Nothing much, added my github link as a button, attempted to add touchscreen controls for the guys on ipads but unfortunately failed miserably… it kept messing with the actual mouse moving code and I just couldn’t fix it. Might work on it sometime if I get bored of working on G-Lens lol (my other project)

It is done!!

I have deployed this project at https://pulsarsimulator.vercel.app/ , check it out!

Final Steps:

• polish information on the article and other cards
• gather feedback from users and work on that before I ship
• hit 10 hours lol I am still on 9
• make the fade in animation for the cards occur on startup too, currently it only occurs when you click the button.
• MAYBE i might make custom sliders but i think this is fine

This is one of 4 simulators, I will research for the second one today, and if possible complete a demo

Pulsar simulator MASSIVE UI update…

So i got really tired of the default p5.js fonts so I decided to change things up, and in the process I ended up wanting to redesign the info box i had made initially (you can see the previous designs on my insta). Before it was static and looked like it had come out of a powerpoint presentation so I learnt how to add fonts and found space mono, which i really liked. I also had to redesign the previous cards i had made because they were again static and boring…

I kept running into issues and limitations with the p5.js canvas as before i was just using that for the darkened overlay and cards, so i went ahead and redid the entire overlay as pure html and css because i had more experience in that and it was easier to bend to my will.

So 3hrs logged brings Pulsar Sim this new revamped landing/info page!

• I also changed some of the fonts on the project itself, I dont know if i you can add multiple pics onto a devlog yet but i’ll send a screenshot in the next one.

Next step for me is to make the middle card expandable, and include more detailed explanations on neutron stars and pulsars, as the information i provided initially is really basic and surface-level.

I’d say this was a really successful UI overhaul - any feedback you guys have would be really valuable, i’ll try post more to showcase everything, and if you want to see videos of the project itself they are on my instagram.

UI changes

• changed up that boring graph, I added gridlines and a scale, changed the waveform colour to green to make it easier to see.

New features

• pulse detection now factors in distance (totally didn’t forget to add this before lol) so pulses from further away won’t be detected as they are too weak (as in real life!)

Next Ideas

• I want to add more information, probably a toggleable menu in the corner with some basic information about pulsars

• maybe a catalogue of real pulsars?

• a pulse rate tooltip, I am definitely adding this one in the next session its too essential to leave out

• probably gonna switch some of the UI up, the logic is working fine at the moment I’ve spent a lot of time on it so might focus on aesthetics for an hour or so

Note about the screenshot:
You can see that the beam is covering the observer line of Earth, and there is some signal being produced, however it’s below the threshold of 0.2, hence why it displays “NO SIGNAL”!

UI Changes

• added distance counter
• added pulse counter

New Features

• tried to implement a pulse counter (it works :D), counts pulse based on whether or not last pulse was valid

• I also added a “reset view” button, as even as a developer it was annoying having to re-run the program to test different distances and angles, so reset view brings Earth back to its initial position (so you can have it come back after dragging it miles away lol)

Fixes

• I had to fix this one as it was just qol, but after selecting any preset, then changing the sliders, the selected preset didn’t show “custom” it showed whatever one was picked last, which could be misleading for new users.

alsooo i have an instagram now, check it out for video logs (and drop a follow if you’d like to :)
https://www.instagram.com/urged.st/

Added a distance factor, and different presets for the pulsar!

Signals are now weaker the further away you place Earth, and you can select preset pulsar types to investigate.

Not much done, just fixed a bug where the using the slider would drag the background along with it 😭

Learnt how to use function mousePressed and Relesased, so i’ve made the background pannable, and also added zoom. You can now drag Earth around too!

Finished the base template

I added the waveform viewer and signal status - this took most of the time, the sliders weren’t too hard to figure out. At least now it’s working fully.

Next steps? I am going to try and have Earth be movable, so users can see the effect of observer position, might also make it have a scrollable and zoomable background maybe, make it feel more like a space engine.

Finished base model of the pulsar, it spins! First time using canvas so it took longer than expected.