Hey everyone!

It's been a little while again, hasn't it? Well, the simulator is back in development, and it's progressing rapidly!

The second module of my master's is now fully underway and once again serving as a source of motivation for me to keep working on this project. In just the past few days, I've finalized the first iteration of the spaceship and squashed multiple bugs, all of which will be merged into version 1.2.0.

If you're interested in keeping a closer eye on what issues are being fixed and when, take a peek at the issue tracker for v1.2.0!

So where are things at now? What's new?

Since the last newsletter, I've fully developed the first version of the spaceship and the systems that it needs. There were lots of minor refactors that had to be put in place for the systems to merge cohesively. This involved tasks such as creating a new system to track any non-planetary bodies in the system, aptly named "satellites." For now, this only encapsulates the spaceship, but I've tried to keep future-proofing in mind for when we add in asteroids, other space debris, and even other controllable entities.

Look at it this way, if you wanted a magic flying asteroid to crash into the sun, the systems are now in place for that!

On top of that, the UI for the ship, including a few extras like the velocity vector indicator, is now in too! Take a look at it in action below. This is a great little piece of UI that translates the direction of movement a little better and is more in line with the final UI design language I'm aiming for. When we fix the background and parallax it, it should also aid in that regard too.

Besides work on the ship and its systems, I've been hard at work fixing a few of the bugs, or, at least trying to start that process for some of the trickier ones. So far, I've managed to fix one of the core editing tools that allows you to move objects in the scene and FINALLY added in simulation pause upon movement. Sometimes in development, the simplest things can prove to be quite the challenge! For this, it was a tough one because we need to keep the timescale of the simulation running for raycasts and other smaller parts of the physics system, so I had to come up with a suitable workaround - instead of touching the timescale, we instead store the velocities of every object in the scene and reapply them as well as switching them to and from kinematic behind the scenes.

Is there a timescale for 1.2.0?

Realistically, not really. As this is currently a passion project for my portfolio (albeit one I'm very passionate about), I don't currently have a set timescale. BUT that being said I have decided to once again use this project for my masters, so we do have a deadline. As the content of the module is to produce an artifact, I'm not sure if I want 1.2.0 to be that result or if I would prefer to have one of the major features be the thing that I hand in. All of that is to say, I still need to decide! I'm currently in talks with my lecturers for this module to get their opinions and see what they would recommend.

Besides that, I have a rough timescale in my head of I would at least like to get v1.2.0 in the next couple of months REGARDLESS of my course or other commitments. At its current pace, I'm ahead of schedule for this release target, but I'll be sure to include a section on this in each of the newsletters coming up (although maybe not to this much effort :P).

What's coming after 1.2.0?

I don't have any solidified plans for after 1.2.0, but I have some very loose ideas that I'm toying with and playing with in the back of my head. These include things like dynamic destruction when collisions happen (imagine a chunk of a planet flaking off upon an asteroid hitting it) and other fun features like those.

Many of these far-out ideas will require extensive work and testing to implement in nice ways, some of which might necessitate drastic restructures of the existing systems, but that's a problem for future me.

Okay, enough talk of the future. What else is new?

Well, there are many other small things in the works. Currently, I'm hoping to tidy up some of the UI and implement a nice settings menu that will be accessible via the main menu or the pause menu. There's also lots of stuff on Trello to keep an eye on like the planned universe scale-up and as well as various scenario improvements like a better universe backdrop. Basically, keep an eye on the Trello board!

And lastly, what's the biggest blocker at the minute?

Throughout this project, I've aimed to maintain clean and concise programming structures, but at times, this goal has proven more challenging. While most hacky fixes could likely get the simulation running, I'm committed to avoiding a solution held together with glue and strings. Thus, getting one of the core features in place and working correctly has emerged as the biggest blocker for me. Currently, I've moved it into the rewrite section on the Trello board after investing the majority of two days with very little progress to show for it. That feature being the Orbit Display.

I know that I'd love to get the live orbit feature working; it would truly bring the project together and allow users to visualize the effects on the systems and orbital bodies as they manipulate them. However, at present, the entire endeavor is a headscratcher for me. I'm exploring options to find additional support to help me solve the issues with it, but everyone seems to be as busy as I am!

There's many options that I'm exploring to help me with this blocker and a few of the other more minor ones. But for now, that's the end of this newsletter & devlog!

Catch you in the next one!

- Matt