Archive for March, 2018
Steam Workshop Is Coming Soon
Mar 26th
We’re still hard at work on Update 21 and its two big planned features, Lasers & Planet Grids. But as promised, we’ve also been working on some other things at the same time.
For one, we are making great progress on support for Steam Workshop. It’s not quite ready, but we’re excited to share our progress with you, and even more excited about the possibilities this opens up once it’s released.
When we launch Steam Workshop, you’ll be able to easily share your simulations with the community and explore simulations created by others. Further down the line, we plan to add support for custom models and textures, too. Support for mods on Steam Workshop may eventually come, but not anytime soon.
Please note: Steam Workshop is not yet available in Universe Sandbox ². It is still a work-in-progress feature and will look different in the future.
Thanks to our developer, Jonathan, for all of his work on Steam Workshop!
More Super Supernovae | Update 20.6
Mar 15th
Run Steam to download Update 20.6, or buy Universe Sandbox ² via our website or the Steam Store.
April 19: Update 20.6.3 is a small update with a few bug fixes for issues with object selection, internal analytics, and database object information.
This is another small update, but we want to highlight how awesome our new supernovae look now. Thanks to our graphics developer, Georg, for all of his wizardry involved in making these look even cooler, all the while making them perform better, too.
This update also includes a number of smaller improvements, including improved trails in the Roadster sims.
Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 20.6
Now back to our work on lasers and Planet Grids for Update 21! Learn more about what we’re working on for our next big update
They Put a Car in Space, We Upgraded Our Engine | Update 20.5
Mar 7th
Run Steam to download Update 20.5, or buy Universe Sandbox ² via our website or the Steam Store.
March 14: Update 20.5.2 is a small update that fixes a few bugs, including problems with volume settings and camera control.
Update 20.5 features:
- A Tesla Roadster in Space
- The Ultimate Engineered System
- An Upgrade of Our Game Engine to Unity 2017.2
This is a small update in terms of content, but there have been some significant under-the-hood changes with the upgrade of our game engine to Unity 2017.2. As with past under-the-hood changes, it’s a sign we’ve transitioned well if you can’t see any differences.
But also: there’s a car in space! (And conversely, this car doesn’t even have an engine under its hood.) On February 6, 2018, SpaceX performed a successful test launch of their Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful rocket currently in use. The launch was intended as a demonstration of the Falcon Heavy’s ability to launch a payload into an orbit that could reach Mars. SpaceX also successfully landed two of the Falcon Heavy’s reusable booster engines, although the central core crashed during its attempted landing.
As part of the test, the Falcon Heavy rocket carried a dummy payload to demonstrate that it could launch a large mass onto the required orbit. For this launch, SpaceX chose an unusual dummy payload: a Tesla Roadster electric car belonging to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. In a press statement released before the launch, SpaceX explained that it wanted a payload that was “fun and without irreplaceable sentimental value.” While the Roadster will not land on or orbit Mars, its current elliptic orbit around the Sun will take it beyond the orbit of Mars at its farthest point.
Check out the Roadster sims in Universe Sandbox ²:
- Home > Open > Tesla Roadster in Space
- Home > Open > Where in Space is the Tesla Roadster
Update 20.5 also includes a database refresh for objects in our Solar System, a few other new sims (including the Ultimate Engineered System), improved supernova visuals, and a number of smaller improvements and bug fixes.
Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 20.5
We are making great progress on Update 21, but we unfortunately can’t provide a release date yet. Update 20.5 is just a step on the way to make sure everything is running smoothly. Thank you for your patience while we continue to work on Planet Grids and Lasers.
The Ultimate Engineered System, as described by astronomer Sean Raymond