Like the game (or sim)... lt reminds me of Celesta

gijas04 · 05-02-2011, 04:42 PM

If anyone here knows or has played Celestia http://www.shatters.net/celestia/ which is free planetarium software similar to Unv SB but without the simulations. Im not sure if the graphics are better. I like this game but it needs some work obviously. I wish they had used real voyager models instead of square blocks with planet graphics pasted on them. But its the simulations that makes this game different. What do you think?

Mogh · 05-03-2011, 06:28 AM

I've never heard of Celesta, but I love Universe Sandbox. It's a little rough around the edges, the documentation could be better and it's prone to crashing, but it's still an awesome game/simulator for us math and physics nerds.

A well-spent 9 euro in my book!

micky_miranda · 05-04-2011, 12:26 AM

some background music or sound effects would be nice as well apart from the issues listed in the above post - crashing etc.

but yeah the game is nice and certainly worth 9$

Mogh · 05-04-2011, 12:48 AM

Yeah, good point. Initially I thought for some reason my sound was broken but then I realised there's simply no sound or music of any kind in the game! They should add a couple of spacey/ambient tracks that you can play in the background. (And keep a 'sound off' option too of course.)

Vagrant · 05-06-2011, 03:25 PM

You can listen to Stars of the Lid while playing. Mind-numbing combination.

Dan Dixon · 05-17-2011, 04:46 PM

Celestia is a really impressive program, and I've actually met the guy who created it, but it's not a gravity simulator. It uses ephemeris to determine the positions of the planets and moons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephemeris

Universe Sandbox uses starting positions taken from JPL's Horizon System, which is also a ephemeris system, but then uses the law of gravitation to calculate all future positions of the objects. This is why you can change the mass of any object in Universe Sandbox and see what happens, where you could not with a purely ephemeris based application.

05-02-2011, 04:42 PM	#1
gijas04 Join Date: Dec 2008 Reputation: 6 Posts: 666	Like the game (or sim)... lt reminds me of Celesta If anyone here knows or has played Celestia http://www.shatters.net/celestia/ which is free planetarium software similar to Unv SB but without the simulations. Im not sure if the graphics are better. I like this game but it needs some work obviously. I wish they had used real voyager models instead of square blocks with planet graphics pasted on them. But its the simulations that makes this game different. What do you think?

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

05-03-2011, 06:28 AM	#2
Mogh Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 306 Posts: 2,734	I've never heard of Celesta, but I love Universe Sandbox. It's a little rough around the edges, the documentation could be better and it's prone to crashing, but it's still an awesome game/simulator for us math and physics nerds. A well-spent 9 euro in my book!

05-04-2011, 12:26 AM	#3
micky_miranda Join Date: May 2006 Reputation: 2 Posts: 141	some background music or sound effects would be nice as well apart from the issues listed in the above post - crashing etc. but yeah the game is nice and certainly worth 9$

05-04-2011, 12:48 AM	#4
Mogh Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 306 Posts: 2,734	Yeah, good point. Initially I thought for some reason my sound was broken but then I realised there's simply no sound or music of any kind in the game! They should add a couple of spacey/ambient tracks that you can play in the background. (And keep a 'sound off' option too of course.)

05-06-2011, 03:25 PM	#5
Vagrant Join Date: Oct 2008 Reputation: 58 Posts: 700	You can listen to Stars of the Lid while playing. Mind-numbing combination.

05-17-2011, 04:46 PM	#6
Dan Dixon Universe Sandbox Join Date: May 2011 Reputation: 59 Posts: 226	Celestia is a really impressive program, and I've actually met the guy who created it, but it's not a gravity simulator. It uses ephemeris to determine the positions of the planets and moons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephemeris Universe Sandbox uses starting positions taken from JPL's Horizon System, which is also a ephemeris system, but then uses the law of gravitation to calculate all future positions of the objects. This is why you can change the mass of any object in Universe Sandbox and see what happens, where you could not with a purely ephemeris based application.