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Are there any plans for AS4?

AlternonAAlternon
edited June 2015 in AstroSynthesis General
If there are plans for AS4 at some point I would like to make several requests/suggestions.

1) Add two system orientation angles (theta & phi as in spherical coordinates) that orient solar north by tilting 0-180 degrees from galactic north and then orienting that 0-360 degrees from G-north. I know I can do this myself, but user variables can be twitchy. Also, the reason I'm NOT a programmer is because I HATE debugging.
2) Add a non-orbital marker object. In my case I need a jump point that is always along a line connecting the origin star & destination star. Because why have the cool, complicated program if can't quickly calculate travel time from one place to another.
3) Have the ability to show the habitable zone (HZ) of a star. This could be a red dotted line for the inner HZ, green dotted line for the median HZ and blue dotted line for the outer HZ.
4) I would like the ability to show the extend of an asteroid or cometary belt by showing a solid line for the average orbit and 2 dotted lines showing the inner & outer limit of the belt, based on the width variable.

Thanks

Comments

  • GrumpyOldFartGGrumpyOldFart
    5) Unicode support. In other words, the ability to label Alpha Centauri, for example, as "α Cen".
  • saykessayke
    The first 4 of these are probably doable with plugins... Not that I feel up for doing them ;-)
  • GrumpyOldFartGGrumpyOldFart
    6) The ability to delineate subsectors as other than merely cubic or spherical. For example, if I want to make a subsector delineating the size and placement of a nebula, I want to be able to make it a spheroid, but should be able to give it distinct radii for X, Y and Z axes so as to better conform to the nebula's actual shape. Being able to express all 3 axes separately would open up a range of new shapes.
  • neopeiusnneopeius
    I'd love to see an updated model--new data coming in on exoplanets all the time! :)
  • AlternonAAlternon
    With the ability we have now to screen mirror to a large television this is a great resource for GMs and players. However, in System View the planets are fairly hard to see. Would it be possible to have a "cartoony" display option where the planets & stars are much larger than life? A good example would be Galactic Civilization II (picture included). The planets would not need to be a mapped version, just a generic placeholder such as gas giant, ringed gas giant, barren world, garden world, etc.

  • brothercoolbrothercool
    Alternon wrote:
    With the ability we have now to screen mirror to a large television this is a great resource for GMs and players. However, in System View the planets are fairly hard to see. Would it be possible to have a "cartoony" display option where the planets & stars are much larger than life? A good example would be Galactic Civilization II (picture included). The planets would not need to be a mapped version, just a generic placeholder such as gas giant, ringed gas giant, barren world, garden world, etc.


    Don't count on it. Ed_NBOS has made it very clear in the past that AstroSyn is mapping software and not a simulator...and he doesn't want to add too much to each new version. I basically got laugh at when I asked for database improvements so I could have a sector with 100's of thousands of objects without program hangs or crashes. Silly me, actually wanting to use the program.
  • Ed_NBOSEd_NBOS
    Alternon wrote:
    With the ability we have now to screen mirror to a large television this is a great resource for GMs and players. However, in System View the planets are fairly hard to see. Would it be possible to have a "cartoony" display option where the planets & stars are much larger than life? A good example would be Galactic Civilization II (picture included). The planets would not need to be a mapped version, just a generic placeholder such as gas giant, ringed gas giant, barren world, garden world, etc.

    Do you mean in the solar system display? The problem that runs into is some of the orbits can be very tight, and you end up with overlapping images. Planets are scaled up by a factor of 10, I believe, in solar system views to make them at least visible at that scale, but at larger scales you start getting that overlapping.

    In the sector display, you can assign a Blazon image to stars to show an image (optionally wrapped around a globe, so you can use a planet map) as the marker for the star.
  • Ed_NBOSEd_NBOS
    brothercool wrote:
    Don't count on it. Ed_NBOS has made it very clear in the past that AstroSyn is mapping software and not a simulator...and he doesn't want to add too much to each new version. I basically got laugh at when I asked for database improvements so I could have a sector with 100's of thousands of objects without program hangs or crashes. Silly me, actually wanting to use the program.

    a) if you can't be polite, I will remove you from the forum. Astro is mapping software. That's what it is. Complaining that mapping software, which has never presented nor advertised itself as anything other than mapping software, isn't simulator software makes no sense. I am a map geek, not a simulator buff. I have no interest in building simulators.

    b) if you have specific requests regarding the database, as it says at the top of every forum, email them to the support address.
  • RegorRegor

    Any word on as AS 4.0? The last post I saw on this was June 2015. It has been almost four years now. I love AS 3.01x, but I would be interested to see what you might add to a newer version.

  • Ed_NBOSEd_NBOS

    Its just at the very early idea stage. Looking at possibly switching to different development frameworks and some other items. I still have to get Fractal Mapper 9 out first, which is taking longer than I hoped.

  • ArundelArundel

    Good to know you're still working on new stuff. AS is an excellent piece of mapping software, providing amazing facilities for all kinds of SciFi projects. Is AS4 likely to include the latest Gaia data regarding stellar distances?

  • LektuLLektu
    edited December 2020

    Here's another happy user hoping for AS4 someday.

  • Ed_NBOSEd_NBOS

    Not a new full version, but I am working right now on an update to v3 that I think people will like.

  • DJRJAUDDJRJAU

    Not jogging elbows or anything :smile:, but how goes the update you mentioned a few moons back?

  • Ed_NBOSEd_NBOS
    edited April 2022

    It was the web viewer, and was released a year ago.

  • GrumpyOldFartGGrumpyOldFart

    Personally the reason I'm hoping for AS4 is Unicode support. To be able to write "Alpha" as "α".

  • Ed_NBOSEd_NBOS

    I do hope to make a new version, but have no specific timeline for that yet. Unicode support would be a definite.

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