Universe Sandbox News

[p][/p][p]Watch the boiling surface of a star, then set off a supernova and light up your worlds (before your planets are vaporized anyways). Massive stars now leave behind a neutron star or black hole when they end their life with a bang, and much more![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Super(nova) Lighting[/h3][p]Supernovas now brilliantly light up space as they explode and boil away your planets. Be careful looking at them without your Space Goggles, they’re extremely bright before they realistically fade as they expand and cool down.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]See Stellar Surfaces[/h3][p]Examine the boiling surface of a star. Cells called stellar granules are created when currents of plasma bring bubbles of superheated materials from the interior to the surface. Star surfaces are too bright for the human eye to see any detail, so we’ve used false colors to make these granules visible. Find it under[/p][p]View > Perception > Star Surface Detail[/p][p][/p][h3]
Zombie Stars[/h3][p]Massive stars that go supernova now leave behind a remnant. For stars between 8 and 20 times the mass of the Sun, the remnant is a neutron star. Stars over 20 times the mass of the Sun leave behind a black hole.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]More Highlights[/h3][p]NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, named after the Lucy fossil, passed nearby asteroid Donaldjohanson, named after the fossil’s discoverer, on April 20, 2025. This flyby was a test run before Lucy begins its main mission studying the Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit. Check out our simulation of the encounter under[/p][p]Home > Open > Lucy Spacecraft Encounter with Asteroid Donaldjohanson in 2025[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You can now smoothly undo the deletion of a large number of objects at once with Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac), and they’ll even have their trails regenerated. You can also undo launching objects.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Exoplanet system simulations now include the inclination of known exoplanets around their host stars.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]3D data views no longer color points on the object surface that have a value of zero.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Check out the full list of What's New in Update 35.2.[/p][p][/p][p]Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.[/p]

[h4]Describe Your Worlds[/h4]
Add rich details to any object and the simulation itself with the new description properties. Include your favorite facts about each planet in the Solar System, or give a detailed backstory to your custom Tatooine! Add them under
Object Properties > Overview > Description Simulation > Description

[h4]Choose Your Startup Simulation[/h4]
Pick up where you left off and have Universe Sandbox open your most recent save, your own custom work in progress, or any of our included simulations when it starts up. Set this under
Home > Settings > General > Experience > Startup Simulation
This feature was added in Space in a New Light | Update 35, but wanted to highlight it again in case you missed it.


[h4]Visualizing Planet Data[/h4]
See information about your planets, like the Surface Temperature or Elevation, projected on their surfaces in 3D. This view is now shown in the object preview and on the objects in the simulation. Check it out under
Object Properties > Visuals > Surface

[h4]More Highlights[/h4]
Use the new actions in the View panel to Fly, Land, reset the camera position, and more.



Controls to show and hide an object's atmosphere, clouds, and dust clouds are now simulation-wide view settings instead of only applying when zoomed in on an object. Find them in the View panel.



The simulation of exoplanet K2-18 b has been updated to reflect the recent evidence of specific molecules in K2-18 b's atmosphere that are known to be produced by biological processes on Earth. However, some scientists have argued these molecules may be produced without life, and more data is needed to confirm these molecules are really present in K2-18 b's atmosphere.


Check out the full list of What's New in Update 35.1.

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

We started 2025 by releasing our major graphics overhaul, but we have much more planned for the year, including allowing meteors to burn up in an atmosphere, simulating basic life, and getting Universe Sandbox on mobile devices so you can create and destroy on the go. Before diving into details, let’s look back on some highlights from 2024.


[h2]Highlights from 2024[/h2]
The Moon’s shadow passing over Earth during the total solar eclipse across North America on April 8, 2024.

