Source Engine used to simulate fire drill

[DEATH eVADER]

University of Durham has used the Source Engine to simulate their science department. Link below has a video showing the simulation, though there is no download link for the sim ;P
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7867861.stm

The team used The Source Engine, the 3D game engine used to drive Half-Life 2, and created a virtual model of one of the university's departments.
Developers plan to use it to examine people's behaviour in a fire and to train people in good fire practice. The simulator can be adapted to mimic the interior of most buildings, although modification will be needed.

 

[Jintor]

Pretty interesting, although the engine's looking a bit dated now, hey?

 

[PimpinPenguin]

They could have used a better engine, Far Crys 2 engine has better fire simulation.

 

[Xendance]

I did see a link to this article on the BBC website, but couldn't be bothered to look.

 

[Slime]

The reason why Source was used was probably it's versatility - you can run it with almost anything nowadays. You don't need DX10 effects in a fire simulation...

 

[Omnomnick]

Pretty cool, dunno if it would actually help people though.

 

[MJ12]

Psh, you just know someone's going to use the "E" key to pick up some barrels to block the doors.

 

[Gunner]

"However, while the simulation worked for most people, those who played a lot of video games did rather unusual things.

"If a door was on fire, they [gamers] would try and run through it, rather than look for a different exit," said Dr Smith"

lol...

 

[Qhartb]

I imagine gamers were also more likely to walk on tables, jump everywhere, and try to turn on god mode.

I wonder whether gamers or non-gamers tended to close doors behind them more.

 

[Raziaar]

Man with the way those fires were set... in such critical spots and on different levels in such a short time... my conclusion is that the fire was set by terrorists! Intentional fire to trap people inside! But alas, they failed to put a fire near the exit.

 

[Ennui]

saw this on Interlopers, pretty interesting and a good example of why modding is badass for reasons other than free gaming

 

[G(ordon)-man]

Heh, nice. There were a lot of fire extinguishers though.....

 

[Escaep]

I was waiting for a headcrab to pop out somewhere in the video.

 

[Seppo]

I don't know what they expect to gain from this. A video game simulation is completely different than a real life emergency situation.

 

[FireStarter]

They just wanted to be on the news.

Seriously, though, that was pretty cool of them. I wish I was there to test an/or break it.

 

[Sulkdodds]

This reminds me of that old Die Hard style mod for HL1 where you had to fight your way through then escape a big disasterful tower. It was great.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Pff, crap simulation. You don't even take smoke damage if you're not crouched.

 

[<RJMC>]

would be funny if someone spawned something

*spawn metropolice*

student: ..eh..there is some masked man shooting at me...

anarchist british punk: its a simulator of the moment the goverment will take force! quick to the streets!

EDIT: btw where are all those "omg he made a map of a school place into a videogame to train in a school shooting!!" people?