What's up with Alpha 15? + screenshot of the new UI

[Dan Dixon]

We've been hard at work on Alpha 15... physics is running much faster and we've been making pretty major changes to the user interface.

Because the severity of these changes getting everything working again is taking longer than the typical month update cycle that we were aiming for... we'll be releasing an opt-in preview version as soon as we have collisions in working shape again, at the moment we're not sure how long that will take.

In the meantime... here's a preview of the new UI (which is still very much in progress):

Another UI screenshot can be found here:
http://universesandbox.com/forum/index.php/topic,14957.0.html

[Cryo]

new Hud 10/10

[Naru523]

Interesting, it looks a lot more cleaner as well.

[WitheHole18]

yes, I agree,it looks fantastic !
Previously there was talk of the passage of unity 5, there will be some improvement in the graphic?

[Dan Dixon]

yes, I agree, good job
Previously there was talk of the passage of unity 5, there will be some improvement in the graphic?

We've already move to Unity 5 (so Alpha 15 will be compiled with Unity 5), but that alone won't make the graphics better. Georg has been working on a major overhaul of rendering which will improve performance and fix a number of huge scale issues. But that was something we could have done in Unity 4 as well. (but Georg's improvements won't be in Alpha 15 there's still lots of work to do).

[WitheHole18]

ok,thanks for info

[smjjames]

I think I liked the old UI better, but I guess I'll just see how the new one is.

[JayPix2012]

Are able to edit or even put Months and Days and Years with the new Hud?

[Chris]

Are able to edit or even put Months and Days and Years with the new Hud?

You can specify the starting date of a simulation.
Letting you change the running date of simulation directly - we haven't given this idea much thought yet.
But we will certainly discuss it. Thanks!

[crashman1390]

I'm loving this new UI, great job!   

[FederalLaw]

Next update Alpha 15 What up is ---> Big Bang, Big Crunch, Big Rip. 

[JayPix2012]

Next update Alpha 15 What up is ---> Big Bang, Big Crunch, Big Rip. 

Ends of the Universe, really?   

[Cryo]

Next update Alpha 15 What up is ---> Big Bang, Big Crunch, Big Rip. 

Ends of the Universe, really?   

To be fair he did add big bang

[dylan]

When

[gabriel.dac]

I decided to pop in again to leave my opinion on this project as a whole (not just the new IU). I hate to be pessimistic but I am starting to lose hope. When I decided to keep up with the development of this simulator and be an alpha tester, I was hoping to see this finished quite soon. I know that developing a game isn't easy at all, but lately you guys have been taking way too long to release new Alphas and I think I've lost my interest.

What bothers me is that, instead of working on things that need to be done (like, adding galaxies, improve collisions, better climate sims etc), you guys spend way too much time on secondary tasks. The IU was absolutely fine as it was and I dont see a strong enough reason to change it. In my opinion this is just a waste of time.

Look:

Because the severity of these changes getting everything working again is taking longer than the typical month update cycle that we were aiming for... we'll be releasing an opt-in preview version as soon as we have collisions in working shape again, at the moment we're not sure how long that will take.

That is the problem. In every single version you guys release, you add new features and fixes a few bugs, but you always mess up a bunch of other stuff. That happens all the time and if you keep that pace, the game will take a generation to be finished. See, you're having lots of work to get everything working fine since this new IU has generates some errors and bugs. A new IU can be cool (maybe), but I don't want to wait so damn long to see the whole thing finished. I'm 19 and have been keeping up with this project for 2 years. When you guys are done, I'll probably be married and have 3 kids. So yea, I bet my kids will love US and I can't wait. (This is just an exaggeration, don't take it so literally)

[SeanathonJames]

Lots of stuff about things.

This is how alphas work. Total reworks of the physics and rendering systems should be expected. They take a long time, and they often break the compatibility of many features, but they are also usually the only way to give massive boosts in performance. Dan's company seems quite dedicated to making sure anyone can buy their game and run it on their computer. We'll probably see at least a few more of these total overhauls before the game enters beta, at which point large overhauls of core features aren't really on the list of things to do anymore. The developers could do with maybe modularizing the code a bit better, if it isn't already, just to make sure compatibility isn't broken as much during future overhauls.

Quick question to the devs as well;
How exactly did changing the physics affect collisions? They seem like they'd be quite modular things, barely affecting each other. Did you get some sort of performance boost by tying them together so tightly?

[Chris]

Lots of stuff about things.

This is how alphas work. Total reworks of the physics and rendering systems should be expected. They take a long time, and they often break the compatibility of many features, but they are also usually the only way to give massive boosts in performance. Dan's company seems quite dedicated to making sure anyone can buy their game and run it on their computer. We'll probably see at least a few more of these total overhauls before the game enters beta, at which point large overhauls of core features aren't really on the list of things to do anymore. The developers could do with maybe modularizing the code a bit better, if it isn't already, just to make sure compatibility isn't broken as much during future overhauls.

Quick question to the devs as well;
How exactly did changing the physics affect collisions? They seem like they'd be quite modular things, barely affecting each other. Did you get some sort of performance boost by tying them together so tightly?

Always delighted to see users with such a good level of understanding.
We are indeed very committed to performance - the number one reason why there are frequent system overhauls and rewrites.
It's fair to say that Alpha15 is on a good way to blow everyone away.

The new GUI makes everything much more accessable. Features that were buried deep in the GUI are now easily found and the whole experience isn't as overwhelming anymore. Less Excel Sheet - more game.

Thomas has been doing an incredible job refactoring physics to state a where it runs nice and smooth, even on older system. In case you haven't read the latest dev blog - we're aiming to double performance - and that's the worst case.