We spent 2024 working on our major graphics overhaul, released March 2025, and many of the other in-progress features mentioned in this roadmap. In addition to the awe-inspiring realistic graphics, our March graphics update included many quality-of-life improvements. Our biggest accomplishments from the year include:

• Improving material simulation and manipulation with more realistic atmosphere colors and opacity and the ability to swap one material for another. (Update 34.1, March 2024)
  
• Replacing our 10-year-old graphics technology with a state-of-the-art system so you can immerse yourself in a more awe-inspiring and realistic universe. (Update 35, March 2025)
  
• Implementing a new interface system that automatically positions, resizes, and closes panels so you can focus on manipulating the universe instead of managing panels. (Update 35, March 2025)
  

The new graphics rendering and user interface systems were major milestones on our 2024 Roadmap.

[h2]What’s the Plan for 2025?[/h2]

• ✅Finish our major graphics update.
  
  • Released on March 3, 2025!
    
• Add basic life simulation where vegetation grows, dies, and gets eaten.
  
• Optimize and rewrite our simulation using Unity’s Data-Oriented Technology Stack (DOTS).
  
• Bring Universe Sandbox to phones and tablets (iOS & Android).
  

We plan to work on all these projects in 2025, but some, like getting Universe Sandbox on mobile devices, have been in the works for years. Additional challenges may arise that delay features, and our priorities may change.

[h3]Even More Graphics Improvements: The Saga Continues[/h3]

A comparison of Earth and 100 Colliding Moons showing how much more realistic the scenario looks in our new graphics update.

Earlier this year, we released our major graphics update with hot, non-stellar objects emitting light, physically based lighting, and more. But we’re not done yet! We’re planning even more graphics features, including object selection highlights that are unique to the object’s shape and new point light object.

• But Wait, There’s More!
  
  • Now that our new graphics rendering system is out, we’re planning to utilize it to add even more graphics features, including
    
    • Redesigning object selection outlines to be more visible, useful, and unique to that object’s shape instead of always being a circle.
      
    • Adding new Point Lights with customizable colors to light up your simulations without adding stars (and boiling Earth) for that perfect shot.
      Work in Progress: Point Lights are a work in progress that allows you to customize your simulation's lighting further.
      
      
    • Simulating supernovas emitting light (Spoiler - they’re really really bright).
      Work in Progress: A supernova lighting up a few different objects, including Jupiter and a very large banana. Space Goggles are On because the supernova is so bright.

[h3]Life Simulation: Let There Be Life![/h3]
Work in Progress: The work-in-progress life simulation interface tracks the mass of vegetation, herbivores, and non-living matter, and the habitability of each point on a planet's surface.

Last year, we began working on life simulation after adding materials like carbon dioxide and oxygen to planet atmospheres. Vegetation will grow, spread, die, and be eaten on planet surfaces, similarly to how we simulate temperature, liquid, and gas flow.

• Simulating Vegetation
  
  • Life can spread to other planets on fragments from collisions.
    
  • As vegetation grows and dies, the amount of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere will change.
    
  • Vegetation will grow, spread, and die based on the local conditions on the surface of a planet.
    Work in Progress: All life on Earth is killed, only to reseed it with some vegetation using the Planetscaping tool. The vegetation slowly spreads back across Earth.
    
    
  • You’ll be able to customize the conditions needed for life on your planets so your plants can absorb methane and emit hydrogen, for example.
    
    • You can even set the conditions to make life grow on Titan!
      Work in Progress: Custom vegetation thriving on the surface of Saturn’s Moon Titan after setting the temperature range and atmosphere pressure to match Titan’s surface and having it take in methane and output oxygen.
• Animals & the Circle of Life
  
  • Herbivores, like vegetation, will also be simulated on planet surfaces. The overall herbivore mass will be tracked and will also depend on how much vegetation there is on the planet to support them.
    
  • The names and life requirements of the two species will be customizable as well, so you can let your imagination run wild to simulate your favorite plants and animals, like cows, trees, whales, dik-diks, skunk cabbage, aliens, unicorns, you name it (literally)!
    
• Future Models
  
  • We plan to make our food chain even more complex with carnivores in the future.
    
  • You’ll be able to quickly cause catastrophic events leading to mass extinctions. For now, we have a simple Kill All Life action.
    Work in Progress: Kill all life on a planet with the press of a button.

