Celestia Forums

Suppose we could take Celestia's basic source code - tweak it - add a little here - take a little off there - Add a lot of nifty tools - a cool GUI - an awsome multifunctional yet simple interface - a few awsome batch conversion, import / export, and save / print options - and come up with an app solely for the purpose of designing and creating new model worlds that are original?
Suppose we could use it to make global views, flat map projections, contour maps, and even export textured 3d planet Globes in .3ds, .obj, VRML, .obp(bryce5), .DXF, and maybe one or two more 3d model formats
including files compatible with Celestia (A sister prog?)?

Suppose we could chalk it full of all sorts of really cool terrain generation, paint, and 3d features - like combining the best of a Photoshop or Corel type program with a pretty cool flat terrain generator AND a 3d modelling suite?

Suppose we made it Open Source - and free for all to enjoy on Windows, Linux, and Mac platforms - and by doing so put MojoWorld, Bryce5, Profantasy Software's Fractal Terrains, Corel Draw, and Terragen to shame?

Suppose we were to call this miraculous device - this wicked hybridization of borrowed Science and raw, powerful imagination - by a name that would grow to be LEGEND!

Suppose we were to call it...

"THE WORLD FACTORY"?!!!

Well - all you programmers out there chew on that one for a spell,
but remember this -

In the words of the immortal John Lennon:

"You may say that I'm a dreamer - but I'm not the only one...
I hope someday you'll join us - and the world will live as one..."

Sorry,

but for me as a Celesltia co-author and developer most of what you write sounds like hot air.

"Suppose..."

It would certainly not be a clever idea to pack all these format converters and other such things into the Celestia core program. Celestia has a very modular design and many of the "ideas" you were addressing are already possible or may be achieved with external programs.

Any copy of the Celestia screen (up to the resolution of your monitor e.g. 1900x1200,... ) can be exported in lossless PNG format and worked on externally with Photoshop or GIMP.

Medium resolution flat map projections are just part of the Celestia distribution and in much higher resolutions available elsewhere (add-ons, various sites). There is plenty of software available that generates any other map view thereof.

Judging from your style of writing, it will be a /long/ way before you will be able to reach a quality level like e.g. Mario/Spacegraphics who starts from the original scientific data and uses procedural map generation in extreme hires.

http://www.space-graphics.com/index.html

Since you are apparently interested in hires prints for making money, all the really hires image manipulation tasks have to be decoupled from Celestia for obvious reasons of CPU power and storage!

Just for curiosity: How much RAM do you have ? I have 3Gb of fast Ram (CL2) (probably more than you got )... and still manipulating 32k textures that need ~ 3 Gb of Ram, is taking quite long....

Bye Fridger

WHHHOOOOAAAA!!! Ouch!!! Thanks for cleaning your claws on my backside there BUUUUUDDDDDY...

First of all - I wasn't talking about modifieing Celestia - I was talking about creating a seperate FREE FOR ALL program for EVERYBODY using some of Celestia's code - STRIKE ONE!

Second of all - my "MONEY MAKING" enterprise has to do with a seperate Atlas project that already uses EXTERNAL utilities - (I'm not planning on selling copies of Celestia ya'know, although I might create PLANETS OF MY OWN CREATION using MY OWN 3d APPs and paint progs, PUT THEM IN CELESTIA, AND MAKE IMAGE SHOTS to INCLUDE in my Atlases - which is not in the least even remotely un-ethical - STRIKE 2 CHUM!

Thirdly - who said the beta version of the thing had to be "Mission Space" at Disney world - and what the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS do you mean by "My style of writing"?

"Most of what I am writing sounds like hot air?"

Huh? WHAT THE HECK IS YOUR ANGLE BUB?!!!

I am NOT a programmer - I'm an artist - BUT - I was throwing a little inspiration out there FOR programmers to think about - not boasting or bragging - or whatever you may've thought I was doing because your mind went off into some sort'a BIZARRO tangent or something.

And yes - if I want to create something WITH MY OWN MIND - and sell it - then by golly gum drops skippy I'll do just that -
but I never said that I would not be giving things away for free either (which I have FREQUENTLY done in the past - even trying to garner support for a website for poor and lower income artists LIKE MYSELF on a few occassions) - as well as giving away my art work for COMMERCIAL AND/OR NON-COMMERCIAL USE,which I have also done as well - STRIKE THREE!

Sounds to me like you've got a marvellous nack for making friends - oh well - no matter how nice a person you might TRY to be I guess - some people will still go out of their way to find things to NOT like you about I suppose. My comfort comes from knowing that that stems from YOUR issues - not mine.

VALIUM ANYONE?...

Fridger, keep it cool please... artist, you know...

Don't worry El - my humungous ego is in check
HAAARRR DE HAAARRR HAAARRRRRR - wink wink

I think that's you who is overreacting here...

ArtificialDeity wrote:...

First of all - I wasn't talking about modifieing Celestia - ...- STRIKE ONE!

While you are certainly free to do exactly that, you definitely were talking about modifying Celestia . Here is your quote:

ArtificialDeity wrote:Suppose we could take Celestia's basic source code - tweak it - add a little here - take a little off there - Add a lot of nifty tools - a cool GUI - an awsome multifunctional yet simple interface - a few awsome batch conversion, import / export, and save / print options - and come up with an app solely for the purpose of designing and creating new model worlds that are original?

According to my foreigner understanding of English this means modifying Celestia. What you presumably meant to say above was that it was not your intention to modify the /official/ Celestia code but rather some copy of it. That's of course fine and I never said a word against it. I always interpreted your intention this way.

ArtificialDeity wrote:Second of all - my "MONEY MAKING" enterprise has to do with a seperate Atlas project that already uses EXTERNAL utilities - (I'm not planning on selling copies of Celestia ya'know, ...- STRIKE 2 CHUM!

Please note: I never pretended you were planning to sell copies of Celestia. All I wrote about "money making" was this:

Fridger wrote:Since you are apparently interested in hires prints for making money,...

This I inferred from your own writing in another thread:

ArtificialDeity wrote:I am working on atlases of worlds of my own design for possible commercial print

There is nothing bad about this and I gather my statement above was just correct and certainly not offending.

ArtificialDeity wrote:Thirdly - who said the beta version of the thing had to be "Mission Space" at Disney world - and what the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS do you mean by "My style of writing"?

"Most of what I am writing sounds like hot air?"

Huh? WHAT THE HECK IS YOUR ANGLE BUB?!!!

From your style of writing it simply became clear that you had not contemplated your planned project from a computer and software perspective! I gave you a few reasons why most of your proposals are quite unrealistic. In such cases, we call this "hot air" over here in Old Europe . Notably if the new project was already given a name :"THE WORLD FACTORY"?!!! by the proponent.

It would certainly have helped, if you had stated from the beginning that you are an artist rather than a computer expert. Then I probably would not have answered at all...

ArtificialDeity wrote:And yes - if I want to create something WITH MY OWN MIND - and sell it - then by golly gum drops skippy I'll do just that -
but I never said that I would not be giving things away for free either (which I have FREQUENTLY done in the past - even trying to garner support for a website for poor and lower income artists LIKE MYSELF on a few occassions) - as well as giving away my art work for COMMERCIAL AND/OR NON-COMMERCIAL USE,which I have also done as well - STRIKE THREE!

For deciphering (the content of) this paragraph, I guess I need Selden's help...This grammar is too contrived for my simple minded scientist brain . Notably I can't see why this paragraph provides - STRIKE THREE??

ArtificialDeity wrote:
VALIUM ANYONE?...

How about yourself? You seem to have some ready for distribution

Bye Fridger