Help with activities.

[Nordlys21]

Hi all, first of all I want to congratulate with you for the great program you have created

I have a doubt, maybe it is an already asked question, but I haven't found anything similar using the search function, so I hope my post will be accepted.
I have installed on my pc (at home) Celestia 1.6.0-ED with the "Educational Base Package" and now I have downloaded some activities from the motherlode site.
My doubt is about the installation of these activities, each of them has 5 folders in the zipped file: Activity_cels - Educational-Activities - educational-extras - scripts - sounds. Those 5 folders also exist in the main folder where Celestia 1.6.0-ED is installed. What should I do to make the activities work? Do I have to copy the files in the 5 folders of the zipped file into the other folders located in the Celestia 1.6.0-ED installation folder?

Sorry if my english is not perfect, I hope my question is clear enough, thanks for reading and best regards.

[Andy74]

Nordlys21,

it is my understanding that you should paste all files and folders into the Celestia ED main folder. The program will then be started from the Cel URL links in the word documents that belong to the different activities.
But the safest way would be to follow the instructions in the guide "letter to users & educators" which can also be downloaded from the site where you found the educational activities.

Regards
Andy

[Nordlys21]

Yes, I have that document and I read the instructions, and that's why I'm asking here for help, I tried to follow the 5th point, which says:
"5. Next, unzip and install the first Celestia Educational Activity zip file. Install it in the same Celestia160-ED directory that you placed the main program. You can install one or all Activities during this initial setup phase, so that they are all available and ready to enjoy" but I don't understand what does it mean "install" an activity since there is no .exe or executable file but only 5 folders which already exist also in the main Celestia folder.
My worry is that I will overwrite the files in these 5 folders everytime I try to put in the main Celestia folder an activity, since every activity has the same 5 folders with different files within. I hope my doubt is clearer now, and thanks for your quick reply.

Best regards, Nordlys21.

[selden]

Nordlys21,

Installing an Activity in Celestia is not meant to imply that there's an Installer .exe file. It just means "Un-Zip the Addon's archive in a way which causes the directories and files to be created in the correct places." Normally when you use unZip or Zip to extract files, that's what happens automatically.

As the instructions on the MotherLode say,

Select one or more Educational Activities, download and unzip them directly into the Celestia160-ED folder.

The files included in the Activities are designed to all go into the same folders. They don't overwrite one another: they happily cohabitate.

[Nordlys21]

Hi selden, thanks for your reply, I know that there is no executable file in an activity zip folder, I read that I have to extract the files directly in the main Celestia folder, I tried, but there must be a problem because I get an error message when I try to unzip it. It says something like "impossible to create file" for every file contained in the zip folder, that's why I need to copy each folder manually, in fact I can unzip the activity in D: unit (I have two units on my pc, one is C: where there is the OS and the other one is D: which is used as storage) but I can't do it on C:
Anyway I guess copying manually the content of each activity in the proper folder under Celestia installation path is correct, so I will do that way.

[selden]

Nordlys21.

Vista and Win7 are very protective of the Program Files directories, which is why extracting Zip files there doesn't work well. I created a directory C:\MyPrograms\ and installed several versions of Celestia (and some other programs like MMPS) there. As a result, Zip has no trouble "installing" Addons in my Celestia directories..

[Nordlys21]

Hi again, today I tried to launch the first activity, the one titled "World of Celestia" and I have a strange render with the graphic display, look at this print: http://www.imagebam.com/image/754bd7116986752
If I open the basic Celestia ED 1.6.0 I see in this way instead: http://www.imagebam.com/image/4bea8b116986914

I can't understand what is the problem which makes me see all of those fuzzy discs of light. Do you have any idea on how to solve this issue?

Thanks again for the help you are giving me, have a good day.

Best regards, Nordlys21.

[fsgregs]

Nordlys21

I believe the weird circles are due to one of the addons in the world of Celestia. Open the folder titled "educational-extras" and remove the addon folder titled, "Oort Cloud". Then try launching the World of Celestia activity again. Let me know if the problem is solved.

Frank