Overview of the 0.991 Universe Generation Update

Authors: Dr. Megan, Sean, Jonathan, and Brendan

Note: you can view the blog full blog post on our website for more images, interactive image comparisons, and more.

Hey folks! In preparation for the public release of the Universe Generation Update, we’re highlighting some major changes you can expect to SpaceEngine with this fresh batch of cosmos!

Planetary System Architecture

One of the biggest frustrations with 0.990’s procedural universe is the sameness between systems. Established users know the pattern: giant-terra-giant-terra, big planet, small planet, etc. With 0.991, this is no longer the case! Planets will now generate in more realistic, diverse patterns. In this example, the procedural system shown below was once exactly what you’d expect: terra, ice giant, aquaria, gas giant, and so on. The same system (in name, at least) has taken an entirely new identity, changing its location in space. Planets 3 and 5 in this new system are gas giants, but the rest are smaller terras, subterras, and aquarias! An example of planetary system generation in 0.990 (top) and 0.991 (bottom). View the blog post on our website for an interactive comparison. Also, there's something you'll find much more often in 0.991: dwarf planets! Previously, dwarf planets were exceedingly rare among the generated parts of the universe, which wasn’t very realistic. While the old meander sequence is still technically possible, you can expect far more interesting finds in unknown space!

Visual Improvements

The 0.991 release contains a couple of visual improvements worth mentioning. For starters, underwater terrain is now colored according to its depth, emulating the absorption of sunlight in the overlying water. It's a seemingly small change, but it significantly enhances immersion when underwater. No more sea floors bathed in sunlight under 5 km of ocean!

Sea floor images from a variety of depths, showing their appearance in 0.990 (left) and 0.991 (right). See the blog post on our website for more images and interactive comparisons.

We've also made some adjustments to the surfaces of stars. In earlier versions of SE, including 0.990, most stars had granulation patterns with much higher contrast than in reality, and which displayed as being cooler (redder) than they should have. These granule temperatures have been replaced with a more realistic value, with further improvements to their scientific accuracy coming in the future. Sunspots have also seen an update to their temperature generation, with their temperatures now determined by the effective temperature of the star according to an equation based on real astronomical observations.

A comparison of granules and sunspots on a G2V star in 0.990 (left) and 0.991 (right). View the blog post on our website for an interactive comparison.

The lower contrast of the new granulation may seem less visually interesting, but it's much more representative of what stars really look like. To highlight this, the following image shows a real photo of the Sun (left) taken by one of our own team members, and the Sun with the new temperature values in 0.991 (right). The photograph was white balanced to match the real color of the Sun as closely as possible, and both images were tonemapped from linear brightness values using the same function (Reinhard SE).

Left: A real photo of the Sun taken by one of our own team members. Right: The Sun in SpaceEngine version 0.991 with the revised granulation and sunspot temperatures.

Further updates to the accuracy of star surfaces are being worked on for future release.

Galactic Globular Cluster Systems

The generation of globular cluster