I've made huge changes to Universe Sandbox since my posts in the old thread and I'm now developing Universe Sandbox full time.
Universe Sandbox 2 is more powerful, more accurate, and easier to use than the original version. You can now make your own realistic solar system with just a few clicks.
Here's a detailed list of what's new in version 2:
http://universesandbox.com/forum/index.php/topic,1887.msg18235.html#msg18235
And cheers to Martin Schweiger on his 2010 update to Orbiter. His software is very impressive.
yeah you can demo it for free. I thought it was pretty cool, but was quite underwhelmed by the planet rings.
There's definitely an opportunity to improve the visual look of rings. Is that what you meant by underwhelmed? You can add more rings or turn up the 'Particles Multiplier' value in 'Options' then reload the simulation to increase the ring density.
Something really interesting to try with the rings (that you can do forever in the free version) is this:
1 - Open the simulation 'Saturn & its Rings'
2 - Zoom in on Saturn until it fills the screen, then use the mouse-wheel to zoom in again and trigger 'Surface View'. This locks your frame of reference to the surface of the planet letting you look up at the rings. The rings appear to be moving in different directions as the middle of Saturn's rings happen to be in geosynchronous orbit.
3 - Click on the Exit button at the top of the screen to exit this view.
