheric weather like seeing the path of cyclones during forecasts, cumulonimbus, cirrus. I would like also to see their shadows on a planet surface. Space Engine needs to have this important update relating to atmospheres.

Volumetric clouds are on the list of things to do eventually, but to make them happen there is some code that needs to be developed or optimized before, some work under the hood so to speak.

When solar system maps relating on all planets will be updated?

Hello everyones, are we far for the FAQ anounced future sdk to permit creators to use the engine to work on their on (game) project?
Thanks.

Hello SE team,
I underline the fact that the Earth texture needs improvements. On the other hand its quality Is getting worse and worse, with "holes" and "missing" cities. When the problem will be solved or when there will be an update?
Kind regards

Here are my suggestions for redesigned textures in future updates:

Solar System (general): Most Solar System object textures are either created by Astra-Planetshine (Snowfall), Kexitt, Robert Skuridin, Fargetanik, Askaniy, or Solar System Scope, with some aspects of MrSpace43 Celestia, JCPAG2010, MagentaMeteorite, CubicApoc, Master-Bit, Fireon, NeptuneProProduction, Oleg-Pluton, supersean08, Adamrlman2010, and NASA thrown in.

The Sun: Procedurally-generated, sports a subdued texture from Solar System Scope as an overlay to represent the chromosphere, additions of solar flares and prominences
The Sun is yellowish-white

Mercury: Robert Skuridin, NeptuneProProduction, Supersean08, and Solar System Scope
Mercury is mostly warm gray

Venus: Original texture combining Fargetanik's White Marble (based on Bjorn Jonsson's texture), Astra-Planetshine's, NASA JPL, and Solar System Scope textures (clouds), John Van Vliet and Supersean08, (surface, produced upside down and colored dark orange-red so that it is rendered right-side up), colors based on Askaniy
Venus has white clouds with yellow streaks and a grayish-brown surface

Earth: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08 (surface), Harold Schmidt (clouds) Colors based on Celestia Origin
Earth has blue oceans, greenish-brown continents, and white clouds

The Moon: Robert Skuridin, Solar System Scope, Supesean08, and Klud
The Moon is grayish-white with dark gray maria

Mars: Robert Skuridin, Supersean08, and Fargetanik(surface), Askaniy (clouds)
Mars is reddish-brown

Phobos and Deimos: Askaniy (Phobos), John Van Vliet (Deimos)
Phobos is light brown, while Deimos is gray

Ceres: Fargetanik
Ceres is mostly dark gray with blue highlights

Most Asteroids (general): Fargetanik and Snowfall the Cat (most textures), gradius-fanatic and Snowfall the Cat (most models), most models either procedurally-generated or reused from Celestia Origin

Specific Asteroids (textures and models): Jestr (243 Ida and Dactyl, 951 Gaspra)

Specific Asteroids (models only): Jestr (216 Kleopatra, 1620 Geographos, 2063 Bacchus, 4179 Toutatis, 4769 Castalia, 6489 Golevka, 1998 KY26), Jack Higgins (5535 Annefrank, 9969 Braille), arctudus (367943 Duende), Askaniy (11351 Leukus), NASA (101955 Bennu and 162173 Ryugu)

Specific Asteroids (textures only): Askaniy (253 Mathilde, 433 Eros, 25143 Itokawa, 486958 Arrokoth), Fargetanik (4 Vesta), John van Vliet (21 Lutetia and 2867 Steins), Joseph Morgan (90 Antiope and 10199 Chariklo), Kexitt (20000 Varuna, 38628 Huya, 120347 Salacia, and 174567 Varda), Roman Tkachenko (162173 Ryugu), Mattias Malmer (101955 Bennu)

Giant Planets (general): With the sole exception of Jupiter, whose texture is based entirely on real data, the Solar System's giant planet textures are all fictional appromixations of their appearances in real life, using original textures combining aspects of pre-existing textures for those planets, with elements of Jupiter's texture added in for more detail

