start.cel is ignored during startup of Celestia 1.6.2.2 (64bit)

[spacecargo]

Hi everyone,

besides I'm a Celestia long term observer since version 1.6 came along, I was curious to try the new 1.6.2.2 (64bit) on a new Dell notebook where there has never been any Celestia installation ever before.
After the install went flawlessly (installed to D:/Documents/Celestia), I soon realized, that Celestia just ignores the start.cel script, no matter what I tried.
It is just as if start.cel wouldn't exist at all. I can even delete start.cel and it doesn't change nothing in Celestias startup behaviour.
I also tried to copy the working(!) start.cel from my Celestia 1.6.1 install on another notebook into the new 1.6.2.2 install folder (D:/Documents/Celestia), but no change.

BTW:
The start.cel script itself is ok and working fine when executed by using the menu option "load script" within Celestia 1.6.2.2.

Is anyone else facing this strange behaviour ?

Thanks in advance for reading.

[gironde]

in Celestia.cfg
# InitScript is the CEL script that is automatically run each time
# Celestia is started. The default script (start.cel) travels to Io, one
# of Jupiter's moons.

in fact, the start.cel script provided in the publication takes us above the Earth

To check what your installation is doing, just edit your script in notepad to see what is programmed, or run the script when celestia is open to see if it matches celestia startup.

[spacecargo]

@gironde
Thanks for your kind reply.

Well, a certain default startup procedure always is executed here during Celestias 1.6.2.2 (64bit) startup, first showing the sun and then ending with the earth shortly afterwards centered above south Africa.

I intended to just change the final position above earth a little bit so that we end always centered above Europe and Africa, just the way it works flawlessly since many years in my older Celestia 1.6.1 installation on another notebook.

So I thought this should be no problem to make it work that same way in the new Celestia version.

But no matter what changes I insert into the start.cel of Celestia 1.6.2.2 (64bit), Celestia always starts the very same default way as described above as if this start.cel wouldn't even exist at all.
In fact I can even delete start.cel completely from my machine and this doesn't change Celestias 1.6.2.2. (64bit) startup behaviour at all.

It seems as if Celestia 1.6.2.2 (64bit) gets its startup information by something else in the background I can't figure out (hidden startup procedure in the registry ?).

I already repeated standard installation of Celestia 1.6.2.2 (64bit) on my older notebook (where my older working Celestia 1.6.1 installation resides) but the problem persists also there, no matter what install path I choose... ( Program Folder , Root C: , Documents Folder , Root D: ... )

Currently I can't change Celestias 1.6.2.2 (64bit) startup behaviour in any way.
That is the strange point right now.

[gironde]

After my answer, I continued to try to understand because neither celestia 1.6.2.2 nor 1.6.1, installed on my PC, read the new start.cel file when it was modified. The only solution I have found is to change the name of this file, for example start2.cel and declare it in celestia.cfg section InitScript:

Code: Select all

InitScript "start2.cel"

It seems celestia keeps the script in memory and uses it as long as the filename is the same.
I have just done the check, but a clarification, I have the same effect whether it is on 1.6.1 or on 1.6.2.2

Maybe the programmers can find a solution to this unreferenced bug.

[spacecargo]

@gironde

Thanks gironde, you put me on the right track.

Changing the name of start.cel to anything different (for example start2.cel) immediately solves the problem and the so renamed script gets executed now as expected on every Celestia startup making it finally possible now to edit it the way I intended.

p.s.:
As soon as I delete the renamed script (start2.cel) the earlier (mis)behavior/problem is immediately back again.

Simple solution, but a bug anyway...

[gironde]

Yes, the problem will recur on the next change. It will be necessary to save the modified file again under a new name or to resume start.cel which should work now, after using an intermediate file.
It is most certainly a bug because I do not see the point of such a procedure.

[Markerz]

well if I remember clearly, Celestia would search for a localized version of the script, maybe you can try removing the start*.cel in the locale folder to see if it works?

[spacecargo]

@Markerz

Good point.
I tried your hint and indeed it works that way now too.
So I can rename my start2.cel back to default after hiding away the corresponding start_*.cel in locale.
Didn‘t realize the importance of the locale folder on that subject. In fact I wasn‘t ever looking into it.

Thank you!

[gironde]

Markerz

I never thought that a local and priority copy was in this folder