Alpha 15 Preview: Performance Boosts & UI Changes
We’ve been working hard on Alpha 15. It’s coming, slowly but surely.
In our last post, we talked about the upcoming performance improvements. Because of this substantial physics rewrite, it’s taking some time to fully integrate the changes and restore everything to working condition. But the results are worth it; we’re seeing some big performance boosts.
We’ve also made some major changes to the UI. It’s still a work-in-progress, but we’re very excited about its direction.
The changes to the UI have made it easier to control the simulation and explore some features which were previously buried under layers of menus. Realistic physics and data make up the engine that powers Universe Sandbox ², but the key to revealing the wonders of our universe lies within the ability to interact, manipulate, and experiment. For us, this means making it easy to answer the question, “What would happen if I chucked the Earth at the Sun?”
Keep your eyes peeled for Alpha 15.
If you don’t own Universe Sandbox ², you can get instant access to the alpha on our website: universesandbox.com/2.
about 9 years ago
What does that color palette button near the bottom middle do?
about 9 years ago
It allows the user to change the background image, but we’re likely going to move that under the view settings (the eye icon).
about 9 years ago
Does collisions will be new?
about 9 years ago
Collisions won’t be changing too much in the next update, though the performance increases means they’ll look even better with the improved handling of fragments and particles.
about 9 years ago
It would be cool when it features an better grapics mode with Physix by nvidia and better grafics if the computer is able to
about 9 years ago
We won’t be using PhysX, as we use our own custom physics for Universe Sandbox ².
Users with higher end hardware can take advantage of the extra power by customizing their graphics settings, for example by increasing the maximum amount of fragments allowed in the simulation.
about 9 years ago
Will the texture issue on planets who had been impacted by something be gone? Every time a planet is shaped by an impact it makes the textures flash unless i zoom out far from the planet.
about 9 years ago
I’m not able to reproduce that effect in Alpha 14.1. Could you send your logs to us? Either use the in-game feedback (star icon in upper right) or start a new thread on our forum: http://universesandbox.com/forum. Please mention “texture flashing bug.” Thanks!
about 9 years ago
After playing around with Universe Sandbox and Universe Sandbox² for quite some time, i would just like to say what an amazing job you guys are doing, there is not a single title like this in terms of accuracy and quality, im so happy to see the performance boosted and will look forward to trying it when its fully in place as my baby isn’t exactly the most powerful beast around but not exactly weak either but have struggled viewing impacts and the such, i am constantly posting screen grabs and the such on a few groups on Facebook (i know its a dirty word but still XD) im just about to boot this title up again and look forward to seeing what you amazing people add too it in future updates, again great job.
about 9 years ago
Thanks so much, Robert!
about 9 years ago
So when is it done? I waiting…
About us:
Thanks for creating this cool game. I really like it. I really like to see what’s happen to Jupiter when Earth collided with it. I really enjoyed to create supernovas and Neutron stars. Your game so cool. Thanks for that…
about 9 years ago
Thanks, Kinoman!
The alpha version of Universe Sandbox ² is already available through our site: universesandbox.com/2
We hope and plan to continue development of Universe Sandbox ² for a long time to come, so there’s no specific release date for a final version yet.
about 9 years ago
hi i love usb and and everything about it but i would to know two things when will alpha 15 come out and how can i make it less laggy
about 9 years ago
We can’t say for sure when Alpha 15 will be available. Hopefully soon. We’re working hard to get everything together.
The update will bring some big performance optimizations which should help with your lag. Until then, try lowering your graphics settings. You can adjust these in Home -> Settings.
about 9 years ago
More that one month!?
about 9 years ago
It’s taking longer than we expected, as there are some big changes to the core physics.
about 9 years ago
When will it come out?
about 9 years ago
Sorry, we still can’t give a release date for Alpha 15. We’re in the final stretch, but it’s hard to say how long it will take to get everything in top form again.
It’s the biggest update yet for Universe Sandbox ², and we think it’s worth the wait.
about 9 years ago
Add wormholes (Just for fun)
Make the other blackhole (Galxy) Core not sread apart? in galxy collisns
Thats It!!
about 9 years ago
When will alpha 15 release?
about 9 years ago
We can’t give a release date for Alpha 15 yet. You can sign up to be emailed when it’s available near the bottom of this page: http://universesandbox.com/2/
Steam will also automatically download the update once it’s available.
Alpha 15 is biggest update yet for Universe Sandbox ², and we’re very excited to hear what everyone thinks.
about 9 years ago
Where can i find the shoot body function in the new ui?
about 9 years ago
You can still use the 1-8 keys to launch bodies, but the toolbar for customizing this isn’t in there. We’ll put it back in in a patch shortly, sorry for the inconvenience.
about 9 years ago
Where is the download?
about 9 years ago
If you already own Universe Sandbox ² just run Steam to download the latest update.
Or buy Universe Sandbox ² now through our site to get instant access to the latest alpha via Steam code: http://universesandbox.com/2