1.3.0 prerelease 4: attention add-on creators

[chris]

This is probably the last prerelease before 1.3.0 final. Quite a lot has been added since prerelease 3:

- resizing of views in multiview (just drag on the frames!)
- option to turn off view frames
- option to turn off time synchronization between views
- view menu
- textures for Eros and Venus's surface added
- IAU rotation axes and meridians for moons
- new directory structure for add-ons
- support for loading .cel files from the shell (i.e. double click the icon) on Windows

The new directory structure for add-ons merits some additional explanation. It has been changed so that textures, models, and .xyz files can be located in subdirectories of the add-on directory. This will prevent the main textures and models directory from becoming a complete mess.

Here's a sample of the old structure:

Code: Select all

celestia/
    extras/
        pioneer.ssc
    data/
        pioneer10.xyz
        pioneer11.xyz
    models/
        pioneer.3ds
    textures/
        medres/
            pioneer_tex1.jpg
            pioneer_tex2.jpg


And here's the new way:

Code: Select all

celestia/
    extras/
        pioneer/
            pioneer.ssc
            data/
                pioneer10.xyz
                pioneer11.xyz
            models/
                pioneer.3ds
            textures/
                medres/
                    pioneer_tex1.jpg
                    pioneer_tex2.jpg


Notice that all files rooted in the extras/pioneer directory. The old scheme still works, so all existing add-ons are usable. But when creating new add-ons, please use the new directory structure.

The new prerelease for Windows can be found in the usual location: http://www.shatters.net/celestia/files/celestia-win32-1.3.0pre4.exe.
(Linux users interested in an early peek should build from the CVS tree at SourceForge; unlike the average Windows user, you should have all the necessary tools to build Celestia pre-installed.)

--Chris

[Rassilon]

I might take the time to rehash the old addons to this structure....Atleast the nebulae addons I created.

[granthutchison]

Oops. Chris, you've fixed the mirror-reversal problem of textures applied to 3ds objects, but this pre-release still incorporates the old, N-S flipped textures.
I've just checked in suitably revised lo- and medres textures for Phobos, Deimos, Ida, Gaspra and Eros to the CVS tree.

Those who've already developed textures for 3ds bodies should take note that they'll no longer need to flip them before using them in Celestia 1.3.

Grant

[billybob884]

Code: Select all

celestia/
    extras/
        pioneer/
            pioneer.ssc
            data/
                pioneer10.xyz
                pioneer11.xyz
            models/
                pioneer.3ds
            textures/
                medres/
                    pioneer_tex1.jpg
                    pioneer_tex2.jpg


something tells me this is gonna cause a lot of commotion...

[billybob884]

what about .stc files, not used anymore?

[selden]

Unfortunately, it would be a lot less work for addon creators if Celestia recognized the structure

Code: Select all

extras/
    myobject/
           extras/
           models/
           textures/
                  hires/
                  medres/
                  lores/


Then all of the existing zp files would just work: create extras/myobject
and then restore the existing myobject.zip into that directory.

Having to move the catalog file up to the root of the tree is a bit of a pain.
I've already done it for most of the zip files that I authored, but I'm glad I don't have more of them. There's also the problem of add-ons that have been "abandoned" because the author has moved on to other interests.

Mike,
To answer your question about .stc and other catalog files, they still work just fine. It's just that they don't need to go in the extras directory itself anymore.

[billybob884]

ok... then where do they go?

[selden]

1) you can modify Celestia's config file (celestia.cfg) to add the name of your own personal extras directory to its list of extras directories and put it there. As best I can tell, though, that personal directory does have to be somewhere under the Celestia root directory.

or

2) you can create a subdirectory under Celestia's extras directory and put it there. Celestia automatically scans all of the directories it finds in its extras directory.

or

3) put it in Celestia's extras directory just as you did for the older versions of Celestia. The new extras directories are in addition to the old directory.

Does this help?

[billybob884]

yes it does, thanks

[chris]

Unfortunately, it would be a lot less work for addon creators if Celestia recognized the structure

Code: Select all

extras/
    myobject/
           extras/
           models/
           textures/
                  hires/
                  medres/
                  lores/


Then all of the existing zp files would just work: create extras/myobject
and then restore the existing myobject.zip into that directory.

That would make migrating to the new structure easier, but I don't think that it's advantage for which it's worth making the file search rules more complex. I don't see any logic in having an extra extras subdirectory

I can see where it might be useful to support a flatter directory structure for add-ons, where .ssc files, textures, and models could all reside in a single directory. This could be particularly helpful for simple add-ons where for example, there's an .ssc file containg a single body and just one texture.

--Chris

[selden]

In the grand scheme of things, there really aren't all that many multi-directory add-ons yet. So it really isn't that big a deal.

I agree that allowing all of the components of an add-on to be in the same (sub)directory would be a great improvement.

[billybob884]

so do .dsc files still go in the extras directory as well?

[selden]

Mike,

Any of the catalog files (ssc, stc. dsc) can go into any of the extras directories.

Celestia looks for them in the original extras directory plus any directory beneath it, as well as in all the additional extras directories you specify in celestia.cfg plus any directories beneath them.