Universe Sandbox 2.0.6 Now Available

[Dan Dixon]

There were some technical problems with 2.0.4 and it was never widely released. For most of you, all of this will be new in 2.0.6.

Just run Universe Sandbox to update.

If you have problems updating, you can run the update program manually in the installation folder:
c:\program files\universe sandbox\update.exe


What's New in 2.0.4?

New Simulations
- WASP-12 & Hottest Known Planet
- Lagrangian Points - L1 of Sun & Earth
- Solar System Jumble

Major Changes
- Menu & Body Properties windows now scroll and expand to fit your screen. All controls now usable on windows only 350 pixels tall.

Notable Changes
- Added a What's New and Credits page.
- Navigate the menu with the forward and back buttons on your mouse.
- Added additional simulations thumbnails to main menu.
- Added 'Tidal Lock' button.
- Added velocity and raw rotation x, y, z values to body properties.
- Added 'White' as background option.
- Changed auto camera position to a checkbox in Chart Mode.
- Added button to open last screenshot taken.
- Two new chart mode views: Added Density vs Radius and sort by 'Distance from Largest'.
- Added more options to various text box pop-ups
- Improved look of Chart Mode panel (now with rounded corners).
- Reordered and aligned controls on body properties panel.
- Set Jupiter as center in Shoemaker-Levy 9 sim.
- Added 'Replace Rings' button to Ring properties.
- Added name of body orbiting to orbital elements properties.
- Updated Rho Cancri Solar System.
- Changed focus and camera rotate icons to eyes.
- Slowed the speed of the mouse wheel for scrolling panels.

Fixes
- Fixed problem with black ring particles
- Fixed problem with combo box selection not full width of box.
- Fixed crash from clicking on invisible UI.
- Fixed problem with holding down Ctrl to rotate body and not rotate associated ring systems.
- Fixed problem with popup not working in new body velocity text box.
- Adjusting velocities with velocity cylinder much more reliable - more improvements coming soon.
- Fixed problem with orbits becoming very elliptical when adjusting the semi-major axis or orbital period.
- Fixed bug with interpreting velocity units in xml files.

What's New in 2.0.5?

Notable Changes
- Added a "Send current screenshot" checkbox to the Feedback page.
- Added the "Auto System" feature from version 1.
- Cursor now automatically hides after a few seconds if window is maximized or full screen.
- Added a Test folder for simulations.
- Screenshot folder button now opens folder and selects last screenshot.
- UI now hidden on startup.
- UI now hidden in introductory tutorial.
- Improvements to Hidden Interface (tab key) usability. Still needs more work.
- Added option to view crash screenshot.
- Use the forward and back buttons on your mouse to open and close the menu.
- Closing menu now resumes simulation if it was playing when menu was opened.
- Added a button in Options to reset the update system if updates aren't being detected.
- Minor improvements to Intro & Tutorial lessons.

Fixes
- Fixed problem with Lagrange point calculations. The Lagrange simulations now work as expected. Thanks to Tony of Gravity Simulator.
- Improved startup handing of textures and loading of the menu system to fix a reported crash.
- Fixed issue with hiding the HUD while in a tutorial.
- Fixed problem with box select not selecting behind panels.
- Fixed bug when loading simulations with Orbital Elements. Thanks to NeutronStar.

What's New in 2.0.6?
- Fixed two problems introduced in 2.0.5.


Please let me know if you run into any problems or issues so we can get them fixed in the next release. Thanks!

[Chaotic Cow]

Is it possible to get a feature list of everything in 2.0?

And awesome! Updating!

[atomic7732]

I know what we need, a 2007 VK184 simulation.

I want to run it multiple times (the simulations are usually slightly diferent) and see if it ever collides.

Nvm, I am making it right now. Tedious conversion of AU/day to km/s (multiply by 149,598,073/86400) It's set for Jun 4, 2010 (what a surprise!)

[APODman]

Dan, some problems and suggestions:

1) When I perform a simulation and try to increase the number of segments of trails I need to click several times on the up arrow. Even if I try typing a value in the trails field this is not possible. Would like to correct this by allowing to keep clicking the arrow to increase the number of trails or enter a value directly in the field?

2) The number of relevant digits in the orbital data are very few. Up to 2 digits the program does a rounding, but some simulations, especially concerning close encounters, greater numerical accuracy are required. Would to leave open the number of relevant digits in numeric fields?

[ ] ´s

[APODman]

When trying to evaluate a possible resonance of the asteroid 2007 VK184 with Earth I increased the number of segments to 200, setting the timestep for five hours and let the simulation run a few moments, then paused the simulation and clicked twice on the planet, then I pressed shift + F, now the orbits of the planets took ae dashed appearance, as seen below:

[Laura]

1) When I perform a simulation and try to increase the number of segments of trails I need to click several times on the up arrow. Even if I try typing a value in the trails field this is not possible. Would like to correct this by allowing to keep clicking the arrow to increase the number of trails or enter a value directly in the field?

I get this one also, although it isn't new to this version. Typing in the field is impossible. Keeping the buttons pressed does nothing unless the value is already over 100, in which case it works.

[infringement153]

Very, very cool.  Love the tidal locking.

Edit:  Never mind, I noticed the little brightness slider.

[Naru523]

Cool! Awesome sauce.

[Sanduleak]

Many improvements in one update

Great!!!