Orbits dissapear behind bodies

General discussion about Celestia that doesn't fit into other forums.
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JackHiggins
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Orbits dissapear behind bodies

Post #1by JackHiggins » 22.12.2002, 17:28

When moving close to a planet with moons, and viewing it from the side, why do the orbit lines for the moon in front of you dissapear behind the planet? It just looks a bit strange thats all..

Obviously the part of the orbit behind the planet shouldnt be visible but right in front of you should, just to make it look more "realistic"- like the way rings are visible in front of a planet but not behind! Will this be changed in a newer version?

Thanx! :D
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Mad Boris
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Post #2by Mad Boris » 23.12.2002, 12:33

I heard a while ago that this is suprisingly difficult to do, something about having to compute two halves of the orbit, one which goes behind and the other which goes in front. And then they have to change depending on your viewpoint....(can anyone clarify this a bit ?)
No doubt those clever programmers will eventually find a way around this, it's an irritating lapse into 2D in an otherwise 3D program, but I don't think it is one of the priorities.
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Kendrix
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Post #3by Kendrix » 24.12.2002, 12:25

No it isn't complicated to do the right way...

I haven't checked that part of the code but I think it's a problem with the Z-buffer that is cleared between some rendering process. So the orbits are wrongly displayed.
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