Project The Upsilon Andromedae system

[donatelo200]

The Upsilon Andromedae system is a binary 44 light years away in the constelation Andromedae. It hase three known planets Ups And b, c ,d in that order. Ups And b is 1.4x the mass of Jupiter. Ups And c is 13.98 Jupiter masses, and finaly Ups And d is 10.25x the mass of Jupiter. D is at the outer edge of the star's habitibal zone. The main star is an F8V class star and is 1.28x the mass of the sun and is 1.48x larger. It's companian orbits 750 Au away and is an M4.5V with the mass of 0.19 of the sun. I can't find data on it's radius so help wanted. Fictional planet and moon sugjestions are wanted.


Ups And b and it's otherwordly stare.


Ups And c the sudarsky class III Super jovian or brown dwarf.


Ups And d the sudarsky class II super jovian.


Ups And 2 don't know what to call this steller companian.

---------- Post added 07-02-10 at 09:54 AM ---------- Previous post was 07-01-10 at 10:21 PM ----------

New cloud Texture for Ups And d.


Slight overkill on it's hurricain.

---------- Post added at 08:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 AM ----------

The new moon Ups And b I.


This moon has life but it's mostly in the oceans. Only a few insect like animals and plants live on the ocean shors. The climate is similar to that of Alaska. This is best you can hope for in this system as it's only 3.3 billion years old.

 

[donatelo200]

Screenshots of the system are Here.

 

[donatelo200]

Ring Textures

I'm trying to build ring textures for Ups And d. I know how to put rings on a planet but can't build a custom texture. If anyone knows how, please tell me.:sos:

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:15 PM ----------

I've got some crude ring textures but i need to edit the resolution more to get a smoother texture. Can't use Pltex because it won't take the
resolution i need.



This is crude ring texture i managed with Pltex (click to enlarge)

 

[orb]

I'm trying to build ring textures for Ups And d. I know how to put rings on a planet but can't build a custom texture. If anyone knows how, please tell me.:sos:

Basically, you need to create 3 textures, for 3 levels of detail for the ring, with different spans of the ring for each level (an 8 segments, 12, and 16 segments: 8 + res * 4, where res is level - 1).

If you know C++, you can use this part of graphics client's code to calculate span of the arc of a ring you want to create for those 3 texture levels. Mesh, and UV map of the ring is created by calling "CreateRing (irad, orad, 8+res*4);", so all you need to get from that file is "D3D7Mesh *RingManager::CreateRing (double irad, double orad, int nsect);" method.

After you create those 3 texture levels, you need to save them as 3 DDS files, and merge them to <planet>_ring.tex file, not by using pltex, which would only get one texture for 3 levels, but for example by command:

copy /b level1.dds + level2.dds + level3.dds planet_ring.tex

If you can't read C++, I can give you more details about creating ring textures, when I come back home in the evening (somewhere before the launch of Proton/EchoStar 15).

 

[donatelo200]

I couldn't read the C++ and trying to split an image into three is rediculusly hard and don't have any more time today till about 9:00. I'm going to a party.

---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 AM ----------

Ok I made 3 different level DDS files and now I can't merge them. Also i'm only 10% shure what i did so far is correct.

 

[orb]

Ok I made 3 different level DDS files and now I can't merge them. Also i'm only 10% shure what i did so far is correct.

Have you used the command I posted earlier (with changed appropriately file names)?


You simply need 3 distinct textures, and that's why you create them. Well, you can really create only one texture covering a bit more than 45 degrees of the ring, and then cut it and stretch respectively for each texture level.

I'll think about making a more comprehensive tutorial for creating textures tomorrow, but for now, a bit of introduction.

To create a ring textures you use 3 parameters:

1. Inner radius
2. Outer radius
3. Texture level / number of segments

Number of segments is dependent on texture level, and it can be 8 for texture level 1, 12 for texture level 2, and 16 for texture level 3. It's calculated from the formula (8+res*4), or after changing "res" to texture level, from (4+level*4).

This means that level 1 texture needs to cover 45 degrees of the ring, level 2 needs 30 degrees, and level 3 ring texture needs 22.5 degrees. Hence the need for 3 different textures for each texture level. But that's not all. There are also UV coordinates on the textures, you need to take into account, that also depend on inner and outer radius of the ring.

If you change either inner or outer radius (proportions), you need to create another textures. If proportions are different than those for Saturn the arcs in the textures you need to use will be different.