[h3]Advanced Physics Technology[/h3]

Work in Progress: Earth is orbited by eight Ceres, which get stretched and ripped apart by Earth’s tidal forces, forming rings around the planet.

Improving collisions with more realistic friction and craters, simulating atmospheric drag, which allows meteors to burn up in the atmosphere, and continuing to optimize our physics simulation are all things we're working on this year.

• Advanced Game Engine Features
  
  • We’re continuing to reconstruct our simulation architecture using the Data-Oriented Technology Stack (DOTS) from Unity, the game engine we use to build Universe Sandbox. We’re excited about the expected performance gains and future opportunities it brings. We plan to roll these changes out in multiple phases.
    
    • Phase 1 replaces our current physics engine with a new DOTS-based system that will make Universe Sandbox easier to maintain and improve.
      
      • Upgrading to DOTS in phase 1 lays the foundation for everyday, non-spherical object collisions (like two dice), building and flying spacecraft, and constructing megastructures like Dyson spheres.
        
    • Phase 2 will unify our collision simulation to allow for more realistic collisions of celestial objects like planets and everyday objects like pigeons. This phase will allow
      
      • Objects to physically deform due to craters, fragmentation, laser impacts, and more, influencing how they collide.
        
      • Everyday objects, including simple shapes like dice and complex shapes like spacecraft, to collide according to their unique forms instead of as spheres, also called rigid-body physics.
        
• DOTS optimizes our simulation by efficiently running more computations simultaneously on the CPU, allowing for more objects, collisions, and fragments.
  
  
  

  
  

  Current
  

  
  

  Work in Progress
  

  
  

New Gravity Simulation

• We’re experimenting with a new method of gravity simulation, called Barnes-Hut simulation, to allow rock fragments and dust clouds to attract and merge, forming planets & moons. Currently, these particles can only be pulled on and cannot form planets independently.
  Work in Progress: The red boxes show how the gravity tree used in Barnes-Hut simulation divides up space dynamically into chunks of particles to more efficiently simulate the intersections between thousands of particles instead of constantly brute force computing the gravitational interactions between all objects. You can see the boxes change as fragments are created and spread out in space.

Grinding to a Halt

• Our new friction model will simulate craters stretching out as objects skid across each other’s surfaces during collisions. In our current simplistic model, craters are always circular.
  

Visually Deformed Objects

• Most objects in Universe Sandbox are spheres, but in real life, some rotate so quickly that they stretch and flatten, like the dwarf planet Haumea. We’re working to simulate this stretching visually.
  
  • This will not affect the object's physical shape, collisions, or surface simulation until after Phase 2 of our restructuring our simulation with DOTS is complete.
    
    
    

    
    

    Current
    

    
    

    Work in Progress
    

    
    

Atmospheric Drag

• To simulate meteors, we’re working on adding a drag force so objects burn up while traveling through a planet’s atmosphere. Currently, objects pass through atmospheres unchanged.
  Work in Progress: A small asteroid burns up as it travels through an atmosphere before crashing into the surface.

Tidal Locking

• We’re planning to simulate objects becoming tidally locked, where the same side of one always faces the other as they orbit each other, like the Moon to the Earth.
  
  
  

  
  

  Current
  

  
  

  Work in Progress
  

  
  

Mathematical Points

• We’re planning to add more visualizations of useful mathematical points and boundaries, including
  
• Lagrange Points - the points where the gravitational influence of two objects is equally strong. Objects placed at these points orbit in a stationary position relative to the two objects like the James Webb Space Telescope is to Earth and the Sun.
  
• Hill Spheres - the boundary within which a moon is gravitationally bound to a planet.
  
• Roche Limit - the boundary where the tidal forces pulling on an orbiting object are stronger than its self-gravity, ripping it apart.
  

[h3]Universe Sandbox on Phones & Tablets[/h3]

Universe Sandbox in portrait mode with our new dynamic interface system that automatically positions, resizes, and closes panels so you can always see the simulation.

