[AzureSkies]

Hello again everyone,

It looks like a lot of the discussion moved to the Discord server. That's not too surprising, but as a result, we didn't have anything to reply to last week here in this thread.

This week, though, is another update week. And wow how crazy things have gotten in a relatively short period of time. Fortunately I was somewhat prepared already, but I like to try to stay one step ahead of things. The last two weeks have seen a lot of my time and energy taken to making sure friends and family are set to ride out the storm, whether it gets better or worse. That, and completion of the models highlighted recently means there's nothing much new to update on.

However, in addition to being prepared for the worst, it's also a very good idea to be prepared for the more likely case that life goes on as (relatively) normal. As such, work will resume, probably at an accelerated pace, late this week if not sooner.



What an interesting year, eh? Lots of fun memes wondering what April has in store since every month so far just seems to escalate. Fighting Skynet next month sounds fun.

At any rate, it's good to prepare for the worst that you reasonably can, but not at the cost of becoming too unprepared for life to carry on as usual.

Don't spread misinformation - check your sources, think critically from a position of trying to disprove rather than confirm hypothesis, since we as humans have a strong confirmation bias. Trust established science rather than uninformed intuition. Look at data, not anecdote. When it comes to exponential curves/growth, the current value means very little since exponential curves explode very quickly, so rely on the proven science for that sort of thing, not intuition. Exponential models have been extremely accurate thus far.

If I were to skipper a boat, I'd trust the nuclear techs to run and assess the reactor, not my intuition.



If you're cruising in a warship and hear an explosion - Observe, Assess, Decide and Act. You'd gather reports and try to assess while preparing damage control for the worst. Panic sinks ships but rationality designs and builds them, and allows them to complete their missions safely. This isn't all that different. Ask not what others can do for you but how you can best help others stay afloat - that's a great mindset for overcoming fear.

But if you're here and reading this, I trust you're a smart bunch because not everyone likes learning about realistic, technical systems and playing involved strategy sims based around their complex mechanics, so you got this. Go forth and research. Most of you will be fine but you probably know someone who'd be playing a game of Russian Roulette to catch it - mostly the elderly, immunocompromised/unhealthy, and especially smokers, as that makes the lungs much more vulnerable. But even healthy young people are at a small risk - it happens, so stay safe.

I remember someone joking once on these forums that if you wanted a realistic subsim experience of operating a Typhoon or Ohio-class sub, then you should sit in front of your laptop for days, patrolling and doing nothing. Well, if you're in those risk groups, it might be a good time to get a truly realistic boomer patrol experience.



Next update I hope to have some new shinies to show off as game development continues. Or pictures of the destroyed scraps of a robot army I fought off, if April sees fit to gift us with such an experience. Keep Calm and Carry On - be prepared for the worst, but also prepared for the best.

Until next time, clear sailing after this red sky at morning.