Fun for the avg joe?

[Anatole213]

 Hi all. Very interesting and epicly fun looking game/simulator you seem to have here. I'm teetering on the edge of picking this up but I've GOT to ask:


 How easy is this to play around with for say the average blue collar joe, who just happens to have a 6 year old who's fascinated with planets and space and wants to do some cool stuff with dad on his computer?

 I see some of the topics in this forum and it scares the heck out of me to think I might have to have really paid attention in more science classes than I ever took to understand how to play around with this game. 

 Is this game chalk full of tutorials and tips to help a gamer dad out?

 Thanks in advance. Really looking forward to the ooo's and aaaaah's from my little ones seeing this hopefully.

[Dan Dixon]

I'm biased, but I think your son will love it.

There's a lot of complexity if you want to dive deep, but it's easy to have lots of fun. It's just a few clicks to create a star, planet, and moon system. My goal has been to create something that's accessible,easy, and fun to use. I'm not done, but I think I'm off to a good start.

There's a handful of easy to follow tutorials that are built in and I'll be releasing a few more later this month (May 2011).

A core contingent of the pre-Steam release forum regulars are 10, 11, and 12 years old. This is software made for both kids, teens, and adults.

[Omnigeek6]

Hmm... that's a good question.

I can't totally speak from experience, since a decade ago I was that 6 year old fascinated with planets and space.

However, I can say that if you're unsure, you should definitely download the trial version to get a feel for the interface. Also, remember that if you need to look something up, there are plenty of astronomy resources online.

By the way, US is a gravity simulator, which makes it great for making your own systems, but can be frustrating if you can't get something to be stable. I'm not sure it's the best for simulating constellations and views of the sky, but that doesn't sound like what you're after anyway.

[ChemicalBR0]

compared to other astronomy software it's a complete breeze to use.
I only got it today and already after about an hour I feel comfy with the interface and can set up a solar system in no time.
there's a lot of people (some as thick as mince) that i'm going to recommend this to and even the thick ones will be able to work it

[atomic7732]

I've had Universe Sandbox since November of 2008. I was 11 at the time. Yeah, anyone can use it. It's really easy to use, and there is some more technical things but if you just use WolframAlpha, you can simply search some of the values, like... 2.39 jupiter masses, and compare things. You'll be able to explain some of the stuff to your 6 year old. Also, some of the orbital elements, lets say "node", you can hover over it and it'll explain it.

[Joshimitsu91]

Yeah its very easy to get into and there are a number of step by step tutorials But it also caters for those who want abit more complexity. I think its still 10% off on Steam and i thoroughly recommend you buy it!

Josh

[Dan Dixon]

Thanks for the recommendation Josh!