Nuclear War Simulator News

Nuclear War Simulator - #1 Dev Log - Scenarios and Mods



Scenarios
The Nuclear War Simulator includes a number of scenarios that are very easy to use. If you are new to NWS these scenarios will help you to get started quickly and get an overview of different functions and possibilities. If you are experienced with NWS, you can use these as a basis to create your own scenarios. Some scenarios are tightly scripted, while others are meant to be used for experimentation.
Most scenarios can be used as a sandbox. For example, one scenario contains nuclear forces of the US and Russia in addition to the military bases of several European nations. One initial attack plan is defined and, if executed, will trigger an uncontrolled escalation by the AI. You are however free to trigger the escalation by creating your own attack plans or using the single detonation tool. You can also disable the AI and simply use the objects to create your own scenario.
Some scenarios have no AI and instead include a tightly scripted series of attack plans that can be executed one by one or in a timed sequence to tell a story.



Other scenarios are not realistic but are designed to explain different aspects of nuclear weapons technology and strategies. Such aspects include
– Mutually assured destruction
– Early warning satellites and radar
– Launch on warning
– False alarms
– Missile defense
– Different types of delivery systems
– etc.



There are other scenarios where the user has no control over the events but instead replays a prerecorded sequence of launches and detonations. Such a scenario can be used to tell a very specific story or to share the results of the detailed HYSPLIT fallout calculation. HYSPLIT can take multiple hours of calculation on large scenarios so this is a convenient way to save and share the results. Currently, NWS includes the results of all 12 scenarios of the OPEN RISOP database by David Teter (https://github.com/davidteter/OPEN-RISOP).



Mod types
A mods browser is integrated into NWS and allows easy download of different kinds of mods. Currently, there are 5 types of mods:
– Scenarios
– Blueprints (predefined warheads, missiles and objects)
– Object icons
– Loading screens
– Background music
Other types of mods, like predefined object groups, will probably be added in the future. A tool to upload user-made scenarios is also integrated into the simulation.



Keep in touch with the community of NWS, use the forum to discuss your discoveries with other users, check out the site for FaQ and any information, and join the Discord server where the Dev regularly updates the users about the development progress and discusses requests and changes.

[h3]Attack plan trajectories visualization[/h3]

It is now possible to visualize the trajectories for a selected attack plan (in the attack planer menu)

- white: ballistic missile trajectories
- yellow: cruise missile trajectories
- blue: aircraft paths

This new feature can be used to quickly visualize an attack plan, to create illustrations and to look for intersections with the early-warning radar search fences:



[h3]UI improvements[/h3]

Plan execution is now possible from the scenario editor giving a better overview of available attack plans and making a fast execution more comfortable:


It is now possible to set the desired resolution, choose between windowed and full-screen mode, limit frame rate. The audio settings now follow the standard allowing to control main, music and effects volumes independently. A button is there to select another random track if you don't like what is playing in the moment. Some new background music is added.

[h3]Complete list of new features and bug-fixes:[/h3]

Build 272
- New Feature: visualization of plans by showing trajectories
- New Feature: removed auto-calculate settings. They will probably return once casualties calculation is optimized
- Bug fix: entering the name of a scenario to be saved was not possible
- Bug fix: wrong calculation of weapons range in automatic plan generation fixed
- Optimization: effects on humans are optimized

Build 262
- New Feature: graphics settings menu: resolution, windowed mode, fps limiter
- New Feature: audio settings: main, music and effects volume settings. Option to play another random track if you don't like what is running at the moment.
- New Feature: button added to return to the main menu
- New Feature: new background music added
- New Feature: Player.log is now sent to the Trello board when reporting a bug or requesting a feature through the bug-tracker
- New Feature: improved the scenario editor. Plans can now be executed from the list for easier scenario coordination.

[h3]Moving human individuals, time-resolved fallout[/h3]
Human individuals can now move on the map and radiation dose from fallout is calculated and displayed in a time-resolved fashion. Civil defense situations and other aspects of survival after a nuclear war can now be simulated.

