dionbouton

(you can have 1 to 1 scale worlds ,with real velocities , etc.. but still have time compression,etc ) as in Orbiter . Of course that "tiny universe , and cartoony 2D graphics I was referring to some app out there that it looks ... well , cartoony - Also , I would say that KSP physics are consistent , but not realistic (as in Simulation realistic ). The main issue is that KSP is using the default bundled physics library in Unity3D . While being ok for most applications, -the library - really struggles to keep up with the huge distances and sizes involved in a solar system. In particular ,the use of "floats" as opposed to "doubles" is what mainly restricts the resolution of KSP solar system. Also , the same applies for the renderer. Note that I said "resolution" and not size . Size is a relative term (after all , Kerbals could be a mile high tall each ) , planets , a million miles ,etc.. . The problems is that the difference between the tinyest dimensional size ( 0.00001 in a float) , and the maximum consistent ( approx 1000000.0 ) in a float , reduces the <resolution> of the world. In other words , the maximum distances won't be much more than 1000000000 times the smaller distance , or the smaller rendered detail. Hence , the planets ,. are small. Very small. As they are fictional is impossible to tell how small ,but in terms of "rocket lenghs" , It would seem they are 1 to 100 scale ( I read 1 to 10 somewhere ) . ~Probabbly even more. Same as distances. Earth's moon is at around ~50.000 earth radius of distance. That would be simply impossible with Unity3D's free physics engine. Hence the planets in KSP seems to be much much closer , at 1000's radius distance That making the whole system much more compact . The gravity wells ,would be so much intersecting that to allow Unity3D physics solver to breath , only a single gravity well seems to be computed at a time ( therefore no lagrange points, or gravity assitss etc ) Then , the more confusing issue. At those tiny (relative ) distances, the gravity would be either very very very small ( bascially It shouldnt be gravity at all for objects that small ) , but that would make orbits very large -and totally unplayable- . So the only way to keep with this "space compression" is to increase gravity constant to an arbitrary value , that keeps the whole stuff's orbits within playable orbital periods , that bringing a new set of issues with atmosphere , planet's rotation vs translation ,vs absolute velocity,etc So , ok, KSP has consistant ( as in using a law that doesnt change ) physics . But they are not correct in the way -say- Orbiter has it correct . Either everything is 100 times smaller , gravity is 100 times larger , and planets are situated 100 times closer , of time scale is 100 times . In any case the realism/scale issues are pretty much irrelevant- as the final result is definitely most playable and enjoyable . From a gameplay point of view , real physics/scales/magnitudes make for a totally unplayable space simulation ( other than using computers, predefined paths,etc ,as in Orbiter ) BtW , we are recruiting a few betatesters , so if anyone is interested to testflight a few apollo / shuttle / Mars missions ..and has an iPad or a Android 4.0 tablet ... send us a mail .. to testing @ brixtondynamics.co.uk Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers

hey ,, thanks for your feedback . we are in Brixton , South London. Well , regarding controls .. we have been fiddling with it for a while . Basicly , there are 3 ways to control the spacecraft(s). 1->Via programs on the AGC / Shuttle computer l (basically , as they did , It requires quite a bit of studying the apollo computer , but ... alas ) 2->We also have a on-Screen overlay that allows you the 6 mayor orbital atttitude changes ( prograde, retrog ,normal+ , normal- , hover , level ) Att-Hold ,etc.. so -unless you require a very exotic attitude maneouver , It can be simply done by pressing the button . That button can be via OSD , or tapping the actual button on the actual panel 3->Of course , we present the player with a very large, convenient and sensible virtual joystick . So -believe me- controlling -say- the landing of the shuttle , or the transposition ,docking and rotation of the Apollo CM is quite easy .Indeed ,easier that with keys/mouse. I ll try to upload some screenshots/video of the OSD controls.. Its actually quite easy. cheeeeeeeeeeers Francisco Javier Carrion www.brixtondynamics.co.uk

hey ! , Thanks for your encouargement! . Well ,this being developed on Unity ,publishing for Android is just one button click away ! . Good thing of Unity3D is that you can publish for everything . Bad thing is horrendously slooooow.., pretty much unacceptably slow for a complex project. So we had to code -by hand- the physics engine , the 3D OpenGL render, pretty much everything . Good news is that we got it running on Android too. We would like to concentrate on iOS ,being generally speaking the more profitable OS - , but of course we plan to release Space-Simulator for every conceivable platform ! It would be silly not to Anything running ICS 4.0 and OGL2.0 would do , really. -also , a plugin for OculusRift is on the way - This month we plan to get ready the video and the Kickstarter presentatation pitch . We are recording quite a cool set of videos (all directly from a mobile device ) that -we hope- Its going to change people's impression on what's possible and what's not on mobile devices.

