Planet properties, mass, radius, density

[BBorke]

Hi.

I have requested it before, so has others, but the problem with planets properties is not yet fixed, though
it seems to be a fairly easy problem to fix.

When changing a planets mass, it automatically re-adjusts the planets radius and density, no problem. But if I lock the mass, and want to change the radius from 6000 to 8000, it changes it back to 6000 again, it doesnt change the density.. Very annoying. This also goes with density. It wont allow me to customize all the properties.

I would like to see this fixed soon.

[Gordon Freeman]

On a related note, why don't stars have the option to customize density? And why is there no "Random Star" tool?

[BBorke]

Yes..

[C7]

The UI is very much a work in progress at the moment, and you can see we're still improving it in Alpha 12. You can expect a lot more work to be done on the UI front in the future.

One thing that we would like to improve is the handling of the locks, and some better solutions for balancing simulation vs you being able to enter anything you'd like.

For instance, if you have a body and you set the temperature, unless it's got some mechanism to keep it warm, it will naturally cool. Or, if you define a body's radius as too small, it would naturally expand until it reaches an equilibrium, and change the density along the way. We need a mechanism where you can say, (stop simulating this specific element), or allow you to rescale parameters and still have the simulation react in some fashion.

We've been discussing how best to handle this, and if you've got some recommendations, we'd be glad to hear them as well.

Long story short, we're working on it, but it might be a while till we settle on a solution we're happy with.

[Krypton]

Well so far Universe Sandbox 2 looks beautiful, but until we get the mass/density/radius inputs fixed, there's not much I can do in simulating custom systems for a writers' club.  I understand that changing the density will affect the mass but trying to make a planet with a set density and a set radius, all within nominal ranges, is impossible.  The numbers increase and decrease, don't stay fixed, and even locked fields change by  themselves.
But glad to know I'm not the only one and that you're working on it.  Looking forward to the fixes.