Happy New Year - Custom Overlay pict follow-up

[ANDREA]

Hello Supernova finder,
You need to edit the celestia.cfg file as follows. Also, name the new
image custom.png and keep the old logo.png as it was.

# patch for celestia.cfg: edit your file to declare your custom texture
#------------------------------------------------------------------------
# LogoTexture defines the graphic file to be displayed when Celestia is
# started. The default filename is "logo.png"
# CustomTexture defines the graphic file to be displayed when toggling the F9 key.
# The default filename is "custom.png"
#------------------------------------------------------------------------
LogoTexture "logo.png"
CustomTexture "custom.png"

#------------------------------------------------------------------------

end of message

Hello "memory" man (you remembered my 3 supernovae discovery, appreciated ), thanks a lot, your explanation solved my problems.
Thank you again.
Bye

Andrea

[Vincent]

Vincent,

Don't forget that patch files are needed for Linux and MacOS, too.

FWIW, standard Unix (Linux) diff patch files work fine under Windows if you have Cygwin installed.

Selden,

I thought that patch files made under Windows, like text files, were also working on Linux and MacOS... Where does this incompatibility come from ? Different syntaxes ? Then would it be possible to modify them "by hand" to make them functional on every OS ?

[selden]

I've never used the Windows method of creating patch files, so I don't know if the format is compatible. I've always used the Unix/Linux/Cygwin commands diff and patch

For example, the script

Code: Select all

#!/usr/bin/sh -x
diff --context \
celestia/src/celutil/formatnum.cpp \
celestia-winbuilt/src/celutil/formatnum.cpp \
>formatnum.diff


produces the file formatnum.diff

Code: Select all

*** celestia/src/celutil/formatnum.cpp   Sat Sep 20 18:29:22 2003
--- celestia-winbuilt/src/celutil/formatnum.cpp   Sun Aug  8 11:24:59 2004
***************
*** 39,45 ****
          }
          else
          {
!             double m = pow(10, floor(log10(fabs(value))) - precision + 1);
              return floor(value / m + 0.5) * m;
          }
      }
--- 39,45 ----
          }
          else
          {
!             double m = pow(10.0, floor(log10(fabs(value))) - precision + 1);
              return floor(value / m + 0.5) * m;
          }
      }


and

Code: Select all

#!/usr/bin/sh -x
patch -p0 <formatnum.diff


applies it.

[Boux]

Hi all,
Here is a new version of the Atlantis cockpit overlay.
- added nice avionics-style frames to the Celestia data mini-windows
- made the windshield pillars less obtrusive
- tweaked again the contrast (think it's ok now)
http://jmmi.club.fr/celestia/overlay/custom_010506.png

[fsgregs]

Boux:

Your work just gets better and better. Layout, contrast and avionics look great in this latest image, and the pillars are less obtrusive. the box around the green boxes is neat.

Here is a screenshot on my system.



I post it here for one reason. Looking at it, there is clearly a light on in the cockpit. The interior console and posts are illuminated from some point behind the viewer. The light is moderately bright.

If I were cruising in space, I would dim down those lights so I could see switches and gauges, but not force my pupils to contract down. In other words, I would encourage my night vision. That's why I suggested a dimmer cockpit.

Would it be possible to take this exact image and just lower the gamma or brightness about 30 - 40% more (just to see what the effect would be)? Imagine what the interior cockpit illumination would be if you were steering the "Celestia 1" in space, looking out that window at some dim nebula or dark moon?

Thanks in advance, as usual, for all your excellent work!!

Frank

[buggs_moran]

Would it be possible to take this exact image and just lower the gamma or brightness about 30 - 40% more (just to see what the effect would be)? Imagine what the interior cockpit illumination would be if you were steering the "Celestia 1" in space, looking out that window at some dim nebula or dark moon?

Or perhaps with a red tinge for "night" vision?

[Boux]

OK, let's try some kind of submarine tint
http://jmmi.club.fr/celestia/overlay/custom_010606.png

[Vincent]

Boux,

I noticed that the custom texture becomes semi-transparent eveytime a text message appears on screen. For example, this happens when you hit the space bar and Celestia displays the "Time is paused" message.
That's a little bit more disturbing when Celestia displays a text message during a script...

[Boux]

It's a feature.
Otherwise message texts would not be visible at all and would be hidden behind the overlay.

[Vincent]

Ok Boux. So can you please tell me if these 2 suggestions to improve your overlay texture patch are feasible :
- displaying the text in the foreground relative to the overlay texture
or :
- detecting if the text is under a completely transparent piece of texture to avoid, in that case, the semi-transparency feature...

