Alpha 18 should show significantly better performance for Windows users, thanks to something called Native computation. As explained in a previous blog post, Native mode essentially removes a layer from the physics computation, making the whole process much faster. It is enabled by default and effectively replaces the old Managed computation mode. Mac and Linux support for Native is coming in a future update.

The graph above compares the new Native computation mode with the older, slower Managed mode. The data is from running the "Solar System | All Planets & All Moons" simulation on a 2012 MacBook Pro.

As you can see, the physics computation by itself is heads and tails faster when run in Native mode -- about 2.8 times faster, in fact. This raw difference in physics calculation speed doesn't typically translate one-to-one for FPS (frames per second) gain, but in this instance there was still an increase of 17 FPS. This is a substantial difference which you will see and feel when using Universe Sandbox ². This new computation mode is essentially the only big change in this update, but we think you'll agree that it's a big change.

To see how much faster it is, you can switch back to the old Managed mode in Home > Settings > General tab > Computation Device > ManagedCPU.
You can also display the frames drawn per second by enabling FPS Info in Home > Settings > Debug tab or press Alt + F.


We've also added a simulation of the Wolf 1061 system, which contains a recently discovered potentially Earth-like exoplanet. At 14 light-years away, Wolf 1061c is the closest potentially habitable planet ever discovered.



Maybe you've seen an image like the one above going around the internet. This is because the researchers who discovered Wolf 1061c used Universe Sandbox ² to create a visualization of the Wolf 1061 system. Very cool! You can check out their video on Youtube.

We’ve also been working hard on some other exciting projects and have made good progress. Read more about what we’ve got planned for upcoming updates: What Are We Working On? | Alpha 17 & Beyond.

Run Steam to update or buy Universe Sandbox ² now for instant access to Alpha 18 on Steam Early Access.

Check out the full list of new features, improvements, & bug fixes in What's New.

And as always, let us know what you think about Alpha 18!

Alpha 18 should show significantly better performance for Windows users, thanks to something called Native computation. As explained in a previous blog post, Native mode essentially removes a layer from the physics computation, making the whole process much faster. It is enabled by default and effectively replaces the old Managed computation mode. Mac and Linux support for Native is coming in a future update.

The graph above compares the new Native computation mode with the older, slower Managed mode. The data is from running the "Solar System | All Planets & All Moons" simulation on a 2012 MacBook Pro.

As you can see, the physics computation by itself is heads and tails faster when run in Native mode -- about 2.8 times faster, in fact. This raw difference in physics calculation speed doesn't typically translate one-to-one for FPS (frames per second) gain, but in this instance there was still an increase of 17 FPS. This is a substantial difference which you will see and feel when using Universe Sandbox ². This new computation mode is essentially the only big change in this update, but we think you'll agree that it's a big change.

To see how much faster it is, you can switch back to the old Managed mode in Home > Settings > General tab > Computation Device > ManagedCPU.
You can also display the frames drawn per second by enabling FPS Info in Home > Settings > Debug tab or press Alt + F.


We've also added a simulation of the Wolf 1061 system, which contains a recently discovered potentially Earth-like exoplanet. At 14 light-years away, Wolf 1061c is the closest potentially habitable planet ever discovered.



Maybe you've seen an image like the one above going around the internet. This is because the researchers who discovered Wolf 1061c used Universe Sandbox ² to create a visualization of the Wolf 1061 system. Very cool! You can check out their video on Youtube.

We’ve also been working hard on some other exciting projects and have made good progress. Read more about what we’ve got planned for upcoming updates: What Are We Working On? | Alpha 17 & Beyond.

Run Steam to update or buy Universe Sandbox ² now for instant access to Alpha 18 on Steam Early Access.

Check out the full list of new features, improvements, & bug fixes in What's New.

And as always, let us know what you think about Alpha 18!

If you already own Universe Sandbox ², just run Steam to update to Alpha 17.
 

Alpha 17 introduces better looking star glows, a new Halley’s Comet simulation, and two values which show how similar a planet is to Earth and the speculative chance of it forming basic life. There’s also a “Make Pulsar” tool, better crash handling and reporting, and some bug fixes.

You can read about some of the other features we are working on for future updates on our blog:
What Are We Working On? | Alpha 17 & Beyond

For a full list of what's new in 17, please see our release notes.
 

Let us know what you think of Universe Sandbox ² Alpha 17 via the in-game feedback tools or the forums.

If you already own Universe Sandbox ², just run Steam to update to Alpha 17.
 

