A lot of code has been rewritten for this update, and this beta version may still be buggy.
Comets
Small icy bodies with highly eccentric orbits. As comets approach the sun, they brighten rapidly and tails start to form. Some comets even exceed Venus in brightness.
Spyglass Zoom
You can now zoom in further, by scrolling with the mouse wheel. This causes issues when Spyglass Improvements is installed, you can disable Astrocraft's zoom in the config.
Star Rendering Rewrite
Star Rendering is now 20x faster, and you can set the Magnitude Limit config option up to magnitude 11 (previously only 6).
Planet Configuration
Semi-Major-Axis and Eccentricity options in the planets' orbit config, have been replaced with Perihelion and Aphelion Radii, which should be more intuitive. If you have the semi-major-axis and eccentricity of an orbit, you can convert using the following:
- q = a * (1 - e)
- Q = a * (1 + e)
Highly eccentric or inclined orbits are no longer broken.
The Absolute Magnitude option is now Diameter. Magnitude is calculate from the configured Diameter and Color (albedo).
Custom Star Configuration
Custom stars can now be binary systems with exoplanets. Which you can "observe" from, using the Observing Location option. You can also set a star's color to a temperature (K) or spectral class.
Live Mode
Live Mode uses real-life time and planetary positions, though it may not be accurate for things like eclipses. Timezones / Globe Mode is now working again.
Sun and Moon Compatibility
The sun and moon is rendered using vanilla textures, which means many resource packs and mods changing those textures now work again. This includes: Cubic Sun & Moon, and Enchanced Celestials.
A lot of code has been rewritten in this update, and this beta version may still be buggy.
Comets
Small icy bodies with highly eccentric orbits. As comets approach the sun, they brighten rapidly and tails start to form. Some comets even exceed Venus in brightness.
Spyglass Zoom
You can now zoom in further, by scrolling with the mouse wheel. This causes issues when Spyglass Improvements is installed, you can disable Astrocraft's zoom in the config.
Star Rendering Rewrite
Star Rendering is now 20x faster, and you can set the Magnitude Limit config option up to magnitude 11 (previously only 6).
Planet Configuration
Semi-Major-Axis and Eccentricity options in the planets' orbit config, have been replaced with Perihelion and Aphelion Radii, which should be more intuitive. If you have the semi-major-axis and eccentricity of an orbit, you can convert using the following:
- q = a * (1 - e)
- Q = a * (1 + e)
Highly eccentric or inclined orbits are no longer broken.
The Absolute Magnitude option is now Diameter. Magnitude is calculate from the configured Diameter and Color (albedo).
Custom Star Configuration
Custom stars can now be binary systems with exoplanets. Which you can "observe" from, using the Observing Location option. You can also set a star's color to a temperature (K) or spectral class.
Live Mode
Live Mode uses real-life time and planetary positions, though it may not be accurate for things like eclipses. Timezones / Globe Mode is now working again.
Sun and Moon Compatibility
The sun and moon is rendered using vanilla textures, which means many resource packs and mods changing those textures now work again. This includes: Cubic Sun & Moon, and Enchanced Celestials.
- Big Planets option now scales planets differently and also adjusts their moons orbits.
- Planet positions update every 10 seconds rather than every 50.
- Added Star Color slider replacing the Star Color toggle option.
- Added Star Opacity slider.
- Added Daytime Stars toggle option, which makes stars visible during daytime.
- Added option to change the height "space" begins.
Sun and Moon Changes
- Replaced "Big Sun / Moon" toggle option with a scale slider.
- Sun / Moon are now smaller by default.
- Legacy Moon Mode has an option to keep the moon in a fixed position opposite the sun.
- Made the new moon slightly less visible.
Spyglass Changes
- The number of stars rendered when using a spyglass now changes depending on multiple factors, such as:
- Y position, you can see more stars when higher up
- Pitch, less stars are rendered when pointing the spyglass near the horizon, and more near zenith.
- Reduced spyglass lag, especially when not pointed at the sky.
- Spyglass culling is compatible with different zoom levels, like with the mod Spyglass Improvements.
Meteor Changes
- Shooting stars are longer.
- The radiants of meteor showers move over time.
- Fixed the geminids spawning an excessive amount of meteors.
- Added a few small meteor showers.