Jul 22, 2022
Crush Depth - Jammosito
Hi everyone!
Thank you once again for tuning in to one of our updates. In this one, I'd like to take a moment to discuss and provide some context for the last couple of updates. If you haven't seen those, please check them out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iTp9lvm0Qw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C83mrwuZcE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOj9rQmF0p4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9---mL8lo0o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4td4pNn884
Let me first thank you all for your comments and questions regarding these updates. Most of those were very positive indeed, but we've also received some of the (I really can't think of any other way to put this): 'Why are you investing so much time in creating 'Kriegsmarine Kitchen Simulator' rather than [...] ?' nature. That is a fair question indeed and I'll try to answer it to the best of my ability, by going over the main reasons for it.
As I am sure you will recall, one of the other things we are working on at the moment is a new model for the U-Boat interior which will then allow us to implement the firing system of the U-Boat. Making that interior model will take quite some time. The information is sparse, hard to interpret and not exhaustive either, as some of the work done on the interior of the U-Boat was left to the discretion of the craftsmen actually building them at the time. In order to reach the level of accuracy we want for this project, we have to research other contemporary sources as well (descriptions, photographs, etc.) and - together with the technical drawings we do possess - try to make sense of it all. Simply modeling such a massive, complex object is quite a feat in itself already, but doing so at a level of what I think we can best describe as digital archeology is a wholly different proposition altogether. (edited)
When we have finished this model (or rather, when we reach the state were we can roll out a very simple WIP-version on which we can iterate), it doesn't mean we can just move in the firing control system models and that's that. A simile I've used many times before: if you stick a tap into the wall, it doesn't mean water will come out. If we want the firing controls to work the way we want to work, we need to expand our core simulation framework quite a bit. To fire a torpedo, we need (in no particular order here) electricity, pneumatics, hydraulics, the ability to handle dynamic objects, about five-hundred other things still, all at an acceptable level of sophistication.
It goes without saying, but I am going to say it anyway, that this is a massive undertaking.
Another thing to consider: any of you who have ever read a memoir of one of the men that served on U-Boats back in the day (if you want any recommendations in that regard, let us know!) will recall they almost invariably describe the harsh, near unbearable conditions on board. It has been said somewhere that the people who designed these machines 'forgot around forty people have to live in there as well' and of course, all these people need to eat, breathe, sleep and perform all those other glorious bodily functions which we're all too familiar with ourselves. In an environment with constantly changing conditions in terms of temperature, humidity, limited supplies of fresh water, medical and hygienic equipment, this becomes harder and more uncomfortable which each passing day. The machine and the men are inextricably intertwined. Ignoring that would be telling half the story.
The simulation sub-systems (electrical simulation, atmospheric simulation, pneumatic simulation, etc.) have been built to different levels of sophistication at the moment. None of them are fully finished at this stage. To make progress on expanding and integrating them, it is easier and more contained - and therefore also less risky - to take the iterative approach of expanding two or three of them, integrating them, iterating upon that again, etc. While it might look like a trivial, rather silly thing indeed to put a stove on a pot and boil a potato, these are the first steps in integrating the electrical simulation (something we need for the firing system as well), with the atmospheric simulation (which we need for the firing system as well), with the ability to handle dynamic objects (which, indeed, we need for the firing system as well).
The stove uses electrical energy, which it then converts to heat, which is then transferred to both the pot and its immediate environment. There is another heat exchange between the pot, the water in the pot, and between the water in the pot and the potato in the pot. Although one might think the results to be rather trivial, from a developmental perspective, this is exciting, complex, and vital. The assumed triviality here comes from the fact that while most of us have had the experience of boiling a potato, not so many of us have had the experience of firing a torpedo. Without potatoes though, there will be no torpedoes either!
Let me know if I have succeeded in providing a bit more context for the choices we have made, but if you still have any other questions or suggestions, we welcome them of course. For now, I thank you all for your ongoing support!
