Just started...problems :(

[Apollonius]

I've been using an excellent walkthrough to make my first addon, and at first it was going very well...but then I tried to add a moon for my planet.

This moon is one I've been trying to make for over a year (with another program), but was not successful. This moon has a concentration of radioactive elements in its crust, and therefore the dark side of the moon gives off an eerie glow from the photons of light collected during the light phase. Here's a mockup of what I'm wanting:


...and here's the code I'm using:

Code: Select all

#########################

# hip500000.ssc

#########################

"Loren" "HIP 500000" {

              Class "planet"
   Texture "Pandapata.jpg"

   Radius 64000

   EllipticalOrbit

   {   Period 5.8

      SemiMajorAxis 2.5

   }

RotationPeriod       23.55556
}


"Apollonius" "HIP 500000/Loren" {

              Class "moon"
   Texture "phosphorescent planet 002.jpg"

              NightTexture "phosphorescent planet 002a.jpg"
   Radius 34000

   EllipticalOrbit

   {   Period 24

      SemiMajorAxis 32.5

   }

RotationPeriod       1
}

#########################

Sorry I'm such a noob, but can anybody help me? I've tried doing it like the walkthrough said...it's still not working. I can post a screenshot of what it DOES look like (a dark spot on the mother planet), but maybe someone can tell me what's wrong from the code I just posted. LOL!! And no...I still haven't changed the name from 'hip 500000' yet!

[selden]

I don't see anything obviously wrong with your SSC catalog. What's the size of the "phosphorescent" image?

Unless you're running one of the prereleases for Celestia v1.5.0, all surface texture images must be a power-of-two on a side: e.g. 2048x1024 or 512x256.

[edit]
I suspect that the "dark spot" is the shadow being cast by the moon onto the planet, not the moon itself.
[/edit]

Suggestion:

While it may not be causing a problem here, you should avoid using spaces in filenames. Use underscores instead. In many circumstances spaces are interpreted as terminators causing much confusion because various software packages will look for something named (in this case) just "phosphorescent" and not "phosphorescent planet 002.jpg"

[selden]

Aha! The problem is the SemiMajorAxis of the moon's orbit. Celestia wants the SMAs of orbits of moons to be specified in units of kilometers, unlike the SMAs of orbits of planets, which are specified in Astronomical Units (AU).

In other words, the moon's SMA should be greater than the radius of the planet if you want it to be orbiting above the surface. A value of 32.5 puts it inside the planet, almost at its center.

[Apollonius]

Ok...I changed the names to include underscores rather than spaces, and made sure that the images are the right format and size....they're 1024x512 jpg's. It still isn't working......is the moon not far enough from the planet? Should it be smaller? Hmm...if that black circle is a shadow, I can't see the moon that's making it....it's not showing up at all!

[EDIT]Oops! I missed that last post! Thanks so much!

[Apollonius]

Yay! My moon is now circling the planet happily. Thanks! Only problem now is that the night texture is not showing up. I really have no idea what the problem is there...I've checked, and everything seems ok...

[EDIT] Oh snap! I'll bet I need to use the code for when a planet gives off its own light...right? Hmm....I wish I could run acrobat & celestia (not to mention IE) at the same time...

[selden]

Specifying it as a NightTexture should be all you need to do to make the image visible on what otherwise would be the dark side of the moon. It won't be visible on the sunlit side. Emissive true (if that's what you mean) affects the entire object at all times, which isn't what you want. Maybe the texture's colors need to be brighter?

[Apollonius]

Emissive true (if that's what you mean) affects the entire object at all times, which isn't what you want. Maybe the texture's colors need to be brighter?

Yeah...I just figured that out...LOL! The texture map I'm using for the night side of the moon is the same one used in the mockup above. The colors are pretty bright in that. There is a slight surface visible at night on my current moon, but I just checked...it's the exact same as if there's NO night texture selected, which probably means that it's not displaying the night texture at all. Of coure I could be wrong...

