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[Sporemaniac777]

Hello everyone.
The other day I found out about this extremely beautiful universe simulation software. I was shocked that there was no gigantic fuss about it, because this, this is far superior to other pieces of software, like Celestia. The models and textures are incredible and it is based on actual astronomical data. Where we don't have data, it randomly generates planets, star systems and even galaxies, so the content is basically infinite! The planet and star models are realistic and extremely detailed, and you can even explore them close up! You can explore the various procedurally generated valleys, mountain ranges and oceans on the countless planets, around the countless stars in the countless galaxies. I guarantee that everyone who enjoys exploration, or is interested in space, will adore this simulation. This software is being developed by only one guy, Vladimir Romanyuk from Russia. Some screenshots:

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EDIT: These screenshots are not mine, I just took them because they look nice from various other websites.
Here's the link to the official website: http://en.spaceengine.org/
I just wanted to share this beautiful piece of software with everyone at Bay12. Have a nice day!

[Sirus]

I tried to play this once before, but the computer wasn't good enough to render any planets. I'll have to try again with the new rig

Might want to include a link in the OP.

[Sporemaniac777]

I've added a link. The game is still in beta, so the crashes should be expected. The game is very memory heavy, so it might not run well on older computers.... LIKE MINE. It takes ages to render a planet for me...

[Sporemaniac777]

Try the torrent download. Much faster than the mirrors. It also gives their servers a break. If you don't have a torrent program installed, try uTorrent.

[Lightning4]

I like that it's kind of a blend of Noctis and Celestia. It's quite fun to play around with.

[JWNoctis]

And I wondered how long I would have to wait before seeing a thread here.

Nice simulation with unrivalled scale, and fairly stable.

[alexandertnt]

Its... so... shiny...

It performs quite well for me. It also crashed while exploring an asteroid...

[Silfurdreki]

And I wondered how long I would have to wait before seeing a thread here.

Depends, when did you start waiting? We had a thread on this 1½ years ago

And yes, it's quite a nifty piece of engine. It's certainly stunningly beautiful at times. I'll have to check out the improvements tomorrow. Sleep now.

[JWNoctis]

Wasn't active at that time.

However AFAIK a new version is about to come out with comets, aurora, evaporating planet, and more. Now that's sweet.

[Pyre]

This game makes me sad and happy. Sad because I can only play it for 15 or so minutes before it crashes, but those 15 minutes are filled with views like this:

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[JWNoctis]

Oh, and the odd bugs where it looks as if I've broken the matrix. That sucks. Random lines ERREYWHERE!

From my personal experience, this simulation hates integrated GPUs and ones that doesn't have complete and advanced OpenGL support. Even the best and latest ones including those on the latest mid-to-high-end CPUs.

[Xantalos]

I love this thing. Unfortunately, running it on a laptop doesn't do wonders for the graphics.

[Baijiu]

It makes ME sad because I know I'll probably never see views like that.

Unless we get an Alcubierre drive.

Oh, and the odd bugs where it looks as if I've broken the matrix. That sucks. Random lines ERREYWHERE!

Alcubierre drives are not conducent to proper space exploration for this reason. Kinda hard to explore a system if you destroy it when you get there.

[RedKing]

It makes ME sad because I know I'll probably never see views like that.

Unless we get an Alcubierre drive.

Oh, and the odd bugs where it looks as if I've broken the matrix. That sucks. Random lines ERREYWHERE!

Alcubierre drives are not conducent to proper space exploration for this reason. Kinda hard to explore a system if you destroy it when you get there.

I think jury is still out on that one. I see what they're getting at, but we'd have to figure out exactly how many energetic particles you're likely to scoop up per LY traveled. Might be that you can't do long jumps (at least not into inhabited systems), but short ones might not be that bad.

That would make for an interesting dynamic in an FTL scenario -- long-range jumps are possible but release a big blast of gamma rays at the terminus, so you have "clusters" of inhabited systems close around uninhabited "highway" systems.

[Sirus]

Would still be infinitely more effective than good-old sub-light speeds.