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Author Topic: Planet surface view  (Read 27556 times)

Camacha

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Planet surface view
« on: August 27, 2014, 12:23:13 AM »
Binary systems and combinations of multiple binary stars fascinate me to no end. Not only can the interactions between the stars be very complex, the emergent phenomena, like sunrise and sunset on the accompanying planets, can be quite weird and wonderful too.

That made me wonder: is it possible to see what the suns and planets look like from a certain point on the surface of a planet? You can focus on a planet, but it will revolve without consequence, making it hard to judge what it would look like from the surface.

If this is not possible, might this be an interesting feature?

Edit: apparently this is possible by pressing C. Awesome.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2014, 12:35:08 AM by Camacha »

SpyCreepers

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Re: --
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2014, 12:27:54 AM »
lol. you formerly posted it, and you discovered it :p using c.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2014, 12:42:47 AM by SpyCreepers »

Hyperion

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Re: Planet surface view
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2014, 08:45:18 AM »
I agree with this feature. There could be a surface mode with a slider of how high from the surface to the top of the atmosphere you wish to be. But this feature would be more useful if the star field was realistically positioned, which I'm unsur of. This way one could easilly see what stars they can see from their location on Earth, or how would it look like from other planets
« Last Edit: August 30, 2014, 02:26:55 AM by Hyperion »

Camacha

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Re: Planet surface view
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2014, 03:20:45 PM »
I agree with this feature. There could be a surface mode with a slider of how high from the surface to the top of the atmosphere you wish to be. But this feature would be more useful if the star field was realistically positioned, which I'm unsured of. This way one could easilly see what stars they can see from their location on Earth, or how would it look like from other planets
I think the problem with that is that most of it is just a texture (I think). Maybe that something like this will better work in Space Engine where all the stars are actual entities.

Not sure about all the ins and outs of Universe Sandbox though.

Hyperion

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Re: Planet surface view
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2014, 02:37:19 AM »
I agree with this feature. There could be a surface mode with a slider of how high from the surface to the top of the atmosphere you wish to be. But this feature would be more useful if the star field was realistically positioned, which I'm unsured of. This way one could easilly see what stars they can see from their location on Earth, or how would it look like from other planets
I think the problem with that is that most of it is just a texture (I think). Maybe that something like this will better work in Space Engine where all the stars are actual entities.

Not sure about all the ins and outs of Universe Sandbox though.
I also think that Universe Sandbox is not the perfect stelar position visualiser. We should probably leave those to things like Celestia, Stellarium and Space Engine.

But the surface could still be quite fun. I've found out that when you select a planet, focus on it by enter and then press a C key, the surface thing will happen. I've uploaded a screenshot of how it looks like from Earth.

However, could we please get correct atmosphere visualisation when viewing from a planet, so that we shall be able to see how Sun is the only visible star during daytime and simulate the transition to night? Or how it looks like from other planets? And moving around with WASD, on the surface, would be neat aswell. I would use the R and F controls for moving up and down in the atmosphere