I'm going to try this again with new textures...that have simpler names...and see if that works. I've tried renaming the jpg's already though...it's still not working.

[Apollonius]

I just tried 2 new texture maps...still nothing. Then I got the bright idea to go to Earth, and check out the 'earthnight' texture in action. Guess what...I couldn't see it! There's the problem, right there...I'll bet it's a graphics issue on my computer.

So what can I do?....I mean besides get a new computer...

Oh, and I have 'show night time lights' checked in my view options...

[selden]

Check which "Render Paths" Celestia says are available to you.
Type a Ctrl-V several times.
What does it show?

Render Paths are Celestia's names for various sets of OpenGL features. The usual ones are
Basic
Multitexture (NightLights)
OpenGL Vertex Program ( specular reflections & bumpmaps)
OpenGL V2.0 (multiple light sources)

(Each makes possible other "eye candy", but those listed are the most obvious ones)

All graphics chipsets support "Basic".
Modern cards with up-to-date graphics drivers are needed for OpenGL v2.0 to be available.

Also check to see what details Celestia reports about your graphics hardware in the Help/OpenGL Info menu.
What does it say in the popup window?
(it can be copied and pasted here)

Sometimes when graphics drivers haven't been installed correctly, features are missing that should be there.

[Apollonius]

Vendor: Microsoft Corporation

Renderer: GDI Generic

Version: 1.1.0

Max simultaneous textures: 1

Max texture size: 1024

Point size range: 0.500000 - 10.000000



Supported Extensions:

GL_WIN_swap_hint

GL_EXT_bgra

GL_EXT_paletted_texture

Sigh...

[selden]

This says that your system is using Microsoft's OpenGL software with no 3D hardware support.

1. find out what graphics hardware you have
Start menu/Control Panel/Display/Settings tab/Advanced button/Adapter tab/
What does it say under "Adapter Type"?

2. Check the status of the hardware 3D acceleration.
Start menu/Control Panel/Display/Settings tab/Advanced button/Troubleshoot tab/
The "Hardware acceleration" slider should be all the way to the right.

[Apollonius]

I've already been looking for a new driver....with absolutely no luck. The most promising link so far wound up taking me to a DOOM/QUAKE site...

Oh, and H.A. was maxed out...

[selden]

Is this a desktop system with card slots (so you could upgrade the graphics hardware)
or is it a laptop (in which case you are out of luck)?

The least expensive new cards are about $ 40-$50.
Used graphics cards should be even cheaper. Just about any plugin card would provide more features than you have now.

Any new model card (that's compatible with your system's card slots) would be fine, but Celestia has the least problems with Nvidia cards.

If your system has an AGP slot, I'd suggest a used Nvidia FX 5200 as the minimum model to get. Any Nvidia card with a 6000 or 7000 series number would be even better.

If your system has only PCI slots, I don't know card what to recommend: I'm really not familiar with them.

[Apollonius]

It's ok...I'm supposed to be getting a new computer in the next month or two anyway, to replace this relic from some previous civilization.

In the mean time I'm still going to be loving me some Celestia, and making lots more texture maps in eager anticipation.

Thank you very much again for all your help!

[selden]

You're quite welcome.

In the meantime, you might consider defining your "night light" image as an AltSurface, so you at least couuld switch back and forth between it and the "daytime" image.

[Apollonius]

I hate to necro this thread after so long, but...

Getting a newer computer took a bit longer than I anticipated. I finally did, though, and I was excited to finally have graphic capabilities necessary to properly run my addon.

Then it still didn't work.

