[ANN] Xearth-ACF vbeta 2

[MLC]

_BarryTone_, giovedì 30/dic/2004:

Yep. There are two MLC's also.

I didn't see that.
In different places, also

 

[Bill Day]

Yes. The lookup I used gave North or South and East or West.

Any location in the southern hemisphere is a negative value.
Any location in the western hemisphere is a negative value.

It took me quite awhile to get straight on this. Geography was way too
long ago.

Try entering: "39.19" and "-73.37" and you should be correctly
positioned.

This is the way the original was setup and I just ran with it.

ok, I get it...a minus sign *grin*...It's been too long since basic
Geography class....thanks...

 

[Roger Johansson]

I spent some time looking at Xplanet (http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/)

Very interesting program. I have only just started looking at it.

I am surprised there are not a bunch of different bat files to download
and use for xplanet. Especially when one downloads the extra maps there
could have been example bat files included which use those pictures.

With a loop in a batfile it might be possible to rotate the earth globe,
for example.

 

[BarryTone]

I am surprised there are not a bunch of different bat files to download
and use for xplanet. Especially when one downloads the extra maps there
could have been example bat files included which use those pictures.

With a loop in a batfile it might be possible to rotate the earth globe,
for example.

Yes, more .bat examples would be really nice. I assume you saw the
xplanet.bat file already? It does have a number of sample startup
command lines commented out.

On the homa page, there are also links to "Maps & Scripts" and "Config
Files" that I have not looked at yet. I'll bet there's some good stuff
there too.

 

[BarryTone]

On the homa page, there are also links to "Maps & Scripts" and "Config
Files" that I have not looked at yet. I'll bet there's some good stuff
there too.

DOH! Turns out there is a XPlanet GUI interface for windows -
http://www.xplanetcontrol.de/

XPlanetControl is the easy way to control your xPlanet. No need for
command line options, never again! With this frontend you can control
all of the features supported by xPlanet without looking at an optical
overkill.

 

[Roger Johansson]

Yes, more .bat examples would be really nice. I assume you saw the
xplanet.bat file already? It does have a number of sample startup
command lines commented out.

Yes, I am beginning to learn how to change parameters in both the bat
file and in the default file.

But there is really a need for an interface program to control this
rendering engine. A program where one could set many kinds of settings in
a more windowslike way, like the settings part of xearth.

On the homa page, there are also links to "Maps & Scripts" and "Config
Files" that I have not looked at yet. I'll bet there's some good stuff
there too.

Unfortunately there are no more bat files, AFAICS, only maps and a help
file for the default file.

 

[Roger Johansson]

DOH! Turns out there is a XPlanet GUI interface for windows -
http://www.xplanetcontrol.de/

Great, if I could make it work in win98se.

XPlanetControl is the easy way to control your xPlanet. No need for
command line options, never again! With this frontend you can control
all of the features supported by xPlanet without looking at an optical
overkill.

It says it will work with win2000 and above.

I have now tried it and it looks like it doesn't
work in win98se.
I guess I will have to write my own bat files
Or upgrade to win2k.

 

[BarryTone]

Great, if I could make it work in win98se.




It says it will work with win2000 and above.

I have now tried it and it looks like it doesn't
work in win98se.
I guess I will have to write my own bat files
Or upgrade to win2k.

According to the forums (http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/phpBB2/), a few
have tried to get XPlanetControl working with win98SE with little
success. Here's a direct link to the win98 topic:
http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=79

 

[BarryTone]

Here is a screen-shot that I made yesterday -
http://home.comcast.net/~atomhrt/images/acf.jpg

Sorry, the jpg image that I posted looks too aliased and dark. This PNG
screen-shot image looks much better -
http://home.comcast.net/~atomhrt/images/acf.png

 

[Roger Johansson]

According to the forums (http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/phpBB2/), a few
have tried to get XPlanetControl working with win98SE with little
success. Here's a direct link to the win98 topic:
http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=79

Yes, the 0.95 version works better on win98se.
It also contains both programs in one download, and need no installation,
just unpac into a folder and run the winxplanetbg.exe.

Thanks.

 

[REM]

REM <[email protected]> wrote:

I'm not sure if anyone else is interested in this or not, but playing

(yada yada)

I have what I think will be the last beta ready:

This version uses 10, yes 10, .ini files to mark positions. Each time
the display refreshes a new .ini file is used.

There were so many long names along the same latitude that it required
10 files to make the display neater. If refresh is set for 1 minute
the program cycles through every 10 minutes.

http://woundedmoon.org/xearth/Xearth-ACF-vbeta3.zip

This should be the last beta. I haven't found anything but minor bugs
so far.

