A question on how to begin. Can somebody guide me a little ?

[Alchemist]

Hello everyone, i just discovered Celestia a couple of days ago and i?m loving the experience. If a thing like this existed about 25 years ago when i was 7 or 8 years old, my parents would had to unglue me from the computer.

Anyway, i still haven?t much time to explore everything yet about Celestia, but im wondering if anybody can help me here.

I want to create my own add-ons, create my planets, mys spaceships, etc.
How, and where do i begin ?
Is there a software somewhere to create add-ons to Celestia ?

How can someone like me, who is no programmer be able to put my ideas inside Celestia ?

I?m a 32 years old, full time graphic designer, and a part time Illustrator. I mainly work in Fantasy and scifi pics, so i would love to transform some of my designs into some Celestia add-ons.

I have experience with 3D Studio, Photoshop, etc, so can somebody tell me how can i start making my own universes for Celestia ?....

I?m sorry if you already have repplied to this question for many other users, but as i told you i just got here and i would apreciate some guidance.
Please help this wannabe traveller and creator of add-ons.

Thanks everybody!

[Ortolan]

Best way is to look at solarsys.ssc and familarize yourself with the different parameters that you can use to define an object in space. Once you're confident with the format of the ssc files, try making one yourself and save it to the /extras/ directory. If you defined a texture for your object, you need to save the textures in /textures/medres/ with the exact filename you used in the ssc file. Textures must have dimensions that are 'a power of 2' eg: 512x256, 512x512, 1024x512 etc. If you've done all that, load celestia and see if everything appears ok. Good luck!

[selden]

Alchemist,

I've written a really trivial starting description (not much more than what Ortolan wrote above), which can be found at http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/index.html#3.1 It includes links to more detailed references. Of course, it was written by someone more word orientend than visually oriented as you are.

I hope we've helped a little.

[billybob884]

Here is a little info that i have gathered for .ssc files (that is what you'll be putting your addon in):
Period = time it takes to revolve around an object
SemiMajorAxis = distance from the center of itself to the center of the object it revolves around
Eccentricity = offset it gets closer or further from an object
Inclination = degrees orbit is tilted upward
AscendingNode = longitude of the intersection point of the orbital plane (node line) with the equatorial plane
ArgOfPericenter = longitude of the perigee with respect to the line of node
MeanAnomaly = position of the object in its orbit (from 0 to 360 degree with respect to perigee)
Epoch = date of these orbital elements (by default 1st jan 2000)
Obliquity = degrees an object's axis is tilted
Albedo = brightness of the object
RotationPeriod = period of rotation on its axis

You'll be using this for planets and moons, and some of it for spaceships. Before you start making one, you should choose a star to base it around. You could create your own, but i've heard this isn't very easy. Hope this helps!

[chris]

Thomas Guilpain has written a good description of the .ssc file format use for solar system objects:

http://members.fortunecity.com/guilpain/Fichiers%20ssc.htm

--Chris

[Alchemist]

I think i got a general idea...just another question though...
As my background is mainly a graphic one, if i create a model of a space station in a 3DS format and i want ot use it inside Celestia, where do i put it ?
Is there a diferent directory specialy for 3ds models ,while other directories are for ssc files ?

Im asking this now, because right now im at work and i dont have the program here with me, (only at home) ,but anyway if anybody can give me some guidance on this 3DS subject...help.

Where do i put my model ? How big can it be ? Can i use such great textures in a spacestation as Celestia has in planets form example ?

Any chances of future editions of Celestia, having a more graphical oriented add-on creator ? As i told you im not a programer (altough i work with a bunch of them) , so any advice you can give me, i welcome it.

[ou8poop2]

You should see a folder labeled 'Models' in the Celestia directory. All add-ons that require modeling have you place a 3ds file in this folder.

Your model may be any size, but remember; Celestia is running an entire UNIVERSE on your box - the larger the file, the greater chances there will be problems. most models under a meg should be okay.
Hope that helps

[Don. Edwards]

One more thing to consider. If you are making a 3ds model make sure the textures for it are in a Celestia compatible format. Such as .jpg and .png. Don't use gifs. Celestia doesn't see or use gifs. I ahve seen some very cool 3ds models of various space craft and other things but the texture format is always incompatible with Celestia. Just a sugestion so you can cut a step out when resting your creations.