Hey everyone!
I just wanted to share some of my progress on my project. A few years ago I created ‘The Solar System: Explore your Backyard’. you can see a video of it here.
This was created in UDK, but I have been working on re-creating it using UE4 for the past 6 months or so. Like any project, the ‘guts’ aren’t really seen. I spent most of my time working on getting everything as accurate as possible with the orientations, orbits, scales, speeds and trickier details like programming in a calendar which accounts for things like leap years. (All done via Blueprint)
Here are a few shots of what it looks like so far.
(Just a close up shot of the sun and planets scaled up for easier viewing.)
(Each planet will have the orbiting paths of each moon, their model, and you’ll be able to focus on them with information displayed to the right)
(This is a shot of Earths cross section. Each of the major planets will have this, and even some of the moons if there is enough information on them.)
(Here is a WIP of Earths capitals.)
(Here is the ‘orbital height’ option. It shows the height the planets take in relation to the earths orbit to the sun.)
(Here you can see the corkscrew path that the planets are taking as they pass through our milky way.)
(When selecting planets, anywhere you put your mouse over, the orbital paths will highlight making them easier to see from a distance.)
(I am trying to give as much control over the visuals of the project. Toggling names, scales, orbital paths… anything that will impact the experience in a positive way, I’m trying to include.)
(And lastly, the gravitational wells. As each planet passes over the grid, the grid will dip down visualizing the gravity in that area. As with everything, information for the planets gravity will be provided on the far right)
Not everything is in place quite yet, the ‘capitals’ for example are incomplete (so not everything’s in yet), but it’s coming along nicely!
I focused on the functionality, feel and accuracy of everything as much as I could. I am trying to get the user experience feeling right so it feels less like a ‘game’.
I am basically working on getting the project (feature wise) to match the previous version, then I’ll be adding in some nice details on top of it to really make it shine. 
I have a list of things I’ll like to add to the project, but I’m always open for any suggestions. If you guys like the project and want to see a certain feature, drop me a line and I’ll make a note. Maybe it’ll make it in!
Thanks for reading!
