{"id":2951,"date":"2018-01-12T11:40:32","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T19:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/?p=2951"},"modified":"2021-05-26T14:53:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T21:53:13","slug":"2017-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/2017-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"Universe Sandbox \u00b2 2017 Retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2970\" src=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-Explosion-Motion-Medium-650x366.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-Explosion-Motion-Medium-650x366.png 650w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-Explosion-Motion-Medium-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-Explosion-Motion-Medium-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/> &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2017 was another great year for Universe Sandbox \u00b2. Our big milestone was Update 20, which \u2013 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/update-20\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as we explained in our blog post<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 replaced the whole foundation for Universe Sandbox \u00b2 and opened up tons of new possibilities. We also launched on the Oculus Store, expanded our team, and continued to see positive reviews pour in. Our sales once again surpassed our expectations, which has helped in our team expansion and keeps us looking forward to a long list of great features and improvements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may not have been the flashiest development year for us, but what we accomplished was extremely important and we&#8217;re very proud. Plus we expect some flashy stuff to arrive soon enough.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here&#8217;s a look at our achievements in 2017 by the numbers:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>3<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of new spacecraft models.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find them in Add &gt; Objects:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Voyager 1 &amp; 2<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arrival<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cassini<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>4<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of team members who joined us on our journey to build the universe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warm welcomes to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mat | Quality Assurance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jacob | VR Developer<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barry | Graphics Developer<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Erika | Astrophysicist, Climate &amp; Simulation Developer<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>9<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of significant updates to Universe Sandbox \u00b2.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prettier Moons &amp; Bug Fixes | Alpha 19.5 | February 08, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TRAPPIST-1 &amp; the Seven Planets | Alpha 19.6 | February 23, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Voyager &amp; Two Icy Moons | Alpha 19.7 | April 19, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A New Foundation &amp; VR 2.0 | Update 20 | June 22, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Total Solar Eclipse | Update 20.1 | August 14, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ciao, Cassini | Update 20.2 | September 14, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A New Exoplanet &amp; Interstellar Messenger | Update 20.3 | November 21, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oculus Store Launch | Update 20.3.1 | December 7, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scales &amp; Scholars | Update 20.4 | December 21, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>12<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of new &amp; improved textures.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ganymede<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Moon<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mimas<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enceladus<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Callisto<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rhea<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Titan<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dione<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iapetus<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tethys<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vesta<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mercury<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2967\" src=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-2017-Textures-650x366.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-2017-Textures-650x366.png 650w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-2017-Textures-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-2017-Textures-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-2017-Textures.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>26<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of new simulations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year we made an effort to add even more simulations for historical and current astronomical events. Explore the newly announced exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 and Ross 128 sims; watch 2012 TC4 and Apophis skim past Earth; and say hello to our first known interstellar visitor, &#8216;Oumuamua, and goodbye to Cassini, the spacecraft that illuminated Saturn.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2 TRAPPIST-1 sims<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2 Vsauce sims<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3 Total Solar Eclipse sims<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7 Voyager 1 &amp; 2 sims<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2012 TC4 passes Earth on October 12, 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cassini&#8217;s Collision with Saturn<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Potentially Hazardous Asteroids<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">400 Nearest Stars<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ross 128 with Earth-sized Planet<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just Chariklo<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8216;Oumuamua in 2017<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Solar System &#8211; Now &amp; Real Time<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Planets Between the Earth &amp; Moon<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apophis Encounters Earth in 2029<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earth\u2019s Most Stable Quasi-Satellite, 2016 HO3<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Solar System Planet Comparison<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2966\" src=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-4-Sims-650x366.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-4-Sims-650x366.png 650w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-4-Sims-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-4-Sims-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-4-Sims.