hi . I said ipad2/3/4 as a quick way to send to someone respected here a build , to show that the game is real , and the screenshots are real and that it runs as claimed in a mobile device. As it seems that quite a few people over here are basically calling bull**** on our graphics/framerate on iPads. ( some people are indeed claiming that it doesnt run at-all! . Target Audience : For the mobile/tablet build ? People which like simulations. People that play orbiter on the PC and would like something similar (bit more limited ) , but without the hassle of installing addons/plugins/missions etc.. . For the PC/MAC/Console Build ? People that like space simulations , but can't get bothered installing all the required plugings.etc (for Orbiter) or want it running on their set-top PS3/Xbox. For the PC , people that like designing and building rocket engines , -and then flying them - with a bit more of realism ( real sizes, actual planets , decent rendering, correct physics etc) . Basically somewhere in the middle beetween the ultra realism of Orbiter and the super-fun of KSP. cheeeeeeeeers j

hi guys. If anyone is around London , we will be very pleased to showcase our Space-Simulator iOS in an iPad2/3/4 ... Regarding the "toy universe with cartoony physics" or "Just landing the shuttle" ... We were obviouysly refering to some "simulations" for mobile devices/ tablets out there in the app Store.. Can't see why KSP people are offended by that at all. Also , we are aiming towards a entirely different customer base. KSP is a very fun game /sandbox-style that runs on PCs , we are developing a simulation that runs on iOS.Its like pears and apples. If you want , it is much more Orbiter for mobile devices . The "build your own spacecraft" is -for now- limited to the PC /PS3 version , as in iOS iT would be a mess with the lack of mouse. We got different challenges -lack of mouse/keyboard is one- so we had to do all 3D virtual cockpits operational , everything is "touchable" .. . Also , lack of possiblity to install plugins , forces us to create the whole content in one go ( so apollo missions/shuttle/scenarios/sounds/ computers, etc ) needs to be shipped at once. Unfortunately , iOS won't accept anything other than a full product . Releasing an "alpha" version with bugs here and there is simply not an option , hence the longer than usual development time . ( we are now 3 coders, 1 artist , and 1 coordinator on the team ) . Regarding if it runs or not on mobile devices.. we got all our betatester slots full .., but as I said ,if someone is from London and want to have a look to the stuff running on a tablet... he ll be most welcome. -The videos are recorded from an actual iPad2 , pumping 30fps - The crappy web ??. I did it myself ( me being a professional Console programmer (ps3/ps2/rockstar/Sony) for the last 20 years) , but not a web designer ... so hence the joomla cheap-looking web. Anyway .. well launch the kickstarter funding campaign very shortly . ( we simply can't keep on with the development costs , so we are making a living out of developing other -cheapo- iPad/droid apps- and that is delaying us pointlessly. . With the funding campaing .. we expect to hit the appstore in 5-6 months for a full polished and manicured product.

the game itself , one year and a half , (myself) the C++ multithreaded double float physics lib -around 5 years - . The C++ GFX renderer , a bit less than a year (our other programmer ) most of that time has been wasted, trying to get Unity to do things It can not do . cheers Jc

Thanks ! . Well , a few models are freeware placeholders ( the ISS , for example is from NASA's website -free to use - , same as the Atlantis and a few other ) . The apollo hardware are literally "on loan" from its creator -he agreed -, until we can afford the final models. We have coded the rendering engine also in native C++ / OpenGL ,( 1 thread for the graphics , 2 for the physics , 1 for the compressor/decompressor of textures ). so It is fairly fast .We are aiming to 20-40K polygons spacecrafts. Regarding the price ,. we are aiming towards the 5 dollars . or a tenner including iOS and PC/Mac version. Still undecided One last image. "Sunset in Mozambique" , our GPU Programmer has created some shaders that render the images in two channels ( oxygen and nitrogen ) , having different filters and diffraction coefs. So depending of the distances/angles/sun position etc.. modulates a color ramp that looks -sometimes - pretty much real. In the full (ipad4 ) resolution , you can see even the roads that lead to the capital , and the harbour . Cheers! J

