Documentation? (e.g. for Object Menu)

What did you draw?
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deneb
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Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2019 6:06 pm

Documentation? (e.g. for Object Menu)

Post by deneb »

Greetings,

having just purchased the full version of Gravity Simulator, I am very happy with the program itself, but am sorely missing some proper documentation -- isn't there a Manual or User Guide, other than the info in the "Help" menu and the various "change log threads" here on the forum?

Specifically: It seems that my "object menu" (the icons in the upper right, to select various stars, planets, asteroids, etc) has changed, and I can't get it back to the original state:
Initially there was a "+" icon at the right end of the row. I unwisely clicked that, the menu changed, and now I have some duplicate menu entries (e.g. for stars and planets), whereas the "Dust" icon is gone. The "+" icon has also vanished, so there's no chance to click it again to get things back to normal.

After some searching back and forth I found a remark in this post , saying
"Well, now, the menu of objects you pick from to add is completely customizable. Add in more types, make an object type massless or massive, make it feel or ignore gravity, change its image, etc. -You can even set an object in that menu to 'random' colors and just spam the world with confetti."

Sounds promising, but how/where can this be done?
Am I overlooking something obvious here?

Thanks in advance for any help.
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testtubegames
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Re: Documentation? (e.g. for Object Menu)

Post by testtubegames »

Sorry to hear you're running into problems!

*Yes* we need some documentation. As you note, all the information is scattered around, and needs to be brought together. More on that in a moment.

To your specific point - there's a maximum number of 'object type' buttons you can have in the upper right corner. Once you hit that, the plus button disappears. I think the missing piece may be -- if you click one of those buttons twice, it'll open a menu where you can:
(a) edit any of the objects to be whatever you'd like, they are all fully customizable.
(b) delete any of the objects

Oh, *and* if you go into any of the popup menus on the lower right-hand side, they all have an option to 'reset settings', which resets any changes you may have made, and also resets the object-type buttons to their initial state.

I'll add this info into the documentation to-do list.

Speaking of!

As fate would have it I've been working on creating some documentation for this simulation -- the first few pages just posted last week: https://testtubegames.com/gsim101/

So far I've focused mainly on how the physics engine works, but my rough idea of topics to cover would be something along the lines of this:
Screen Shot 2019-09-17 at 2.38.07 PM copy.png
Screen Shot 2019-09-17 at 2.38.07 PM copy.png (82.21 KiB) Viewed 18395 times
So it'd cover some of the bits it seems you're most interested in having documented... like, hey what exactly do all these buttons do?

If you come across other specific questions - or more general suggestions of things you want to make sure are documented, please do share and I can get those included.
deneb
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2019 6:06 pm

Re: Documentation? (e.g. for Object Menu)

Post by deneb »

Many thanks for the reply!
I had in fact discovered the option to edit those icons, but had somehow managed to overlook or misunderstand the role of the Delete button.
All clear now.

And good news about the documentation! I think it will greatly help with understanding and using the full potential of the Gravity Simulator, especially as some of the scientific and mathematical background will also be covered.
One basic fact I have so far not seen mentioned: This is all strictly 2D, right?

Now back to trying to simulate the Seveneves event... :shock:
(Well, not really possible, alas, as we do not (yet?) have collisions with fragmentation...)
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testtubegames
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Re: Documentation? (e.g. for Object Menu)

Post by testtubegames »

Oh yes, it *is* 2d. As you say, that seems like a basic bit of info to share -- so I went ahead and added a new intro page of the docs.
(https://testtubegames.com/gsim101/?p=intro)

Thanks for sharing that question. And (peeks at Seveneves link) uh, good luck with that!
ponders how fragmentation might work, hmm
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