Author Topic: From PSX_Earth to PSX_Tellurium... (Read 8694 times)

martin · « **on:** Sat, 2 May 2015 15:11 »

Greetings!

it'll be Christmas soon -- we've had already had Mayday and Labour Day.
So I went into labour and now we have PSX_Tellurium.

Be advised that especially if you know PSX_Earth already, you really should read the new documentation.

A lot of things have changed, some for the worse (I'm afraid), some for the better (I hope), and nothing is quite what it seems or what you think it is, coming from PSX_Earth.

In particular, much more has now to happen on the client side. Which very probably means that there may be many more OS and setup specific "surprises" (for which I cannot test in advance).

Therefore, PSX_Tellurium is (and always will be, I suspect) a kind of "open beta" version.
For the same reason, further changes may be necessary, so it is recommended to monitor this space.

Go have a look, and then we'll take it from there!

And Google can go eat (mud*)cake...

Cheers,
Martin

* as in "Earth".
Geddit? Geddit? :mrgreen:

-----------------------------------------------------

05.05.2015
UPDATE: Version 2

This version adds a better "North Up" Map Mode.
Please read the updated documentation.

Download the MAIN and/or the BOOST version.

Just in case, version 1 is also still available: MAIN and BOOST.

Both versions come as complete packages and can be installed independently "side-by-side".
Just don't mix the files up, and make sure you know what variant of which version you are running.

Have fun!
Martin

Avi · « **Reply #1 on:** Sat, 2 May 2015 17:35 »

Nice one,
Will give it a try.

Cheers,

United744 · « **Reply #2 on:** Sat, 2 May 2015 17:50 »

If there is one thing Google demonstrated very nicely, it's that it is a bad idea to rely on anything "web" that is not directly controlled by the developer using it, for tomorrow, it may cease to exist and you're screwed.

I think the only reason Google shut down its code sharing service was because it wasn't benefiting from user submissions, so figured why carry the cost of operating the servers.

Until people realize there is no such thing as "free" (in the monetary sense), things will keep breaking at the whim of a few.

OmniAtlas · « **Reply #3 on:** Sun, 3 May 2015 00:55 »

Quote from: United744

Until people realize there is no such thing as "free" (in the monetary sense), things will keep breaking at the whim of a few.

Yes, didn't Google just change the way Java is read on the Chrome browser?

For some reason now I can't log onto my tax office website, but I am still able to do so with Internet explorer.

brian747 · « **Reply #4 on:** Sun, 3 May 2015 10:24 »

Wow! Is it Christmas already (well, in the sense of lavish presents, at least)? :mrgreen:

Congratulations, Martin — I very much look forward to getting to know your new baby, which (based upon an unavoidably brief scan of the documentation) looks extremely impressive!

Unfortunately, the Bank Holiday season is in full swing here in the U.K. (yes, another one), so family activities dictate that I won't have a chance to try it until mid-week. Grrr.... :roll:

But huge thanks for your hard work on this!

Cheers,

Brian

Hardy Heinlin · « **Reply #5 on:** Sun, 3 May 2015 20:27 »

Moi!

That sounds fantastic :-)

Thank you, Martin!

Cheers,

|-|ardy

Keith Maton · « **Reply #6 on:** Sun, 3 May 2015 21:45 »

Oh this is very good - I'm not too interested in a view out the window (I'm quite happy with the PSX visuals) but it's really good to have a moving map display, thank you. It's working well on my iMac.

jcomm · « **Reply #7 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 09:38 »

"GO Away!", that's what Tellurium tells me when I start

http://127.0.0.1:10314/PSX_Earth2.html

in my Chrome browser :-(

I do see the Belly Cam window popping up though...

jcomm · « **Reply #8 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 09:41 »

"GO Away!", that's what Tellurium tells me when I start

http://127.0.0.1:10314/PSX_Earth2.html

in my Chrome browser :-(

I do see the Belly Cam window popping up though...

PS: Duh! Forgot to change the URL :-/

martin · « **Reply #9 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 09:46 »

Hehehe, security!

