Hi, I'm Nick Maleki. I'm the owner of Recursion Computing and the developer of Starcel.

A Python controlled 3D spreadsheet. A full Unreal Engine 4 instance with Chaos physics. Support for Client and Server. It can be used as a visualization or education tool.

Currently, Starcel is an Unreal Engine 4.27Chaos Client and Server which can be controlled with Python 3.9. There is 3D spreadsheet functionality, a Python calculation engine, everything Unreal engine offers, and there are many more features planned. It is very powerful.

This project is intended for content creators, hobbyists, developers, spreadsheet users, physicists, engineers, scientists, gamers, unreal engine prototypes, and more.

Currently, free! In the future, as more features are added we will switch to a paid model.

You can donate on Paypal or Patreon

The current release includes the client, the server, and the no-editor for Windows. Each compiled source is ~1GB. The full Unreal Engine Starcel source project folder is quite a large download, ~50GB. The project files on github are ~1GB, check the .gitignore to see what is missing.

You need to use Visual Studio 2019 for compiling (download community edition). I recommend PyCharm Community for editing until IDE support is added.

Compiled versions of Python 3.9 can be downloaded from here https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3913/, newer versions of specifically Python 3.9 should work, but need to be compiled from Python source. The unreal_engine package is not installed to Python permanently, but it is installed at runtime, so it does not need to be pip-installed. The Content/Scripts/unreal_engine folder includes all necessary stubs and empty classes for intellisense.

You can manually install the necessary packages directly using pip install -r requirements.txt or python.exe -m pip install numpy sympy fast-autocomplete fast-autocomplete[levenshtein] numba kingdon matplotlib scikit-image scikit-learn dill pystubgen requests pywin32 psutil opencv-python imageio pymupdf mpmath reals. If any of these fails, you may need to re-run the command.

The default Unreal Engine map contains a PyActor which loads main.py and the class Main when the map starts up. Both the server and the client will run this file separately. The line if KismetSystemLibrary.IsDedicatedServer(): lets you define client and server specific code. You can create more PyActors or even use Python from the UE console by clicking ` and typing "py.".

Create a Text object by double clicking Enter. Once created, you can use =py() to run any Python command.

The state of the world is not saved in main.py or elsewhere, you will need to make changes there directly or copy your changes from the world elsewhere to save. This will be changed in the future.

Most everything you need will be covered in this readme.

Python support can be found at r/LearnPython, YouTube, other forums, and chats.

Unreal Engine support can be found on YouTube, their Discord, and their forum.

UnrealEnginePython examples, Starcel examples, and the unreal_engine folder (Content/Scripts/unreal_engine, which has the class and function info) should cover just about everything you can do with the plugin. If you are certain there is an issue with the https://github.com/20tab/UnrealEnginePython plugin you can post on the issues tab on GitHub. I will check this every so often.

The UE4.27 port of the plugin can be found at https://github.com/HaiyiMei/UnrealEnginePython. I made changes to this source to upgrade it to Python 3.9 and to make it work for my use case.

Issues with the Starcel code and new features can be posted here.

I will occasionally merge new features and fixes. Feel free to contribute.

Anything else can be asked in our Discord. We are a community of volunteers so we may not have answers and may not get back to you, but we will try our best.

It seems that python code outside the main file being used by the pyactor will not be reloaded in the Editor when you stop and replay. You will need to fully restart the editor to get the changes to files outside main.py to reload. I will work on a fix for this later.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the Python Editor Script Plugin to work alongside UnrealEnginePython, as the script plugin loads python37.dll which conflicts with UEPython's python39.dll. Unfortunately, this means we won't be able to have Cesium's 3D Earth until a later update.

Not yet. Local use is safe, as safe as local Python.

Treat this project as if you were downloading and running unsigned code from the internet or as if you were giving someone remote desktop access to your computer. Utilize the whitelist system to stay safe.

You can connect to a server by running the client_travel()/connect() Python function, by changing the _StartClient.bat file, or by opening the console with ` and typing open <IP>.

If you want to run a local server, LAN, the server console should list a port, local IP, and public IP, or you can use ipconfig. You can share this IP and port with other users on your network. You can port forward this local port in your router to have it available online. You can share your public IP and port with whoever and they will be able to connect. Be very careful sharing your IP and use the whitelist system. Treat this project as downloading and running unsigned code from the internet or giving someone remote desktop access.

Python functions can run on the client and server, this is clear from the Python code and can be easily changed. This opens up great possibilities of collaboration using tools like PyCharm's "Code With Me" or by sharing your folders in Windows Explorer's built in OneDrive implementations.

