Re: [Plib-devel] TerraPage

[Durk T. <d.t...@ch...>]

Steve Baker wrote:

> >
> > The internal code, calculating the celestial mechanics is currently still
> > pretty much intermixed in FlightGear. I am currently working on a new
> > approach, which should eventually result in a small library consisting of
> > time and celestial functions, usable as a stand alone lib.
>
> This would truly be a great thing to have.  So many OpenSource 3D
> projects (mine included) simply clear the screen to 0,255,255, and
> having a simple (couple of line) API to put up nice skies would be
> a WONDERFUL addition.
>

Thanks. I'd like to stress, however, that since I'm devoting an extremely limited
amount of time on programming and open source projects this year, it might
actually take another few months before there's something useful. (Even though
the design isn't that complicated).

>
> Perhaps at first, we don't need the fancy time and celestial functions.
> A simple four way MORNING/NOON/SUNSET/NIGHT option hardwired at (say)
> 45 degrees latitude would be plenty for 90% of applications.  You could
> add in the fancy celestial stuff later.

Hmm, yes, but I'm sure that with FlightGear, we wouldn't really like to go back
to a more basic setup, so with the usability for FlightGear in mind, I'd like to
capture the entire funtionality we currrently have. It might be a good idea to
add a few wrapper classes that allow an easy setup of a sky and star dome.

Functionality more complex than what is currently found in FlightGear, such as
needed for spaceflight simulations, is currently beyond my own design goals. At
the moment, I'd lacking both time and knowledge to do this. For the latter, I'm
convinced that a separate set of functions would be the best way to go.

Regards,
Durk