I'm having some trouble with vpython for my first-year programming project. The code below is a solar system simulator and I'm having issues with pausing animations and restarting them. I also tried to add a feature where if you click on a planet it will refocus the camera on the planet, which seems to work, but the problem is that it will also stop the animation when you click anywhere at all, including the planet.

I know it's a lot of code, just skip by all the initial vectors to get to the actual code.

from visual import*
animationState = True  #false means paused
timeCounter = 0
planet = []

#############################################################################################

#initial settings used for restart
rR =  array([(0.000000000000000E+00, 0.000000000000000E+00,  0.000000000000000E+00),#sun
    (5.090545062081090E-02, 3.026749904512873E-01, 2.005828108770193E-02), #mercury
    (5.334568267378945E-02, -7.251674649396830E-01, -1.300923639252336E-02), #venus
    (-1.760244040998966E-01,  9.674489289012235E-01, -2.152342191820744E-05), #earth-moon
    (-7.296712817647736E-01,  1.454285819941169E+00,  4.838986949012574E-02), #mars
    (4.509063595460582E+00, -2.166481579004603E+00, -9.190951290863629E-02), #jupiter
    (-9.464255599948979E+00,  2.586904325731433E-01,  3.722092945090654E-01), #saturn
    ( 2.003661872741455E+01, -1.532716169377917E+00, -2.652270073457507E-01), #uranus 
    ( 2.481716786736616E+01, -1.689759430268212E+01, -2.239327824583291E-01), #neptune  
    (1.627770587515934E+00, -3.158742490014637E+01,  2.909968799374562E+00)])#pluto

#################################################################################################

#initial velocity vectors in AU/day from the same JPL website
vR = array([(0.000000000000000E+00,  0.000000000000000E+00,  0.000000000000000E+00),#sun
     (-3.338635380394891E-02,  5.708050085963649E-03,  3.529857082782131E-03),#mer
     (2.003526527891491E-02, 1.410781574977480E-03, -1.136957543801592E-03),#ven
     (-1.720617443239716E-02, -3.144616524430499E-03,  1.224741879777691E-07), #e-m
     (-1.197728348484489E-02, -5.087002418322004E-03,  1.875195874058323E-04), #mars
     ( 3.177262470956793E-03,  7.166559251884697E-03, -1.008630859310389E-04), #jupiter
     ( -4.491079436483178E-04, -5.582715023870477E-03,  1.148209432467037E-04), #saturn
     (2.738017799392548E-04,  3.743826969651156E-03,  1.030420822391787E-05), #uranus
     (1.749280849208349E-03, 2.619195748602472E-03, -9.404378151664699E-05), #neptune
     ( 3.204276100513413E-03, -4.279441339910556E-04, -8.750106823643653E-04)])#plu

##################################################################################################

#gravitational constant times mass of body
GmR = array([
     2.959122082855911e-004,  # SUN
     4.912547451450812e-011,  # Mercury 
     7.243456209632766e-010,  # Venus 
     8.997011658557308e-010,  # Earth  
     9.549528942224058e-011,  # Mars 
     2.825342103445926e-007,  # Jupiter 
     8.459468504830660e-008,  # Saturn 
     1.288816238138035e-008,  # Uranus 
     1.532112481284276e-008,  # Neptune 
     2.276247751863699e-012 ])  # Pluto

####################################################################################################

#making the array of initial planet positions, hardcoded
#these are 3-D position vectors in Astronomical Units taken from JPL NASA website
r =  array([(0.000000000000000E+00, 0.000000000000000E+00,  0.000000000000000E+00),#sun
    (5.090545062081090E-02, 3.026749904512873E-01, 2.005828108770193E-02), #mercury
    (5.334568267378945E-02, -7.251674649396830E-01, -1.300923639252336E-02), #venus
    (-1.760244040998966E-01,  9.674489289012235E-01, -2.152342191820744E-05), #earth-moon
    (-7.296712817647736E-01,  1.454285819941169E+00,  4.838986949012574E-02), #mars
    (4.509063595460582E+00, -2.166481579004603E+00, -9.190951290863629E-02), #jupiter
    (-9.464255599948979E+00,  2.586904325731433E-01,  3.722092945090654E-01), #saturn
    ( 2.003661872741455E+01, -1.532716169377917E+00, -2.652270073457507E-01), #uranus 
    ( 2.481716786736616E+01, -1.689759430268212E+01, -2.239327824583291E-01), #neptune  
    (1.627770587515934E+00, -3.158742490014637E+01,  2.909968799374562E+00)])#pluto

######################################################################################################

#initial velocity vectors in AU/day from the same JPL website
v = array([(0.000000000000000E+00,  0.000000000000000E+00,  0.000000000000000E+00),#sun
     (-3.338635380394891E-02,  5.708050085963649E-03,  3.529857082782131E-03),#mer
     (2.003526527891491E-02, 1.410781574977480E-03, -1.136957543801592E-03),#ven
     (-1.720617443239716E-02, -3.144616524430499E-03,  1.224741879777691E-07), #e-m
     (-1.197728348484489E-02, -5.087002418322004E-03,  1.875195874058323E-04), #mars
     ( 3.177262470956793E-03,  7.166559251884697E-03, -1.008630859310389E-04), #jupiter
     ( -4.491079436483178E-04, -5.582715023870477E-03,  1.148209432467037E-04), #saturn
     (2.738017799392548E-04,  3.743826969651156E-03,  1.030420822391787E-05), #uranus
     (1.749280849208349E-03, 2.619195748602472E-03, -9.404378151664699E-05), #neptune
     ( 3.204276100513413E-03, -4.279441339910556E-04, -8.750106823643653E-04)])#plu