Thanks ! . Well , the main issue is that the Apple appstore has a very strict QA regulations. Basicly they won't publish anything short of the full product , with absolutely no bugs/crashes/freezes. A single (!) crash , and they will reject the app. So we have to test it to destruction ! . Hence , no alpha versions. ( we are somewhere beetween alpha and beta. ) . Also , PS3 publishing is way more easy if the game has not published in PC first . It is not impossible , simply way more harder to find a PS3 publisher. In all fairness , we are more focused on the iPad version. On the PC , you got Orbiter 2010 -which is simply perfect- or KSP if you like more experimenting , more entertaining kind of game . We don't see a space for a third simulator on the scene . We are concentrating on mobile devices/ consoles , in which our ultra fast library and planetary rendering can be more of an advantadge. Regarding mascons / altitude map on the moon ( not really visible , hills on the moon are avg 2000m ( over a 2000km rad ) = 0.1% , so barely vissible at orbital altitudes. Here is the dynamic weather/cloud generation... with the latest double-bounce terrain/oxygen shader

There are . We created them for the "Luna" missions (Soviet expansion pck) . In all fairness not really needed. .Orbits around the moon are intrinsically unstable -even without mascons- ( gravity too weak , and too close to the earth ) . However -to be honest- those mascons are pretty much random ( not based on any real data ) . Just simply made 4 gravityDRigidbodies of 1/4th of the total mass of the moon , placed slightly off-center . Feels ok . These are sshots from the newer retina display( iPad3 & iPad4 ) Cheeeeeeeeeeeeers

hey ! . greetings . We would like to make a few points regarding the development of Space simulator. 1 we are not mocking in any way the players of any other simulation . We just point out that we have achieved full simulation realism , in a 1 to 1 scale. Other "sims" coulnt achieve that -even using monstruous ammounts of CPU- . Without going to technical details , we understand that our main selling point is a full scale solar system. (*not that much of the planet's radius , but the actual scale of the whole system . ) . It is our understanding that the inability to get a full scale system led to ficticious worlds ( otherwise the scale issue would have been grosly obvious ), hence the toy-universe feeling of some other games. 2 . The reference of "just landing the shuttle , etc " was in no way refering to Orbiter - a simulation that we -at brixton dynamics - respect the most . It was refering to some ipad app that marketed as a spacesim , is just a gliding flight simulator that just allows you to land the shuttle . I do insist on our greatest respect and admiration for Orbiter 2010. 3. Yep .It does run on iPads 2,3,4 ( and pc , mac ,etc) . By using a particular physics library ( using double precision vectors ) , and by some clever optimization we have achieved n-body simulation at a fantastic frame rates. The ships are indeed affected from every element in the solar system. Doing this , while rendering planets at full-res ( mainly Earth ,Mars, Moon) , with some exotic shaders for added realism. This goes flat-out at 30f.p.s in a iPad2 , 40fps on a ipad4. And in a PC is so fast that we can simply not tell how many fps. 4 It is programmed in Unity3D 4.0 using Simvex Vehicle dynamics library double float (developed by a joint group of programmers - from ex-Sony ex-Rockstar ported to Unity3D -I was one of the developers of that library -) . http://www.simvex.com/usermanual/html/d7/d15/_vehicles.html We don't want to compete with Orbiter. We are focusing on realism , but on handheld devices. Also we are implementing the vehicle design mode (not sure if orbiter 's got one ) , and try to make it a "closed" package , that allows the player to play -say- apollo missions etc without needing to download 3 plugins here and 2 addons there. All the future addons ( we got under way the "soviet missions" and "mars" ) are self-contained , no need to fiddle with files , installs , etc.. We are obviously no competting with KSC , as we are focused most towards the realisitic side of the simulations, and portable devices. Also , on the portable version (ipad , android, etc ) we won't have the spacecraft design tool . Other main difference is the fact that -being focused towards the ipad- all controls are touch-controls , and the photorealistic--ish cockpits have all controls touchable and operable .The lack of mouse in ipad/androids have led us to find new UI solutions . The web is dodgy ? . Well , agreed . We really have no time left for those details. And the forum has been spammed to destruction from Russia -really cant figure why- . Pity that you are looking at those outdated screenshots ,as they don't reflect the current state of the project . 0k . Thanks dudes for your eskepticism about the tecnnical feasability of our project, as that reasures that we are doing something special . We are planning the Kickstarter funding campaign ( to adquire the final 3D models, menu development, etc.. and tidying things up ) in a couple months , and hopefully this will be ready to be downloaded iOS /PC/Mac around end of this year. and excuse my poor English .