Getting Universe Sandbox on mobile devices (iOS & Android) is a major focus again this year. We’ve made a lot of progress with our new graphics update and interface system, which significantly improves usability on small touchscreens, but there’s still a lot to do.

Immerse yourself in a universe more awe-inspiring and realistic than ever before with our next-generation graphics update! We've also added many interface improvements to make controlling the universe easier and more intuitive. You need to see it to believe it.


[h4]A More Realistic Graphics Engine[/h4]
We’ve completely replaced our 10-year-old graphics technology with a state-of-the-art system to make Universe Sandbox look more realistic with physically-based lighting. This new system has required us to update our minimum requirements. Learn more.


[h4]Edit Objects Simultaneously[/h4]
The properties panel now lets you edit multiple objects at once. Use the new Multi-Select tool to select multiple objects and try increasing the mass of every object in the Solar System simultaneously!

[h4]Automatic Interface Management[/h4]
Focus on manipulating the universe instead of managing panels with our new interface system that automatically positions, resizes, and closes panels so you can always see the simulation. This immersive system also provides better support for ultrawide monitors and small screens (like smartphones).

[h4]More Highlights[/h4]

Focus on realism
Making Universe Sandbox look as realistic as possible with physically-based lighting has made stars realistically bright, and collisions result in blindingly realistic hot spots. It turns out there’s a reason you’re not supposed to look at the Sun.


Light from hot planets
Hot objects now emit light based on their temperature so you can use intense impacts to light up your simulation. Previously, only stars could emit light.

Localized glow
Objects now bloom only in hot areas, like those created from lasers or collisions, instead of being surrounded by a single uniform glow.

Smoothly blending clouds
Gas and dust clouds now smoothly pass over planets instead of creating sharp intersections.

Realistic artifacts
The surfaces of human-scale objects, or artifacts like spacecraft, have shiny, reflective metals and rough, rugged edges that interact with light more realistically.

Math in text fields
All object properties now support basic math. Try typing “*42” into a property to multiply by 42 or “/3” to divide by 3, for example.


Explore planet surfaces
Move across the surface of a planet with the WASD keys after landing on it by zooming in for a closer look or using the Land action button in the planet's Overview tab.


Light intensity with distance
Objects are now always realistically lit based on their physical distance from a light source. Previously, objects were lit with the same intensity based on the camera's distance from a light source instead of the object's distance from a light source.

Light warping
Black holes now realistically warp the visuals from other black holes instead of blocking any black holes behind them from being seen. The images below are from the same simulation, with custom colors in the “Before” image that make the black holes easier to see.

Updated View Panel
We’ve improved the View panel with more intuitive controls and lighting options
You can now see and change the camera target from the View panel.
Space Goggles provide a more comfortable view that filters the brightness to show the action while preserving realism. Turning them off switches to an unfiltered realistic view where stars, hot objects, and collisions can be blindingly bright.

Before


After

Action Buttons
We’ve added all-new Action buttons at the top of every Properties tab. Quickly fly to a planet or explode it. Your call. (These buttons replace the Action tab.)


Save objects or learn more about real astronomical ones with our new Wikipedia button under Additional Actions.


Color maps
We’ve updated our Data View color maps to make them more perceptually uniform. We've also added colorblind-friendly color maps and the ability to invert them.


Inspecting the surface
Use the new Inspect tool to quickly see the temperature, material composition, elevation, and other properties of specific points on a planet’s surface.


Selectable Orbital Parent
It’s now easier to create binary systems orbiting a common center of mass (also called a barycenter). View and adjust an object's Orbital Elements around a binary by selecting the system's barycenter as the object’s Orbital Parent.

Choose your Startup Simulation
Choose the simulation that automatically opens when Universe Sandbox starts, from any of our included simulations to your own custom work in progress. Just go to
Home > Settings > General > Experience > Startup Simulation

New hotbar
The hotbar has been overhauled so you can add even more shortcuts to manipulate the universe. To edit your hotbar, go to Settings > General > Edit Hotbar or right-click on it and then select “Edit Hotbar.”


