Celestia Forums

FarGetaNik wrote:That and now that we are transitioning to 1.7, we are in a weird limbo of not knowing what to match our addons to.

That reminds me, I need to get a list of new parameters being added in 1.7, for the Celestia Wikibooks.

But a bigger problem, especially for the Motherlode: when Celestia finally gets updated to 1.7, the data files will all be updated, making a bunch of add-ons on the site obsolete. My "Jupiter's New Moons" add-on is an example of this.

It's not a new problem. The Galaxies page has numerous examples of nebula billboards, made before galaxies were a thing in Celestia.

I'm thinking we should have a separate section on the Motherlode, maybe called "Legacy Addons" or something. What do you think?

That could work.

LukeCEL wrote:That reminds me, I need to get a list of new parameters being added in 1.7, for the Celestia Wikibooks.

That's long overdo. I had to get information about some 1.7 parameters from comments on the discord. Not even the developers seem to have a complete list ready.

LukeCEL wrote:But a bigger problem, especially for the Motherlode: when Celestia finally gets updated to 1.7, the data files will all be updated, making a bunch of add-ons on the site obsolete.

Yes, also a big reason I havent submitted anything recently. Ideally 1.7 will be released with a big update on data and texture files. A legacy section on the motherlode sounds like a good idea.

I just stopped by our old and good Celestia Motherlode.

It's working well now.
Which is already good

But as a young member of the Celestia project, I would like to make some comments to improve our common archive with addons.

1) As LukeCEL rightly pointed out, old addons just get in the way.
They were awesome in their day.
But now, in almost 2020, they're...outdated, and they're probably pushing away new Celestia users.

It is by no means necessary to remove them .they are a lot of effort invested by their creators.and it's just to a certain extent the memory of the past times.and also ... from some add-ons you can "squeeze the juices"

I suggest that especially for old addons we make an "archive" tab where these addons will be placed. In the end - no one will be offended and these addons will not create anti-advertising.

2) I went to the Celestia Motherlode website and... it feels like time has stopped and I'm back in the 2000s somewhere.
The design's good. But it's... it's outdated too. Besides, it's very inconvenient to view this site from a mobile device.



I think Celestia Motherlode needs a RE-design.
It's not a big deal, but it's... It's necessary.
This also does not play for us in favor of promoting Celestia to the masses.

SVision wrote:I think Celestia Motherlode needs a RE-design.
It's not a big deal, but it's... It's necessary.
This also does not play for us in favor of promoting Celestia to the masses.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I've been complaining about its early 2000's-esque design for some time now. But it's entirely up to the creators of the Motherlode on how to deal with it. Otherwise, as originally stated here, a new motherlode can be created.

I am probably in the minority, but I do not see what the problem is.
I do not understand what people mean when they say dated.
If it works, and is easily understood, you are done.
Unless there are features you want to add that is.

Change for change sake alone gives us garbage like W10.
They had a serviceable and predictable desktop, then they made vista.
The next one was better, but the rest belong in their own recycle bins.

I also have to admit that even when using a mobile device, I set it to request the desktop version.
The mobile versions of sites are useless.


Janus.

Janus wrote:I am probably in the minority, but I do not see what the problem is.
I do not understand what people mean when they say dated.
If it works, and is easily understood, you are done.
Unless there are features you want to add that is.

Change for change sake alone gives us garbage like W10.
They had a serviceable and predictable desktop, then they made vista.
The next one was better, but the rest belong in their own recycle bins.

I also have to admit that even when using a mobile device, I set it to request the desktop version.
The mobile versions of sites are useless.


Janus.

1: the website didn't age well so to speak.Per the current trend and appearance of websites, the look of the Motherlode really shows that it's from the early 2000's. Not to mention, current websites show more aimations and dynamics in their pages as well.

2: Sure, Vista was garbage but I don't really see any problems with W10. W8, sure. It's just a matter of prespective and preference

3: Hence, some improvements and adjustments are need, since websites with old designs would not read well into a mobile device

The last post was made five months ago; the maximum "no post" limit before necromancy was suggested to be six months to a year so hopefully you'll find it okay that I'm going to add a post here.

The Celestia Motherlode is, sadly, nearly dead. The moderators don't seem to be accepting any more addon requests. I've submitted them and it was three weeks until I got a reply. Planet Nine (2016), Ultima Thule, Messier 87 black hole, none of those remarkable breakthroughs have an addon focusing on them in the Motherlode. No more active moderators, but we need new moderators. No more addons based on recent astronomical events. So basically, people can't submit their addons, which they've been working very hard on to get multiple people to download, on the site dedicated exclusively for doing so.