Jupiter: Mix between Askaniy, MrSpace43-Celestia, and Master-bit's textures (based on Cassini 2000 texture with elements from Juno texture, particularly the poles), featuring moving clouds, rings based on a composite of Adamrlman2010, Fargetank and John Van Vliet's textures
Jupiter has orange, brown, gray, and white stripes

Io: Fargetanik and Supersean08
Io is grayish-yellow

Europa: Bjorn Jonsson and Supersean08
Europa is cream with brown streaks

Ganymede: Askaniy and Supersean08
Ganymede is purplish-brown

Callisto: Askaniy and Supersean08
Callisto is purplish-gray

Other Moons of Jupiter: Jack Higgins and Fireon(Metis, Adrastea, and Thebe), Phil Stooke (Amalthea), most are either procedurally-generated or reuse models from Celestia Origin

Saturn: Original texture combining Askaniy's (based on 2013 "Grand Finale": texture) (base), Bjorn Jonsson's (based on Voyager 2 texture) (Northern Hemisphere), and Solar System Scope (Southern hemisphere and polar hexagon) textures with aspects of Master-bit's and JCPAG2010's textures and elements of Jupiter's texture added in, Adamrlman2010, t00fri, and Solar System Scope (rings)
Saturn has yellow, beige, brown, and gray stripes

Mimas: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08
Mimas is mostly white

Enceladus: Frieger Schempp and Supersean08 (texture), Greg Frieger (model)
Enceladus is white with light blue streaks

Tethys: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08
Tethy is mostly gray and tan

Dione: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08
Dione is mostly white and gray

Rhea: Fargetanik and Supersean08
Rhea is mostly greenish-gray

Titan: Fridger Schempp (clouds), Fargetanik, Supersean08, and MagentaMeteroite (surface), colors based on Askaniy.
Titan has light orangish-yellow clouds and a light brown surface with dark brown streaks

Iapetus: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08 (texture), John van Vliet (model)
Iapetus is black and white

Other Moons of Saturn: Phil Stooke and Fireon(Epimetheus), Robert Johnston and Fireon(Janus), John van Vliet (Hyperion and Phoebe), Fireon (Aegaeon, Atlas, Calypso, Daphnis, Helene, Methone, Pallene, Pan, Prometheus, and Telesto) most are either procedurally-generated or reuse models from Celestia Origin

Uranus: Original texture combining Astra-Planetshine's (cloud detail), Askaniy's (polar regions), Fargetanik's (additional detail based on Keck data), and Solar System Scope's (base) textures (produced upside down so that it would be rendered right-side up) with aspects of Planetary Pixel Emporium's, JCPAG2010's, Fireon's, Oleg-Pluton's, and Master-bit's textures and elements of Jupiter's texture added in, rings texture based an original design combining Planetary Pixel Emporium's, John Van Vliet's, Adamrlman2010, and Astra-Planetshine's textures, colors based on Askaniy
Uranus is a light greenish-blue with white streaks

Miranda: Modified from Astra-Planetshine, Supersean08, and Fargetanik (texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Miranda is pinkish-gray

Ariel: Modified from Astra-Planetshine and Supersean08(texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Ariel is gray with purple streaks

Umbriel: Modified from Astra-Planetshine and Supersean08 (texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Umbriel is mostly dark gray

Titania: Modified from Astra-Planetshine and Supersean08 (texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Titania is mostly light brown

Oberon: Modified from Astra-Planetshine and Supersean08 (texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Oberon is mostly brown with gray streaks

Other Moons of Uranus: Askaniy (Puck), Fireon (Cupid), most are either procedurally-generated or reuse models from Celestia Origin

Neptune: Original texture combining Astra-Planetshine's (both versions, cloud detail), Askaniy's and Fargetanik's (base, based on Bjorn Jonsson's texture), and Solar System Scope's (Great Dark Spot) textures with aspects of Master-bit's, MrSpace43 Celestia's, Fireon's, MagentaMeteorite's, and JCPAG2010's textures and elements of Jupiter's texture added in, Fargetanik, NASA's Eyes, and Supersean08 (rings), colors based on Askaniy
Neptune has light blue and dark blue stripes and white streaks

