Celestia 1.3.2 for MacOS X

[Rich]

Hi,
I downloaded a couple of CELX scripts and when I try to run them I get an invalid script error - should 1.3.2 be able to run these...?
-RB

[Cham]

Cham,

You can edit the font selections in 'celestia.cfg'.

The texture file 'logo.png' which contains the "Celestia" word shown at startup has not changed.

The small icon must be missing a mask.

Are all your preferences settings being forgotten, or only some of them? This behavior shouldn't have changed from 1.3.1.

- Hank

The "Celestia" word has a blue shade, at startup. It's a matter of taste, of course, but I really don't like it. It feels "amateur". I think the previous style, in 1.3.1, was better, more "professional".

The small icon problem should be corrected.

The preferences behavior is the same as in 1.3.1. It keep forgetting some options, not all. Example : star style, atmosphere, and some others.

[HankR]

Rich,

Lua (.celx) scripting is not implemented in the current version of Celestia 1.3.2 for MacOS X, but I'm working on it and it should be in the next release.

Cham,

I don't think the Celestia logo effect you dislike can be changed at runtime. It's rendered in the Celestia cross-platform code, so you'd need to convince Chris to change it.

I agree that the small icon problem should be fixed, bit it's pretty far down the priority list. On the other hand, it's probably easy to fix so I may take a look at it.

- Hank

[Cham]

To me, the most important bug to be squashed is the one about the preferences forgeting its settings. This is really annoying, because I need to go in the preference panel each time I startup Celestia, again and again (whatever the version number until now).

Also, Celestia crash and unexpectedly quit if I do the folowing (this is occuring in both versions 1.3.1 and 1.3.2) :

1- If I use the "forward" option, in the menu, while there's nothing to go forward (end of the list). This one is really annoying.

2- If I cycle the video options, using ctrl-v for example. One of them is crashing Celestia. I don't know if this is related to my video card and drivers, or if it's Celestia's fault. This bug isn't really annoying because I don't switch video options, normally.

The next isn't a bug, but it annoys me a bit :

There are some options which aren't working at all, in Celestia for OS X. Some options are unavailable in the menu (star browser, etc), and I think they should be removed, until they come up fully functionnal. Same thing about the "help" menu. It gives Celestia an "unfinished" feel, and I feel very uncomfortable with this.

[folks]

CVS Celestia 1.3.2 Mac OS X

I downloaded the CVS to see if I could compile on XTools 1.5
but noticed that the plistInfo.strings showed

Code: Select all

CFBundleShortVersionString = "Celestia version 1.3.1";

So I guess the 1.3.2 Mac version is not reflected on the CVS ?

I used Joe's (alphap1us) posting regarding how to download and
compile the CVS. It would be good to update this where appropriate.
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3726&highlight=feature+request

I am particularly interested in investigating how makeMovie is currently set in the code, ie: will it capture every frame, and how quicktime capture can be implemented.
see earlier posting http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3869

- Scott
Mac OS X 10.3.5 :: Nvdia GForce4 MX 32 MB :: Dual 867MHz G4 :: Celestia 1.3.2

[folks]

Mac Forum Threads

I have noticed that the Mac specific discussion is scattered throughout the forum and not always easy to locate. Here is a brief list, old and current.

Any other Mac Threads ?

Celestia 1.3.2
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6047

MacOSX Celestia Users: Development Priorities
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3869

Building Mac OSX Version with XCode under Panther
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3869

Crashes In OS X 1.3.5
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5906

cel URLs in Mac OS X
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5855

Please Report Problems with Mac OS X version here
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1703

Building Textures with Mac OS X
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5539

Macintosh .cel files
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5412

Installing Add-ons on a Mac
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5573

Mac: Celestia on Apple.com
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5945

Who is using a Mac and what video card
http://shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6026

- Scott
Mac OS X 10.3.5 :: Nvdia GForce4 MX 32 MB :: Dual 867MHz G4 :: Celestia 1.3.2

[alphap1us]

Hi Scott thanks for posting these things.

I don't really know anything about CVS and building Celestia from source, I just posted those instructions to collect and update some other ones that had been scattered in the forums. it should be noted that the instructions will attempt to build a much mor recent version of Celestia, since the CVS client will get the most recent version of every file. Thus, it will be something closer to 1.4.0pre2 for windows than 1.3.2

I don't have the skills to update the instructions, so if they get updated, it will be by someone else.

Joe

[HankR]

Cham,

The reason the MacOS X version of Celestia has an "unfinished" feel is that it is unfinished. (MacOS X Celestia development is strictly a volunteer effort, and there haven't been many volunteers.) I appreciate hearing about bugs and annoyances, but I can't promise when they might be addressed.

