h a l f b a k e r yWhat was the question again?
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SimFire
Simulate a campfire - or a conflagration - on your PC | |
I thought of this while critiquing my wife's campfire-building technique. It appeared to me she had placed the logs too far apart, and the fire was destined to go out after the kindling burned down.
Fire-building is a subtle skill that most people develop intuitively, after much trial and error. There
are many variables: type of wood, dryness of wood, size and shape of logs, proportion of kindling to logs, type of kindling, availability of wood and kindling (sometimes your supply is limited, and it's important to conserve resources; sometimes you can afford to be extravagant), wind (vs. shelter from wind), purpose of the fire (warmth, beauty, or cooking), danger of spreading to surroundings....
Clearly this is a problem that lends itself to computer simulation!
We've had SimCity, SimFarm, SimLife... it's time for SimFire!
Sophisticated and serious fire simulation programs already exist for the edification of architects, insurance underwriters, and firefighters. We need a fun version for the home computer!
[link]
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Did I neglect to mention that the program I had in mind had to be INTERACTIVE? Sorry, I thought that was obvious. I'm talking about a game, not a screensaver. I visualized the user choosing the amount of kindling and fuel, and positioning them carefully to get the optimum long-lasting fire. Do a bad job and your fire goes out prematurely. Overdo it, and you waste materials and risk damage to surroundings. Then there could be various point scoring systems for good fires vs. bad. Have you ever played a simulation game like SimCity? |
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Not really close to this, but I had an ascii, turn based forest
fire fighting game when I was younger. It gave wind speed
and such and you could light a backfire, bulldoze a firebreak
or fight the fire in a particular square. The objective was to
minimize the burned area, not maximize it. |
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//I thought of this while critiquing my wife's campfire-building technique//
how much better you'd feel without a log jammed into your ear ? |
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[MechE] I remember that game. |
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My daughter keeps burning down her "Sims 3" houses by making houses with lots of ovens and populated by sims with poor cooking and fire-fighting skills. This is a nice idea though. |
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real fire is heaps better! However I would like to see an option to cook stuff like marshmallows or apples or damper etc. Tasty! Also would the computer emit the smoky scent of the campfire so you can smell like it all day just like a real one? |
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