Proteus: model and texture by Astra-Planetshine
Proteus is light blue

Triton: Modified from Kexitt and Supersean08, colors based on Askaniy
Triton is blue, gray, white, and brown

Nereid: model and texture by Astra-Planetshine
Nereid is mostly gray

Other Moons of Neptune: Astra-Planetshine and Fireon (Larissa), Fireon (Galatea, Hippocamp, and Naiad) most are either procedurally-generated or reuse models from Celestia Origin

Pluto and Charon: Modified from Kexitt and Supersean08 with aspects of Bob3Studios and Master-bit's textures added in, colors based on Askaniy
Pluto is light gray with brown patches, while Charon is dark gray with dark brown patches

Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud dwarf planets: Modified from Astra-Planetshine (Haumea) and Kexitt (Makemake, Eris, Sedna, Gonggong, and Orcus), Rassilon (Quaoar), Celestia Origin (Dysomnia) with minor detail from Solar System Scope's textures (elements from their version of Ceres' texture is instead used for Orcus, Gonggong, Quaoar, and Sedna due to the actual Ceres using a more realistic texture based on Dawn data, while elements of their versions of Haumea, Makemake, and Eris' textures are added to the textures used here, respectively), colors based on Askaniy
Orcus, Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong, Quaoar, Eris, Dysomnia and Sedna are colored blue-gray, white with pinkish-brown patches, pink and gray, purplish-brown, light brown, bluish-white, black, and orange and brown, respectively.

Comets: models reused from Celestia Origin

Minor Objects (general): fictional textures based either on the Celestia asteroid texture or
from Solar System Scope

Planet Nine: Original, procedurally-generated texture, colored dark navy blue

Many real nebulae (such as the Orion Nebula/M42): Portrayed as volumetric models rather than as simply just sprites, in order to make them appear more realistic

Giant stars: Colors slightly darkened to show surface detail The Solar System Scope texture of the Sun is subdued for its current appearance, but becomes more pronounced as a red giant

Stellar remnants: White dwarf stars now sport a more diamond-like texture, while neutron stars are now a darker shade of blue.

TRES-2 b and WASP-12 b: Colors darkened to appear more accurate

Catalogued giant exoplanets: Kexitt and CubicApoc (based on the Sudarsky planet classification textures from Celestia)

Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy: WildSirius

Any opinions? What are your suggestions?

Is there a tutorial in order to create a better texture for a planet, like Earth? Is it possible to create shadows on the surface? How long I will have to wait for a future update on shadows?

How long I will have to wait for a future update on shadows?

Actually the developers said shadows are part of the next big update, they are planning to implement them after they fixed all the bugs of the current versions.

Earth: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08 (surface), Harold Schmidt (clouds) Colors based on Celestia Origin

as a Celestia user, i say that while CO's Earth texture is quite pretty, it is NOT true-colour. would be better off going with a texture more akin to Celestia 1.7.0's default Earth texture, which is completely true-colour

Celestia Origin's Earth: Default Celestia 1.7.0 Earth: also i just dislike most of these suggestions in general. like some of these authors/websites make outdated and generally bad-looking textures that dont deserve to be used in either SE or Celestia. i would prefer sticking mostly to the works of Planetkid32 (MrSpace43), FarGetaNik, Astra (Snowfall, Snowfall The Cat), Askaniy, and JohnVanVilet. also probably a few others i cant name off the top of my head right now

Here are my suggestions for redesigned textures in future updates:

Solar System (general): Most Solar System object textures are either created by Astra-Planetshine (Snowfall), Kexitt, Robert Skuridin, Fargetanik, Askaniy, or Solar System Scope, with some aspects of MrSpace43 Celestia, JCPAG2010, MagentaMeteorite, CubicApoc, Master-Bit, Fireon, NeptuneProProduction, Oleg-Pluton, supersean08, Adamrlman2010, and NASA thrown in.

