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I just had an exfret overdrive on the priority thread, though, so if you add my suggestions, the "Unsure if feasible/in scope" list will far outweigh the other lists combined.

Idea. So a scripting language is probably too complicated right now. But this sim is about science, right? (hint: yes, read the main ttg page)
So we should have some science tools. Ruler, stopwatch, protractor, grapher. So you could either have freeform ruler that you grab, or attached rulers to planets (think lagrange tracking). Similar for protractors, where both legs can be connected to objects, or one can be fixed.

Example: Rulers and protractors could display their values at well. I didn't put that on here. Or you could set their values for things like protractors.
(Oh and also a button for stopwatch, I forgot that)

Interface: Click protractor, a message comes up to click center, point 1, point 2 (like LTrack). If a point is not locked to an object, it is fixed in space (uh oh). Same for the ruler. You might be able to make a lot of graphs, maybe only one for now (since it's rather complicated). Triangles allow you to select stuff. (time included)

By this point you could add even more science. Power law regression for graphs, fourier transform, and more!

Experiments:
Ruler on sun and asteroid. KE vs ruler.
KE/velocity vs time.
Fourier transform of ruler in Ptolemy (spikes at days, years, and stuff)

Also we should plot multiple layers: PE & KE vs ruler.. Conservation of energy!

For rulers, you could snap them to protractors and snap stuff to their tickmarks, so I can consistently create a circular orbit at 100 distance.
Speaking of that, instead of autoplotting, make a button to add data point, so you could run multiple trials:
Orbital velocity vs changing mass: Star, ruler, circular orbit at a point. Plot speed vs mass. Repeat with different mass stars.
Period: Same, but use the stopwatch to measure time around an orbit. Plot stopwatch vs mass.

SCIENCE!

PS. X awesome points for who finds the factual error in the picture

Isn't circle's KE supposed to stay constant?

robly18 wrote:Isn't circle's KE supposed to stay constant?

Congratulations, you found the factual error in the picture! You get X awesome points...!

(Yeah, to get a sensible graph with Ruler 1 in the picture you'd have to plot against time or something.)

An easy way to reset the zoom. The "clear all" button no longer does this, and while your reasoning for that is sound, I still want a way to do that. (It's not first priority, though.) Right now, I hardly ever change the zoom because of how hard it is to reset.

A Random Player wrote: SCIENCE!

HELL YEAH! Science! Many of these wouldn't even be that tough to add. I like it. Once I get down to adding these, I'll come back looking for more ideas I am sure.

NealCruco wrote:An easy way to reset the zoom. The "clear all" button no longer does this, and while your reasoning for that is sound, I still want a way to do that. (It's not first priority, though.) Right now, I hardly ever change the zoom because of how hard it is to reset.

Okay, will do. You're absolutely right, it's really annoying to not be able to set zoom to 1. (And even if you get it close, having zoom = 1.0034125 is really disconcerting)

Yeah, while on the topic of zooming, I feel like we can't zoom out enough!

Also, I'm not too sure this has been suggested, but, maybe allow us to start at a certain desired epoch instead of 0?

wtg62 wrote:Yeah, while on the topic of zooming, I feel like we can't zoom out enough!
...maybe allow us to start at a certain desired epoch instead of 0?

More zooming? I'll add it onto the priorities. That one has been kicking around a while. (It'll require me to finally solve the orbit-line-drawing-crashes... so it'll be doubly good)

Desired epoch, eh? One way that I could see doing this is incorporating it into the load code. So in addition to setting an initial zoom, and an initial x/y position, you can set it so someone sees things start at an initial time. Sound about right?

Yep, sounds about right.

Andy, don't forget about the bug I reported some weeks back- tab doesn't hide the sfx button.