Celestia 1.7.0 Development Thread

[Markerz]

About hi-res saturn showing up black, it is related to texture size. The texture in hi-res folder is 2880 x 1440, an npot texture , which shows up black on iOS... So we will need to scale it down to 2048 x 1024....

Does the extras directory not work? I'm not sure, does Celestia scan the extra directories to find textures? @onetwothree

[onetwothree]

I'm not sure, does Celestia scan the extra directories to find textures?

Only for addons. You can't simply put a new star texture to extras folder to replace an existing one.

[Gurren Lagann]

I have an idea to implement subclasses beyond 9:
The core of the star subclasses is at star.cpp - in it, there's this little snippet of code:

Code: Select all

const char*
SubclassNames[11] = {
"0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", ""};

Or something like that, at lines 389-391. Sure, that's not the only thing we need to change here, but this is basically the key.
If we want to, say, extend it to 11, change "SubclassNames[11]" to "SubclassNames[13]", then add 10 and 11. We configure the parameters for subclasses 10 and 11, and we are set.
We can also do this for white dwarfs, if the devs want:

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const char*
WhiteDwarfSubclassNames[13] = {
"0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "11", ""};

[SevenSpheres]

Some notes: For white dwarfs, the subclasses would need to go to 14. Also, white dwarf subclasses are calculated by dividing 50400 by the temperature, so that could be used in Celestia's code to determine a white dwarf's temperature from its subclass.

[LukeCEL]

Thoughts: to retain backwards compatibility, would it be better to organize it like this:

Code: Select all

const char*
WhiteDwarfSubclassNames[13] = {
"0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "", "10", "11"};

where the "" entry comes before "10", etc.?

Of course I am not a developer by any means, so it would best for them to decide.

[Dimmi72]

Hi Markerz and Onetwothree,

the virtual textures are not used for AddOns either. They show only if I copy them in the program directory. That's why I think it would be good if there is a textures folder in the library.

An I have another question. I wonder if the go to modal keeps track of the last searched items? I think it would be cool when you click on the arrow button and it would display the last 10 or so targets you searched for, instead of suggestions (which I just found out a minute ago, lol).

[Markerz]

I think I'm going to make a release in a couple of days. for iOS/Mac/Android. my plan is to use the non-metal version on iOS, and the non-metal version on Mac (not the Catalyst one). Since I tested on early 2013 MacBook Pro, The catalyst version (with MetalANGLE) has significant problem rendering texture. It is not due to it being built on Catalyst though, since the AppKit version also has it when I switched to MetalANGLE, it might be MetalANGLE's bug.

However I kinda of want to release the iOS version with MetalANGLE, since it is slightly faster, and might actually be more compatible (it can render npot textures without problem)... Celestia is targeting iOS 11+, so the earliest iPhone it supports will be iPhone 5s, which was also released in 2013, I don't know if the problem that exists on Mac also exists on iOS. I can only say that it runs well on iPhone 7 (since @Dimmi72 tested), iPhone X, iPhone SE (second generation).

For Android, the minimum requirement will remain Android 5.0, but I kinda of want to get rid of 32bit support.

Android/iOS version will be 1.0, the Mac will have version number of 1.7.0.

[Sui Ota]

Hello,

Once I had translated .po files of Celestia to Japanese.
I have been away from Celestia for years, but the new version of Celestia is coming, so I want to update ja.po files for 1.7.0.
I attached the archive of ja.po files in /po/ and /po3/ (the one in /po2/ has nothing to do, so not contained).
I would be grateful if the files are added to Celestia sources.

[Markerz]

Thanks, Sui! It is great help. I'll integrate it in my fork for now, since your translation is based on my fork. which has a little difference from the main repo. The specific differences are the new introduced strings of "Hong Kong" and "Nur-Sultan".

Added after 3 hours 30 minutes:
@Dimmi72, this is the hopefully last version before we make a release on AppStore, can you test it? https://install.appcenter.ms/orgs/celestiaproject ... ribution_groups/public testers

Also the iOS version is up on TestFlight, build 38.

[Dimmi72]

Hi Markerz,

I tested both versions. The both run very smooth.

The IOS Version runs the demo on my phone with around 60 fps most of the time. Dropping only to 57.5 sometimes, the lowest was 53.3 fps for a second. It seems to stutter when the star names are shown. Like I mentioned before, the distance in the demo is to close for the planets, the moons and the solar system, so it shows only a part of it, since its to close.. At least on my phone.

The MacApp runs great as the previous one. I really would appreciate if there would be a texture folder in the library, since you loose all the virtual textures added to the app, every time you update it. If there would be a textures folder that is scanned during start in the library, you only have to add the virtual textures once.

[Markerz]

Well you can copy the CelestiaResources folder out to a location, and then in Celestia, choose from menu bar Celestia -> Change Config xxx. And tell Celestia to use the one copied out. This setting is preserved across installs.

[Sui Ota]

Hello Markerz,

Thank you very much for committing the files.

Thanks, Sui! It is great help. I'll integrate it in my fork for now, since your translation is based on my fork. which has a little difference from the main repo. The specific differences are the new introduced strings of "Hong Kong" and "Nur-Sultan".

Yes, I chose your fork because I think it is better to use a version that has new strings.

[Markerz]

Thanks again, you should be able to see your work in the 1.0 release of Celestia on Android/iOS

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=space.celestia.mobilecelestia
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1500434829

[Dimmi72]

Hi Markerz,

it is an option yes.

I know a little bit about how programs and the structure work on Mac. But I think there are people who are not very good at that or are afraid of messing with program files, therefore I think it would be convenient to just place the virtual textures in a folder in the library. Just a thought.

[onetwothree]

Since today and build 1.7.0-dev-400 users using appveyor builds should download an additional archive celestia-dep.x86.7z. This archive contains all required dll and especially celestia.dll extracted from exe files. So, to run native windows exe, one needs celestia-win.x86.7z + celestia-dep.x86.7z, to use qt exe celestia-qt.x86.7z + celestia-dep.x86.7z.

[onetwothree]

Since today files in extras are sorted alphabetically before loading.

[Dimmi72]

Hi Markerz,

there was a new release of the IOS App yesterday. What are the changes? I tested it and it and it runs a little smoother and my iPhone stays cooler (I always run the demo twice to test how hot it gets).

[Markerz]

no change, it is the same version in TestFlight actually. @Dimmni72

[Dimmi72]

oh, okay... then I must have missed this version so far... it popped up like two days ago...

[Markerz]

you can find the build number in about, if it is the same build number, then it is the same code.