That's what you get when you try to fetch a file from the server (the one built into PSX_Tellurium), which you are not supposed to fetch! 8)

Try to load PSX_Tellurium.html, not PSX_Earth2.html .

EDIT: Oops! :roll:
On checking the doc.s I see that this is actually not mentioned there.
I'll fix it...

EDIT2: fixed...

Cheers,
Martin

jcomm · « **Reply #10 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 15:23 »

Thx Martin!

tango4 · « **Reply #11 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 15:27 »

Just a small message to say a HUGE thank you for your work !

Just awesome, no more no less !

Charles

Keith Maton · « **Reply #12 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 18:29 »

Martin, I don't know how practical it would be to have a 'moving map' button which automatically sets the zoom all the way out, drops the camera by 90 degrees and rotates the view so that north is always up but it would be a superb addition to an already great addon.

martin · « **Reply #13 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 19:53 »

Ah, the dreaded suggestions start pouring in

Well, I guess it could be done, but I wonder if it is really worth it* ?

In the current version, what you have to do is merely to pull two sliders (camera tilt and zoom) full down (you don't even have to "aim"), and to drag the third slider (bearing) until the beige "bearing" pointer co-incides with the blue "true North" needle.
Done: Map Mode, top-down view, fully ~~spaced~~ zoomed out, North is up.

Still too much trouble?
Or am I overlooking some other usability aspect?

Cheers,
Martin

* Even I initially felt it can't be that hard to implement.
But as usual: Once you really think about it...

Setting the camera to that Moving Map (MM) mode when the button is clicked, wouldn't be that difficult[size=8] (at least not until I really start to do it)[/size].

But what when you then want to get out of MM mode, back to Cockpit view?

Either you let the slider positions follow the new MM button and also go to their MM positions (as if moved manually). But then must first save the original settings, so that they can be restored on leaving MM mode again.

Or you have to freeze the camera sliders when that new MM button is clicked, then ignore their position while in MM mode, and then start to evaluate them again when MM mode is left again.

Once I put my mind to it, I'm sure I can think of more complications. 8)

Keith Maton · « **Reply #14 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 20:42 »

Heh heh Martin, those are all valid points. I'm quite happy sliding the two slidey things to their extremes for zoom and tilt but the bearing does need constant readjustment to keep it aligned to North. Would it be therefore be possible to forget about the button to do the fancy things I said but perhaps have an option somewhere for 'North Up' please?

I know nothing of the programming involved and I'm sure it's not as simple as it sounds (nothing ever is) so I merely toss the suggestion into the air to see where it lands

martin · « **Reply #15 on:** Mon, 4 May 2015 20:55 »

Quote from: Keith

the bearing does need constant readjustment to keep it aligned to North

Now that's an interesting point. The whole thing went through so many variations that I missed (or forgot about) this. I suspect (again) it'll turn out to be not quite so straightforward as it seems, but I do see the usefulness. So I'll think about it.

Cheers,
Martin "Up...North!" E.

martin · « **Reply #16 on:** Tue, 5 May 2015 19:05 »

UPDATE: Version 2

Moi,

now I have thought, and due to popular demand by Keith, version 2 of PSX_Tellurium now sports a proper NUMM (North-Up Map Mode).

As expected, it was all a little trickier than expected (e.g. how to squeeze yet another button into that already crowded gadget; and other, hairier, issues), but The Dude Abides.

Do (re-)read the doc.s, please, to better understand how it works (or doesn't).

For download links etc. see the updated first post in this thread.

Have fun!

Slightly NUMMed,
Martin

Keith Maton · « **Reply #17 on:** Tue, 5 May 2015 20:29 »

Martin, you're an absolute star, thank you! This is so perfect for what I want that I'm going to dig out an old laptop and slap it on the shelf just to run this

It's exactly what I wanted to go with PSX.

Hardy Heinlin · « **Reply #18 on:** Sun, 21 Jun 2015 00:45 »

For the record ...

PSX_Tellurium added to: http://aerowinx.com/html/addons.html

|-|ardy

martin · « **Reply #19 on:** Sun, 21 Jun 2015 06:55 »

Thanks!

Martin