Celestia Forums

Here are a couple of problems I've noticed with the MacOS X version of Celestia (1.2.2; thanks Bob!).

1. When I pause (freeze time) using the space bar, the camera pitchs down slightly. Same thing when unpausing.

2. The mouse behavior gets weird sometimes. Sometimes mousing with the shift key will change orbit distance. Usually it just works to change the view (as if unshifted). Also, sometimes unshifted mousing will change the orbit distance. Usually control mousing will orbit the target; sometimes this stops working altogether. This behavior is intermittent and unpredictable. My guess is it may be caused by GLUT bugs related to mouse button mapping for Apple's infamous one-button mouse.

3. Nightside lights don't work.

4. Sometimes various key commands seem to cause unwanted velocity changes.

BTW, these are mostly minor annoyances. On the whole Celestia on MacOS X works great!

- Hank

The most noticeable velocity change is that the Return key always sets velocity to 1000 km/s. It's very inconvenient if you're trying to select an object by typing the name while staying put on a planet.

There's a worse one than that - I think it's CTRL-A - which sets you hurtling off at >1AU/sec !!

There are also rendering problems. I have never seen the shadows of the rings on the planets that have some, nor managed to see any eclipse. The pixel shading or bump mapping don't work either

But heck, it's better than nothing! :-)

Most of the problems are due to the slightly brain damaged OSX OpenGL. Apple overengineered, as usual.