bevy_sun_move

A Bevy plugin for simulating realistic sun movement, integrating well with Bevy's Atmosphere and PBR lighting.

This plugin provides components and systems to:

1. Calculate necessary astronomical parameters (latitude, year fraction) to achieve a desired day length, night length, and maximum sun height (noon altitude). This allows very fast to specify game timings with saving correct sun move on the sky.
2. Animate a directional light (the "sun") across the sky based on astronomical principles (latitude, year fraction, time of day).
3. Rotate a "sky sphere" entity with the apparent motion of the celestial sphere, useful for attaching other celestial bodies or a sky mesh.
4. Include an optional basic random star field whose visibility can fade during the day.

Installation

Add bevy_sun_move to your Cargo.toml:

cargo add bevy_sun_move

Usage

Add the plugin

use bevy::prelude::*;
use bevy_sun_move::*;

fn main() {
    App::new()
        .add_plugins(DefaultPlugins)
        .add_plugins(SunMovePlugin)
        .add_plugins(RandomStarsPlugin) // Optional for very simple stars on night sky
        .run();
}

Then

1. Spawn a DirectionalLight: This will be your sun. It needs a Transform, but the SunMovePlugin will manage its position and rotation.
2. Spawn a SkyCenter entity: This entity holds the configuration and state for the sky simulation.

You have two main ways to configure the SkyCenter:

Using TimedSkyConfig (Recommended): Define your desired day/night lengths and maximum sun height. The plugin will calculate the necessary astronomical parameters for correct sun move.

// In your setup system:
fn setup_scene(mut commands: Commands, ...) {
    let sun_id = commands
        .spawn((
            DirectionalLight {
                shadows_enabled: true,
                illuminance: light_consts::lux::RAW_SUNLIGHT, // Adjust illuminance as needed
                ..default()
            },
            Transform::default(), // Transform will be updated by the plugin
        ))
        .id();

    let timed_sky_config = TimedSkyConfig {
        sun_entity: sun_id,
        day_duration_secs: 10.0,    // 10 seconds of daylight
        night_duration_secs: 5.0,   // 5 seconds of nighttime (15s total cycle)
        max_sun_height_deg: 60.0, // Sun reaches 60 degrees altitude at noon
        planet_tilt_degrees: 23.5,  // Earth's tilt (default)
        ..default()
    };

    // Calculate and spawn the SkyCenter
    if let Some(sky_center) = SkyCenter::from_timed_config(&timed_sky_config) {
        commands.spawn((
            sky_center,
            // Optional: Add StarSpawner if you want the built-in stars
            StarSpawner {
                star_count: 1000,
                spawn_radius: 5000.0, // Stars distance
            },
        ));
    } else {
        // Handle case where calculation failed (e.g., impossible parameters)
        error!("Failed to create SkyCenter from timed config.");
    }

    // ... rest of your scene setup
}

Directly using SkyCenter: If you want the specific latitude and year fraction (e.g., simulating a real-world location and date), you can set them directly.

// In your setup system:
fn setup_scene(mut commands: Commands, ...) {
     let sun_id = commands
        .spawn((
            DirectionalLight {
                shadows_enabled: true,
                illuminance: light_consts::lux::RAW_SUNLIGHT, // Adjust illuminance as needed
                ..default()
            },
            Transform::default(), // Transform will be updated by the plugin
        ))
        .id();

     commands.spawn((
         SkyCenter {
             sun: sun_id,
             latitude_degrees: 51.5,    // e.g., London's approximate latitude
             planet_tilt_degrees: 23.5, // Earth's axial tilt
             year_fraction: 0.25,       // e.g., Summer Solstice
             cycle_duration_secs: 60.0, // 60-second day/night cycle
             current_cycle_time: 0.0,   // Start at midnight
             ..default()
         },
         Visibility::Visible,
         Transform::default(),
         StarSpawner { star_count: 1000, spawn_radius: 5000.0 }, // Optional
     ));

     // ... rest of your scene setup
 }

For better results add Atmosphere to your Camera with same way as bevy example describe

use bevy::{
    core_pipeline::{bloom::Bloom, tonemapping::Tonemapping},
    pbr::{Atmosphere, AtmosphereSettings},
    prelude::*,
    render::camera::Exposure,
};

// In your setup system:
fn setup_scene(mut commands: Commands) {
    commands.spawn((
        Camera3d::default(),
        // ... camera transform
        Camera { hdr: true, ..default() },
        Atmosphere::EARTH, // Or customize with AtmosphereSettings
        AtmosphereSettings {
            aerial_view_lut_max_distance: 3.2e5,
            scene_units_to_m: 1e+4, // Scale your scene units to meters
            ..Default::default()
        },
        Exposure::SUNLIGHT, // Recommended for good dynamic range
        Tonemapping::AcesFitted, // Recommended tonemapping
        Bloom::NATURAL, // Optional post-processing
    ));

    // ... rest of your scene setup
}

The update_sky_center system will automatically run in the Update schedule, advancing current_cycle_time and updating the sun's transform based on the SkyCenter parameters.

Components and Resources

SkyCenter

A component added to entity (a dedicated sky entity) that defines the parameters of the sky simulation.

• latitude_degrees: Observer's latitude in degrees (-90 to 90).
• planet_tilt_degrees: Axial tilt of the planet in degrees.
• year_fraction: Fraction of the year (0.0 to 1.0), where 0.0 is Vernal Equinox, 0.25 is Summer Solstice, 0.5 is Autumnal Equinox, 0.75 is Winter Solstice (for positive tilt).
• cycle_duration_secs: Total duration of a full day/night cycle in seconds.
• sun: The Entity ID of the DirectionalLight to control.
• current_cycle_time: The current time within the cycle_duration_secs (0.0 to cycle_duration_secs). Can be modified to pause or set the time.

TimedSkyConfig

A temporary struct used to calculate SkyCenter parameters based on desired timings.

• planet_tilt_degrees: Axial tilt of the planet in degrees.
• day_duration_secs: Desired duration of daylight (sun above horizon) in seconds.
• night_duration_secs: Desired duration of nighttime (sun below horizon) in seconds.
• max_sun_height_deg: Desired maximum sun height (altitude) in degrees during the day.
• sun_entity: The Entity ID of the DirectionalLight. Used with SkyCenter::from_timed_config(&timed_config) -> Option<SkyCenter>. The function returns None if the requested timings and max height are impossible for the given tilt (e.g., requesting 24-hour day at the equator with 0 tilt, or a max height greater than 90 degrees).

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open issues or pull requests on the GitHub repository.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT license.