Month: February 2015

Occasionally, I code some of the simulator from the bed, and when I do I usually get a helping hand… or four!

Certainly, they are my QA/QC team and they want to be sure that the sim’s release is purrfect 🙂

This wonderful, rare video shows what it’s like to to work with the CK Holliday at the DRR on a typical day: from warming up and prepping the engine early in the morning, to putting her back at the end of the day.

Check out the awesome number of different sounds! Every hiss, creak, and clank means something to the engine. And there are the numerous valves use to test and control the engine. I’m working hard to make all of this happen on a computer. Almost everything that you saw in the video you will be able to experience at home.

It’s evident from the video that a steam engine surely is a living thing. Creating this in the computer isn’t easy: but I intend to make each sound you hear from the simulator be dynamic, meaning that the “same” sound will be different each time depending on the condition of the engine, like steam pressure, engine speed, engine temperature, valve positions, etc. Computers are purely logical, where A+B always = C, but with a steam engine sometimes A+B = D, because there’s a variable you didn’t know about.

Anyway, it’s a hard job to make something completely logical like a computer to become something dynamic with a personality like a steam engine. But… it’s coming!