The Premise

Build the system. Let physics tell the rest of the story.

Universe Creator gives the user a controllable celestial laboratory rather than a fixed solar system. Stars, planets, dwarf bodies, gas giants and compact objects can be arranged into custom systems and placed into stable, unstable or intentionally extreme configurations.

The result is part simulator, part experiment bench and part cosmic construction set. A quiet system can remain stable for long periods, while a single change in mass, velocity or position can turn that calm arrangement into a gravitational chain reaction.

Designed around experimentation

Stable orbit, collision course, capture, ejection, collapse or near miss. The interesting part is often what happens after the initial setup.

General Use

From first orbit to full system simulation.

Create celestial bodies

Add supported objects and configure the physical properties that influence how each body behaves.

Construct orbital systems

Arrange bodies into familiar or experimental orbital configurations and observe whether the system settles or destabilizes.

Run and observe

Start the simulation, watch trajectories and interactions, then alter variables to see how the system reacts over time.

Evolved Use

Push beyond tidy planetary systems.

Extreme configurations

Introduce massive bodies into stable systems, compress orbital distances, alter velocities and explore unusual long-term gravitational behavior.

These experiments can reveal capture, resonance, ejection, orbital perturbation and catastrophic system-wide changes.

Controlled perturbation

Start with a known stable system, then change one variable at a time. Move a dwarf star, accelerate a gas giant, introduce a compact object or shift a body into a dangerous orbit.

Visual observation

Motion, changing distances, orbital deformation and catastrophic interactions are often easier to understand when they can be watched directly.

Repeat and compare

Save a working configuration, duplicate it, perturb one parameter and compare the outcome. Over time, saved systems become a practical experiment library.

For Developers

Built to be explored under the hood.

Source-level experimentation

The source distribution is for users who want to inspect the project, modify behavior, test new simulation ideas or build new tools around the simulation.

Potential extensions include new body types, presets, visual diagnostics, save formats and additional controls for system generation and perturbation.

Development workflow

Create an isolated Python environment.
Install the project requirements.
Run the application from source.
Keep runtime data separate from build artifacts.
Build the release only after the source tree is verified.

Building From Source

Readable source. Sane build. Portable release.

Universe Creator is intended to ship as both a ready-to-run Linux package and a clean source archive.

The source release should remain easy to inspect. A normal workflow creates a virtual environment, installs dependencies, verifies the application, then runs the included build script to produce the release directory.

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

python3 main.py

./build.sh

FAQ

Common questions.

Is Universe Creator intended to reproduce the real Solar System?

It can be used for familiar systems, but custom and extreme configurations are central to the project.

Can I intentionally create unstable systems?

Yes. Instability can be the experiment rather than a failure.

Is this only for advanced astronomy users?

No. The project is visual enough for exploratory use while still supporting deeper technical experimentation.

Why provide both binary and source downloads?

The binary is for normal use. The source package is for inspection, development, modification and custom builds.

Will systems and saves remain outside the executable?

Yes. The release is directory-based so supporting data can remain accessible alongside the application.

Downloads

Binary, source or system addon pack.

Linux Binary

Universe Creator

Ready-to-run application package with its required supporting files.

294.9 MB Binary Download (Linux)

Source

Universe Creator Source

Clean source archive for development, inspection and custom builds.

46.8 MB Source Download

Addon Pack

Universe Creator Showcase Templates

A curated addon pack for Universe Creator 0.2.6 containing five complete celestial systems designed to demonstrate stable orbital architecture, multi-star systems, planetary subsystems and spectacular black-hole environments without the deliberate instability of the Gravity Pinball stress test.

Included Systems

Aurelia - Perfect Balance — a calm, low-eccentricity planetary system built around a carefully balanced stellar architecture, with seven planets, five moons, planetary rings and an asteroid belt.
Vesper Trinity — a hierarchical triple-star system combining F, K and M class stars, with planetary systems distributed through the stellar hierarchy.
The Four Lanterns — a four-star system containing G, K and M class stars together with a white dwarf, creating a complex but intentionally controlled multi-star environment.
Noctis Feeding Grounds — a 30-solar-mass black-hole system with two feeder stars and surviving planetary and lunar subsystems orbiting within the larger black-hole architecture.
Umbra Prime Sanctuary — a four-million-solar-mass supermassive black hole accompanied by a distant K-star sanctuary system and a directly orbiting ringed super-Jovian.

The templates are ready to load, observe, modify and perturb. They can also serve as starting points for new custom systems and as examples of more elaborate Universe Creator system design.

Showcase Templates Download

Construct a universe.Then disturb it.