More Performance Improvements in Universe Sandbox ²
The last few alpha updates of Universe Sandbox ² have each included changes in the physics code to improve performance on a wide range of hardware. But never assume that Thomas, our numerical physics developer, is done with optimization; there’s always more performance that can be squeezed out.
That being said, sometimes it’s not worth trying to squeeze out the last drop; sometimes it’s better to start fresh. Thomas explains in his video description: “The core NBody physics was rewritten from the ground up to give back some of the raw computation speed, which had been lost under layer upon layer of C# sugar coating.”
If all goes well, this could mean that the physics-side of Universe Sandbox ² will run much faster than it does now. In addition, it will be running asynchronously, which essentially means that even if physics is bogged down with thousands of calculations, the user interface should still be responsive.
Check out Thomas’s video below for a demonstration of how powerful the new system is. 50 000 particles around Saturn would normally have brought this simulation to a halt, but now it runs very smoothly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxh5FUmRQyU
From the description:
Note that the slight stuttering, primarily at the beginning, is caused by the screen recording.
This demonstration shows the performance on an Intel i7 CPU running the rewritten C# engine on Mono. The rewrite will let us quickly add support for native code using SSE as well as native code running C++AMP on CPU or GPU, plus still OpenCL.
Full implementation may take a bit, but we’re very excited to see it up and running in Universe Sandbox ². When it’s ready, we’ll be sure to let you know.
Get instant access to the alpha and a pre-order of the final Universe Sandbox ²: universesandbox.com/2
about 9 years ago
Just discovered your program and actually bought the 1st version to get a feel for how it works before I buy the early access for 2 on steam.
One question, is there a way to more accurately place planets around stars? I click and they just shoot in toward the sun depending on the view angle. I’d love to plop them down at specific positions orbiting the sun and on the ecliptic.
Wow, awesome software, when I have more time I’ll go through the blog, looks like LOTS of cool information.
about 9 years ago
In case you didn’t know, you don’t have to wait for Early Access on Steam, you can already get instant access to the alpha of Universe Sandbox ² through our website: universesandbox.com/2
To answer your question about the original Universe Sandbox… When you open the Add Body panel, there are some options on the left for selecting how the body is added. If you have the target icon selected, it’ll “launch” the body.
Select the other options for placing the body into orbit.
Hope that helps! If not, please contact us: http://universesandbox.com/contact/