Unreal's replication system can be confusing. Clients cannot directly invoke functions on other clients, they must first invoke a call to the server and then the server can run a Multicast RPC. For a replicated actor to exist across all clients in Unreal Engine, it must be spawned on the server.

I recommend starting a fresh UE C++ project and getting familiar with Blueprints and maybe also C++ to get a feel for how to use Unreal and its editor.

If you want to manually build the dedicated server source, you cannot use UE4.27Chaos from the launcher, you must download the Engine directly from EpicGame's github branch, which requires signing up for their developer program. My UE Source folder is ~150GB, whereas the download from the Epic Games Launcher is ~45GB. I needed to add the following lines to my "C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_4.27Chaos_Source\Engine\Config\BaseEngine.ini" among a few other fixes for compiling this project.

[PlatformPaths]
UnrealBuildTool=Engine/Binaries/DotNET/UnrealBuildTool.exe

You can cook and package your project from the UE4Editor File tab.

Starcel is currently Windows only. It can be compiled on other operating systems, however, this is currently untested. To start, UE, Python, and the UnrealEnginePython plugin are supported in Linux and MacOS. If the project receives support and requests I will port it myself. Feel free to submit a pull request if you upgrade it yourself. 70% of users are on Windows, 13% on Mac, 4% on Linux.

Not currently, expect crashes and lost work. Eventually we will release a stable update.

Starcel-Panda3D had some integration for AR glasses. This functionality will return and there will be more functionality for VR soon. If you plan on setting the rotation of the player to a quaternion that comes from a AR/VR device, make sure your quaternion apis match and your coordinate systems match(UE uses left-handed Z-up).

It is not recommended to control any elements in Starcel with a 2D UI. You can build a UI out of 3D elements in the 3D space and make it always display flat on the included screen which I have added as a component to each Pawn's camera. However, if you need, you could use Tkinter, QT, etc. to make a 2D UI outside the game window. UnrealEnginePython has built in support for QT in Engine using Slate. This would render directly on top of the existing Starcel viewport.

In theory, any application made in 2D, which includes all websites, can be made to look exactly the same in 3D.

You can use the included interop.py to help run newer Python versions with this version, but it will be slow and you will have to add workarounds for using functions like begin_play and tick. You will need to have both versions of Python installed. The latest edition of Starcel is written in Python 3.9 and Unreal Engine 4.27Chaos. This likely will not change for a while as Python's C++ bindings have been deprecated and changed in Python 3.10. This could take a month or few to upgrade. An Unreal Engine 5 upgrade of the UnrealEnginePython plugin will require header, module, and api changes. This could take a month to upgrade. If you plan on working on this, message me for some info that should help you begin. I do not plan on upgrading the project myself unless this project receives a lot of support and use.

The last Starcel release was written, at the time, in the newest Python, Python 3.8, and the newest unreal engine release, UE5.1. Any Python build could be used, but I was using PyPy for its performance with the GARAMON 10 dimensional geometric algebra, which has now been replaced with the much more feature-rich Kingdon library. I will release those files at request, but I have not tried compiling the code after one failed test. I did, however, manage to copy the content folder into an empty project and view and use the map and blueprints from there. Many of the plugins and features in the last Starcel are not supported in this version, however there are plans to upgrade as much of it as possible. I will return to all the features showcased in the original video, with many features and new functionality added.

