News :: 15MR: Solar System 3D Screensaver

Hello all and welcome to another episode of 15MR! Today’s toy is Solar System 3D Screensaver—a screensaver which rotates between the planets in 3D. Today’s review should be a quick one.

As Giveaway of the Day states:

“Have you ever dreamed of getting a chance to see the rings of Saturn and the Asteroid Belt? This screensaver is an outstanding 3D model of the solar system. Every planet is there along with its satellites and even a small info graph with basic facts. All the proportions and trajectories are right. It is not only its sheer beauty but also the significant educational value that make Solar System 3D Screensaver an absolute must-have.”

Quick Pros

• Gorgeous – Very inspiring
• Easy to get going
• Nice stats – Learning while being gorgeous

Quick Cons

• Screensaver ‘interface’ a little much, especially if only one screensaver
• ‘High’ settings could be higher – No anti-aliasing and still visible vertexes
• Graphical distortion; Lens flare flickers when shouldn’t exist

Expansion

This is a very nice screensaver. It is gorgeous and great to leave chugging along. Easy to setup through the interface is a plus, however I do feel the interface is a bit overdone. The ‘free’ screensavers are all not really free; to use them well, you have to upgrade, and at $19.95 each, well, not many would be purchased.

My three biggest beefs, trying to be expansive as I can, would be the lack of anti-aliasing support makes the planets look jagged. As well, increased vertex counts or better yet some of the advanced rounding techniques shown in modern games would have made all aspects look even better, especially on high-end systems. To top it off, the lens flare effect ‘flickers’ occasionally through the planets, as well as seemingly off the planets too. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen, taking away from the whole experience.

Final Verdict

If you are looking for a screensaver of space, and a little ‘educational’ side to it, I’d recommend getting it now. As for paying for it, for $19.95, I would expect it to be highly-polished with a lot more choices of settings and fixed the lens flare bug. $19.95 is a LOT for a single screensaver. The company, from what I can find, does not offer ‘quantity’ discounts; IE:- Buy 10 for $50. Nice, but not $19.95 each nice is what I am stating.

Posted by BladedThoth on Saturday, February 10, 2007