A new Addon Repository concept (Formerly called "Should we make a new Motherlode?")

[Lafuente_Astronomy]

as stated before i only check add ons . I do not have admin access

but i have time and the knowledge to keep the motherload up to date


but in the last year or so there have not been many addons to check . As in not many submitted

I do have a few suggestions:

1: Update the Motherlode's looks to keep it up to date. If I remember, the current norms for pages nowadays is that they have large, simplistic fonts, the images are larger, there is a whole simplistic design to the website, and most importantly, user-friendly buttons.

2: I think the reason why no one submitted in the last year is probably because they have long believed that the motherlode is inactive and down, also some have submitted but somehow didn't end up in the list.

Overall, the Motherlode is good but unless major changes will happen to it, be it aesthetic or functional, probably no one will bother to upload new content in there, since they assume it to be down and in danger of being deleted

[LukeCEL]

but i have time and the knowledge to keep the motherload up to date

Do you have the ability to change links? For example, a lot of pages on the Motherlode still link to shatters.net instead of celestia.space, like the Help page.

[Adirondack]

Adirondack: Alternatively, could you promise that you and anybody else running the Motherlode will check the site more frequently for updates?

Thanks,
Luke

1. We only can publish what the contributors do upload - so blame the contributors not the admins
2. We check whether the addon does offer something new or in better quality - if not, blame the authors not the admins
3. We check whether the addon does work fine and is well documented - if not, blame the authors not the admins


I think the reason why just a few submitted in the last year is probably because Celestia itself is dead (not the Motherlode).

Adirondack

Added after 48 seconds:

Do you have the ability to change links? For example, a lot of pages on the Motherlode still link to shatters.net instead of celestia.space, like the Help page.

I will check this....

Adirondack

[john71]

Well, it is so good to know that Celestia is a dead program...

City 2019.png

[SevenSpheres]

john71, I'm curious: why do you never release your addons? You have some great looking stuff there that I'm sure many of us would like to download.

[Lafuente_Astronomy]

Well, it is so good to know that Celestia is a dead program...

With that kind of addon-making, theoretically we can create Earth with all its buildings and infrastructure. Would be a very gargantuan task though, seeing as there are possibly billions of structures in the world right now

[Anthony_B_Russo10]

And billions of land features.

[john71]

john71, I'm curious: why do you never release your addons? You have some great looking stuff there that I'm sure many of us would like to download.

My reasons for not to release the add-ons:

1.) it is one gigantic add-on (15 GB)

2.) the old "official" 32 bit Celestia 1.6.1 simply cannot handle the RAM requirements, you need at least 8 GB RAM, 64 bit Celestia 1.6.2 and a strong graphic card to run it efficiently. I use very big cmod models and 32k virtual textures.

3.) the loading time is very-very-very long even when you are using an SSD.

Added after 10 minutes 33 seconds:
Oh, I forgot to mention: it is a FULLY fictional add-on, even the surrounding 500 000 stars are generated.

[john71]

With that kind of addon-making, theoretically we can create Earth with all its buildings and infrastructure. Would be a very gargantuan task though, seeing as there are possibly billions of structures in the world right now

Google Earth has many 3D buildings. It would be cool to integrate some of them into Celestia, if Google is a partner in it somehow...

But first we should have a 128k Earth surface virtual texture map.

Which is not at all an impossible task, if we use 8192x8192 texture mosaics.

[Lafuente_Astronomy]

Google Earth has many 3D buildings. It would be cool to integrate some of them into Celestia, if Google is a partner in it somehow...

But first we should have a 128k Earth surface virtual texture map.

Which is not at all an impossible task, if we use 8192x8192 texture mosaics.

Well, shouldn't we have to use a 3D program for all that?

[Anthony_B_Russo10]

Google Earth has many 3D buildings. It would be cool to integrate some of them into Celestia, if Google is a partner in it somehow...

But first we should have a 128k Earth surface virtual texture map.

Which is not at all an impossible task, if we use 8192x8192 texture mosaics.

And do you really want Google partnering with Celestia, john71?

[john71]

Well, if you are using Google search or Youtube in any form, then you are partnering with Google. The Celestia code cannot be sold to Google, so it cannot take over this project. But an optional online add-on with Google Earth 3D buildings would be nice.

[Lafuente_Astronomy]

Well, if you are using Google search or Youtube in any form, then you are partnering with Google. The Celestia code cannot be sold to Google, so it cannot take over this project. But an optional online add-on with Google Earth 3D buildings would be nice.

Well, we do have to find a way to form such a partnership with Google while still remaining freeware. Perhaps we can actually make a fulfilled version of Celestia .sci if ever we can make such a partnership. But I think it would be hard to maintain our status as freeware if we ever make a partnership.

[john71]

But I think it would be hard to maintain our status as freeware if we ever make a partnership.

That is not necessarily true. If the development team will accept money from Google, then of course it is over, they will dictate. But a separate Google add-on (as an exe file) with separate legal conditions won't change anything for the main project, until the development team is independent.

[Anthony_B_Russo10]

Thing with Google is, is that Google tends to be a bit sketchy with things. I can see wanting to make a partnership with a company to help Celestia, but I don't recommend Google, specifically a company that supports free and open source software.

[FarGetaNik]

I think the issue with the motherlode is the lack of proper user accounts to log into and being password protected, and a convenient way to upload files. Maybe I'm just a lazy prick but I dont think requiring 3rd party tools to upload files larger than 8 MB should be a thing.

My main reason to not submit anything recently is my lack of proper addons that dont fall under my Project Echoes umbrella, and I dont think the standards of the Motherlode will accept Project Echoes.

That and now that we are transitioning to 1.7, we are in a weird limbo of not knowing what to match our addons to.

[wmurphy]

What changes are required to addons that work well on 1.6.1 so they also work on 1.6.2?

Additionally what changes are required for addons that work on 1.6.2 to work on 1.7.0?

[SevenSpheres]

What changes are required to addons that work well on 1.6.1 so they also work on 1.6.2?

Additionally what changes are required for addons that work on 1.6.2 to work on 1.7.0?

No changes are required, unless the addon uses Lua. However 1.7.0 has new features, so an addon made for 1.7.0 may not work with 1.6.x.

[FarGetaNik]

There are also things like the LunarLambert parameter that will yield different results between 1.6 and 1.7 so a value that works for 1.6 might lead to overexposure in 1.7

[Lafuente_Astronomy]

Thing with Google is, is that Google tends to be a bit sketchy with things. I can see wanting to make a partnership with a company to help Celestia, but I don't recommend Google, specifically a company that supports free and open source software.

We should probably seek a company that likes to promote science freely, and has credibility to its name. There may be some out there