[fsgregs]

Boux and GlobeMaker:

Yep!!! that does it. Your latest red tinted cockpit really does look like a dimmed spacecraft cockpit. I love it!!!

I hope your edited code gets into an official release of the next maintainence release of 1.4.0. In the interim, please combine your efforts with the Windows exe file build from GlobeMaker, and place the entire add-on on the Motherlode (if possible) so that the entire community can see it and use it (even non-forum members). It is really great.

Vincent's suggestions in the posting above are also valuable and I concur they should be considered, if possible. Scripts are ideal forums for using the cockpit overlay, and it should not dim every time a line of text appears (if possible).

I would recommend the following be included in the add-on:

* Celestia-C.exe (the revised Windows application with the new code)
* Custom.png (containing the control commands overlay)
* Cockpit.png (the one with the red tint)
* Cockpit2.png (your last cockpit without the red tint, for folks who prefer that)
* a read-me file explaining exactly what line to insert where, in the cfg file. Explain that a user can call one of the three png files by simply editing the cfg file before launching the custom version of Celestia.

I would also send an email to Chris, advising him of this thread and your great work. It is possible he has not seen this thread. If he is planning to release 1.4.1 soon, then that code should be included with yours, so that we can all enjoy both his revisions and your great new feature.

Chris, if you are reading this, I strongly urge you to include this code in 1.4.1. Adding a semi-transparent overlay to the screen is a great feature.

Regards,

Frank

[Vincent]

Frank,

I share your enthusiasm about all these new patches. But I think they have to be tested on more systems before they can be integrated to an official Celestia release. For example, I'm not sure someone has already tested them on MacOS... Moreover, we all know that Chris, Fridger and the other 'official active' developpers are hardly working on important improvements from the 'todo list'...

As for the 'addon' pack (Celestia_patched.exe + Custom.png + different versions of custom_cockpit.png + a readme.txt file), I already made it available with a french version of the readme file 2 days ago, and I regularly update it with Boux latest overlay textures and with an .exe file compiled with the latest CVS files.

I'm going to compile in a very near future a Celestia_patched.exe file that also integrates Victor's sound patch, that I think is a fantastic improvement. I'm just waiting for the final CVS version of Celestia 1.4.1. I hope other members will make MacOS and Linux versions available for testing...

Finally, I think the most important thing is that enthusiasm for Celestia development is definitely back

[GlobeMaker]

We need to plan the future work on this overlay function.
Boux has edited the following source code files :
- celestiacore.ccp
- - celestiacore.h
- - configfile.h
- - configfile.ccp
- - kdeglwidget.ccp
- - glutmain.ccp
- - winmain.ccp
- - glwidget.ccp
Boux may have used Celestia 1.4.0 as his starting point.
I used Celestia 1.4.1 and added Boux source code before compiling.
Chris will soon release a different version, maybe called 1.4.2 .
There could be a problem if Boux 1.4.0 is combined with a future version
because the 1.4.0 version might replace a newer version from Chris.

If Chris agrees to include Boux new function, those two people need to
cooperate. Chris would send Boux a pre-release version and Boux
could add his code and send it back to Chris. Then Chris could
package everything and compile it. Other ways may be better than
this scenario.

[fsgregs]

Vincent:

'm going to compile in a very near future a Celestia_patched.exe file that also integrates Victor's sound patch, that I think is a fantastic improvement. I'm just waiting for the final CVS version of Celestia 1.4.1.

What is Victor's sound patch? Is there code now that will allow Celestia to launch a sound file while running ?

I used Celestia 1.4.1 and added Boux source code before compiling.
Chris will soon release a different version, maybe called 1.4.2 .
There could be a problem if Boux 1.4.0 is combined with a future version
because the 1.4.0 version might replace a newer version from Chris.

Vincent and GlobeMaker:

I understand your point and I guess I agree with it. However, it is such an exciting new feature for me (my students will LOVE it), I am impatient to see it part of the official release ASAP, so that I can include it in my Educational Activity work. If Celestia will also soon incorporate the ability to launch sound, that too is Sooooo exciting!!!

Perhaps we first have to discover if Chris is aware of the code. If not, someone needs to inform him of it, and advise him whether it is a completely isolated sub-routine, or whether it must be integrated into CVS 1.4.1 in a variety of places. If so, Chris is probably the better choice to do the integration. I say that because I suspect he would not include it in the official release unless he personally added it to his code.

