Hey everyone! If you remember my last update, I was all in with my team on the Parchment project. Well, hold onto your keyboards, because things have taken an unexpected twist! We’ve packed up our notes and ideas from Parchment and are now diving into a whole new capstone project: Sim Firefighter.
So what’s Sim Firefighter all about? Picture this: you’re leading a team within the National Interagency Coordination Center, managing wildfire responses, strategizing fire suppression, and making some serious on-the-spot decisions about fighting fires across different terrains. It’s a massive shift from Parchment, but one I’m really excited about. This new project is packed with challenges, like figuring out realistic fire behavior and integrating techniques that real wildfire managers would us. I never thought I’d be reading up on wildfire data for a project, but here we are!
Now, I’m working with a slightly smaller, more focused team of four, which is Kaitlyn, Aidan, Tyler, and me. Each of us has our own focus, whether it’s hosting the app, creating maps, managing player data, or developing fire-spreading mechanics. The change has brought some new energy, and it’s been incredible to see how quickly we’ve all adapted. As much as I loved the vision behind Parchment, Sim Firefighter felt like a unique chance to challenge ourselves in totally different ways.
We’re still just getting started, but I can already feel the potential in this project. Next up, we’re diving into map generation and working on making the fire behavior as close to real life as we can manage. Plus, we’ve got plans to integrate player achievements for those who master the tactics of wildfire management. Who knew wildfire management could be this fun?
And of course, because I know you’re all here for the cat photos, here’s a shot of my two older babies, Maggie (the larger and younger of the two) and Cider (my teeny tiny Bengal baby who just turned 9 years old!)
That’s all for now! Stay tuned for more Sim Firefighter updates, I can’t wait to share how this journey unfolds!
