Hey All,
Anyone seen the program currently underdevelopment called Space Engine?
If you ever saw Celestia, well Space Engine is Celestia on steroids.
You have the complete Universe, to explore, including every known galaxy, and any known objects within those galaxies. Spaceflight mode with inertia, and you can pretty much go anywhere you want. Nebula are actual 3D clouds rather than simple images as in Celestia.
The whole thing is done with procedural programming, and the To Do list is impressive. See that on the forum.
It includes Planets (with topography and ability to travel underwater eventually, as well as procedural life). I think it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Check out Alpha Centauri (Toliman B) or Denebola star, some nice planets there. There are also plenty to find in other galaxies as well.
It's free to download, current vers is 0.93 and is still in development. I don't have anything to do with it, except as a user.
If you are into Astronomy, then you really have to see this ppl. It's really amazing what it can do. Be warned, it needs a good computer to really get the best of it. 3ghz n 2 Gb Ram n 1 Gb Vram is definitely recommended system. If you don't have that, you can fiddle with "main.cfg" and adjust the level of detail you see. Sounds like I'm flogging it lol.. but I'm just a user, it's just a great proggie. Don't forget to edit main.cfg and enter your screen resolution and VRam (Video Ram) and Computer Ram. It improves performance greatly. For the PC.
Here's the link:
http://en.spaceengine.org/
Neon3001