Scott,

I haven't updated the SourceForge CVS source with my changes for the MacOS X version of Celestia 1.3.2 yet, but I'll let you know when I do (hopefully within a few days). It would be great if you could make some progress on implementing the movie recording feature.

- Hank

[Rich]

Lua (.celx) scripting is not implemented in the current version of Celestia 1.3.2 for MacOS X, but I'm working on it and it should be in the next release.

Thanks, Hank, and thanks for all your Mac Celestia efforts!!!

[Cham]

HankR,

thanks A LOT for all your efforts on the OS X version. This is really greatly appreciated. I tend to forget how much Celestia is a voluntary based project, so I want to tell how much all the works done are appreciated. Celestia is the best piece of software I ever saw in my entire life, despite of some bugs and some annoyances. I'm already ready to spend several hundreds of $ to buy a new video card, JUST FOR CELESTIA !

I loves Celestia without limits !

PS - I'm very impatient right now for that new video card. I just can't wait it anymore !

[rthorvald]

favorites are currently stored in '~/Library/Preferences/Celestia.plist'

Ok, i found it. I hope it will evolve to the format in the Windows version some day, though

You should be able to copy CelUrls to the pasteboard using the "Copy" item in the "File" menu (or the "command-c" key combination) and then paste them into a text editor

Yes, and that works well inside "Known Space". But not in Ran.
Yes, it is properly installed.

If you are interested in testing it yourself, send me a PM and you?ll get the link to a 2MB test package of Ran.

is the problem only with CelUrls previously created in 1.3.1 or also with ones newly created in 1.3.2?

This is how it behaves:
In Ran system, using OSX 1.3.1:
Celurls can be copied to the clipboard, but only if the user has a planet or star selected. Smaller bodies does not work.

In Ran system, using OSX 1.3.2:
Copying CelUrls does not work at all

In Ran system, (Selden) using Windows 1.3.2:
Copying CelUrls work

In Ran system, (Selden) using Windows v1.4.0pre2
Copying CelUrls work

Now, as for the CelUrl behaviour:
- CelUrls made for Ran with OSX 1.3.1 are about 0.5 lightyears off in OSX 1.3.2
- CelUrls made for Ran with Windows 1.3.2 are about 35AU off in OSX 1.3.2
- CelUrls made for Ran with Windows v1.4.0pre2 are 100% spot on in OSX 1.3.2

Now, for some good news:
Celestia 1.3.2 on OSX 10.3.3 processes CelUrl calls!!!

If the app is not running, clicking a CelUrl on an external source (like a HTML page) launches Celestia, whereupon it immediately crashes.

BUT: if Celestia is already running, it opens the URL and goes to the right time and place!

-rthorvald

[Guest]

Ok, i found it. I hope it will evolve to the format in the Windows version some day, though

Me too.

In Ran system, using OSX 1.3.2:
Copying CelUrls does not work at all

Meaning what? Celestia crashes? Nothing at all happens? Pasteboard contents are unchanged? Or cleared? Or garbled? etc. -- can you be a little more specific?

Now, as for the CelUrl behaviour:
- CelUrls made for Ran with OSX 1.3.1 are about 0.5 lightyears off in OSX 1.3.2
- CelUrls made for Ran with Windows 1.3.2 are about 35AU off in OSX 1.3.2
- CelUrls made for Ran with Windows v1.4.0pre2 are 100% spot on in OSX 1.3.2

Well, the last item at least offers a glimmer of hope... What happens when CelUrls made for Ran with Windows 1.3.2 are used with Windows v1.4.0pre2?

Now, for some good news:
Celestia 1.3.2 on OSX 10.3.3 processes CelUrl calls!!!

That is good news. I snuck in some code in that I thought might work and it looks like it got us close. I can't test this on 10.2, unfortunately. But I'm guessing my URL hook is just being called at startup before Celestia is properly initialized. If so, this should be easy to fix.

- Hank

[rthorvald]

In Ran system, using OSX 1.3.2:
Copying CelUrls does not work at all

Meaning what? Celestia crashes? Nothing at all happens? Pasteboard contents are unchanged? Or cleared? Or garbled? etc. -- can you be a little more specific?

The clipboard is cleared of old content, and says content:unknown

What happens when CelUrls made for Ran with Windows 1.3.2 are used with Windows v1.4.0pre2?

Forgot that... It?s the same thing as between OSX1.3.2 and Win1.3.2: you arrive off by about 35AU. This leads me to believe there has been a fix after Win 1.3.2 was final.

