I am back on the project after having been unexpectedly pulled away for some time. I will be releasing full screensaver demos in the next few weeks, hopefully for all platforms under this thread. Please feel free to leave suggestions/comments here and bug reports in this thread.

The following is the standalone application that can be used to determine whether the demo will work on anyone's machine (currently for Windows machines). The MilkyWay@Home screensaver does not use the conventional libraries used by most BOINC screensavers, so testing is necessary to make sure things run smoothly.

The demo is computationally expensive and will not run sufficiently fast on some machines (runs a bit choppy on a Pentium I5 2.4ghz CPU). The "cube_test" application has a much faster demo that uses the same graphics engine. If either works, the final screensaver should run smoothly on the same machine. The final screensaver will have precalculated paths and images, taking care of the speed issue.

mwdemo_win.zip (v2)

cube_test_win.zip (v2)

To use the application, download it and extract it to a folder on the desktop or in another folder if you prefer. Then run either of the two executable files that are extracted. As a precaution, it may be a good idea to save any data in other applications before running the full-screen version. For those that do not have Windows XP or later, a zip utility such as 7-zip or WinZip can be used to open the file. The controls listed below are similar to those of Celestia with a few more added in.

Source for all files can be found here.


CONTROLS

ESC - Exit application
Tab : Start over
Shift-Tab : save new start-point
Alt-tab : leave application temporarily when in full-screen mode
Prtsc or Print-screen: saves a screenshot

MOVEMENT

< / > : accelerate backwards /forwards (also b and f for foreign keyboards)
F1-F9 : change acceleration (each step is 10 times faster than the previous)

Arrow : look around
Ctrl-arrow : rotate view
Shift-arrow : revolve camera around galaxy center (inverted)
Alt-arrow : accelerate up/down/left/right
Spacebar : stop motion

Backspace : focus on center of galaxy
Shift-backspace : focus on Sol

Enter : travel to center of galaxy
Shift-enter : travel to Sol (gives an Earth view of the wedge)


APPEARANCE

1 / 2 / 3 : select object 1-3 (wedge, stream, galaxy)

+ / - : increase/decrease luminosity of object
Shift- + / - : increase/decrease star blur radius
Alt- + / - : increase, decrease number of stars visible

A : toggle axes view
C : toggle camera view


Notes:

If the application runs a little choppy, then it may help to hold keys a little longer if they do not activate every time, esp 1 / 2 / 3 when choosing an object.

(Alt-minus) and (Shift-minus) will quickly increase the frame-rate since they require fewer screen-writes.

As you move away from the stars, they will combine and brighten. The brightness can be reduced manually (see above).

Update: fixed broken links

Update: added replacement keys for foreign keyboards:
p and m keys replace + / -
b and f keys replace < / >

Looks nothing else to do on the project except this fancy stuff: the servers are solid rock stable, ATI app on linux is available.

Can I ask u a question: when we can expect ATI app on linux?

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Same question when we can expect ATI app on linux?

Same question when we can expect ATI app on linux?

I'm working on an OpenCL application which will work on Linux (and where I do all the work on it) as fast as I can. The ATI OpenCL compiler is rather broken, particularly when you try to use doubles so work on it slowed down drastically. I've segfaulted it numerous times, and it's given me many nondescript failures and other wonderful things. I am slowly progressing though, so at some point in the (hopefully) near future.

Matt,

good luck man in your struggle with OpenCL:-)

very roughly - when u feel u'll be able to release app? or let's say - what do u think, will this happen before Christmas?

Cheers,
Roman

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very roughly - when u feel u'll be able to release app? or let's say - what do u think, will this happen before Christmas?

I hope to finish in less than a month, but certainly before Christmas.

good news, Matt :-) thanks a lot :-) pls keep us posted.

Me personally ready for testind @ any time, just let me know. I'm using ubuntu x64

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Thank you for the bug reports. I have made a thread here to separate them from the comments/suggestions page and will continue to move relevant posts there.

The demo may not run fast enough on some machines. It runs a bit choppy on a Pentium I5 2.4ghz CPU. The original was much faster, but the addition of color and the prioritization of appearance over speed have made the testing suite calculation intensive. The final product will have precalculated images taking care of the speed issue.

For those that have computers that do not run the first application, the following application is much faster and uses the same graphics engine. If either works, the screensaver should run smoothly on the same machine.

cube_test_win.zip



For those that had trouble with the original demo, feedback on this application would be helpful.

I will add this note to the top of the thread.

A major bug fix has been added that should allow both applications to run on machines that were previously having trouble. The application downloads have been updated in the first post.

Just a hint on the controls:

MOVEMENT
< / > : accelerate backwards /forwards

seems to apply to us-english keyboards only. I have a german keyboard,
and i need to use to "," and "." keys for acceleration.

And i am still seeking for the equivalent of "+" and "-" ....

Unfortunately there was not time to build a key-swap setup file. I can include any suggested key substitutes for your keyboard in addition to the originals. What would you like them to be?

I need to wait for the windows version.
You could insert b and f for backwards/forward and p and m for plus and minus as a temporary solution. They are the same on most keyboards.

Alexander

BTW: Could someone please kick the validator?

The apps used to repair the broken links may be a little out-of-date. I will put up the fixes for non-US keyboards in the next week or so by recompiling the new source.

The apps used to repair the broken links may be a little out-of-date. I will put up the fixes for non-US keyboards in the next week or so by recompiling the new source.

That seams to be a reply on the 6 months old message posted by Werkstatt
;) Do you live close to Alfa centauri or in an other time frame? :)

The apps used to repair the broken links may be a little out-of-date. I will put up the fixes for non-US keyboards in the next week or so by recompiling the new source.

That seams to be a reply on the 6 months old message posted by Werkstatt
;) Do you live close to Alfa centauri or in an other time frame? :)

Lol, He might be in the Beta Ursae sector dealing with Cardassians:)

I tried both of your demos and while they work, I don't get it I guess. Maybe shooting for being too complex? Suggestion would be to simplify the graphics representation down to something that will fit entirely in the window. I realize my other suggestion I posted in the wrong thread. But this one is more of the same especially after toying with the cube demo and the other one.

My thoughts are perhaps there should be an option for a way more simplified view of it that still looks cool that passerbyes would stop and want to watch. As it is they are probably not there yet. Just my thoughts. :)

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32bit Windows XP Home
AMD Opteron 180
ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard
Nvidia 450GTS GPU
4GB DDR Memory

The apps used to repair the broken links may be a little out-of-date. I will put up the fixes for non-US keyboards in the next week or so by recompiling the new source.

That seams to be a reply on the 6 months old message posted by Werkstatt
;) Do you live close to Alfa centauri or in an other time frame? :)

It was not meant as a reply to the keyboard issue. Many of the links to the demo applications were broken some time in the last few months. To answer your second question, I am on Mars time.

I tried both of your demos and while they work, I don't get it I guess. Maybe shooting for being too complex? Suggestion would be to simplify the graphics representation down to something that will fit entirely in the window. I realize my other suggestion I posted in the wrong thread. But this one is more of the same especially after toying with the cube demo and the other one.

My thoughts are perhaps there should be an option for a way more simplified view of it that still looks cool that passerbyes would stop and want to watch. As it is they are probably not there yet. Just my thoughts. :)

It should be relatively easy to fit the demo in the screen by pressing F2 or maybe F4 (increase speed x 10 and x 1000 respectively) and then holding "<" - at least on relatively fast machines ~2ghz or higher.