Celestia Forums

Don.,

Looks just about right to me.

d.m.f.

Ok let me try to get these responses in the order they were made.

Andrea,

I have downloaded and tried the free Windows XP Pro 64Biy version. I had a few drivers issues, a few programs that didn't work well with it at all. So I pretty much have given up on it until Vista 64Bit gets out. I plan on downloading the 64Bit version of Vista on the next Beta cycle and giving it a try. The only reason I even have an Athlon 64 3200 is because a friend of mine in the computer recycling industry gave me a damaged one, it had a pin broken off, I managed to fix the broken pin and it worked fine so I purchased a real nice, if some what limited with memory slots, Abit NF8 motherboard. This is the first generation Athlon 64 so it only has a single memory channel. Needless to say I am seeing a hit in performance because of the drop in RAM this required. The motherboard also has AGP so I am still using my old Geforce FX 5900 that Frank got for me. This was so much as a step forward but a side step on the way to a completely new system. So I have to make do with what I have. And as I indicated, I know part of the issue is that this install of XP with Media Center is has problems. I only used it as a test just to see if it could be trusted to be as stable as regular XP Pro. Guess what, its not, at least not for me its not. So I am looking at least doing a fresh install of XP Pro. If I still see problems than I am moving back to the Athlon 3200+. Luckily I didn't go and sell off my other motherboard & CPU like I was going to do. I just can't afford to make the move to a new super system at this time. But as soon as I can everyone will know about it.

Frank,

I you will be the first one to know when the texture is ready. I have every intention of writing up a detailed readme file as to what is being seen and how everything would be working on this possible future Mars. Even some of my own ideas as to keep a functioning carbon cycle going and what flora and fauna can be seen.

PlutonianEmpire,

Yes there will be smaller versions of the texture. So don't worry you will be able to use it too. Just don't expect to see any real detail at 2k.

Ok I think I covered everything.

Don. Edwards

Well, real detail or no, I always look forward to your textures, Don....

I have to ask... are you going to zip the files this time? For some reason, everytime I try to unload RAR files, they never work **shrugs** Probably just a limitation on my computer.

...John...

I plan on zipping this time. I have had too complaints about the RARed files. So I am goiing back to the zip format. Also RAR is very CPU intensive, which could be part of the problem, but in all honesty, any files from me that were RARs were probably corrupted by my lousy ISP and there DSL conection. I am back on cable modem now so that just isn't an issue any more.

Don. Edwards

Question, why should the atmosphere be thicker than Earth's?

To compensate for a third less sunlight.

d.m.f.

I still don't understand...

Less sunlight (because Mars is almost twice as far from the Sun as the Earth is) means less heat. A thicker atmosphere compensates some for this by having more of an atmosphere to retainn heat- Basically, you need a greenhouse effect to warm up Mars for terraforming.

d.m.f.

ah. i see. thanks.

A denser atmosphere will have other effects. Wind can and will have a bit more of a punch to it. It will also help shield the planet form solar radiation better. And it wil allow flying animals to have an even easier time flying. There wings will have more lift in a more dense atmosphere and thats not even counting the lower gravity. An atmosphere twice as dense as Earth's will help a little for the diference in gravity, but just a little. There are probably coutless other things as well.

Don. Edwards

Update time. I thought it was time to post a few more pictures of how things are going with the Terraformed Mars texture.

I have added lakes and rivers to the base of the massive Tharsis Glacier.


Another shot of the Glacier, this one showing some detail with the normalmap working.


Here is the finished look of Elysium.


Any and all comments are welcome as always,

Don. Edwards

Comments? How can someone comment on THIS?!

Absolutely spectacular! I can*not* wait for the release of this texture.

...John...

Dollan wrote:Comments? How can someone comment on THIS?!
Absolutely spectacular! I can*not* wait for the release of this texture.
..John...

I totally agree with Dollan.
It will be the final image of my Mars Tour.
Bye and thank you for your work, very appreciated.

Andrea

Dude. Dude. DUDE! You're making Earth look bad!
I love the way you fixed up Tharsis. When I saw the original Ridge glacier, it looked way too flat. I love how you've fixed it.
Mars of the far future is stunningly beautiful.

DON:




Frank

Oooo nice!

Is Elysium Mons itself not high enough to have a ring of ice around it like Olympus Mons?

i want to cry................................................

I decided to play a little with video capture, so here are 2 short Divx based AVIs of the Terraformed Mars texture. Just click the thumbs to download them.

This one is a closer orbit over the terminator.




This one is a full globe from farther away.



I stil have things that need to be done. I want to add more crater lakes and rivers. But it shouldn't be to long now.

Don. Edwards

Don. Edwards wrote:I decided to play a little with video capture, so here are 2 short Divx based AVIs of the Terraformed Mars texture. Just click the thumbs to download them.
I stil have things that need to be done. I want to add more crater lakes and rivers. But it shouldn't be to long now. Don. Edwards

Wow Don, I've seen your movies, and your terraformed Mars looks astonishingly beautiful and real like.
Well done indeed, thank you.
Bye

Andrea

Hello All,

I just wanted to let everyone know that this texture/project isn't dead or forgotten. I did take a break from it but I am bound and determined to get things finished. I have been working on this for well over a year now and I do think it is time to wrap things up. I no longer have the excuse of not enough memory or cpu power. I love my new graphics card, its fast and I am finally getting some very beautiful results now in OpenGL 2.0. Have a look at these.












I will hopefully be posting some new pictures of the present state of the 16K texture very soon. The pictures above are of a presently working 16k texture I built Sunday. Really the only thing holding me back from wrapping things up is I want to do some rework of the some of the rivers, add a few more, and fill a few more craters in with water, but not too many. I have also gotten the 16k normalmap working under OpenGL 2 with the latest version of Celestia. So things are looking good at this point. So check back here for updates and more info. As always comments are always welcome.

Don. Edwards