Universe Sandbox 2.0.12 Now Available - October 19

[Dan Dixon]

Just run Universe Sandbox 2 to update to the latest version.

Please let me know if you run into any problems.

What's New in 2.0.12?
- Controls to add new bodies more powerful and easier to use.
- Planet trails now draw longer on fast computers.
- Added new tools to make editing UBOX files easier.

Full list of improvements and fixes:
http://universesandbox.com/whatsnew/

[Sanduleak]

For the first time, the lights behave correctly in my custom systems: this is... awesome, Dan!    

Small annoyance:
The sim used to read the <color>r,g,b</color> tag of stars but it does not anymore it seems 

And my personal wishlist:
* Ability to save rotation parameters in XML
* Ability to save color parameters in XML
* Ability to save more options (toggles & sliders) in XML

Thanks for the good work!!

[Bla]

The new features look awesome. Great to see that stars are now visible from large distances with realistic sizes applied.

Problems:
1: After clicking 'Open File Editing Tools', the program became very slow for a while, but it didn't seem like anything happened. After a while it was normal again.
2: I added Venus in orbit of a few stars, and changed the eccentricity. After it reached the highest value, all the adjustable values became unchangeable, but after adding new bodies the eccentricity also went up and became unchangeable, also if I changed it to become lower, it moved the body out and it rose again. Auto orbit makes it work again, but all the sliders can break it, I think.
3: Shadows on dust flicker, it looks like it only applies to some of the particles randomly, changing the particles which turn darker constantly. This probably also happened before this release.

But anyways, they're minor problems. The new release is still awesome.

[Naru523]

All the features are epic. And how the stars look from far away is awesome, too.

[Dan Dixon]

For the first time, the lights behave correctly in my custom systems: this is... awesome, Dan!    

So glad it's working.

Small annoyance:
The sim used to read the <color>r,g,b</color> tag of stars but it does not anymore it seems  

Can you post or email me a simulation with this that doesn't work?

And my personal wishlist:
* Ability to save rotation parameters in XML
* Ability to save color parameters in XML
* Ability to save more options (toggles & sliders) in XML

I've already done some work on improving save but commented it out for the latest release. This will happen eventually.

Great to see that stars are now visible from large distances with realistic sizes applied.

I'm glad that's fixed too. My fault releasing an update that broke this. In theory those simulations should draw a little faster as 'pinpoint' stars are finally being drawn as flat billboards and not multifaceted spheres.

1: After clicking 'Open File Editing Tools', the program became very slow for a while, but it didn't seem like anything happened. After a while it was normal again.

When you open it the main window loses focus and appears to slow down. Is that what is happening? Perhaps I need to revisit what happens when the program loses focus. As it only draws 1 frame per sec and dims the screen.

2: I added Venus in orbit of a few stars, and changed the eccentricity. After it reached the highest value, all the adjustable values became unchangeable, but after adding new bodies the eccentricity also went up and became unchangeable, also if I changed it to become lower, it moved the body out and it rose again. Auto orbit makes it work again, but all the sliders can break it, I think.

Noted. Thanks.

3: Shadows on dust flicker, it looks like it only applies to some of the particles randomly, changing the particles which turn darker constantly. This probably also happened before this release.

That's strange. Can you reproduce this error? I don't see a problem.

And how the stars look from far away is awesome, too.

Thanks. I spent over an hour 'perfecting' that texture.


How are the new controls for placing bodies working for everyone?

What does everyone think of the auto trail length feature?

[atomic7732]

I have a good suggestion for placing bodies.

How about if we could press Z and move mouse to have it move up or down. Cause they like to stick to the plane. idk if this may be in the thing already... but...

Edit: Found a glitch. I created an a Cen B, and then I clicked on another star in the add bodies panel, and then the linking line was linked to what I was going to place to the blue star in the panel.

[Bla]

1: After clicking 'Open File Editing Tools', the program became very slow for a while, but it didn't seem like anything happened. After a while it was normal again.

When you open it the main window loses focus and appears to slow down. Is that what is happening? Perhaps I need to revisit what happens when the program loses focus. As it only draws 1 frame per sec and dims the screen.

This is probably what happens, I think the background/Milky Way image turns darker, and it could look like it only runs with 1 fps.

3: Shadows on dust flicker, it looks like it only applies to some of the particles randomly, changing the particles which turn darker constantly. This probably also happened before this release.

That's strange. Can you reproduce this error? I don't see a problem.

No, it works now. It looks awesome! I thought it had something to do with the stars flickering, but it probably doesn't then.

[atomic7732]

New idea! I am in Idea Mode. Maybe temperature calcs of planetary bodies?

[Sanduleak]

Small annoyance:
The sim used to read the <color>r,g,b</color> tag of stars but it does not anymore it seems  

Can you post or email me a simulation with this that doesn't work?

Hi Dan,

Take the attached system for instance: all stars appear blue on my screen. Thanks for your help 

[Dan Dixon]

How about if we could press Z and move mouse to have it move up or down.

Good idea. There's a few more things I want to add to body placement, like this in a future update.

Small annoyance:
The sim used to read the <color>r,g,b</color> tag of stars but it does not anymore it seems 

This fix will be in the next update. The code to set the color of stars was over ridding the color setting in the XML file.

[Sanduleak]

This fix will be in the next update. The code to set the color of stars was over ridding the color setting in the XML file.

Great news! I love the rendering of colorful stars & trails