The Sun: Procedurally-generated, sports a subdued texture from Solar System Scope as an overlay to represent the chromosphere, additions of solar flares and prominences
The Sun is yellowish-white

Mercury: Robert Skuridin, NeptuneProProduction, Supersean08, and Solar System Scope
Mercury is mostly warm gray

Venus: Original texture combining Fargetanik's White Marble (based on Bjorn Jonsson's texture), Astra-Planetshine's, NASA JPL, and Solar System Scope textures (clouds), John Van Vliet and Supersean08, (surface, produced upside down and colored dark orange-red so that it is rendered right-side up), colors based on Askaniy
Venus has white clouds with yellow streaks and a grayish-brown surface

Earth: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08 (surface), Harold Schmidt (clouds) Colors based on Celestia Origin
Earth has blue oceans, greenish-brown continents, and white clouds

The Moon: Robert Skuridin, Solar System Scope, Supesean08, and Klud
The Moon is grayish-white with dark gray maria

Mars: Robert Skuridin, Supersean08, and Fargetanik(surface), Askaniy (clouds)
Mars is reddish-brown

Phobos and Deimos: Askaniy (Phobos), John Van Vliet (Deimos)
Phobos is light brown, while Deimos is gray

Ceres: Fargetanik
Ceres is mostly dark gray with blue highlights

Most Asteroids (general): Fargetanik and Snowfall the Cat (most textures), gradius-fanatic and Snowfall the Cat (most models), most models either procedurally-generated or reused from Celestia Origin

Specific Asteroids (textures and models): Jestr (243 Ida and Dactyl, 951 Gaspra)

Specific Asteroids (models only): Jestr (216 Kleopatra, 1620 Geographos, 2063 Bacchus, 4179 Toutatis, 4769 Castalia, 6489 Golevka, 1998 KY26), Jack Higgins (5535 Annefrank, 9969 Braille), arctudus (367943 Duende), Askaniy (11351 Leukus), NASA (101955 Bennu and 162173 Ryugu)

Specific Asteroids (textures only): Askaniy (253 Mathilde, 433 Eros, 25143 Itokawa, 486958 Arrokoth), Fargetanik (4 Vesta), John van Vliet (21 Lutetia and 2867 Steins), Joseph Morgan (90 Antiope and 10199 Chariklo), Kexitt (20000 Varuna, 38628 Huya, 120347 Salacia, and 174567 Varda), Roman Tkachenko (162173 Ryugu), Mattias Malmer (101955 Bennu)

Giant Planets (general): With the sole exception of Jupiter, whose texture is based entirely on real data, the Solar System's giant planet textures are all fictional appromixations of their appearances in real life, using original textures combining aspects of pre-existing textures for those planets, with elements of Jupiter's texture added in for more detail

Jupiter: Mix between Askaniy, MrSpace43-Celestia, and Master-bit's textures (based on Cassini 2000 texture with elements from Juno texture, particularly the poles), featuring moving clouds, rings based on a composite of Adamrlman2010, Fargetank and John Van Vliet's textures
Jupiter has orange, brown, gray, and white stripes

Io: Fargetanik and Supersean08
Io is grayish-yellow

Europa: Bjorn Jonsson and Supersean08
Europa is cream with brown streaks

Ganymede: Askaniy and Supersean08
Ganymede is purplish-brown

Callisto: Askaniy and Supersean08
Callisto is purplish-gray

Other Moons of Jupiter: Jack Higgins and Fireon(Metis, Adrastea, and Thebe), Phil Stooke (Amalthea), most are either procedurally-generated or reuse models from Celestia Origin

Saturn: Original texture combining Askaniy's (based on 2013 "Grand Finale": texture) (base), Bjorn Jonsson's (based on Voyager 2 texture) (Northern Hemisphere), and Solar System Scope (Southern hemisphere and polar hexagon) textures with aspects of Master-bit's and JCPAG2010's textures and elements of Jupiter's texture added in, Adamrlman2010, t00fri, and Solar System Scope (rings)
Saturn has yellow, beige, brown, and gray stripes

