Galaxy Sandbox

Universe Sandbox

Haustier 30 Apr 2011 19:27

Recently Steam released a quite fun program/game. It's called Universe Sandbox, and can be found here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/72200/

I bought it mostly because it was cheap. I didnt really think i would have any fun with it, but i actually did! But now i want to ask you guys a question.
In the Steam "About this Game" i find this line:

Inspired by the software astronomers use to unlock the mysteries of our universe

I really wanna know how reliable that line is? Is any of you guys familiar with the program/game, and can tell me this?

Also the program has a simulation of Apophis! Gotta admit, it's hard to get that comet to hit earth!

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- “I fear one day I'll meet God, he'll sneeze and I won't know what to say.”

Last edited on 30 Apr 2011 19:31 by Haustier Show more

Re: Galaxy Sandbox

3WMElliott 30 Apr 2011 19:41

Inspired in the same way the iPad was inspired by Star Trek? Or even automatically opening doors for that matter.

The users of Steam generally don't have supercomputers or server farms to crank out the detailed models of merging galaxies or particle accelerator collisions, so yes, I guess in that sense this is an inspired, fancy looking version of what a lot of money, resources and training would give elsewhere, sounds about right. I mean who among us even needs the details of merging galaxies, we just want to smash stuff together right?

So it's perhaps an even friendlier, fancy version of the likes of Celestia or Astrograv or something (obaeyens seems to be the go-to guy for Astrograv round here, see what he thinks). £6 compared with closer to £60 for Astrograv might sway some people though, if this Steam offering is any good.

Good find methinks, even if all it does is get people interested in astronomy in the first place, who in turn work with the next generation of tools, which in turn inspire the next generation of people… you see where it's going there.

Re: Universe Sandbox

Tomy2011 30 Apr 2011 19:50

Inspired by the software astronomers use to unlock the mysteries of our universe, never before has astronomy been so interactive or so much fun.

I really wanna know how reliable that line is? Is any of you guys familiar with the program/game, and can tell me this?

What's wrong with it? This line is just a way to get more players to buy this game, I think.

Re: Universe Sandbox

TheGreatJuju 30 Apr 2011 20:04

I played the trial of this a while back, and it was very cool. I see it's only $8.99 on Steam, so that's pretty much an instant buy for me.

I'm not sure what that selling point is supposed to mean, unless it's just a general reference to professional astronomy software.

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"They tell you, but do you believe it? If so, why?"

http://www.undeadrufus.com

Re: Universe Sandbox

TheGreatJuju 30 Apr 2011 23:06

So I just downloaded this on Steam and gave it a whirl. Easily worth the $8.99.

Maybe equal parts funny and sad, I visited the developer's message board in search of add-ons and what have you, and I found hit-and-run doomsayers and scared users alike posting nonsense about Nibiru, 2012, two suns, etc. Sigh.

---

"They tell you, but do you believe it? If so, why?"

http://www.undeadrufus.com

Re: Galaxy Sandbox

Haustier 01 May 2011 14:22

Nothing wrong with writing that sentence, but what i'd like to know is if anyone know how precise the program is?
It's sooo easy to detroy the solar system in so many ways, but i have a really hard time getting apophis to hit earth, lol!

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- “I fear one day I'll meet God, he'll sneeze and I won't know what to say.”

Re: Galaxy Sandbox

TheGreatJuju 01 May 2011 14:38

According to the developer, the program is a very accurate model of Newtonian physics, providing your time interval is low enough for it to calculate a sufficient number of points. The more you speed up time, the less accurate the model becomes. It does not take relativity into account.

---

"They tell you, but do you believe it? If so, why?"

http://www.undeadrufus.com

Mememe (guest) 01 May 2011 17:20

Ah Thats cool to know :) sad that people has to fill their forums with such crap tho :/

Mememe (guest) 01 May 2011 17:23

Haustier's post above my stupid phone wont log me into wikidots for some reason..

Re: Galaxy Sandbox

obaeyens 03 Aug 2011 20:00

I have been playing with this Universe Sandbox and I love it.
Great graphics.

However, when I check with AstroGrave and Celestia, I noticed that the accuracy is not that great The positions of the planets tend to shift compared to reality which means that the floating point calculations is not very accurate So I guess they traded speed and nice graphics for accuracy. But nevertheless, it gives a sense of distances in the universe and also some sense of how hard it is for an object the actually hit earth