Universe Sandbox
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Milky Way & Andromeda galaxies colliding in 4.5 billion years – A Universe Sandbox screenshot | |
| Developer(s) | Dan Dixon, Christian Herold, Georg Steinröhder, Thomas Grønneløv, Eric Hilton, Naomi Goldenson, Chad Jenkins |
|---|---|
| Initial release | May 2008 |
| Stable release | 2.2 / October 1, 2012 |
| Operating system | Windows |
| Platform | PC |
| Type | Educational software |
| License | Proprietary commercial software |
| Website |
universesandbox |
Universe Sandbox is an interactive space and gravity simulator. Using Universe Sandbox, one can see the effects of gravity on objects in the universe and run scale simulations of our Solar System, various galaxies or other simulations, while at the same time interacting and maintaining control over gravity, time, and other objects in the universe (moons, planets, asteroids, comets, black holes, etc.) The original Universe Sandbox is only available for Windows-based PCs, but the new version Universe Sandbox ² will launch on Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux.
Universe Sandbox was designed and developed by Dan Dixon, who worked on this educational project for over fifteen years before launching version 1.0 in May 2008.[1] Universe Sandbox version 2.0 was released on May 2, 2010. Version 2.1 was released on Steam on Friday April 29, 2011.
Dan worked full-time on the project since 2010, and in 2011, he founded the company Giant Army (named after the metaphor of standing on the shoulders of giants). Since then he has hired six additional developers; first Christian Herold and Georg Steinröhder in 2011, then Thomas Grønneløv and Eric Hilton in 2012. Naomi Goldenson joined in 2013 and Chad Jenkins in 2014.[2][3] Christian works on the architecture and user interface, Georg works on the graphics, Thomas works on implementing physics and mathematics libraries and Eric, who is an astronomer, works on ensuring that the simulated universe is plausible. Naomi implements climate modeling and Chad tackles planetary material composition.
Features
Key features of Universe Sandbox as of version 2.0:
- Interactive n-body gravity simulator
- Simple tutorial introduction
- Several step-by-step activities included
- All physical quantities are measured in real units: kilograms, meters, seconds, etc.
- User control of the speed of time, gravity and other factors
- Simulation files are editable
- 3D Mode for use with red & cyan 3D glasses (anaglyph stereoscopic)
- Support for 3D DLP HD televisions[4]
- Multiple color modes to help visualize and differentiate speeds and accelerations
- Two collision modes, Bounce and Combine
- Scaled ring systems of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, and generate rings around bodies
- Particle grids can be used to create 2D computer graphics or 3D computer graphics particle grids, which warps/distort the grids and causes gravitational effects by adding in moving planets or other objects (not in version 2)
- "Line-up/chart" mode option shows a visual size comparison of the stars and planets
- Includes the full sky panoramic view of the Milky Way from Axel Mellinger's photography of the Milky Way
- Can capture high resolution screen shots
Limitations
A few limitations of Universe Sandbox prior to Universe Sandbox ² in which they have all been addressed:
- The bounce collision mode is unrealistic (but this can be turned off).
- When large bodies collide there is so much energy and heat that the bodies would melt together, but this doesn't happen.
- Ring positions relative to planets and moons are approximated.
- Planet axis orientation relative to the solar plane is approximated and often inaccurate.
- Galaxy simulations do not consider dark matter or account for the galaxy rotation problem.