[JayPix2012]

Next update Alpha 15 What up is ---> Big Bang, Big Crunch, Big Rip. 

Ends of the Universe, really?   

To be fair he did add big bang

True, he he did. Big Rip = little big crunches of those pieces of that or the universe then big bang or big crunch and then that or the universe will be reborn from a big bang. Did that universe just died and come back? Cool

[Prometech]

Will collisions be as spectacular as they once were? I miss the old impacts that would generate an endless cloud of tiny fragments creating an epic looking debris ring at impact.

[Greenleaf]

How exactly did changing the physics affect collisions? They seem like they'd be quite modular things, barely affecting each other. Did you get some sort of performance boost by tying them together so tightly?

¨


Physics? Collisions? How are collisions not physics?
Put in not so many words; planets flying around is handled as a n-body simulation. Mass, Gravity, velocities and positions. Then there is collision detection which looks at positions,velocities and sizes to see when things collide. Finally there is collision resolution which is about moving material and momentum from one body to another (and commonly killing one body), calculating craters and or heating and ejecting fragments. The fragments are added as new bodies in the n-body simulation.


Everything connects in a loop. Do major changes in one piece of the chain and you need to change the next link and so on. Previously a lot of change could actually happen in one link, without requiring huge changes in another link, because of the modular way things were written. This rewrite collapses a lot of the different layers for performance reasons, and the entire setup has changed.


I posted a video in here and on youtube showing the change this rewrite is doing. I would hope that this makes the wait worth it.

[Greenleaf]

Will collisions be as spectacular as they once were?

No... they will be better.
The loss in fragment count, that you remark on, was due to a change in the way those are being budgeted, for performance reasons. You should easily be able to go under settings and turn it up higher if you like. The physics part was not changed.
After I finalize this current change, we should be able to spawn a lot more fragments than we ever were before.


Edit: video link https://youtu.be/pxh5FUmRQyU
Channel link: https://www.youtube.com/c/GreenleafDk

[Prometech]

What setting would that be?
I already have max Simulated Attracting bodies set to 700, yet collisions only create roughy 100 fragments and between 200-300 non attracting particles.

EDIT: And where is this video? Found it

[Beast]

Looks great! But when will it come out?

[Prometech]

So what are we in a 1.5 month update cycle?

[gabriel.dac]

Apparently. I logged in after almost a month later and nothing seems to have changed.

The problem with this long time it is taking to develop this is that people are starting to get tired. I remember that in the beginning there was a lot of hype and stuff but now it feels like people are losing interest. The forums aren't as active etc. Second, I worry about the marketing thing. For example, new versions of iPhones are released in a defined period of time. Not long enough so people will forget the brand and it will lose popularity, and not soon enough so people will regret buying something that will be outdated soon.

I don't like to be nosy and I do believe you guys are good professionals, but.... I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. Perhaps it really IS that hard to develop a game and I just didn't know that, so I apologize

........but again, I'm not convinced that a new UI really is necessary. You guys spent so much time on the old one and......... ok I'll shut up

[FiahOwl]

This message is only viewable with Universe Sandbox Galaxy Edition. Access it and much more with promo-code '149913'.

[im4space]

Yes, as gabriel.dac says, "nothing seems to have changed". But remember that this is still in Alpha. They found some inefficiencies and to fix it requires lots of changes. It is like they took out some of the foundation and are having to rebuilding everything above it. In some ways this is harder than a game because it need to work like it does in the real universe.

Also, as gabriel.dac says, "I'm not convinced that a new UI really is necessary". They are looking to use the UI with mice, tablets, smart phones, and maybe game controllers. So it turns out that the UI really did need to change.

I know that they want to go on a monthly release schedule after Alpha 15 comes out. So take a break, and then when you have renewed your interest check it out again.

[tuto99]

Apparently. I logged in after almost a month later and nothing seems to have changed.

The problem with this long time it is taking to develop this is that people are starting to get tired. I remember that in the beginning there was a lot of hype and stuff but now it feels like people are losing interest. The forums aren't as active etc. Second, I worry about the marketing thing. For example, new versions of iPhones are released in a defined period of time. Not long enough so people will forget the brand and it will lose popularity, and not soon enough so people will regret buying something that will be outdated soon.

I don't like to be nosy and I do believe you guys are good professionals, but.... I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. Perhaps it really IS that hard to develop a game and I just didn't know that, so I apologize

........but again, I'm not convinced that a new UI really is necessary. You guys spent so much time on the old one and......... ok I'll shut up

Some people are really grateful of Giant Army for developing such an elegant project. Not only are they improving the graphics of the game, but they keep improving the physics and collisions. Can you imagine how much time it would take to create something like this? Not only that, but imagine the educational prerequisites needed to develop and code such a program. You would probably need a vast understanding of physics to implement orbits, gravitational forces, inertia, and a lot more things I don't even know. And then implement that math into a code? This isn't something you can make at home with only a high school education. You should be a lot more grateful at the fact that this project exists in the first place.

As for Giant Army, keep on with the great work. Your team is amazing. I'm sorry for not reporting any bugs for a long time. It's been a while

[pedro808]

  I just have one question:  In what version would you develop a beta or i dont know something stable in wich is posible to save your work.

   I just cant use it almost because 14 bugs like hell when loading save files.

   And i most say again this is by far the best universe simulator.

[Gordon Freeman]

I really do think that US2 should have never been released in the first place. It's nowhere near ready for the public IMO. Giant Army is dumping things on the plate while carrying it over to the table. Things are falling off and it's taking way too long to pick them up and clean them.