I've already used some Celestia data for a number of small devs, about which I previously posted. Now the project has gained momentum and I've launched my dream project : a space trading game.
I'm currently developping under VB.Net using TrueVision3D as graphics engine. The project steps will be the following :
1/ Develop a Stellar System Editor, using Bode's law, GURPS Space planet generator and some random parameters to generate consistent stellar systems,
2/ Develop a Space Flight application to test realistic course plotting and movement assuming my Hoshikaze univers hypothesis, that is, accelerations of up to 10s of gs,
3/ Develop a Starship Editor, allowing to build ship classes,
4/ Integrate all this stuff into a playable demo.
The code will of course be open source. I'll try to stay modular and keep the code very clear and commeted, for it to be helpful for other spacesim devleoper. Anyway, I don't intend to go as far as Celestia in astronomical precision, but just to simulate a plausible and coherent universe based on near-real data. As I'll certainly use some Celestia textures and peek into Celestia code for understanding some calculation, I'll inform the Celestia user group about the project...
Now there's just a few hunks of highly unstable and underdevelopped code, I just post two screenshots of orbits and Sun plots :
The project is called "Stars of Call", as a tribute to the ancient naval tycoon game "Ports of Call". It also draws inspiration from the Elite series and the not-so-known but shining-jewel-quality Hardwar planetary Elite-like.
I've also opened a forum dedicated to spacesim game development, as there was none I could find ^-^ There are curently more than a dozen members, among which 4-5 regulars w/ projects well into development.