• Tables and homoiconic Python spreadsheets (WIP)
• Hotkey editor (WIP)
• File explorer, icons, and desktop environment (WIP)
• Transparent Windows and Live Wallpaper (WIP)
• CLI (WIP), SSH, and SCP
• Advanced function and question search with live search and history
• Multiplayer (WIP)
• Multi-language IDE
  • Syntax highlighting (CodeMirror, highlight.js, etc.) and LSP/intellisense starting with IntelliJ-PyCharm open source
  • Debugger: step execution, breakpoints (line, conditional, memory, data), cli or environment at breakpoint, variable inspection, call stack, memory/register inspection, thread & concurrency debugging, reverse/time-travel debugging, inline variable values, hover tooltips
  • Git DAG exploration https://github.com/mhutchie/vscode-git-graph https://gource.io/
  • Automated refactoring and static analysis
  • Dependency tracking and package management integration
  • AST/IR and LLVM
  • Container/VM integration (Docker, WASM sandboxes)
  • CRDT Collaborative editing
  • Project templates & scaffolding
  • Symbol reduction: freely swap between like-symbols and functions https://github.com/codereport/hoogle-translate
  • Symbols with varying sizes replacement
  • Rotating symbol replacement so you don't get used to letters and symbols
  • Bidirectional math code translation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsv9Azpxt1I
  • C to Assembly
  • C to lambda calculus with function labels https://github.com/woodrush/lambda-8cc Lambda calculus to binary https://justine.lol/lambda/
  • C to turing machine instructions https://youtu.be/2VF_wPkiBJY?&t=194 https://github.com/xoreaxeaxeax/movfuscator
  • preview result/tree of selected: train trees, tacit functions. S-expressions
  • Monadic, diadic, triadic, and n-adic chains https://github.com/codereport/jello (extend to Applicatives and Functors)
  • Combinatorial exploration: permutations of functions
• LLLM code translation and live code explanation
• Math, algebra, calculus (WIP)
• SVG and LaTeX rendering
• Units (convert on click) and text editing
• Computer algebra system (symbolic math)
• Numerical methods: ODE/PDE solvers, optimization
• Statistical and probabilistic analysis tools
• Tensor/array programming (einsum)
• LEAN integration
• Logic to type theory conversion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRrcwahx-3s?&t=417
• Sequent calculus for dialetheia https://github.com/samuelemarro/convergent-sequent-calculator
• Geometric algebra rendering: PGA, VGA, CGA, STA (WIP)
• Interactive 3D visualization
• Animation timeline editor
• Excel, Google Sheets, HDF5, and FOAM3 importer
• Multidimensional graphing/plotting (WIP)
• Plotting, charts, digraphs, nodes (OriginLab Pro, seaborn, matplotlib, ggplot2 features)
• Network visualization https://github.com/fortra/impacket https://github.com/KimiNewt/pyshark https://github.com/secdev/scapy
• Dynamic graphing and variables with reverse order calculation engine
• Performance profiling: flame graphs, memory profilers https://github.com/benfred/py-spy
• Treesize-style system file graph
• Interactive notebooks
• Google Sheets/Docs/Slides edit functionality
• A special character that is like space, tab, and return, but for depth.
• Mode <owner_name>Word<owner_name> or the more complete and rigorous <owner_name>L<owner_name>(L=Letter) to account for ownership when using dialetheia in concurrent communication protocols
• VRChat/Helios features
• Physics simulation engine: chaos physics, hair, rigid body, particles, fluids, breaking, flex https://github.com/windystrife/UnrealEngine_NVIDIAGameWorks
• Add Starcel as a desktop environment for Debian Linux
• macOS support
• Tutorial
• Academic hall and learning center: history, math, geometric algebra, physics, particles, physical matter

Unreal is great! It is industry-leading for developing games and in cinema. The Python bindings are the icing on the cake, making this a fully featured engine with quick scripting potential. The rendering system is unmatched, beautiful, and the engine itself is quite fast. Unity has limited Python support with Unity-PythonNet. Panda3D and RenderPipeline had issues with speed, server support, and windows. When I tested them, Blender's UPBGE and NVIDIA Omniverse were not ready for a server capable game with the features I was looking for.

Originally, I wanted to build a system for multidimensional tables and multidimensional plotting of functions and data. For example, plotting multidimensional weights in LLMs (https://youtu.be/wjZofJX0v4M?&t=813, here the embedding space in GPT-3 is 12,228 dimensional, whereas Kingdon only allows up to 16 dimensions). I wanted to build the final form of computer interaction, by building in 3D we have allowed a space for representing just about any object you will encounter. Using a programming language designed to be human readable was paramount. I wanted something that is as close to the English language as possible while still being useful. Excel is the most used programming language by a large margin, with python being the next. It is very convenient to program in a table, as most data structures can be represented as a table.

• In software, the * character is used as a wildcard which could represent literally anything. One of the goals of Starcel is to allow you to run any conceivable command and represent any format of data.
• If you leave the axiomatically set area you will see your space and actions from a third person view - a single star, or dot, suspended in the void.
• Starcel runs inside the cells of a spreadsheet.
• "cel" relates to our player acceleration function. It is intended that Starcel accelerates users and development around the world.
• We built a function that spawns basis of various dimensions within a spatial dimension. These basis look like stars.
• You are a Star! *

• Unreal Engine 4 has ~16,000,000 lines of code
• 20tab/UnrealEnginePython is ~70,000 lines of code
• starcel-ue4 is ~10,000 lines of Python code and ~2000 lines of C++ code, which is really reasonable, considered how many features are offered. I truly stand on the shoulders of giants.
• starcel-ue4 was written in 4 months

You can donate on Paypal or Patreon

I prefer to be reached via Discord, but if you need or if you are looking to donate or sponsor the project, you can contact me by email, nick@recursion.is.