3.7 Dialog Box Functions
1) Detail Setting Dialog
Clicking the Detailed settings... button at the bottom of the Basic panel of System Controller displays the Detail Setting Dialog. Here, you can configure various detailed settings of Solar System Simulator. As settings are immediately reflected in Solar System Simulator, you can see the changes in the display and performance.
Click the Save button to save detailed settings until Solar System Simulator is started the next time. Click on the Load button to cancel the current settings and return to the saved settings, and click the Close button to close this dialog.
The Detailed Setting Dialog is subdivided into the Display panel and Fonts and Colors panel. Click on the tabs at the top to switch between the two.
Display Panel
In the Location Cursor area, configure settings for the cursor indicateting the observe location in the Space View Mode. Cursor type: sets the drawing style of the cursor. Selecting Arrow places a red rotating square pyramid cursor at the viewing location. Selecting Marker flashes a red light at the viewing location. Selecting Annotate draws a red line from the viewing location and labels the name of the location. Cursor size: sets the cursor size.
In the Landscape area, configure settings for the landscape in the Ground Ovservation Mode. Landscape type: sets the method of displaying the landscape. Horizon hides areas below the horizon. Mesh draws the landscape as a polygon model. Panoram draws the landscape with the panorama image. Selecting the Direction markers checkbox shows direction indicators in the Ground Observation Mode. Selecting the Keep Dir. Markers visible checkbox automatically adjusts the height for displaying the direction so thatdirection indicators inside the viewing area.
In the Background area, configure settings for various objects displayed in the background in space. At Star rendering type:, set the method for drawing the star. Selecting Points renders stars simply using points. At Magnitude limit:, set the darkest magnitude for the star displayed. At Milky Way rendering type:, set the method for drawing the Milky Way. Selecting Polygon draws the Milky Way as a polygon model. Selecting Texture draws the Milky Way with a full color texture. Compared to Polygon,Texture has a heavier graphic load. At Milky Way resolution:, set the resolution for displaying the Milky Way using polygon model. The higher the resolution, the higher will the graphics load be. At Dark side lighting:, set the brightness of the dark side of the celestial body. 0.0 is the darkest and 1.0 the brightest.
In the Shooting Star area, set the state of shooting stars in the Ground Observation Mode. Selecting the Sporadic meteors: checkbox sets shooting stars to shoot randomly without radiant points. If unselected, shooting stars will shoot radially from the radial point set at Radial point Decl.: and Radiant point RA:. At Frequency:, set the number of shooting stars displayed at once.
In the Information Console area, set the method of displaying the information console displayed overlaying with Solar System Simulator. At Console type:, set the contents to be displayed on the information console. At Date/Time locale:, set whether to display the world standard time or local time on the information console. Selecting the Show FPS in console checkbox displays the FPS value (Frame Per Second) indicating the rendering performance together with the information console.
In the Post Effect area, selecting the Alpha blending checkbox displays fade in / out at high quality. This should also be selected if displaying skies in color in the Ground Observation Mode. However for certain graphics environment, Alpha blending may be heavy. At Blur type:, set the method of processing post effects. If you select w/o Milky Way, you will need to erase the Milky Way when executing post effects. If you select with Milky Way, post effects will be displayed correctly even if the Milky Way is displayed, however the load will be heavy in this case. At Blur level:, set the strength of the post effects.
In the Optimize area, adjust the balance between rendering quality and rendering speed. At Draw method:, set the method of drawing celestial bodies. Selecting Wireframe draws celestial bodies using wire frames. Selecting Polygon draws using normal polygons. At Mesh resolution:, set the polygonal resolution of the celestial body, and at Orbit resolution:, set the resolution for drawing orbit lines. For both resolutions, rendering quality will be high the higher is the resolution, but graphics load will be heavier. At Apply textures to:, set which celestial body to apply texture. At Texture filter type:, set the texture filter. Linear provides smoother displays than Nearest, but has a heavier graphics load. At Texture resolution:, set the texture resolution (switch the folder for finding texture between texturesLow, texturesMid, and texturesHigh).
Fonts and Colors panel
The Fonts area lists items for setting the font of the texts displayed in Solar System Simulator. Each item has an area for setting the font size, button for setting the font color, and button for detailed font settings.
The Line width and Colors area lists items for setting line width and colors of line drawings in Solar System Simulator.
2) Location Edit Dialog
Clicking on the Edit locations... button at the center of the Basic panel displays the Location Edit Dialog. In this dialog, you can edit the list of launchable observing locations for the selected celestial body. All changes in this dialog are not reflected in Solar System Simulator until you click the OK button. Clicking the Cancel button cancels all changes made in this dialog and closes the dialog.
Listed on the left side of the Location Edit Dialog are observing locations currently set on the selected celestial body. Clicking any one enables you to edit information on this viewing location on the right side.
You can change the order of viewing locations listed by dragging location names in the list. You can also set the latitude and longitude of the selected viewing location by clicking on the map shown or directly entering the Latitude and Longitude fields. At Location name:, set the name of the observing location. Do not include spaces in the name. You may use the underbar ("_") instead. At Panorama file:, set the panorama image file of the panorama image displayed in the Ground Observation Mode. Set the files in the textures folder as panorama image files. (Actually, the file will be load from the folder set at Texture resolution: in the Option settings dialog.) At Weather effect file:, set the definition file of weather effects displayed in the Ground Observation Mode. Set the files in the effects folder as the weather effects file.
Click the Add button to add the new observing location to the selected celestial body. Click Remove to remove the currently selected observing location.
Solar System Simulator does not allow several observing locations of the same name to be created for one celestial body. It also requires one observing location to be named "Surface". The "Surface" observing location is selected as default. Even if you erase this observing location, it will be created automatically.
3) Bookmark Edit Dialog
The Bookmark Edit Dialog appears by clicking on the Bookmark button at the top of the Contents Browser and clicking on Edit bookmarks... in the pull down menu which appears.
The Bookmark Edit Dialog lists registered bookmarks, their URL addresses, and folders grouping bookmarks in a tree. You can edit the order listed or tree by dragging bookmarks and folders inside the list.
Select a bookmark or folder by clicking on its name in the list. This name will appear in the Name: field and the corresponding URL address in the URL: field below. Click the Add button to add bookmarks or the Folder button to add folders. Clicking the Remove button cancels the currently selected bookmark or folder (or bookmark contained in the folder).