"Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently."
17 May 2022
Video of scenarios made in physics simulator
Quite amazing, really. I am old enough to remember when a physics simulator involved trying to land a ship on the moon. I have a couple simple ones on my phone, but this one takes the graphics to a whole new level.
More video examples (huge bump in road, cars chained together etc) at Kottke. The game is here.
A colleague just "retired" in his 50s with PTSD after a railway career that included investigating train wrecks, many shocking, some of them fatal. Four people I've worked with lost their lives in a needless train wreck. Yes, engineers need technologically advanced simulations to help make vehicles safer (whether cars, buses, trains, aeroplanes). But this kind of simulation isn't entertainment. It isn't actually all that clever given the unrealistic scenario. And if it presented the body parts spread about after a wreck then maybe others would agree.
This reminds me of questions around comedic content and who it offends and if there is a solid basis for limiting expression. This is largely subjective, I think. I just don't want to live in an even more controlled world. I'd rather die in a train wreck.
It seems to me Hollywood special effects teams could learn from this. Too often I'm taken out of some simulated stunt as a subway car slides along for three or four blocks while our hero has time to run down the aisles and save the children while still shooting at the bad guy before it comes to rest.
I especially loved the "Onion Pacific"!!
ReplyDeleteTherapeutic!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought that was an economy simulator there for a moment.
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteIs the point to calculate the proper speed to make the jump based on information about the train?
ReplyDeleteYou know, if that train had been pulling a load of Ford trucks, they wouldn't have been damaged at all. They're like the Chuck Norris of trucks.
ReplyDeleteA colleague just "retired" in his 50s with PTSD after a railway career that included investigating train wrecks, many shocking, some of them fatal. Four people I've worked with lost their lives in a needless train wreck. Yes, engineers need technologically advanced simulations to help make vehicles safer (whether cars, buses, trains, aeroplanes). But this kind of simulation isn't entertainment. It isn't actually all that clever given the unrealistic scenario. And if it presented the body parts spread about after a wreck then maybe others would agree.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of questions around comedic content and who it offends and if there is a solid basis for limiting expression. This is largely subjective, I think. I just don't want to live in an even more controlled world. I'd rather die in a train wreck.
DeleteYou going to complain about Roadrunner cartoons too?
ReplyDeleteBased on what I have seen in real life, the physics in those simulations start off good but as the crash continues, they need a lot of tweaking.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me Hollywood special effects teams could learn from this. Too often I'm taken out of some simulated stunt as a subway car slides along for three or four blocks while our hero has time to run down the aisles and save the children while still shooting at the bad guy before it comes to rest.
ReplyDelete