Alpha 17 introduces better looking star glows, a new Halley’s Comet simulation, and two values which show how similar a planet is to Earth and the speculative chance of it forming basic life. There’s also a “Make Pulsar” tool, better crash handling and reporting, and some bug fixes.

You can read about some of the other features we are working on for future updates on our blog:
What Are We Working On? | Alpha 17 & Beyond

For a full list of what's new in 17, please see our release notes.
 

Let us know what you think of Universe Sandbox ² Alpha 17 via the in-game feedback tools or the forums.

Our past few updates have been relatively minor releases. They've focused on fixing bugs and stability issues, and aside from a few minor features, haven't introduced anything new. Fixing these issues is extremely important, but for those users who hadn't experienced any problems, these updates weren't the most exciting.

But now we're getting back up to speed after some good time off post-Steam release. Alpha 17 will be the first major release since Alpha 16 at the end of August, and we're excited to begin showing off some of the bigger projects we've been working on.

At this time we can't say for sure which features will make it into Alpha 17. Some will be implemented only in their early stages, and others will likely have to wait until later updates. These disclaimers aside, here are a few of the things which you can look forward to in Alpha 17 and beyond:

Previously there were 5 star types in Universe Sandbox ². Now, with the rewrite, there will be 16. The improved stellar evolution model is now primarily a function of metallicity, and will work for types outside of main-sequence stars.

The result will be more dynamic and accurate properties for stars, as well as smoother transitions from type to type. The model also will now account for mass loss from solar winds. It may take a bit of time to fully incorporate all of the changes, but now that Jenn has added in these new, robust evolution models, many new possibilities await.

Random planets in Universe Sandbox ² are going to be visually more detailed and responsive to interactions, all part a project which we are internally calling "automata."

In the beginning, this will work alongside our climate component to increase the spatial resolution. That is, instead of having one point of data for an object's property, like temperature, there will now be a 2D grid of data. In the example of temperature, this means that collisions can impact values locally, so heat spreads from the impact site rather than just raising the overall temperature. In turn, this will make for much more dynamic visuals.

This higher resolution of data will also apply to elevation, influencing water levels, pressure, and material states. Further down the line this could open up doors for better surface deformation and shaping, and even set up the groundwork for basic life evolution. It's a very exciting project, but also highly experimental: it'll be a work-in-progress for some time to come, even when it first shows up in an update, and we can't say for sure what it'll eventually be able to do.



This one mostly speaks for itself. Star glows and rendering are going to look a whole lot better, with smoother fading and fewer clipping issues. Georg hopes to eventually add a little coronal animation, too.

Chris is busy porting over the current custom user interface to use Unity's user interface system. At first this may fall into the category of "Not Too Exciting For Most Users," as it won't involve any design changes, but this rewrite of the user interface is going to make possible a handful of things for Universe Sandbox ² further down the line. Essentially, it's future-proofing.

The biggest advantage of this is the support for multiple character sets and a scalable interface. This translates into support for languages using non-Roman characters, and an interface that works on non-standard resolutions, such as 4k or mobile. And while a mobile version of Universe Sandbox ² is not coming any time soon, should we eventually decide to take that path, this change will make it all the more feasible. Feel free to also use this as evidence that we are not planning on wrapping up development in the near future.

Alpha 15 introduced Thomas's rewrite of the physics component in Universe Sandbox ², which made everything run a whole lot faster. That was only the first part. This second part is implemented as native code, versus the previously implemented managed code. Without getting too technical, this essentially removes a step from the process, making it run a bit faster. There will be more performance improvements to come after native implementation, but this one is a big step.


After all of this is firmly in place, then it's time for VR... But that's a blog post for another day.

Sign up to be notified whenever there's a major update: Universe Sandbox ² Email List

Our past few updates have been relatively minor releases. They've focused on fixing bugs and stability issues, and aside from a few minor features, haven't introduced anything new. Fixing these issues is extremely important, but for those users who hadn't experienced any problems, these updates weren't the most exciting.

But now we're getting back up to speed after some good time off post-Steam release. Alpha 17 will be the first major release since Alpha 16 at the end of August, and we're excited to begin showing off some of the bigger projects we've been working on.

At this time we can't say for sure which features will make it into Alpha 17. Some will be implemented only in their early stages, and others will likely have to wait until later updates. These disclaimers aside, here are a few of the things which you can look forward to in Alpha 17 and beyond:

Previously there were 5 star types in Universe Sandbox ². Now, with the rewrite, there will be 16. The improved stellar evolution model is now primarily a function of metallicity, and will work for types outside of main-sequence stars.