I've seen a load of good addons here on the Celestia Forums, by AnthonyBRusso, Lafuente_Astronomy, FarGetaNik, SevenSpheres, etc. and you just can't forget Celestia Origin. Unfortunately, mostly because the forums were down for a long time, the addons on this forum doesn't seem to be downloaded as much as those addons on the inactive Motherlode, so (based on what I've personally seen) very little people are going to find out about these good addons, compared to those that visit the Motherlode. I know the celestia.space site mentions that you can get addons in the forums, but I don't think that's helped much considering the relatively short amount of time that new site was up compared to the Motherlode.

I myself like the Educational Activities made by Frank Gregorio, even though they are outdated (referring to "Theia" as "Orpheus" in the Giant-Impact Hypothesis); I even have them myself an uninstalled Celestia Origin, though I don't think there's anything wrong in the latter. But more people will prefer Celestia Origin since it's larger and more updated. Even more, its main downloading method is muTorrent, which by itself is not illegal but has scared people into not using it due to its reputation for being used to download illegal content. So Celestia Origin is, sadly, far more overlooked.

LukeCEL wrote:when Celestia finally gets updated to 1.7, the data files will all be updated, making a bunch of add-ons on the site obsolete.

LukeCEL is 110% about that; some of the code might become obsolete in Celestia 1.7.0., and many of the addons on Celestia are either no longer needed or outdated, so... that just pretty much drives everyone else away. But I personally think they can stay for various reasons, including nostalgia.

As for the main Celestia website over at celestia.space, it seems very modern and fresh-looking; definitely a good improvement from the previous shatters.net; the latter domain name also seems to have nothing to do with Celestia and thus would make people think it's different; thus the new main website is more attractive.

So the final big question is, should all the addons that we've made here, such as the following: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7], all be migrated to the Motherlode? And should the moderators of the forums also be moderators of the Motherlode? (I have no desire to be a moderator of both the forums and Motherlode whatsoever). I will never use other people's addons without permission. Please answer your own answer; thank you.

I will only have a concrete opinion on this once i get more info on my Barnard's Star b addon being on the Motherlode. If it does get accepted, i will have proof that the motherlode isnt dead, but very few people upload to it.

Gurren Lagann wrote:once i get more info on my Barnard's Star b addon being on the Motherlode. If it does get accepted, i will have proof that the motherlode isnt dead, but very few people upload to it.

Finally someone attempting to do it.

The addon got accepted, so my point is proven:

The Motherlode isnt dead, its just that people dont submit on the Motherlode as much as before.

The addon got accepted, so my point is proven:

i passed it , there was only one issue with it

the clouds do not map to a sphere very well , there is a lot of "pinch" at the poles
and YES i know that making clouds is a pain in the rear end
Then to get them looking good is tougher also but it can be done ( and have them look at least somewhat ok )


here is a copy of your cloud map with the poles fixed and some improvement

Good try but the first clouds are not so natural...

Gurren Lagann wrote:The addon got accepted, so my point is proven: The Motherlode isnt dead

Good.

I also plan to update two of my add-ons: the Largest Stars, and the LMC/SMC add-on.

LukeCEL wrote:I also plan to update two of my add-ons: the Largest Stars, and the LMC/SMC add-on.

Oh, great.

I just now uploaded an addon based on your Largest Stars one (with you being attributed). Is that fine with you? If not, then just alert John Van Vliet not to accept it.

Joey P. wrote:Is that fine with you?

Yes, as long as it's scientifically sound.

LukeCEL wrote:Yes, as long as it's scientifically sound.

It is. I have edited it to include any "fanon".

John Van Vliet wrote:i passed it , there was only one issue with it

I too would like to upload addons since you are still active at the Motherlode. Currently, I have uploaded a "Large Stars" addon that includes many red and blue supergiant stars, based on an addon by LukeCEL licensed in the Public Domain (though he is kindly attributed). It has also been edited to be made suitable for the Motherlode - it is not identical to the file I myself used. Would you mind taking a look at it? Thanks.

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I'd also like to upload a Planet Nine addon, since Planet Nine isn't yet on the Motherlode.

SVision wrote:I went to the Celestia Motherlode website and... it feels like time has stopped and I'm back in the 2000s somewhere.
The design's good. But it's... it's outdated too. Besides, it's very inconvenient to view this site from a mobile device.

Sorry to necro, but imo, web design in general has been going downhill ever since then. "Modern" design seems to mandate white backgrounds, fat-finger touchscreen buttons, and an overall focus on mobile over desktop. The worst examples have kind of turned me off to the whole style. I think the celestia.space homepage is fine, but I wouldn't want to scroll though a list of addons like that. Something along the lines of Nexus Mods might be ideal.