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The Review! Gravitator is a very unique program. From the moment you fire up this gem, you can tell that it was a labour of love for the author. The interface is amazing and beautiful at the same time. With the initial release of this program, I expressed with great dismay that the feature set and display had several shortcomings - but with the release of Gravitator 2, I am most pleased to report that the uniqueness of this fine program can now be fully enjoyed after the addition of several refinements. The first thing you need to know about Gravitator is that it will take over your desktop - it kind of gives the feeling of a game that is starting up - that's fitting, because uding this program is a whole lot of fun. Thankfully, the author has removed the default "camera" setting that allows you to follow the action on screen by moving your mouse - it was a little nauseating! Now, the program greets you with a beautiful animated view of our solar system:
What's the purpose of Gravitator? It's a gravity simulation program that allows the user to place a bunch of objects on the screen with varying positions, velocities, masses, radii and densities. As you can see from the screenshot above, objects are represented by colourful spheres that the user places on the screen, but pictures can be added too so that actual planets can be represented. The author has thoughtfully included some entertaining pre-made examples that you can open and observe to get a feel for what you might want to create. The author states on the website that "Gravitator's charm lies in its simple interface: point and click to create objects..." With this new version, that is indeed true. Clicking on the screen with the creation cursor (did God use one of these?) brings up a new body window that allows you to configure your simulated object any just about any way you want - appearance, mass, density, velocity, even sound!
There are some great features to this program, such as the ability to change the nature of the interactions - objects can bounce, absorb, or pass right through one another depending on your wishes. Very interesting gravity "maps" can be generated, and many can be placed on the screen at the same time. It's particularly impressive that you can grab objects with your cursor right in the middle of an animation and reposition them. The excellent "menus" on the screen have been improved further, with a terrific little help window that helps you cope with the many different keyboard shortcuts you'll need...
This is a great stable program. I'm still not a fan of programs that take over you desktop, but the author has now allowed the user to access the finder and finder menus, so you can operate another program while using Gravitator 2 - hooray! It also means many of the program's functions are accessible through the menus - great for people who are afraid of too many keyboard shortcuts. Among many other improvements, is the dropping of the goofy "smart" view (that tried to jumpily keep as many objects on the screen as possible) and the addition of many camera options, such as the ability to set view from any object in your simulation. Another great feature is "ride" which is essentially a high-powered zoom tool, that allows you to fly through your simulation. It's very easy to use, just press your arrow keys and you're off flying! (The following example movie was captured at 10 fps, so keep in mind that the program's animation is actually much more beautifully smooth than this QT (1.2MB) movie): Gravitator 2 is light years ahead of its predessor. Within moments of starting this program, you'll be creating objects and flying around. But what makes this program special is that it strikes me as a work of art - all the features, little things like windows and icons, have been lovingly created to be both functional and eye-pleasing. My hats off to the author and his composer hair! Now enough reviewing - time to start playing with Gravitator 2!
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