- The simulation does not support dynamic change of mass, in the stars planets and comets. (It does support static change of mass)
Simulations
Many simulations are included with Universe Sandbox, both realistic and fictional simulations:
- Our Solar System which includes the 8 planets, 5 minor planets, 160+ moons, and hundreds of asteroids
- The Andromeda & Milky Way galaxy collision which will occur in 3.8 or 4.5 billion years
- The 100 largest bodies in our Solar System
- The nearest 1000 stars to our Sun
- The nearest 70 Galaxies to the Milky Way
- A visual size comparison of the largest known stars and planets
- The Apophis asteroid passing near Earth in the year 2029
- The comet, Shoemaker Levy 9’s collision with Jupiter
- The 2008 KV42, a recently discovered trans-Neptunian object with a retrograde motion orbit
- Moons converging into a single planet
- The Rho Cancri (55 Cancri) Solar System – which is a star with 5 known planets
- The Pioneer & Voyager encounters with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, & Neptune
- Visual Lagrange points of the Earth & Moon
- Gamma Ray Burst locations
Universe Sandbox ²
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Earth and Moon collision simulated | |
| Developer(s) | Dan Dixon (leader), Christian Herold, Georg Steinröhder, Thomas Grønneløv, Eric Hilton, Naomi Goldenson, Chad Jenkins |
|---|---|
| Initial release | (under development) |
| Stable release | Alpha 12 / December 2014 |
| Operating system | Windows |
| Platform | PC |
| Type | Educational software |
| License | Proprietary commercial software |
| Website |
universesandbox |
As of 2014, the developers are working on a new version of Universe Sandbox, which is a complete rewrite. Some of the new features include atmospheres being shown on planets, dynamic and procedurally generated textures on stars and gas giants, a more realistic and graphic collision system, 3D charts in chart mode, simulation of stellar evolution, procedural detail in rings/particles, visualization of black holes, tethers to build space elevators, simulation of fluid-like objects (such as gas clouds, nebulae and protoplanetary disks, and planetary collisions) and much more.[3]
The developers demonstrated many of these features at the Unite 2012 conference (for developers using the Unity game engine).[3]
There is no planned release date for the final version of Universe Sandbox ², but in late August 2014 the public alpha version was released for purchase by the public, after having been in closed alpha testing for several months. Purchase of the alpha will give access to continuous updates as well as the final version.
Alpha releases
| Version[5] | Date[5] | New features / Notes[5] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha 1 | December 4, 2013 | ||
| Alpha 2 | December 13, 2013 | Improved ring particle collisions | |
| Alpha 3 | December 24, 2013 | ||
| Alpha 4 | January 22, 2014 | ||
| Alpha 5 | March 6, 2014 | improved stellar flares, graphing tools | |
| Alpha 6 | March 22, 2014 | ||
| Alpha 7 | June 20, 2014 | Overhauled collision system, improved climate modeling | |
| Alpha 8 | August 6, 2014 | Save and load simulations. | |
| Alpha 8.3 | August 11, 2014 | ||
| Alpha 9 | August 22, 2014 | bug fixes and minor improvements. New logo | |
| Alpha 9.1 | August 23, 2014 | ||
| Alpha 9.2 | August 24, 2014 | ||
| Alpha 10 | August 25, 2014 | Game made available for purchase | |
| Alpha 10.1 | August 28, 2014 | ||
| Alpha 11 | September 18, 2014 | Shockwaves on collisions, improved supernovas | |
| Alpha 12 | October 30, 2014 | UI improvements | |
| Alpha 13 | February 5, 2015 | Overhauled collisions, Mars climate, planetary cutaways | |
| Alpha 13.1 | February 6, 2015 | Bugfixes | |
| Alpha 14 | March 1, 2015 | ||
In the media
Universe Sandbox was used for several of the gravity simulations of galaxies colliding in a galaxy series special, "Cosmic Collisions", which first aired on January 28, 2009 on the Discovery Channel. (The second animation in this particular video was created using Universe Sandbox.[6])
See also
- List of PC titles
- List of PC exclusive titles
- Celestia
- Digital Universe
- Google Sky
- RedShift
- Starry Night
- Stellarium
- Worldwide Telescope
References
- ↑ Alex Cox (2008-10-05). "How one man created his own universe - How Dan Dixon fashioned a whole universe out of mere bytes". PC Plus, Issue 274 and techradar.com - computing news. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ↑ "we make Universe Sandbox". Giant Army. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2
- ↑ http://www.dlp.com/hdtv/dlp-features/3d-hdtv.aspx
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 http://universesandbox.com/forum/index.php/board,13.0.html
- ↑ Dan Evans (2009). "Cosmic Collisions". Discovery Channel. Retrieved 2010-01-10 – via Vimeo.