Info wanted for talk at local astro club

FabFox

F
At my local astronomy club, for the December meeting, they want members to do short talks (around 10 minutes or so) and I thought of talking about visiting exoplanets via the medium of space games. Specifically, I was going to talk about Eden in game and the nearly analogous Proxima Centauri B (yes I know it's not faithful to the actual discovered planet but comparing the real and the fictional is also interesting)

One slide was going to be about the various options for doing this via computer:
  • Stellarium and other such programs - only show the stars, not the planets
  • Orbiter - would be perfect but 'out of the box' only does the Sol system: You have to edit config files extensively to model other systems
  • No Man's Sky - too cartoony and doesn't model Sol and the local area (does it?)
  • Elite Dangerous - The best option I am aware of

My question is: are there any other games or space simulations that allow you to visit actual real-life exoplanets?

Also, any other suggestions would be gratefully received. My slideshow plan is:
  • Introduction to 'the problem'
  • The various solution options (this is the one I am stuck on at present)
  • Brief history of the various versions of Elite
  • The in-game planet Eden
  • The real planet Proxima Centauri b
  • Comparison of the two (also covering why FD decided not to adjust Eden to match PCb)
  • A video of me starting in a station around Earth and flying to Eden

Thoughts?
 

Fishy

Fishy
I'd say Space Engine might be your best bet. It ticks all your boxes and does way more then ED with regards to your context: atmospheric worlds (it simulated Northern Lights amongst other things...), multiple galaxies, very fast speed travel, time compression (ED sorely misses that in an astronomical observation context), and critically, doesn't require the gaming ED forces upon you. Imho, you can't expect a non-gaming crowd to use ED for virtual space exploration of known exoplanets when they'll get stuck with unexplained controls and get blown up by NPCs while flying a Sidewinder they can barely take to the closest system.

[video=youtube;mdVzDbTGG4s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdVzDbTGG4s[/video]

[video=youtube;5opKnG-HGTw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5opKnG-HGTw[/video]

[video=youtube;QOaryXH0WCY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOaryXH0WCY[/video]
 
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Navigare Necesse Est

Navigare Necesse Est
KSP. Nothing else matters. It's all about the journey there and you get to figure out how orbits, transfers, landing, fuel and all that stuff works. If you look for playfully educational this is the thing to play to be able to talk at the club.

You can reserve a whole lesson about rocket building alone before even getting to orbital mechanics.
 

FabFox

F
Thanks for those suggestions guys.

  • Space Engine does look like something I should mention and may indeed be a better subject for a talk. I actually follow Obsidian Ant for his ED videos.
  • What I have heard of KSC is also really good but I had discounted it because I thought that the universe it was based in, although realistic, was also completely fictional and I wanted to go to real exoplanets. Also, I felt that it was more about the development of the technologies than travelling to distant real-world systems. I have not seen anything to change my view on that, am I wrong?

I wasn't thinking of this as a tutorial for them to try, just an excuse to show a little bit of ED. But I will definitely have a look at Space Engine and and may use that instead.
 
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Fishy

Fishy
KSP is fantastic in terms of the physics of space travel and the engineering/planning that goes with it. It has very intuitive UIs to plan flights, orbits, etc. It's pretty unmatched in that regards. But yeah, the planet themselves are not much to look at and just a fictional solar system. What matters with the planets is their distance, orbit, gravity, atmosphere, etc, as you're planning around all that for your mission.

Overall, it's probably a very good game to showcase to an astronomy club than ED as despite its silly graphics, it's far more about physics than about gaming, so anyone with interest in rocketry, orbital flight and space mission planning will quickly be doing exactly what they wanted. Excellent way to introduce your kids to space flight too. But it doesn't fit the pitch you have in mind so I'd say keep it in mind for another talk down the road after you spend some time with it. You'll want more than a 10 minutes slots for that too!

Best of luck with the preparation, let us know how it goes. :)
 

FabFox

F
No one of course mentioned that this is the infamous Hutton Orbital! I did a trial run and after a while realised why I had a nagging doubt in my mind. Still, I think it adds to the interest. I'll obviously cut out 99% of the hour-long SC journey!

I am aware there is in-game lore about Eden but I can only find this: http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Alpha_Centauri/Eden. Is there anything more you guys can point me at?
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
FabFox said:
Thanks for those suggestions guys.

  • Space Engine does look like something I should mention and may indeed be a better subject for a talk. I actually follow Obsidian Ant for his ED videos.
  • What I have heard of KSC is also really good but I had discounted it because I thought that the universe it was based in, although realistic, was also completely fictional and I wanted to go to real exoplanets. Also, I felt that it was more about the development of the technologies than travelling to distant real-world systems. I have not seen anything to change my view on that, am I wrong?

I wasn't thinking of this as a tutorial for them to try, just an excuse to show a little bit of ED. But I will definitely have a look at Space Engine and and may use that instead.
Click to expand...

ED is certainly great, but it is a GAME, which means that it contains all those spaceship-flying bits that your collegues might not be interested in, or find it unnecessary. Space engine is just that. A software that simulates star systems and planets. There is no gaminess to it so I guess it may be more accessible to people who are actually not interested in playing a game, even if it hides many cool astronomical features behind the gameplay.
 

FabFox

F
Chris Simon said:
ED is certainly great, but it is a GAME, which means that it contains all those spaceship-flying bits that your collegues might not be interested in, or find it unnecessary. Space engine is just that. A software that simulates star systems and planets. There is no gaminess to it so I guess it may be more accessible to people who are actually not interested in playing a game, even if it hides many cool astronomical features behind the gameplay.
Click to expand...

Yep, I know it's a game and I am now aware that Space Engine would be more appropriate for the audience. But I have a 10-minute slot and it only has to be tangentially related to astronomy. People talk about all sorts at the Christmas meeting. My slot is effectively demonstrating how one aspect of 'popular culture', i.e. computer games, is either faithful to or ignores the realities that we love learning about at the club during the rest of the year.
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
FabFox said:
Yep, I know it's a game and I am now aware that Space Engine would be more appropriate for the audience. But I have a 10-minute slot and it only has to be tangentially related to astronomy. People talk about all sorts at the Christmas meeting. My slot is effectively demonstrating how one aspect of 'popular culture', i.e. computer games, is either faithful to or ignores the realities that we love learning about at the club during the rest of the year.
Click to expand...

Ah yes. I think I misunderstood the goal and the purpose of the presentation.
In that case, hit them with Elite for sure. Even the tour of the solar system will be interesting. You could also talk about how machine learning and procedural generation could (or in Elite even CAN to certain extent) "predict" exoplanets, given the right input data.
 

FabFox

F
Robin of Spiritwood said:
ctrl500.com/tech/how-frontier-managed-to-re-create-our-entire-galaxy-in-elite-dangerous/

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...nner-1-Creating-a-Galaxy-with-Dr-Anthony-Ross

These articles talk about Dr Anthony Ross and the process of creation of the ED galaxy. It's maybe got some stuff you could include? The Stellar Forge is an amazing thing!
Click to expand...

That's a really interesting video, thanks. I will try to include one or two details from it. Sadly, having created and edited my video together, it is around 4.5 minutes long so I only have around 5.5 minutes for talking through the slides. Still, I think it will be good.
 
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