How to slow down the Demo? (WinXP)

[Jacob Warren]

Hello Celestia forum!

Is there a setting that can be changed, or a file that can be edited, that will enable the Demo that comes with Celestia (1.5.1) to run a tad slower? It runs much too fast for my young nephew; and, admittedly, for myself.

I performed a forum search for my problem (demo fast) and came up with nothing helpful, so please forgive me if I'm repeating a common question.

Add-on (get it?): Since this is my first forum post on the Celestia forum, I would like to comment on how amazing, wonderful, educational, and entertaining (these terms are too rarely used in the same sentence) this software is. Also -- being a long-time reader of work produced by the Orion's Arm world-building group -- I am doubly impressed and overwhelmed by the ability of Celestia to help authors and artists to speculate not just about the universe, but also about our place in the universe for centuries and millennia to come.

[BobHegwood]

Hello Celestia forum!

Is there a setting that can be changed, or a file that can be edited, that will enable the Demo that comes with Celestia (1.5.1) to run a tad slower?

Jacob,

You'd have to manually edit the demo.cel file which can be found in the main Celestia directory.
Use Notepad, or any equivalent, and change the speeds used as follows in this example:

Original CEL script:
print { text "We're now orbiting about 12,500km above the Earth" row -3 duration 5 }
orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 10 }
print { text "Earth looks much more familiar with clouds." row -3}
wait { duration 0.1 }
renderflags { set "cloudmaps" }
orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 6 }

Modify the script to slow things down as I have done here:
print { text "We're now orbiting about 12,500km above the Earth" row -3 duration 5 }
orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 10 duration 20 }
print { text "Earth looks much more familiar with clouds." row -3}
wait { duration 5.0}
renderflags { set "cloudmaps" }
orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 10 duration 10 }

Notice the highlighted changes in the modified code.
Hope that helps...

Thanks, Brain-Dead

[selden]

Bob,

Everything looks the same to me. I don't see any bolding.

Jacob,

Start by changing the DURATION values in the WAIT statements.

The statements between the WAIT statements all start at the same time, when
the previous WAIT finishes. Their DURATION values control how long they last, but they don't wait for one another to finish.

If you're running Windows, there are some Explorer settings you need to change before you start editing Celestia's files. See http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/~seb/celest ... html#2.1.1

[BobHegwood]

Bob,

Everything looks the same to me. I don't see any bolding.

I edited a bit, Selden. Maybe now?

[selden]

Bob,

Everything looks the same to me. I don't see any bolding.

I edited a bit, Selden. Maybe now?

Much better!

[Jacob Warren]

BobHegwood, Seldon,

It has taken me a couple of weeks to get back to this, but your posts were very helpful. I have succeeded in making the demo more readable, so thank you.

I have a couple of more questions.

I understand that duration controls the length of time the text remains on screen. But does rate only pertain to the speed of movement--such as rotation, once stopped at a destination?

I would also like to slow down the speed by which the viewer travels between some destinations. Should I edit the time and distance properties to accomplish this? (And if so, how do these two properties work together?)

[BobHegwood]

I understand that duration controls the length of time the text remains on screen. But does rate only pertain to the speed of movement--such as rotation, once stopped at a destination?

Rate applies to whatever element you are modifying. In the case of the
"orbit" element, it applies to the rate at which the specified object moves.

I would also like to slow down the speed by which the viewer travels between some destinations. Should I edit the time and distance properties to accomplish this? (And if so, how do these two properties work together?)

No need to change the "distance" parameter... Just increase the "time" element.
Just play with these commands for a while, and you'll easily see how they can be
changed. If *I* can do it, *anyone* can.

Thanks, Brain-Dead

[Jacob Warren]

BobHegwood,

A week and a half later, I'm back with another question.

Is there a property that affects the camera's turn rate while traveling between two locations?

I know, now, how to slow down rate of rotation, duration of text, and travel between locations. But a problem has cropped up: while traveling, the camera turns very slowly to focus on the new destination. When going from the Earth to the moon, for instance, I do not get a centered view of the moon until I'm right up on it. (Imagine a silly spaceship that travels very quickly, but turns around so slowly to face its destination, that you have already arrived by the time your cockpit-view finally centers on the destination!)

I should have mentioned it before, but this is one reason I wondered what the distance property was for--and whether or not it has any affect on my turn rate dilemma.

Thank you for the tips.

[BobHegwood]

You can select the object and then center it prior to going to it.
See the manual for the commands. Piece of cake.

Thanks, Brain-Dead

EDIT:
Sorry, but I guess I don't understand your question here.
You may have to ask someone with some more brains than I have.

[Jacob Warren]

BobHegwood,

No problem, we all need to hear "RTFM" at some point (and I'm no exception )

However, at this point, we're still talking about the demo.cel script; so the user is hands-off, and unable to center the camera on the destination before going to it. If the camera is to be centered, it will have to be via the demo script (unless there isn't a way to accomplish that).

Though truthfully, I may be in over my head-- I might consider enjoying the program for a while, instead of diving right into its nuts and bolts! I do have some things to say about the demo, and a couple suggestions, as it serves in many cases as a first impression of Celestia. However, I'm realizing how that may be sort of like walking into a stranger's living room and telling him how he should have decorated it.

For now, I'm going to leave the script alone and enjoy Celestia for what it is-- a great program.

[BobHegwood]

However, at this point, we're still talking about the demo.cel script; so the user is hands-off, and unable to center the camera on the destination before going to it. If the camera is to be centered, it will have to be via the demo script (unless there isn't a way to accomplish that).

Sorry, but you lost me here...
You can edit the demo script easily yourself to get the results you want.
If you do not wish to modify the original demo, just save your changed
file as any other .cel file and run it to see what happens.

Use the following commands to get to what (I think) is what you want:

Code: Select all

select {object "Moon"}
center {time 4.0}

Then, you can use the following code to go to it while it is centered in your view.

Code: Select all

goto {time 5.0 distance 2.0}
wait {duration 6.0}

Does this help?

Thanks, Brain-Dead