Frank

[fsgregs]

One additional point, guys:

If at all possible, the code for the overlay feature should set some flag that a cel:url or bookmark could read and activate. That way, a user could create a script, and I could incorporate a cel:url in my Activities that toggle the cockpit overlay feature on or off, depending upon where I want the viewer to go. For example, if we are on the surface of a planet, I would not want to see the cockpit. Likewise, in many of my activities, I have cel:url's that take the viewer outside of the Celestia 1 (the customized spaceship that my readers fly in). When they click that cel:url, it would be great if the code read by the [Ctrl+ins] keystrokes included a toggle to turn the overlay off, just as it does now for most other render features.

Is that possible?

Frank

[Boux]

Hi all,
I would like to clarify a couple of points here because I see there may be some confusion.
- the modified code is based on 1.4.0 final
- the changes are mostly made in the main loop of celestia core and this part of the program should not change much with new versions
- the mod works with latest cvs files
- it has been tested on all flavours of Celestia excepted Osx (at least I don't know if somebody has built it for Macs)
- Chris is the boss here and it will be is his decision to incorporate the mod or not
- he has been monitoring the thread
- from what I have read in the mailing lists, he his thinking about getting rid of the logo at start because all versions will have their own splash screen now (eleminate redundancy) and implement the overlay thing instead
- it is up to him to tell us what kind of functionalities he will ultimately associate to the overlay functionality
Let's wait for him to drop a post here if he is willing to do so.
I have a lot of ideas around this overlay functionality and more generally useability, but I prefer to wait for a new Celestia release. We need some stability otherwise it will be a huge mess with several people changing the code in an un-coordinated manner.
Perhaps the development model should be adapted so that "contributing developpers" would be given the opportunity to submit pieces of code (improvements, additions, etc.) to the core dev team for consideration.

[t00fri]

- Chris is the boss here and it will be is his decision to incorporate the mod or not

Yes, but the developers have a vote, too

I did not follow this thread too closely, since honestly I do not support this feature as /a default setting/. Neither would Chris, it seems... (see developer's list)

I would not oppose to incorporate the option for displaying an overlay image in general. I can even see scientific applications for this. But certainly I would not want to see this panel upon Celestia startup by default!

Besides Frank's school children there are quite a few other groups of Celestia users who would NOT be as happy about this feature... We have to think about these, too.

Last not least, the present 2k PNG panel adds 1.5 MB to the distribution size...A JPG format would presumably scale much less well to much smaller resolutions?


Bye Fridger

[Vincent]

Hi all,

First, the reason I want to make the Celestia_patched.exe file I compiled (including Boux's overlay patch and Victor's sound pacth) available for download is ONLY to give other members the possibility to TEST IT. This way, developpers will also have a significative sample of users' opinion about the necessity or not to integrate these patches to an official release.

Then, I also think these patches represent fantastic improvements that should be developped for a more general use : for example, the cockpit function is really nice but may only represents a 'gadget' for many users.
And, as I said in a previous post, improving the overlay function could bring the possibility to load and display ANY picture from a script command. And that would be a very useful function from an educational point of view...

[Boux]

- Chris is the boss here and it will be is his decision to incorporate the mod or not

Yes, but the developers have a vote, too

I did not follow this thread too closely, since honestly I do not support this feature as /a default setting/. Neither would Chris, it seems... (see developer's list)

I would not oppose to incorporate the option for displaying an overlay image in general. I can even see scientific applications for this. But certainly I would not want to see this panel upon Celestia startup by default!

Besides Frank's school children there are quite a few other groups of Celestia users who would NOT be as happy about this feature... We have to think about these, too.

Last not least, the present 2k PNG panel adds 1.5 MB to the distribution size...A JPG format would presumably scale much less well to much smaller resolutions?


Bye Fridger

Hummm, looks like you have edited your post before I had the opportunity to reply
Look, the three theads about this add-on total 3300 views and 100 posts. If this does not show a big interest for it I wonder how many it would need.
Add to this the several gigs of downloads from my ftp (which has just been upload-locked by my provider because of too much traffic!).
The whole thing started with an instrument panel thing. This is a restrictive view and it is not mine. I use it to overlay the darn list of keyboard commands. Read the very first post of this thread.
The main use of the functionality would obviously be to show additional information when running a script.
It was never meant to show the overlay by default! It is up to the user to call it or not, like any other command.
No picture need to be part of the distribution! Who said that? Add-on creators would submit their overlays the same way as they submit their other add-ons, perhaps together with their scripts.
About the screen sizes and resolutions: I have got a dual display setup with a 26" widescreen and a 19" 4/3 flatpanels. Again, read the thread, I wrote somewhere that I tested the thing with several screen resolutions and formats.

[Boux]

GlobeMaker, Vincent,
I have a brand new improved celestiacore.ccp source file for you
Changelog: message texts now at the forefront, overlay no longer dims out.
My isp has locked my ftp. Just tell me by pm how I can send the file to you.