Problem Adding Polygonal Horizon

[Anthony Mallama]

I am using program version 26.1 and the corresponding user manual but I cannot make the polygonal horizon work. I made a new directory ‘Bowie’ under c:\program files\stellarium\landscapes. However, when I open ‘sky and viewing options window [f4]’ and go to ‘landscapes’ the ‘Bowie’ directory does not appear along with the others (Garching, Geneva etc.) Help please. Thanks!

[Georg Zotti]

Dear Anthony, 

you never work in the program directory. This is admin-protected. Please see User Guide chapter 5 for where your user data directory is. 

Then, see chapter 7 on landscapes. It may be easiest to copy the contents of Geneve landscape from the program folder and replace or edit the files to match 'Bowie'. Or use  Peakfinder.com  or HeyWhatsThat to create and download a ZIP file. All described in Chapter 7.

[Anthony Mallama]

Dear Georg,

Thank you for the information. Chapter 5 indicates that my user directory is ‘c:\users\antho\appdata\roaming\stellarium’. 

Following the instructions in Chapter 7, I created the directory ‘bowie’ in my user directory. Then I put the files ‘bowie_horizon.txt’ and ‘landscape.ini’ there. In ‘landscape.ini’ I set ‘polygonal_horizon_list = horizon_bowie.txt’.

I closed and reopened Stellarium but it is still not giving me the horizons for my location.

I already have a file of azimuths with horizon elevations. So, I don’t need PeakFinder or HeyWhatsThat.

I need more help please. 

Anthony

[Georg Zotti]

Section 5.2, first 5 lines. 

[Anthony Mallama]

Following the directory structure in section 5.2, I have added a ‘landscape’ directory and placed my ‘bowie’ directory under that. The ‘bowie’ directory contains files ‘horizon_bowie.txt’ and ‘landscape.ini’. The ‘landscape.ini’ file includes the line ‘polygonal_horizon_list = horizon_bowie.txt’. The horizon still doesn’t show in Stellarium though, and I do not see ‘Bowie’ when I look in ‘landscapes’ under ‘view’. More help please.

[Georg Zotti]

"landscape", or "landscapes" as instructed?

[Anthony Mallama]

"landscapes", plural.

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[Georg Zotti]

Does the landscape.ini follow the structure visible in the box on page 75? Including the [landscape] caption line?

Is the filename landscape.ini, or does it use the stupid Windows hidden extension landscape.ini.txt?

If you make a copy of the Geneve landscape into your data directory's landscapes subdir, rename it, edit its landscape.ini and rename the 'name' key into e.g. Geneve_AM, will a new landscape Geneve_AM become visible?

Does the logfile contains any message relating to your landscape? Like "file not found" or such?

As soon as at least an entry becomes visible, I can envision the next problem: The horizon line must contain positive values only. Some elevated sites may have negative altitudes. Correct those to zero.

[Anthony Mallama]

Georg,

There is progress. I can now see the Bowie landscape in View/Landscape. However, it gives an unexpected display as pictured below. There are cardinal points but no horizon line. Answers to your questions are below the picture. Thanks!

Anthony

“Does the landscape.ini follow the structure visible in the box on page 75? Including the [landscape] caption line?”

I’ve followed that structure as closely as possible, as follows including the [landscape] caption line.

[landscape]

name = Bowie

polygonal_horizon_list = horizon_bowie.txt

polygonal_angle_rotatez=0.00001

ground_color = .15 ,.45 ,.45

“Is the filename landscape.ini, or does it use the stupid Windows hidden extension landscape.ini.txt?”

It is landscape.ini without a txt extension.

“If you make a copy of the Geneve landscape into your data directory's landscapes subdir, rename it, edit its landscape.ini and rename the 'name' key into e.g. Geneve_AM, will a new landscape Geneve_AM become visible?”

Geneve_AM does appear along with Bowie.

“Does the logfile contains any message relating to your landscape? Like "file not found" or such?”

I don’t know where to find the logfile.

“As soon as at least an entry becomes visible, I can envision the next problem: The horizon line must contain positive values only. Some elevated sites may have negative altitudes. Correct those to zero.”

All values are greater than zero.

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[Georg Zotti]

Comparing with the box and similar file in Geneve, I spot two critical errors: missing type, and spaces where there should be none. 

[landscape]

name = Bowie

type = polygonal

polygonal_horizon_list = horizon_bowie.txt

polygonal_angle_rotatez=0.00001

ground_color = .15 ,.45 ,.45

I cannot say without further wasting time whether the missing entries for author and description cause trouble.

> I don’t know where to find the logfile.

If you don't know something of this kind by heart, you can search for it in the User Guide your PDF viewer. Or you ask Google. Or some LLM. 

[Paul Gilmartin]

On 7/5/26 01:55, Georg Zotti wrote:
>
> > I don’t know where to find the logfile.
>
> If you don't know something of this kind by heart, you can search for it in the User Guide your PDF viewer. Or you ask Google. Or some LLM.

    ...
It's in [user-directory]{/|\}log.txt.
user-directory is defined in guide.pdf 5.1, depending strongly on operating
system, and I don't recall that he identified his OS.

But I've been playing with this, and I wonder what is the process for
developing a landscape.  It seems that if I add/modify/delete a
landscape the changes are not hardened until I quit and restart
Stellarium.  Is it recommended, rather, that I edit outside Stellarium.
zip, and import with the landscape tool, which seems to be the
only documented process for adding landscapes?

The messages in log.txt are cryptic.  One must practice making
mistakes repeatedly to become familiar with them.

--
gil

[Georg Zotti]

The whole process is described in its dedicated chapter in the User Guide. Chapter Seven. In numbers: 7. There is no need to zip your own landscape to install it. Just in the first intro of chapter 7 I give a decisive hint about landscape cache size and what to do while editing (cache size zero, and load a sequence of others to make sure nothing is cached, then come back. This usually works as long as the name remains), and in 7.1.8 I described when to ZIP and what for. I don't know why I should write this all over again in this forum. We have written the Guide for other scientists, promoters, presenters, ourselves and for you, but would take written alternative sections if you think the process can be described better. A landscape.ini has about 20 lines. This opens about 60 ways of doing something wrong.  No, we don't detect everything. We just assume a landscape author can follow instructions written in English. Finalized landscapes can be distributed as ZIP file, and "ordinary" users don't have to check the landscape.ini for correctness.  If anybody is inclined to do so, a landscape generator wizard program could pop up that could test for every imaginable problem from misspelled keys, missing equal signs, illegal filename characters to oversized images. Some of the better LLMs know Stellarium's code and have read the User Guide, so probably some modern "vibe coder" can show up. (Not as plugin, create a separate program (all 3 platforms please!), not maintained by us! Make sure the Polygon landscape can be also used with CdC.)

[Anthony Mallama]

Thank you, Georg and Paul. My horizon is working now.

Best regards,

Tony

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