Here's a visually presented reason, why you don't want to create only one ring texture, that will be converted by pltex to .tex file, but distinct textures for each texture level, that you need to merge to .tex file manually:

Saturn as example|The same base texture|Distinct texture for each level|Ring level mask|Used region of texture (green)

Level 3 (16 segments)|

|

|

|

Level 2 (12 segments)|

|

|

|

Level 1 (8 segments)|

|

|

|

(Note that stock level 1 of Saturn's ring textures isn't ideally round.)

Notice, that numbers on textures are stretched, because I didn't rescale these textures, so their areas used for ring would match 22.5 degrees, 30 degrees, and 45 degrees, before adding numbers to them, but used standard texture sizes (i.e. 64x64, 128x128, 256x256). The used area of texture (UV map coordinates) was calculated from formulas contained in the code, that I posted a link to it earlier (I'll convert them to LaTeX/mathematical form in some other time - e.g. in planetary ring texture creating tutorial).

That's because of a different proportions of UV map of texture and different proportions of mesh. If you want a texture that will create almost ideal disc of ring, you need to draw a segment of ring, and then rescale it to power of 2 sized texture (level 1 uses 64x64, level 2 - 128x128, level 3 - 256x256 pixels, but you can create other sizes, but they need to have either side length in pixels equal to power of 2).

I'll post more about creating ring textures, or even create a tutorial thread, when I complete all what I need for it.

 

[donatelo200]

Here are the paramiters i have for the rings so far.
; === Ring Parameters ===
RingMinRadius = 1.478 ; inner ring radius in units of planet radius
RingMaxRadius = 2.765 ; outer ring radius

And the 3 DDS files below. Also how do i merge them manualy.

 

[orb]

Also how do i merge them manualy.

You need to open a command prompt (Run: "cmd"), and in the directory where those files are (cd "path to folder where those files are contained"), you need to execute a command similar to what I posted earlier:

copy /b level1.dds + level2.dds + level3.dds Ups_And_d_ring.tex

Where "Ups_And_d" is name of planet, or replace it by whatever else the planet name is used internally by Orbiter.

But those textures you attached are wrong. They can't be drawn straight, but they need to draw a curve, like in examples I posted above ("Used region of texture (green)" column). The curve of the arc will be different though, because proportions of RingMaxRadius to RingMinRadius are different than for Saturn.

I think you'll need to wait for my tutorial. :goodnight:

 

[donatelo200]

The curve of the arc will be different though, because proportions of RingMaxRadius to RingMinRadius are different than for Saturn.

Yes i know i need to curve them but i can't seem to find a tool in Adobe photoshop to curve them while in BMP form.

---------- Post added 07-11-10 at 01:37 PM ---------- Previous post was 07-10-10 at 10:03 PM ----------

Two of the more interesting moons i've created in a while.



This icy moon may look unimportant but, it's a captured moon and orbits retrograde like Triton. It's Ups And d III.



This is a martian world that is around 45% of Earths mass. It's Ups And d IV.

Also Ups And d will have rings in the finall release just having problems curving the texture to make it smooth instead of blocky as they are now.

 

[RisingFury]

This moon has life but it's mostly in the oceans. Only a few insect like animals and plants live on the ocean shors. The climate is similar to that of Alaska. This is best you can hope for in this system as it's only 3.3 billion years old.

3.3 billion years is an old system, not young. It's fully capable of supporting both multicellular as well as even more complex organisms.

Oh and... just because life on Earth might have problems in Alaska or deserts, doesn't mean differently involved life on other planets might. Who knows, they might not be water based, but something else...

If you have flying insects and large scale plant life, it's fully possible that other life exists. I mean, think about it... if insects are unopposed, what's the driver that makes them evolve into what they are? You always need pray and predator and both are constantly evolving...

 

[T.Neo]

3.3 billion years is an old system, not young. It's fully capable of supporting both multicellular as well as even more complex organisms.

Depends on what the history of the planet is. Earth still took 4 billion years for the evolution of predominant complex life...

Oh and... just because life on Earth might have problems in Alaska or deserts, doesn't mean differently involved life on other planets might. Who knows, they might not be water based, but something else...

They might survive just fine in Alaskan temperatures even with considerably terrestrial biochemistry- organisms in Alaska and even harsher polar regions do just fine. Antarctica has a very rich marine ecology for example, and Alaska is nothing but desolate (in some places at least).

My problem with such a world is that it's albedo might be too low, tilting it into a steady globally iced climate a la Snowball Earth.