######################################################################################################

#gravitational constant times mass of body
Gm = array([
     2.959122082855911e-004,  # SUN
     4.912547451450812e-011,  # Mercury 
     7.243456209632766e-010,  # Venus 
     8.997011658557308e-010,  # Earth  
     9.549528942224058e-011,  # Mars 
     2.825342103445926e-007,  # Jupiter 
     8.459468504830660e-008,  # Saturn 
     1.288816238138035e-008,  # Uranus 
     1.532112481284276e-008,  # Neptune 
     2.276247751863699e-012 ])  # Pluto

#######################################################################################################

bodyList = ["sun", "mercury", "venus", "earth", "mars", "jupiter", "saturn", "uranus", "neptune", "pluto"] 
def animate(r, v, Gm):
    global animationState
    global timeCounter
    global bodyList
    global planet
    totalNumberOfPlanets = len(v)
    center=0
    a=zeros((totalNumberOfPlanets,3))  # acceleration of ith by jth
    planet=range(totalNumberOfPlanets)
    
    for i in range(totalNumberOfPlanets):
        planet[i]=sphere( pos=r[i]-r[center],radius = 0.2)
        planet[i].trail=curve( color=(1.,7,2))#draws a path behind the planet as it moves
    planet[0].color=color.orange #sun specifics
    planet[0].material = materials.emissive
    planet[0].radius= 0.004652468615890587*10
    planet[1].color=color.red #merc specifics
    planet[1].radius = 1.6310378480995735e-05*1000
    planet[2].radius = 4.04537494e-5*1000 #venus
    planet[2].material = materials.wood
    planet[3].radius = 4.26349283e-5*1000#earth
    planet[3].material = materials.earth
    planet[4].radius = 2.27075228e-5*1000 #mars
    planet[4].color = color.orange
    planet[4].material = materials.earth
    planet[5].radius = 0.000477894089*1000 #jupiter
    planet[6].radius = .000402866348*1000 #saturn
    planet[7].radius = .000170851215*1000 #uranus
    planet[8].radius = .000165536972*1000 #neptune
    planet[9].radius = 7.88780599e-6*1000 #pluto
    dt=.01

    while True:
        if animationState == True:
            # get new interplanet acceleration vectors
            for i in range(totalNumberOfPlanets):  # N is number of bodies: loop over all
                a[i]=vector(0,0,0) # initialise acceleration of body i to 0
                for j in range(totalNumberOfPlanets): # cycle through all moving bodies
                    if i == j: continue  # if i and j are the same, then they refer to the same planet
                    R = r[i]-r[j]  # displacement
                    a[i]=a[i]-Gm[j]*R/mag(R)**3
            v=v+a*dt #continuously 
            r=r+v*dt
            timeCounter+=dt #number of days elapsed
            # move everything
            for i in range(totalNumberOfPlanets):
                planet[i].pos=r[i]-r[center]
                planet[i].trail.append( pos=planet[i].pos )
                mousePressed()
                keyPressed(r, rR, v, vR, Gm, GmR)
        elif animationState == False:
            mousePressed()
            keyPressed(r, rR, v, vR, Gm, GmR)
                
        #################
        #sunLabel =label(pos=planet[0].pos,text= bodyList[0], xoffset= (planet[0].radius),\
        #yoffset=planet[0].radius, space=planet[0].radius, height=10, border=6,\
        #        font='sans')
        #labels
        #MercuryLabel
        #VenusLabel
        #earthLabel
        #marsLabel
        #jupiterLabel
        
##########################################################
                
def keyPressed(r, rR, v, vR, Gm, GmR):
    global animationState
    global stop
    global timeCounter
    if scene.kb.keys: #waits for input
        keyEntered = scene.kb.getkey()
        if keyEntered == "r": #r restarts everything
            r= rR #resets everything to initial
            v=vR
            Gm=GmR
            timeCounter = 0
            #animationState == False
        if keyEntered == "p":
                if animationState == True:
                    animationState = False
                elif animationState == False:
                    animationState == True
        if keyEntered == "<space>":
            scene.center = (0,0,0)

########################################################
                
def mousePressed():
    global planet
    if scene.mouse.events:
        for i in range(len(planet)):
            click = scene.mouse.getevent()
            if click.pick == planet[i]: #focuses on planet getting clicked
                scene.center = (planet[i].pos)
            else:
                continue
                #zoom?
                #display label?
                #display planet info in other window?
        

########################################################

def storePlanetNames():
    global planet
    sun = planet[0]
    mercury = planet[1]
    venus = planet[2]
    earth = planet[3]
    mars = planet[4]
    jupiter = planet[5]
    saturn = planet[6]
    
def controlBox():
    42 #placeholder
        
def displayInformation():
    42 #placeholder
    
animate(r, v, Gm)
while animationState == False:
    mousePressed()
    keyPressed(r, rR, v, vR, Gm, GmR)

UPDATE - I can now pause and unpause without issue, the issue now is the animation stopping whenever I click on the scene

dear fletcher,

i'm doing some kind of the same thing for school this year (but i also monitor the moons of the planets)
can you pleace post your final code, because i would like to use the mouse and keyboard actions and i don't realy get that part :s
you would realy help me
thanks a lot
Janis

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