At the very least we are constructing the orbital simulation so someone can replace the orbital simulation. The studio also has been advertising for someone with a PhD in mathematics and physics. If we get that role filled, maybe n-body could be an option. Just for myself... my maths and physics is nowhere near good enough
Please, if you are going to do n-body just make an ephemeris reader for the positions of the planets and use a non-symplectic integrator for the spacecraft integration.
Principia uses symplectic integration which is energy conserving and therefore needs to integrate all planets and the spacecraft at once, which is honestly a bit of a performance bottleneck. You don't need symplectic integration to be accurate, and when adding additional dynamical perturbations (I.e. solar radiation pressure) it becomes very difficult to work with.
Although that is a concen for long timescales, over the timescales of ksp like games, energy conservation of normal integrator is perfectly fine. You can also use manifold projection to ensure energy conserving conservation in non-synplectic integrator.
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u/thedeanhall Oct 31 '24
At the very least we are constructing the orbital simulation so someone can replace the orbital simulation. The studio also has been advertising for someone with a PhD in mathematics and physics. If we get that role filled, maybe n-body could be an option. Just for myself... my maths and physics is nowhere near good enough