What is your favorite thing to do with Universe Sandbox?

[Dan Dixon]

I'm curious to know what is your favorite thing to do in Universe Sandbox?

What have you done more than once?

Alternatively I'm curious to know what you dislike the most?

What could I change that would make Universe Sandbox better?

[FGFG]

Universe Sandbox is a very good gravity simulator. It's pretty well done in all its parts. 

Well, i think that the best thing is the galaxy collision. Not every gravity simulator can show it.
However, it can be improved: for example if you make the simulation run you don't obtain a new galalxy, but just a big star cloud with the 2 galaxy centres.

The opposite thing is that lagrange points L1, L2 and sometimes L3 aren't stable (however it shows you how difficult is mantain something in that position for long)...

The last bad thing, the less important in my opinion, are the rings made of particles and not of real matter (they can't create new moons or new planets).Can they be created procedurally?

There is a game (Infinity) under developement that create anything procedurally; even rings
Here the video (If you are looking only for the rings part whatch the last quarter, but i recommend you to watch it all):
http://www.infinity-universe.com/Infinity/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=93
Here the main page (see also the forums and expecially developement journals):
http://www.infinity-universe.com/Infinity/index.php
P.s. All the video are in real time with an accessible computer and not rendered 

[atomic7732]

Making a fake solar system and making comets to it.

[Arrol]

Honestly, Blowing stuff up, making Black Holes, and creating fake planets.

[osezno_]

I think it'd be great to decouple the "viewing speed" with the "time step". I.e. if we want to speed things up, the only way AFAIK is to increase the time step, which results in less stability of the system.

My proposal would be to fix a time step and then a "viewing multiplier" so that, if that multiplier is set to 5, only 1 in 5 steps are displayed (but all 5 are internally calculated).

I guess this only makes sense if the CPU time to arrange the display is significant with respect to the time it takes to perform the orbit calculations themselves.

Regards

Osezno_

[Michael]

One thing I like to do is take that cluster system and let it collapse and then strike it wit a moon traveling at light-speed.

[Chaotic Cow]

I like trying to launch an asteroid using the sling-shot of planets gravities.

[MonkeyDLuffy]

Making a fake solar system and making comets to it.

Honestly, Blowing stuff up, making Black Holes, and creating fake planets.

I like trying to launch an asteroid using the sling-shot of planets gravities.

Same.

[Chaotic Cow]

Though all my attempts are fail. Once I launch it from Earth it just starts to Orbit the sun which then it like never enters any other planets hillsphere. Close but never.

[SuperNova]

Though all my attempts are fail. Once I launch it from Earth it just starts to Orbit the sun which then it like never enters any other planets hillsphere. Close but never.

me to.
it just go's strait ahead, then it enters a hillsphere. but its not pulled towards the planet. it just go's strait ahead...

[FGFG]

it just go's strait ahead...

Because it is too fast. Just try to launch the asteroid again, but lowring the speed step by step, so that when it reaches the hill sphere it will have a lower velocity and can be capted by the planet


(whoo, my 200th post! )

[Chaotic Cow]

Congats!

Yeah, it does have to be in the hillsphere for enough time to get an effect.

But then it has to either be to be fast or slow enough to not start orbiting the planet.

[FGFG]

... and i think that it has to arrive behind the planet so that it will be actually accelerated. If it arrives from the "front" it will just turn back (I believe without being accelerated, but you shouldn't trust me).

[Chaotic Cow]

Yeah I think you are right. It's hard to do manually.