 

[Susan Bugher]

I have what I think will be the last beta ready:

This version uses 10, yes 10, .ini files to mark positions. Each time
the display refreshes a new .ini file is used.

There were so many long names along the same latitude that it required
10 files to make the display neater. If refresh is set for 1 minute
the program cycles through every 10 minutes.

http://woundedmoon.org/xearth/Xearth-ACF-vbeta3.zip

This should be the last beta. I haven't found anything but minor bugs
so far.

I downloaded it, unzipped it, double-clicked on the .exe
Nice display, the quick refresh works (using the tray icon), but. . .
I can only close it by rebooting (Win98FE)
the desktop turns black - Xearth remains. . .

Where did I go wrong?

Susan

 

[BarryTone]

There were so many long names along the same latitude that it required
10 files to make the display neater. If refresh is set for 1 minute
the program cycles through every 10 minutes.

http://woundedmoon.org/xearth/Xearth-ACF-vbeta3.zip

This should be the last beta. I haven't found anything but minor bugs
so far.

WFM on WinXP SP1. Good job!! I did change my update rate to 1 minute
(the default was 80 minutes).

 

[Roger Johansson]

I downloaded it, unzipped it, double-clicked on the .exe
Nice display, the quick refresh works (using the tray icon), but. . .
I can only close it by rebooting (Win98FE)
the desktop turns black - Xearth remains. . .

I do not know how this version works in win98fe but I used the old
version for years in win98fe. To close it I simply right-clicked on the
tray icon and chose close, or exit.. something.

 

[Susan Bugher]

I do not know how this version works in win98fe but I used the old
version for years in win98fe. To close it I simply right-clicked on the
tray icon and chose close, or exit.. something.

That's what I tried (also tried the 3-finger salute).

Susan

 

[Gabriele Neukam]

On that special day, Susan Bugher, ([email protected]) said...

That's what I tried (also tried the 3-finger salute).

This is probably a misunderstnding. If you close the program in the
systray, it is shut down, but the *wallpaper* generated by x-earth still
remains on the screen. Change to another background, it should then be
alright.


Gabriele "using ME" Neukam

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Susan Bugher]

On that special day, Susan Bugher, ([email protected]) said...

This is probably a misunderstnding. If you close the program in the
systray, it is shut down, but the *wallpaper* generated by x-earth still
remains on the screen. Change to another background, it should then be
alright.

Thanks Gabriele, that explanations fits the behavior I saw. Refreshing
the desktop didn't work - I'll try *changing* the background instead.

Susan

 

[Roger Johansson]

Thanks Gabriele, that explanations fits the behavior I saw. Refreshing
the desktop didn't work - I'll try *changing* the background instead.

Good point from Gabriele, but I have a strong memory of xearth
disappearing when I choose close.

So I tried it again now, the old version of xearth, and it still works
the same, it disappears completely, restoring automatically the black
colored background. And I am pretty sure that it restored the earlier
wallpaper too, when I used a wallpaper, when closing xearth.

I tried the new acf-beta3, and it doesn't disappear when I use close.
Obviously the new version works differently than the old one.

I use win98se now, but I don't think that matters, the old version worked
like that in win98fe too.

 

[Susan Bugher]

That did work.

Good point from Gabriele, but I have a strong memory of xearth
disappearing when I choose close.

So I tried it again now, the old version of xearth, and it still works
the same, it disappears completely, restoring automatically the black
colored background. And I am pretty sure that it restored the earlier
wallpaper too, when I used a wallpaper, when closing xearth.

I tried the new acf-beta3, and it doesn't disappear when I use close.
Obviously the new version works differently than the old one.

I use win98se now, but I don't think that matters, the old version worked
like that in win98fe too.

FWIW - I'm seeing the same behavior here with the acf-beta3 and Win98FE.
(I tried opening and closing it with and without wallpaper on the
desktop - that made no difference.)

Susan

 

[Roger Johansson]

FWIW - I'm seeing the same behavior here with the acf-beta3 and
Win98FE. (I tried opening and closing it with and without wallpaper on
the desktop - that made no difference.)

It is not a bug, it is a new feature, the program now works as a
wallpaper creator and installer ;-)

But now when we have found xplanet I guess xearth can be considered
obsolete, so it doesn't matter. I haven't used xplanet enough to be sure
but it looks like it has many of the features I longed for in xearth.

I especially appreciate the geographic details like mountains, low land
and high land.
In version 0.95 for windows I have not found a setting for brightness,
and the result is too dark for my system. But I fixed it by opening the
day and night pictures in a paint program and did some histogram
adjustments until I was satisfied.