The result will be more dynamic and accurate properties for stars, as well as smoother transitions from type to type. The model also will now account for mass loss from solar winds. It may take a bit of time to fully incorporate all of the changes, but now that Jenn has added in these new, robust evolution models, many new possibilities await.

Random planets in Universe Sandbox ² are going to be visually more detailed and responsive to interactions, all part a project which we are internally calling "automata."

In the beginning, this will work alongside our climate component to increase the spatial resolution. That is, instead of having one point of data for an object's property, like temperature, there will now be a 2D grid of data. In the example of temperature, this means that collisions can impact values locally, so heat spreads from the impact site rather than just raising the overall temperature. In turn, this will make for much more dynamic visuals.

This higher resolution of data will also apply to elevation, influencing water levels, pressure, and material states. Further down the line this could open up doors for better surface deformation and shaping, and even set up the groundwork for basic life evolution. It's a very exciting project, but also highly experimental: it'll be a work-in-progress for some time to come, even when it first shows up in an update, and we can't say for sure what it'll eventually be able to do.



This one mostly speaks for itself. Star glows and rendering are going to look a whole lot better, with smoother fading and fewer clipping issues. Georg hopes to eventually add a little coronal animation, too.

Chris is busy porting over the current custom user interface to use Unity's user interface system. At first this may fall into the category of "Not Too Exciting For Most Users," as it won't involve any design changes, but this rewrite of the user interface is going to make possible a handful of things for Universe Sandbox ² further down the line. Essentially, it's future-proofing.

The biggest advantage of this is the support for multiple character sets and a scalable interface. This translates into support for languages using non-Roman characters, and an interface that works on non-standard resolutions, such as 4k or mobile. And while a mobile version of Universe Sandbox ² is not coming any time soon, should we eventually decide to take that path, this change will make it all the more feasible. Feel free to also use this as evidence that we are not planning on wrapping up development in the near future.

Alpha 15 introduced Thomas's rewrite of the physics component in Universe Sandbox ², which made everything run a whole lot faster. That was only the first part. This second part is implemented as native code, versus the previously implemented managed code. Without getting too technical, this essentially removes a step from the process, making it run a bit faster. There will be more performance improvements to come after native implementation, but this one is a big step.


After all of this is firmly in place, then it's time for VR... But that's a blog post for another day.

Sign up to be notified whenever there's a major update: Universe Sandbox ² Email List

Alpha 16.2 is another round of bug fixes and stability improvements. We’ve fixed multiple issues with startup crashes, missing craters, and music handling. There’s also new rendering for random planets and better file tools for your simulations.

We are in the process of returning to a more regular development and release schedule. Stay tuned, we have bigger plans for Alpha 17.

For a full list of what's new, please see our release notes.

And please let us know what you think of Universe Sandbox ² Alpha 16.2 and how we could improve it using the in-game feedback tools or via the forums.

Alpha 16.2 is another round of bug fixes and stability improvements. We’ve fixed multiple issues with startup crashes, missing craters, and music handling. There’s also new rendering for random planets and better file tools for your simulations.

We are in the process of returning to a more regular development and release schedule. Stay tuned, we have bigger plans for Alpha 17.

For a full list of what's new, please see our release notes.

And please let us know what you think of Universe Sandbox ² Alpha 16.2 and how we could improve it using the in-game feedback tools or via the forums.

In Alpha 16.1 we’ve improved the quality and performance of planet and star rendering, improved lighting and shockwaves, fixed issues with saving and loading stars and gas giants, and made a few other tweaks and fixes.This is a small update as the team gets back into gear after all of our work for the Early Access release and our PAX Prime meet up in Seattle. We are amazed by, and endlessly appreciative of, the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Universe Sandbox ². We look forward to making it even more awesome.

For a full list of what's new, please see our release notes.

And please let us know what you think of Universe Sandbox ² Alpha 16.1 and how we could improve it using the in-game feedback tools or via the forums.

In Alpha 16.1 we’ve improved the quality and performance of planet and star rendering, improved lighting and shockwaves, fixed issues with saving and loading stars and gas giants, and made a few other tweaks and fixes.This is a small update as the team gets back into gear after all of our work for the Early Access release and our PAX Prime meet up in Seattle. We are amazed by, and endlessly appreciative of, the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Universe Sandbox ². We look forward to making it even more awesome.

For a full list of what's new, please see our release notes.

And please let us know what you think of Universe Sandbox ² Alpha 16.1 and how we could improve it using the in-game feedback tools or via the forums.