TestTubeGames Forums

GSim version 0.26.02

Viva la Resolution
(For those who downloaded the previous version, you’ll need to manually download the update. Free and easy since you already bought the simulation. Just follow the link to the game you got in your email originally... or just go to your Humble Library. The sim has an auto-updater, but this was broken in the first build. So for this one time, you’ll need to update manually. Sorry! In the future, it'll happen automatically.)


New Features:
-Auto-updater fixed!
-Resolution vastly improved
-Everything fits on the screen, no matter the resolution you choose
-Grid lines are 1 pixel wide, no matter the resolution you choose
-Grid spacing and planet size match up, meaning they scale the same
-Quit button, so you can exit the game.
-You can now return to the home screen by pressing ‘escape’
-FPS removed from screen, you can find it by activating ‘quality display’ in the visual settings
-More tooltips on more buttons
-When launching a planet in a circular orbit (by holding c) the red pull-back line now goes to the right location
-Circular orbits work for all force laws
-Fixed a bug that happened launching circular orbits while tracking
-Tracked planets now indicated by cross-hairs
-When tracking an object(s), CoM will center on all selected objects
-When tracking an object(s), Crop will remove all unselected objects
-When trying to load an invalid code, the “Invalid Entry” text does not delete what you’ve written
-Planet sizes scale more noticeably with mass
-Bug where huge positive masses turned into negative ones was fixed.
-Negative mass objects are now indicated by a negative sign, and have a radius that indicates the magnitude of their mass
-When changing the mass of planets, the image you’re holding in your mouse changes immediately, instead of waiting.
-Time scales extended, including x.01 and x100
-Music added
-Game remembers some basic preferences (music on/off, grid on/off)
-Instructions should pop up the first time your play the game


Yet-To-Come:
-Scaling the button images better - they still get pixelly, but that’s fix-able, and shouldn’t interfere with the game
-Incorporate the extended force laws into the load code
-Extend the force laws further
-Improve the gravity calculations for when two objects are very close
-Improve the orbit-line redrawing, so that zooming works smoother (and eventually we can extend the zooming range)
-Extend the options for editing an existing planet
-...and all the rest of the stuff in the Suggestions list

Neat!
Now I can make orbits with roughly a desired eccentricity using that red line!
I can also actually play the downloadable game... this is awesome!

By more advanced gravity laws, do you mean adding something to parse equations with r being the independent variable?
So I could so something ridiculously complex like (((2*r)^3)+62)/3?

I'm also glad settings are remembered, as well.
It sort of annoys me that the grid is off by default, though.

wtg62 wrote:By more advanced gravity laws, do you mean adding something to parse equations with r being the independent variable?
So I could so something ridiculously complex like (((2*r)^3)+62)/3?
...
It sort of annoys me that the grid is off by default, though.

I'm not sure how complex the f(r) system will be, though I plan to take it forward in steps. One problem right now is that the system is really finicky. In the interest of speed, the four options - r^a, a^r, r^r, and r^-r - are treated differently, in parallel structures. So the first step will be making a more generalized system. Might slow things down calculations a bit, but hopefully not by much, and frankly, if you're playing around with f(r) = r^50*cos(r), maybe you don't care about *incredibly* high precision.

Anyway, yeah, I'll give it a go.

The grid being off -- I'm playing around with that. I got some feedback by someone who disliked the grid, and couldn't find a way to turn it off. And I agree, it's kinda hard to find it in the menu. So it's off by default for now, perhaps until I streamline the menus for new players. We'll see -- but your vote *for* the grid is noted.

Oh yeah, and about the tracking crosshair...
You should make that toggle-able in the visual settings menu.

A big improvement! I think I can stop using the web version now. I haven't encountered any of the bugs I reported previously. And there are just so many improvements from the previous version. Great job!
I do think the grid should be on by default, though.

What about some "quick tools" on a easily accessible button (toggle grid/quality display, reset force law to r^-2) that link to the actual settings?