-rthorvald

[Rich]

Hi,
I was hoping this would go away with the latest release of Clestia, but it's ugly head has reared itself, in 1.3.2:
This happens when I view a planet with a bump or normal map (and a night map): When the nightside lights are enabled, they are continuously on, even in areas where it's full daylight. If I do not use a bump map, the nitelights act normally.

Does anyone else have this problem??

Thanks,
Rich

My System Setup:
Mac G4 Dual 1.25GHz Proc / 1gbRAM / OSX 10.2.8 / GeForce4 Ti 4600

[folks]

Using Radeon Control Panel with Celestia Mac 1.3.2

Slightly off topic I know, sigh, "Radeon 9800 Pro and Celestia"
http://www.shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6012
Might be better, but not much Mac feedback…

Radeon now has a control panel available that supports Both OEM (apple) and retail graphics cards.
http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/mac/macosx-ATI-displays.html

This control panel can enable both full screen anti-aliasing FSAA and vSync: refresh rate sync amoung other things.
The Control Panel over-rides program control of these OpenGL features.

The readme, on the page noted above, lists a variety of software that responds poorly to OpenGL over-rides.
How does Celestia fair ?

Would FSAA and vSync with Celestia eliminate the jaggies around the edge of a planet and the video shearing that sometimes appears during movement ?

Be nice if Nvdia, or better Apple had something similiar.

[Cham]

folks

you have the same machine as me : dual 867 MHz with NVidia GeForce 4 MX (32 MB). Soon, I should receive my ATI 9800 pro (geez, I'm still waiting for it).

Someone I know have a recent ATI card (128 MB), but I don't remember which model. He can enable full scene antialiasing and apparently it works nicely in Celestia 1.3.1. He has smooth planets without jaggies !

[David]

Hello Hank

Im not a volunteer, but i've somehow downloaded v1.3.2-1 i've only been using celestia for about a week and i think it is great.

It seems to run faster and doesn't crash as often but "unexpectedly quits" when I go back using the keyboard, but works when I use the mouse, Wierd!


The night lights, light up in daylight and are off at night (this happened in v1.3.1) and saturn doesn't cast an shadow on its rings and visa versa (this also happened in 1.3.1)

I am using a summer 2001 iMac G3 (UK release)
500Mhz
256Mb SDRAM
ATI 128 Rage Pro 2 with 16Mb VRAM

OSX v10.3.6

Does anyone have an idea of what my machine is capable of
and how to get it to use Celestia more effeciently and effectivly.

David

[dirkpitt]

Using Radeon Control Panel with Celestia Mac 1.3.2
...
This control panel can enable both full screen anti-aliasing FSAA and vSync: refresh rate sync amoung other things.
The Control Panel over-rides program control of these OpenGL features.

The readme, on the page noted above, lists a variety of software that responds poorly to OpenGL over-rides.
How does Celestia fair ?

Would FSAA and vSync with Celestia eliminate the jaggies around the edge of a planet and the video shearing that sometimes appears during movement ?

I have an ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 and actually tried the ATI Displays 4.4.1 software and Celestia just seems better off without any FSAA etc My video chip only supports supersampling (not the better multisampling), but that said, FSAA messes up lines and text. With Celestia's built-in line-smoothing, FSAA smudges lines and truncates text, and with line-smoothing off, FSAA just looks much worse than the built-in line-smoothing with no noticeable performance improvement. Maybe planet silhouettes were being antialiased but I didn't notice it. The Vsync, anisotropic filtering, and Performance options seem to do nearly nothing. I think turning Vsync on does eliminate screen tearing, but at the cost of raw performance and I honestly don't notice much tearing on my machine anyway. YMMV.

My config: PB 1.33Ghz 17", OS X 10.3.6, Celestia 1.3.2, DOT3+VP

[dirkpitt]

I did a cvs checkout of Celestia yesterday and fixed the rainbow bumpmap problem on my machine. I have no idea if the rainbow issue is specific to the Mobility Radeon 9700 but I fixed it anyhow.

Here is Mercury:


Another example with a dds normal map: The Himalayas

It turned out that the GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 extension is not supported (on my system at least). This seemed ironic because GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 is actually an ATI extension. The fix was to use GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 instead.

I changed the ring shadow code a little too and Saturn now does not have the erroneous dark bands I reported earlier:
Before
After

[selden]

Dirk,

Those "erroneously dark bands" are the shadows of the rings being cast onto the planet. They're supposed to be there! If you can't see them any more, then you've broken the shadow code.

See, for example, this picture taken of Saturn by the Cassini probe: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2.cgi?path=../multimedia/images/rings/images/PIA05394.jpg&type=image

Note the black stripes in the northern hemisphere.