Here are my new stats:

Vendor: Intel

Renderer: Intel 810/810E

Version: 1.1.2 - Build 4.13.01.3196

Max simultaneous textures: 2

Max texture size: 1024

Point size range: 0.500000 - 10.000000



Supported Extensions:

GL_ARB_multitexture

GL_ARB_texture_env_add

GL_ARB_transpose_matrix

GL_EXT_abgr

GL_EXT_bgra

GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint

GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array

GL_EXT_cull_vertex

GL_EXT_fog_coord

GL_EXT_packed_pixels

GL_EXT_packed_pixels_12

GL_EXT_paletted_texture

GL_EXT_rescale_normal

GL_EXT_stencil_wrap

GL_EXT_texture_env_add

GL_EXT_texture_env_combine

GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic

GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat

GL_WIN_swap_hint

______________________________________________


So, better, but still not good enough? I guess I'd need to be able to display 3-4 simultaneous textures? My moon doesn't have an atmosphere or cloudmap, so that at least is good. I tried turning the cloudmap of the Earth and the atmosphere off, and I still couldn't get a night time texture to render.

Oh how I long to see my moon glow.

[EDIT] Also, either better places for this thread opened up after the re-structuring of the board, or I dinged out and posted it in the wrong place. It might be better in 'Help', or 'addons'?

[selden]

I've moved the thread to the Help forum, but left a pointer in the original one.

In order to be able help more, please provide the answers to the following questions:

1. Which render paths are available to you now?
In other words, when you type a Ctrl-V several times (pausing between them), what typeouts do you see in Celestia's window?

2. Exactly what model of computer do you have?

3. Did you install the most recent DirectX update from Microsoft?

4. Have you updated to the most recent driver available from the manufacturer your computer ?

If you did #3, it is *very* important that you do #4 afterward. The DirectX update includes obsolete/broken OpenGL drivers.

[Apollonius]

I've moved the thread to the Help forum, but left a pointer in the original one.

Ok, thanks!

In order to be able help more, please provide the answers to the following questions:

1. Which render paths are available to you now?
In other words, when you type a Ctrl-V several times (pausing between them), what typeouts do you see in Celestia's window?

[EDIT] I pressed ctrl+V one time, and the night time texture of Earth was displayed.

HUZZAH! My moon works also! YAY, Finally!!

2. Exactly what model of computer do you have?

I have a HP Pavilion XE783. Right now it's running Windows ME.

3. Did you install the most recent DirectX update from Microsoft?

As far as I know, the most recent one I can run is 8.1, which I have.

4. Have you updated to the most recent driver available from the manufacturer your computer ?

yes.

If you did #3, it is *very* important that you do #4 afterward. The DirectX update includes obsolete/broken OpenGL drivers.

Well I think I did it in that order, but should I uninstall anything and try again?

[EDIT] Yes, I got night time textures working finally!



Thanks again for all your help!

[selden]

Its good to know Celestia is working for you now.
Have you tried typing Ctrl-V more than once?
Some more eye-candy is available in the more advanced rendering modes.
Ctrl-V will step through them all and then start over again with Basic.

Unfortunately, I don't think the newest versions of Celestia (v1.6.0 and later) will run under ME.unless you can compile them yourself. Celestia for Windows is now being built using Visual Studio C++ 2008, which supposedly does not include support for the old single-user operating systems like Win 98 and Me.

[Apollonius]

I did try to press ctrl-V multiple times, but it just turns multitextures off and on. Still, if I had to just pick one path to render... :p

Well here's the moon as it looks now:


The parent star shines in the ultraviolet range, and the texturemap of that star is indigo, so the light hitting the moon is a bit sallow. You're actually supposed to be able to see a lot more non-glowing texture on the bright side, but the light falls off really quickly, apparently.

What's strange is, when I tried this on my friend's computer (with the same exact textures, SSC and STC files), it looked better. Maybe it's my crappy system? I know that nebulae show up as a pixelated gradient, and that the grey portions of my moon are striated (both of which totally disappeared in the above image after conversion to jpg and resizing on photobucket), so there's no telling. All I know is that the Earth night texture looks fine, so it has to by a problem with the parent star.

...and/or my system.