There is a new UI for intuitive selection of shelter. Humans can move on foot or in a vehicle (if available). The speed and protection factor of the vehicle can be set in the UI. The route can be chosen by clicking multiple times on the map.

The fallout dose is now calculated time-step by time-step. The dose rate curve shows how each mushroom cloud arrives at the individual and then the radiation decays. When people take shelter it can be seen on the curve.

These new features can be used to simulate taking shelter from fallout and evacuation.

[h3]Improved single explosion UI[/h3]

A drop down menu is added to select one of the available warheads (for the selected country). There is also an option to select the next warhead randomly.
CEP is displayed (dashed circle) and can be changed to simulate the CEP of a delivery system.
Multiple detonations can be done with one click. The combination of a very large CEP and multiple detonations can be used to quickly create a random warhead placement.

[h3]Complete list of new features and bug-fixes:[/h3]
- New Feature: human individuals can now move on the map, change shelter and fallout is measured in a time-resolved fashion. This enables the simulation of evacuation vs shelter-in-place strategies, civil defense scenarios and survival situation.
- New Feature: human individuals can move on foot or in a vehicle. Movement speeds and protection factor of the vehicle can be set and saved.
- New Feature: new, intuitive UI for shelter selection
- New Feature: curves showing time-resolved radiation dose rate from fallout. The curves can show when fallout is arriving at the individual, how it decays and how changing shelter affects the exposure
- New Feature: a button is added to save the parameters of one or all individuals. Parameters are not saved automatically when changed.
- New Feature: "Single explosion" panel: it is possible to select one of available warheads as preset. Toggle box can be used to select a random warhead.
- New Feature: "Single explosion" panel: CEP can be set
- New Feature: "Single explosion" panel: it is possible to detonate multiple warheads with one click. It is possible to distribute a large number of detonations by selecting a large CEP and a large number of detonations on one click.
- Bug fix: plan addition (creating a new plan with the name of an available plan) was not working with silos

- Bug fix: increased the country index map resolution to match the resolution of the population density map. This should eliminate some of the fatalities counting inconsistencies in small countries
- Bug fix: fixed two errors in the calculation of the biological effects terms. The calculated dose is now lower than before the fix
- Bug fix: changed all bearing angles to the widely accepted convention: clockwise angle with zero direction North

[h3]Escalation scenarios generation tool[/h3]
The old scenario generation tool was greatly extended to quickly create scenarios with multiple escalation steps. The UI has options to set the escalation dynamics:
- number of escalation steps
- time between escalation steps
- initial intensity
- escalation speed
- prioritization of military and civilian targets


Objects of civilian infrastructure are now also targeted automatically. The targeting priority of infrastructure types can be adjusted individually. Adjusting the priority of different target types and conflict timing can be used to create a new distribution of warheads every time you run the simulation.


[h3]Improved UI to manage individual people[/h3]
The UI to manage your family and friends was greatly improved. You now see a list with portraits, indicators of survival probability and the probable causes of death. Survival probability is also indicated as color on the map. It is also easier to find or select specific individuals on the map.


[h3]Complete list of new features and bug-fixes:[/h3]
- New Feature: escalation scenario generation tool added. Scenarios can be created with multiple escalation steps and tunable intensity. Warheads are now also distributed on objects of civilian infrastructure.
- New Feature: totally reworked the UI to manage human individuals. The UI now includes a list with portraits and indicators for survival probability and probable causes of death.
- New Feature: human individuals can now be selected by right-clicking on the map
- New Feature: human individual icon changed to better point the location of the object
- New Feature: added an option to make objects immune to crater ejecta, useful mainly for underground objects like control centers
- New Feature: WSEG10 model is now calculating the cumulative dose instead of the equivalent residual dose (ERD)
- Bug fix: text misalignment fixed on "Individuals" panel
- Bug fix: ballistic missile traces fade out more gradually on slower time speeds
- Bug fix: show/hide icons is now enforced when loading a new game states