Thank you once again for tuning in to one of our updates. In this one, I'd like to take a moment to discuss and provide some context for the last couple of updates. If you haven't seen those, please check them out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iTp9lvm0Qw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C83mrwuZcE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOj9rQmF0p4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9---mL8lo0o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4td4pNn884
Let me first thank you all for your comments and questions regarding these updates. Most of those were very positive indeed, but we've also received some of the (I really can't think of any other way to put this): 'Why are you investing so much time in creating 'Kriegsmarine Kitchen Simulator' rather than [...] ?' nature. That is a fair question indeed and I'll try to answer it to the best of my ability, by going over the main reasons for it.
As I am sure you will recall, one of the other things we are working on at the moment is a new model for the U-Boat interior which will then allow us to implement the firing system of the U-Boat. Making that interior model will take quite some time. The information is sparse, hard to interpret and not exhaustive either, as some of the work done on the interior of the U-Boat was left to the discretion of the craftsmen actually building them at the time. In order to reach the level of accuracy we want for this project, we have to research other contemporary sources as well (descriptions, photographs, etc.) and - together with the technical drawings we do possess - try to make sense of it all. Simply modeling such a massive, complex object is quite a feat in itself already, but doing so at a level of what I think we can best describe as digital archeology is a wholly different proposition altogether. (edited)
When we have finished this model (or rather, when we reach the state were we can roll out a very simple WIP-version on which we can iterate), it doesn't mean we can just move in the firing control system models and that's that. A simile I've used many times before: if you stick a tap into the wall, it doesn't mean water will come out. If we want the firing controls to work the way we want to work, we need to expand our core simulation framework quite a bit. To fire a torpedo, we need (in no particular order here) electricity, pneumatics, hydraulics, the ability to handle dynamic objects, about five-hundred other things still, all at an acceptable level of sophistication.
It goes without saying, but I am going to say it anyway, that this is a massive undertaking.
Another thing to consider: any of you who have ever read a memoir of one of the men that served on U-Boats back in the day (if you want any recommendations in that regard, let us know!) will recall they almost invariably describe the harsh, near unbearable conditions on board. It has been said somewhere that the people who designed these machines 'forgot around forty people have to live in there as well' and of course, all these people need to eat, breathe, sleep and perform all those other glorious bodily functions which we're all too familiar with ourselves. In an environment with constantly changing conditions in terms of temperature, humidity, limited supplies of fresh water, medical and hygienic equipment, this becomes harder and more uncomfortable which each passing day. The machine and the men are inextricably intertwined. Ignoring that would be telling half the story.
The simulation sub-systems (electrical simulation, atmospheric simulation, pneumatic simulation, etc.) have been built to different levels of sophistication at the moment. None of them are fully finished at this stage. To make progress on expanding and integrating them, it is easier and more contained - and therefore also less risky - to take the iterative approach of expanding two or three of them, integrating them, iterating upon that again, etc. While it might look like a trivial, rather silly thing indeed to put a stove on a pot and boil a potato, these are the first steps in integrating the electrical simulation (something we need for the firing system as well), with the atmospheric simulation (which we need for the firing system as well), with the ability to handle dynamic objects (which, indeed, we need for the firing system as well).
The stove uses electrical energy, which it then converts to heat, which is then transferred to both the pot and its immediate environment. There is another heat exchange between the pot, the water in the pot, and between the water in the pot and the potato in the pot. Although one might think the results to be rather trivial, from a developmental perspective, this is exciting, complex, and vital. The assumed triviality here comes from the fact that while most of us have had the experience of boiling a potato, not so many of us have had the experience of firing a torpedo. Without potatoes though, there will be no torpedoes either!
Let me know if I have succeeded in providing a bit more context for the choices we have made, but if you still have any other questions or suggestions, we welcome them of course. For now, I thank you all for your ongoing support!
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