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>35<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of pages of release notes for Universe Sandbox \u00b2 updates in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/u\/1\/d\/1TTsJL-ddM_i5RjfnQV5_R-hocRCin6hxAiCuVlytRtA\/view\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s New<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>587<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Highest # of concurrent users in Universe Sandbox \u00b2 in 2017 (happened on December 25).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This isn&#8217;t quite as many as our all-time high in March 2016 (our first big sale after our launch on Steam the summer before), but it&#8217;s the highest since. We&#8217;re happy to see that we continue to bring in new players and keep our fans coming back for more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>1,008<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of tasks closed in our task management system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tasks keep track of all the bugs we want to fix and the improvements and features we want to add, as well as higher level goals like design work and ideas we want to explore. Once we complete whatever the task asked for, like fixing a bug, we pass it on for approval to Mat, our QA, then close it and move onto the next task.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>1,186<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of positive Steam reviews of Universe Sandbox \u00b2 written in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2969\" src=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-Positive-Reviews-2017-650x366.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-Positive-Reviews-2017-650x366.png 650w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-Positive-Reviews-2017-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Universe-Sandbox-2-Positive-Reviews-2017-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>1,413<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of new tasks opened in our task management system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While it would have been nice to close a task each time we opened a new one, it\u2019s unfortunately easier, generally speaking, to imagine an improvement or feature than it is to implement it, and it\u2019s easier to spot a bug than it is to fix it. Development on other games may look a bit different, but with Universe Sandbox \u00b2, we don\u2019t hesitate to write down any idea that comes our way. We still focus our efforts toward specific milestones, but at the same time, we don\u2019t stop ourselves from dreaming up a development road that goes past the horizon. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>3,673<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of commits made to our project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commit_(version_control)\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">commit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is essentially a package of code changes that a team member adds to the project. It could include one small change, like adding a parenthesis, or it could include hundreds of lines of code.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>&gt;100,000<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of copies sold on Steam and other platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or, on average, one copy sold every five minutes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>5,361,590<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of views of Vsauce&#8217;s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xc4xYacTu-E\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which Way Is Down<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> video featuring Universe Sandbox \u00b2.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Universe Sandbox \u00b2 is used (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Xc4xYacTu-E?t=44s\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">starting at 45 seconds in<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) as part of an exploration into how gravity works. We&#8217;re big fans of Vsauce and were super happy to see Universe Sandbox \u00b2 in one of their videos. The icing on the cake: when Michael said &#8220;This simulator will blow your mind. I love it.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2857\" src=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-Vsauce-650x361.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-Vsauce-650x361.png 650w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-Vsauce-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Universe-Sandbox-\u00b2-Vsauce-768x427.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>18,472,265<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># of views in 2017 of all YouTube videos specifically about Universe Sandbox \u00b2. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">Take this number with a grain of salt. It\u2019s hard to say how accurate this value is from <a href=\"http:\/\/steamspy.com\/app\/230290\">SteamSpy<\/a>, but it\u2019s a fun number regardless! And this doesn\u2019t even include the above 5+ million views from the Vsauce video.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>What&#8217;s Next?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What we don&#8217;t see in the list above is all of the work we did in 2017 that has yet to be released. There&#8217;s a lot of it. Planet grids, lasers, Steam Workshop, localization, stellar evolution, and on and on. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/updated-2017-roadmap\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out our roadmap from last year<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to get an idea of what we&#8217;re working on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We&#8217;re moving closer to our next big release, Update 21, and we&#8217;re excited to show off what we&#8217;ve been doing. Once Update 21 has come and gone, we&#8217;ll share a new roadmap for 2018 that we expect will be no less exciting than last year&#8217;s. Stay tuned! And as always, thanks to all our fans for joining us on this cosmic journey. Your continued support and enthusiasm make all of this possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/universesandbox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" data-show-count=\"false\" data-size=\"large\">Follow @universesandbox<\/a><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/page.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FUniverseSandbox%2F&amp;tabs&amp;width=340&amp;height=70&amp;small_header=true&amp;adapt_container_width=true&amp;hide_cover=false&amp;show_facepile=false&amp;appId\" width=\"340\" height=\"70\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; 2017 was another great year for Universe Sandbox \u00b2. Our big milestone was Update 20, which \u2013 as we explained in our blog post \u2013 replaced the whole foundation for Universe Sandbox \u00b2 and opened up tons of new possibilities. We also launched on the Oculus Store, expanded our team, and continued to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-development","category-retrospective"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2951"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4694,"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951\/revisions\/4694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universesandbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}