If you have flying insects and large scale plant life, it's fully possible that other life exists. I mean, think about it... if insects are unopposed, what's the driver that makes them evolve into what they are? You always need pray and predator and both are constantly evolving...

They probably wouldn't be insects at all, rather some organism vaguely analogous in form. They could have a totally different role in the ecosystem than what insects do here on Earth. And if they did have differences from terran insects (more efficient respiritory system, different method of exoskeletal growth) it would play a major part in their evolution.

Prehistoric beasties such as Meganeura, Arthropleura or sea scorpions come to mind...

 

[RisingFury]

They probably wouldn't be insects at all, rather some organism vaguely analogous in form. They could have a totally different role in the ecosystem than what insects do here on Earth. And if they did have differences from terran insects (more efficient respiritory system, different method of exoskeletal growth) it would play a major part in their evolution.

Well, whatever... insect like creatures can be considered complex. Even today's single celled organisms are pretty complex. The early cells were a whole lot simpler.

 

[donatelo200]

Well i have the era the planet at is similar to the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silurian"]Silurian[/ame] era. Where life is JUST STARTING to get on land. The life though is perfectly adapted to the cold. In the oceans there are fish LIKE creatures and many different types of inverdabrets.

---------- Post added 07-12-10 at 11:44 AM ---------- Previous post was 07-11-10 at 10:18 PM ----------

All the icy moons of Ups And d are complete. Now starting on the hellish moons of Ups And c.

---------- Post added at 08:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:44 AM ----------

Here is the first moon orbiting Ups And c.



Looks calm and inactive right?



Well it's just slightly active. Just slightly.

---------- Post added 07-13-10 at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was 07-12-10 at 08:03 PM ----------

A new moon Ups And c II. Click images to enlarge.



Ups And c II with cloud deck.



Ups And c II without cloud deck.



Ups And c II at night.

 

[donatelo200]

I need help with the ring texture. I need to curve it to about 22 degrees. The texture is in BMP form below. If someone culd curve it for me or tell me how to curve it that would be a big help.

 

[jedidia]

say, why don't you just take the rings of Saturn or Uranus and re-colour them a bit?

 

[orb]

I need help with the ring texture. I need to curve it to about 22 degrees. The texture is in BMP form below. If someone culd curve it for me or tell me how to curve it that would be a big help.

I can do it when I'm at home. Maybe with this I'll make the tutorial, or finish a Script-fu plug-in for GIMP, that makes the ring textures for Orbiter automatically from given inner and outer radius parameters.

Is it the one, that uses:

; === Ring Parameters ===
RingMinRadius = 1.478 ; inner ring radius in units of planet radius
RingMaxRadius = 2.765 ; outer ring radius

?

say, why don't you just take the rings of Saturn or Uranus and re-colour them a bit?

Because Saturn uses different RingMaxRadius/RingMinRadius ratio than the one for this planet, so that new ring won't be round. It needs a bit different curve.

 

[donatelo200]

Actually i wanted a diffirent pattern for the rings. I got bored with saturns and Uranus's ring textures.

 

[RisingFury]

I need help with the ring texture. I need to curve it to about 22 degrees. The texture is in BMP form below. If someone culd curve it for me or tell me how to curve it that would be a big help.

Turn it into a Photoshop pattern then use the ring gradient thingy...

 

[donatelo200]

Can't convert to the write photoshop thingy and no ring gradiant tool. I have photoshop 3 if that makes any diffirence.

 

[orb]

OK. I created for you the ring from the bmp file you posted for:
RingMinRadius = 1.478
RingMaxRadius = 2.765

Textures are in attached files.

I created them with testing version of the Script-Fu plug-in for GIMP I'm writing, so they might not yet be ideal, but they are round when you use above ring parameters. I think I need to use supersampling, so the plug-in could cut textures from the ring it created by a fraction of a pixel (i.e. fraction after rescaling back to original), but I'll think about it later. I'll finish that GIMP plug-in by the weekend.

The BMP hadn't got alpha channel, so I assumed that you wanted black regions transparent, but I also attached 3 PNG files where I left the black background. These PNG files are all 256x256 px large, so you need to rescale "level1.png" and "level2.png" after you edit them eventually, and before you convert them to DDS and merge to _ring.tex file.

The "planet_ring_tex.zip" file contains "planet_ring.tex", that is actual texture for the ring, which you need to rename to your planet's name, and "ring_level1.dds", "ring_level2.dds", "ring_level3.dds" files, which were used to create that texture.