What is System Maker?
System Maker is a basic editor for Solar System Catalog (.ssc) files used by Celestia 3-d universal viewer by Chris Laurel. Celestia uses these files to define aspects of objects within the program. These files are used in two ways. One way is to define objects, their properties, and how they are displayed within a star system. The other way is to define particular locations on these objects (e.g. cities, geological formations, points of interest). The latter are known as location files or LOC files and are not dealt with by System Maker at this time. System Maker deals with ssc files that define the objects, their properties, and how they are displayed.
What is an ssc file?
An SSC file is a text file listing of script commands that identify objects which are displayed orbiting other predefined objects. they aren’t used to define stars, however, they are used to define planets, moons, asteroids, comets and spacecraft orbiting stars (stars are defined in files known as stc files). Scripting ssc files can be a daunting and tedious task without some sort of GUI. This is the role that system maker plays in helping create solar systems in an organized and timely manner.