Features

• build: Use custom built cefpython wheel for Linux and macOS platforms
• dist: Support execution from any working directory
• build: Make cosmonium builds reproductible, complete #24
• shapes: Add intermediate task to perform data and texture loading, this improve the rendering performance and remove flickering when zooming out
• build: Set prefer_discrete_gpu option to select dicrete GPU on Windows

Fixes

• engine: Fix too small width of root octree node making far objects invisible
• ui: Fix crashes with browser window, object info for stars
• ui: Add and check limits for window position to avoid menu overlapping
• shadows: Use correct body axes to calculate descale matrix
• cosmonium: Update lights also for invisible shadow casters
• shaders: Improve older OpenGL support and use by default the core profile functions, fixes #36
• pipeline: Remove any queued requests when removing a generator chain
• nav: Take into account controller absolute reference point to retrieve the surface normal for the change of altitude, fixes #37
• cosmonium: Better tracking and update of focused objects
• scene: Set a more sensible value for infinity limit of region scene manager to avoid background object to be culled out

Dependencies

• Bump numpy version to 1.26.4
• Bump cefpython3 to 66.1
• Bump ruamel.yaml to 018.6
• Bump ruamel.yaml.clib to 0.2.8

Engine

• Convert engine from magnitude-based to luminosity-based
  This allow the engine to use the full physically based rendering pipeline (PBR) and have photorealistic result.
• Add proper support for tri-axial ellipsoid shapes and surfaces
  Add precise geodetic, cartesian and parametric coordinates for any tri-axial ellipsoid, as well as precise distance to surface calculation and norm projection.
• Refactor local physics and add collision-based simple physics
  Improve the local physics code to prepare for in world real time physics for local objects (kinetic movements, forces and collisions)
• Add Octree systems
  Allow galaxies to contains their own systems and stars, and prepare for full procedural generation
• Prepare engine for non-stellar objects
  Prepare for local static or controlled objects support (e.g. starbase, colonies, arbitrary geological artefacts, ...)
• Clean up controllers and movers
  Allow any object to be controlled by script, physics, collisions or user
• Use async tasks tree for data generation and loading
  Mixed data sources, static textures, procedural heightmap, local detail map, etc can be combined to provide the data for a surface or any object.

Rendering

• Add multilights support and rework lighting shader components
  Allow multi star illumination and prepare for indirect illumination
• Add local lights support
  Support point-like, spot and directional local lights, either from configuration or from model.
• Improve PBR pipeline
  Add configuration of pipeline parameters (Bloom, adaptive exposure, etc), improve window management, soft threshold for bloom luminance
• Add smooth lines shader
  Improve orbit rendering even without MSAA
• Fix invalid world normal calculation and precision loss in shaders
  Remove most normal artifacts from close surface rendering
• Use radiance for scattering calculations
  Make scattering working with PBR pipeline
• Switch lighting model to eye reference frame
  Allow more complex lighting model to be integrated in rendering pipeline

UI

• Add skin and theme support (WIP)
  Allow to configure the color, size, font,... of any UI element
• Prepare custom UI support (WIP)
  Allow custom UI appearance, custom keyboard shortcuts, custom menu, etc.. Move UI specific po files into UI config
• Add dock widget
  Dock widgets contain a collection of interactive or informative elements, like buttons, text, graph,...

Dependencies

• Drop support of Panda3D 1.10.x
• Drop support of Python 3.7
• Bump panda3d-gltf to 1.2.0

Fixes

See commit list :)

Development build for the upcoming V0.3.0 version

Critical bugfix release for Windows 10 20H2

This release includes a workaround for a fatal bug in the Windows Runtime impacting Numpy (see #21 and https://tinyurl.com/y3dm3h86)

Features

• Italian translation
• Improve editor layout
• Add overlap support for heightmap and textures
• Make heightmap scale and offset more user friendly
• Separate data interpolator and filter configurations
• Add navigation controller
• Support configuration of the home system and start body in the config file
• Add track body camera controller
• Make the ship rotation more reactive
• Rework camera controller API
• Add basic support for texture reference
• Allow override of body scale in the surface description
• Add more advanced options in the preference panel
• Separate orientation and position interpolation in autopilot
• Add basic plugin support
• Add galaxy and atmosphere in cel render flags
• Add position and anchor in cel print command
• Add setsurface cel command
• Add options in set cel command to change the ship, navigation controller or camera mode
• Add support of UTC date in cel time command

Bugfixes

• Fix crash of editor and preference panels
• Fix bad performance due to runaway task
• Fix shadows of single planets and nested systems
• Clean up frame configuration
• Keep untranslated names for scripts
• Timed cel commands should not run when other commands are active
• Fix orbit cel command
• Load cel scripts as UTF-8 by default
• Correctly copy and update named orbits and rotations
• Fix disappearing ring shadows when switching surfaces
• Fix disappearing sphere self shadows when switching surfaces
• Use distance to surface iso distance to centre when searching for nearest body
• Use lonlat reference frame when moving on the surface

This new version of Cosmonium contains many new features and lots of critical bugfixes:

Rendering :

• PBR rendering
• Basic ship and cockpit support
• New camera mode : follow and look-around
• Improve shadows rendering (Snap camera, PCF kernel, adaptive bias)
• O'Neil scattering with lookup table and add basic extinction support
• Volumetric and SDF raymarching engines
• glTF model support
• Support texture based heightmap
• Shadow for non-spherical bodies
• Emissive texture support
• Stereoscopic rendering support (Side by side, Red-Cyan, ...)

Engine and UI :

• Core function rewritten in C
• Improved UI with Preferences panel, Set time dialog, body editor, file selector, ....
• Integrated Chromium browser
• New noise functions
• Improved galaxy rendering
• Parabolic and hyperbolic orbits support
• Point object picking
• Python plugin support
• Internationalization support and French translation
• Increase supported CEL commands

Astronomy :

• Analytical and semi-analytical orbits : VSOP87, ELP2000-82, Dourneau GUST86, HTC20, RCKIN, WGCCRE 2015
• Improve effective temperature calculation
• Sersic profile parameter for galaxies
• Star catalogue redone using SIMBAD
• basic atmospheres to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn
• Interstellar bodies
• Missing irregular moons

See the See the changelog for the complete list.

This new version of Cosmonium contains many a few new features and lots of bugfixes:

• Analytic shadows
• Full menubar
• Proper seam and crack removal algorithm for procedural planets
• New noise functions
• Improved performances
• Fixed many procedural planet bugs
• Better OpenGL capabilities detection
• cel:// url support
• ...

See the changelog for the complete list.