A Potentially Dangerous Asteroid
Watch the projected path of one of the most potentially dangerous asteroids ever detected, YR 2024, as it flies near Earth in 2032, or check out a What If? scenario of what the impact might look like under
Close Encounter of Asteroid YR4 2024 with Earth in 2032
And
What If Asteroid YR4 2024 Collides with Earth in 2032?

[h4]New Minimum Requirements[/h4]
Improving our graphics means we need to update our minimum hardware requirements to include
4 GB dedicated video memory (up from 2 GB). 8 GB is recommended.
4 GB RAM (up from 2 GB). 8 GB is recommended.
4 GB of free disk space (up from 2 GB).

Windows:
DirectX 12 
Windows 10 21H1+ (support for Windows 7 SP1, 8, 8.1, and older versions of Windows 10 will be dropped)

Apple:
Silicon (M1 or newer). Intel Mac will no longer be supported. Universe Sandbox may still run on Intel-based Macs, but we cannot guarantee good performance for every Intel-based Mac.
macOS 11.0+ (support for macOS 10.14 and 10.15 will be dropped)

While it is never fun to have support dropped, this new graphics system will allow us to improve performance and add new features to Universe Sandbox now and well into the future.

We’ll ensure all users affected by this change can always access the version of Universe Sandbox from before this minimum requirements update. Learn how.

Check out the full list of What's New in Update 35.

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

Since our last sneak peek of the Universe Sandbox graphics update, we’ve put out a preview version of our new state-of-the-art graphics system that you can test now on Steam to immerse yourself in a universe more awe-inspiring and realistic than ever before. We've also made many interface improvements to make controlling the universe easier and more intuitive.

There's still more to do before this update is ready for release, but we wanted to share other improvements you can look forward to and test out right now.

[h4]Space in a New Light | Update 35 is now out![/h4]

Learn more about all the additions and improvements in this update.

Work in Progress

The properties panel now lets you edit multiple objects at once. We’ve even added a new selection tool to make it easier to select multiple objects.

We’ve implemented a new user interface system that automatically positions, resizes, and closes panels so you can always see the simulation and focus on manipulating the universe instead of managing panels.

All object properties now support basic math. Try typing “*42” into a property to multiply by 42 or “/3” to divide by 3, for example.
Work in Progress

Move across the surface of a planet with the WASD keys after landing on it by zooming in for a closer look or using the Land action button in the planet's Overview tab.
Work in Progress

It’s now easier to create binary systems orbiting a common center of mass (also called a barycenter). View and adjust an object's Orbital Elements around a binary by selecting the system's barycenter as the object’s Orbital Parent.

We’ve added all-new Action buttons at the top of every Properties tab. Quickly fly to a planet or explode it. Your call. (These buttons replace the Action tab)
Work in Progress

Save objects or learn more about real astronomical ones with our new Wikipedia button under Additional Actions.
Work in Progress

Use the new Inspect tool to quickly see the temperature, material composition, elevation, and other properties of specific points on a planet’s surface.


Stars and collisions can be blindingly bright. We’re overhauling the View panel with more intuitive controls and lighting options to show the action while preserving life-like accuracy and letting you customize your view of the universe. Learn more in our new guide under
Home > Guides > Tutorials > A Realistic View of Space Comparing Earth and 100 colliding moons with Realistic (Space Goggles off and no artificial lights) and Enhanced (Space Goggles on and no artificial lights) Object Visibility.

Work in Progress

We’ve updated our Data View color maps to make them more perceptually uniform, along with adding colorblind-friendly color maps and the ability to invert them.
Work in Progress

This preview version includes over 50 fixes and improvements related to all aspects of Universe Sandbox.

Our new graphics renderer and interface improvements are still in progress, and final appearances may look different. We’re excited for you all to test out the preview version and eventually share the full update with everybody.

Join our community discussions on our Steam Forum and our official Discord community.

Updated on March 3, 2025