Mimas: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08
Mimas is mostly white

Enceladus: Frieger Schempp and Supersean08 (texture), Greg Frieger (model)
Enceladus is white with light blue streaks

Tethys: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08
Tethy is mostly gray and tan

Dione: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08
Dione is mostly white and gray

Rhea: Fargetanik and Supersean08
Rhea is mostly greenish-gray

Titan: Fridger Schempp (clouds), Fargetanik, Supersean08, and MagentaMeteroite (surface), colors based on Askaniy.
Titan has light orangish-yellow clouds and a light brown surface with dark brown streaks

Iapetus: Robert Skuridin and Supersean08 (texture), John van Vliet (model)
Iapetus is black and white

Other Moons of Saturn: Phil Stooke and Fireon(Epimetheus), Robert Johnston and Fireon(Janus), John van Vliet (Hyperion and Phoebe), Fireon (Aegaeon, Atlas, Calypso, Daphnis, Helene, Methone, Pallene, Pan, Prometheus, and Telesto) most are either procedurally-generated or reuse models from Celestia Origin

Uranus: Original texture combining Astra-Planetshine's (cloud detail), Askaniy's (polar regions), Fargetanik's (additional detail based on Keck data), and Solar System Scope's (base) textures (produced upside down so that it would be rendered right-side up) with aspects of Planetary Pixel Emporium's, JCPAG2010's, Fireon's, Oleg-Pluton's, and Master-bit's textures and elements of Jupiter's texture added in, rings texture based an original design combining Planetary Pixel Emporium's, John Van Vliet's, Adamrlman2010, and Astra-Planetshine's textures, colors based on Askaniy
Uranus is a light greenish-blue with white streaks

Miranda: Modified from Astra-Planetshine, Supersean08, and Fargetanik (texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Miranda is pinkish-gray

Ariel: Modified from Astra-Planetshine and Supersean08(texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Ariel is gray with purple streaks

Umbriel: Modified from Astra-Planetshine and Supersean08 (texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Umbriel is mostly dark gray

Titania: Modified from Astra-Planetshine and Supersean08 (texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Titania is mostly light brown

Oberon: Modified from Astra-Planetshine and Supersean08 (texture), Greg Frieger (model), colors based on Askaniy
Oberon is mostly brown with gray streaks

Other Moons of Uranus: Askaniy (Puck), Fireon (Cupid), most are either procedurally-generated or reuse models from Celestia Origin

Neptune: Original texture combining Astra-Planetshine's (both versions, cloud detail), Askaniy's and Fargetanik's (base, based on Bjorn Jonsson's texture), and Solar System Scope's (Great Dark Spot) textures with aspects of Master-bit's, MrSpace43 Celestia's, Fireon's, MagentaMeteorite's, and JCPAG2010's textures and elements of Jupiter's texture added in, Fargetanik, NASA's Eyes, and Supersean08 (rings), colors based on Askaniy
Neptune has light blue and dark blue stripes and white streaks

Proteus: model and texture by Astra-Planetshine
Proteus is light blue

Triton: Modified from Kexitt and Supersean08, colors based on Askaniy
Triton is blue, gray, white, and brown

Nereid: model and texture by Astra-Planetshine
Nereid is mostly gray

Other Moons of Neptune: Astra-Planetshine and Fireon (Larissa), Fireon (Galatea, Hippocamp, and Naiad) most are either procedurally-generated or reuse models from Celestia Origin

Pluto and Charon: Modified from Kexitt and Supersean08 with aspects of Bob3Studios and Master-bit's textures added in, colors based on Askaniy
Pluto is light gray with brown patches, while Charon is dark gray with dark brown patches

Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud dwarf planets: Modified from Astra-Planetshine (Haumea) and Kexitt (Makemake, Eris, Sedna, Gonggong, and Orcus), Rassilon (Quaoar), Celestia Origin (Dysomnia) with minor detail from Solar System Scope's textures (elements from their version of Ceres' texture is instead used for Orcus, Gonggong, Quaoar, and Sedna due to the actual Ceres using a more realistic texture based on Dawn data, while elements of their versions of Haumea, Makemake, and Eris' textures are added to the textures used here, respectively), colors based on Askaniy
Orcus, Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong, Quaoar, Eris, Dysomnia and Sedna are colored blue-gray, white with pinkish-brown patches, pink and gray, purplish-brown, light brown, bluish-white, black, and orange and brown, respectively.

