Basic Usage Guide

This guide covers the essential features and controls of Teskooano to help you get the most out of your celestial simulation experience.

Interface Overview

The Teskooano interface is designed to be intuitive and flexible. The main components are:

• Toolbar: Contains controls for simulation, system generation, and views
• Engine View: 3D visualization of celestial bodies and their orbits
• Control Panels: Information displays and controls for the simulation

Navigating the 3D Space

Camera Controls

• Orbit: Click and drag in the Engine View to orbit around the current focus point
• Zoom: Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out
• Pan: Hold the middle mouse button and drag to pan the view

Focus Controls

• Select Object: Choose a celestial body from the Focus Control panel
• Auto Focus: When enabled, the camera will automatically track the selected object
• Reset View: Click the "Reset Camera" button to return to the default view position

Working with Celestial Bodies

Object Selection

• Click on any object in the Focus Control panel to select it
• The selected object becomes the focus point for camera orbiting
• The Celestial Info panel updates to show details about the selected object

Object Information

The Celestial Info panel displays:

• Basic Properties: Name, type, mass, radius
• Orbital Parameters: Semi-major axis, eccentricity, inclination (for orbiting bodies)
• Physical Characteristics: Surface type, atmosphere (for planets)
• Star-specific Data: Spectral class, temperature, luminosity (for stars)

Simulation Controls

Time Management

• Play/Pause: Toggle the simulation on and off
• Time Scale: Adjust how quickly time passes in the simulation:
  • 1x: Real-time (one second in the simulation equals one second in real life)
  • 10x to 10,000,000x: Accelerated time to observe long-term orbital behavior

System Generation

• Seed Generator: Create new star systems by entering a seed value
• Regenerate: Keep the same seed but regenerate the system (useful for trying different variations)

Multiple Views

Teskooano supports multiple simultaneous views of the same simulation.

Creating Views

• Click the "Add View" button in the toolbar to create a new Engine View
• Each view maintains its own camera position and focus object
• Views share the same simulation data, so changes in one view affect all views

View Arrangements

• Drag and drop view tabs to rearrange them
• Views can be positioned side by side, stacked, or in a grid pattern
• Resize views by dragging the dividers between them

Renderer Settings

Visual Options

• Show Orbits: Toggle the display of orbital paths
• Show Labels: Toggle the display of object labels
• Show Grid: Toggle the reference grid for scale

Performance Settings

• LOD Quality: Adjust the Level of Detail for improved performance on slower machines
• Anti-aliasing: Enable or disable for better visual quality

Tips for Effective Use

• Focus on Smaller Bodies: When studying moons or asteroids, focus directly on them rather than trying to find them visually
• Multiple Views Strategy: Use multiple views to observe the same system at different scales (e.g., one view showing the entire system, another focused on a particular planet)
• Time Management: Use slower time scales for detailed observation of close encounters, and faster scales for observing complete orbits
• System Comparisons: Generate multiple systems with different seeds to compare variations in planetary arrangements

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Space: Play/Pause simulation
• +/-: Increase/decrease time scale
• R: Reset camera
• G: Toggle grid
• O: Toggle orbits
• L: Toggle labels