Comets: models reused from Celestia Origin

Minor Objects (general): fictional textures based either on the Celestia asteroid texture or
from Solar System Scope

Planet Nine: Original, procedurally-generated texture, colored dark navy blue

Many real nebulae (such as the Orion Nebula/M42): Portrayed as volumetric models rather than as simply just sprites, in order to make them appear more realistic

Giant stars: Colors slightly darkened to show surface detail The Solar System Scope texture of the Sun is subdued for its current appearance, but becomes more pronounced as a red giant

Stellar remnants: White dwarf stars now sport a more diamond-like texture, while neutron stars are now a darker shade of blue.

TRES-2 b and WASP-12 b: Colors darkened to appear more accurate

Catalogued giant exoplanets: Kexitt and CubicApoc (based on the Sudarsky planet classification textures from Celestia)

Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy: WildSirius

Any opinions? What are your suggestions?

I recognize you - didn't you try arguing that Celestia's textures were more accurate back in mid-2021?
Please stop insisting they are more realistic when they are not.

Shadows has been in need of a re-work for quite some time now. I'm glad it's being worked on.

I was wondering: Will you take into account different sizes of light sources? For example, from a planet orbiting a large star at a very small distance, the star will illuminate more than 50% of the planet's surface. Will this be given care in the shadow refinements?

A planet orbiting very closed to its mother star has shadows characterized by a big penumbral region and a relatively small total umbral region, as a thing located next to a big bulb light. I Hope that the upcoming update will take in consideration this feature that now it is implemented only for eclipses.

Shadows has been in need of a re-work for quite some time now. I'm glad it's being worked on.

I was wondering: Will you take into account different sizes of light sources? For example, from a planet orbiting a large star at a very small distance, the star will illuminate more than 50% of the planet's surface. Will this be given care in the shadow refinements?

...

A planet orbiting very closed to its mother star has shadows characterized by a big penumbral region and a relatively small total umbral region, as a thing located next to a big bulb light. I Hope that the upcoming update will take in consideration this feature that now it is implemented only for eclipses.

This pic is from version .9.8.0: Shadows on the ship were cast by the same object, with two radically different light sources. One was a white dwarf, and the other (I do believe — it was a long time ago) was a red giant. One shadow is sharp, one shadow is fuzzy. If 9.8.0 had it right, I'm sure he can do it with .9.9.0.
(I do hope he fixes ship lighting and shadows, though.)

Shadows has been in need of a re-work for quite some time now. I'm glad it's being worked on.

I was wondering: Will you take into account different sizes of light sources? For example, from a planet orbiting a large star at a very small distance, the star will illuminate more than 50% of the planet's surface. Will this be given care in the shadow refinements?

Yes - We actually discussed this in a meeting yesterday!

It will be tied to several other things. Shadows is coming later in the year, after we finish the transition to Vulkan, by necessity; and the plan is for it to be tied in to temperatures, which in turn will be affected by multi-star systems and very-large stars at small distances (the >50% issue).

How long I will have to wait for a future update on shadows?

Actually the developers said shadows are part of the next big update, they are planning to implement them after they fixed all the bugs of the current versions.

Since we have to finish the work on Vulkan first, the timeline for this is likely to be somewhere in Q3, assuming there are no major issues on the horizon. The main programmer working on this has been making steady progress and has specific experience in this area, but we really need to free him up a bit more - so in that sense it also depends in part on things like finding, hiring, and onboarding new people. 

I don't want to tie the programmers to a hard deadline (ie. a month or date), but I will say that it is something on the roadmap to be done by the end of the current year, and that I strongly believe the team can achieve that goal.