atg_engine_simulator

Elite Tiers: New Benefit Poll

Hey guys, what new benefit would you like to see for Grease Monkey and higher tiers?

If you have any ideas that are not listed below, tell me in the comments!

Next Video Topic: Engine Simulation Testing

Hey guys, I'll be releasing a video soon about finally applying the new fluid simulation to actual engine simulation and sound generation. I'm using a simple prototype application to start testing individual engine components before adding them all to the 3D interface.

Trumpet Simulator is fairly close to release but it's low priority right now compared to work on ES3D. I should have time to release it before the end of the month. It's a very rough prototype and while I could release it in exactly the same state that it was in the video, I'd prefer that you guys have a somewhat positive experience with it so I need a bit of additional time.

New Developer; Steam Engine Simulator DLC

Hey everyone, I've brought on a new developer to my team to help with the creation of a DLC for Steam Engine Simulator to expand the game and provide players with more ways to use the steam engine. When released, all active Patrons will receive a free Steam key for this DLC. Work on Steam Engine Simulator will not affect work on Engine Simulator since I'm primarily acting in a supervisory role.

This is a highly experimental project and I need a dedicated group of volunteers to test the DLC and provide feedback before release. If you're interested, please fill out the form below. All testers will get a mention in the game's main credits! https://forms.gle/hU5eaiK3f4Ve4btP8

Trumpet Simulator; watch it before everyone else!

Hey guys, my next video will be releasing to the general public this morning but you guys can have the unlisted link first! I would have wanted you guys to have exclusive access longer, but I unfortunately couldn't keep the sponsor waiting any more.

You may be asking yourself, "What's the point of a trumpet simulation?" Don't worry, I haven't quit Engine Simulator development... quite the contrary actually. Trumpet simulator is a simple application that proves a point: ES3D's highly experimental fluid simulation works and is able to generate real-time audio. In addition to this, it's an excellent test-bed for ES3D's fluid visualizer which I unveil in this video. All Patrons will receive a copy of Trumpet Simulator to try out!

https://youtu.be/rGNUHigqUBM

NOTE ABOUT CREDITS: I have received some complaints from members about Patreon payments failing this month. Unfortunately, when this happens you're automatically removed from the Patron list (that I can see) and the automated script won't see your name when generating the end credits of my videos. If you aren't able to find your name at the end of this video, this is very likely what happened. But don't worry, a new video will be coming out soon which presents another opportunity to be featured at the end of the video.

Status Update: Next Video Topic

Hey guys and welcome to all of our new members! I know you're probably excited to see visual updates on Engine Simulator's UI or an actual engine being simulated, but I assure you, we must walk before we run. The fluid simulation is the core of Engine Simulator and without it, there really is no product. This is why I've dedicated the last month and a half to this fluid simulation.

As a tour de force, my next public video release (coming out in August) will demonstrate this fluid simulation being able to synthesize the sounds of a musical instrument. I won't reveal much right now but I can confirm that it works and I'm very excited for that video.

In the coming weeks I will also be meeting with a prominent aerospace and CFD researcher/professor. He will be reviewing what I've implemented so far and providing an expert opinion. I am adamant on making this fluid simulation as professional and realistic as I possibly can and the funds from this Patreon campaign are directly paying for this, so thank you everyone!

Fluid Simulation Progress Update

Hey everyone, after A LOT of research and testing, the brand new fluid simulation for ES3D is coming together. It uses industry standard techniques (ie the same algorithms used when designing and simulating real engines and other fluid systems). I made a short update video just for you guys!

Thanks for the continued support everyone 🙏

New Video; Watch it Before Everyone Else!

Hey guys, it's unfortunately been another all-nighter for me... but we're making great progress. This has been a really wild month with a lot of new members joining the Patreon (welcome everyone!). Check out my new video set to release in around 4 hours! https://youtu.be/JGiNLkgNC7s

I know it might seem like I've shifted my focus away from Engine Simulator 3D, but I assure you that that is not the case. I've used the success of Steam Engine Simulator to refine much of the audio and physics code that will be used in the future game and I've also made progress on the fluid visualization system. I'll post a separate update about that.

Thanks everyone for keeping the project going and for your continued support!

New Video; Watch it Before Everyone Else!

Hey guys, the second Engine Simulator devlog will be releasing to the public in around 30 minutes, but you guys can watch it first: https://youtu.be/nh06yWG87rc 

Thanks for the support everyone!

Engine Simulator 3D - Status Update

Hey guys, if you're on the Discord server (https://discord.gg/engine-sim-official), you probably already saw this, but if not, here's a short video showing my progress on the user interface of ES 3D. There are quite a lot of other features that aren't shown in this video, but you'll see them in future updates.

Here's what I'm working on:

- The graphics engine is ready and highly optimized compared to the Engine Simulator prototype. The graphics shown on screen are rendered at around 800 fps, but the game will probably run a little slower than this in its final form

- The mouse picker and object manipulation widgets are (kind of) shown in this video. You can see the mouse being projected into 3D space on the grid. You'll be able to use the mouse pointer to move engine components around and design your own unique creations in 3D space, similar to how you would in CAD

I really appreciate everyone's support, this project really wouldn't be possible without you! If you have any questions, please feel free to message here or on Discord

New video tomorrow!

Hey guys, a short video will be coming out tomorrow about my collaboration with siliXcon, a Czech motor control company. They actually managed to run Engine Simulator on an EV dirt bike. This is not a sponsored video so unfortunately I don't have an unlisted link to share with you but you can watch it on my channel tomorrow at 8 AM EST.

Progress on Engine Simulator and the next devlog are also proceeding according to schedule. That video should be out in 2-3 weeks.

Happy Friday everyone!

New Video! Watch it a day before everyone else!

https://youtu.be/n5CIlrOMKiU

Hey guys, March is finally over. It was a really crazy month and it was really difficult to release any high-effort content but I did manage to create two smaller videos. This is the follow-up video to my last video about physics engine performance enhancements. You guys get to see the unlisted video 1 day before anyone else!

That means you can be the first to comment which almost always means getting a lot of comment likes and having your comment be higher rated!

This video is publicly accessible through this link so please do not share it with non-Patrons. I don't think there are any trolls here but I'd just like to put out this warning: if I find someone abusing the unlisted URL privileges, I will either restrict unlisted URL access to higher tiers or just discontinue the experiment going forward (you might also be banned for severe offences). With great power comes great responsibility.

Project Update

This month I'm working on the 3D interface for Engine Simulator. The journey to releasing on Steam has begun!

Thanks for your support everyone!

Engine Simulator v0.1.13a released to Patreon members!

Hey guys, v0.1.13a is now available for Patreon members only! It features the optimized physics I showed in my last video. I did also manage to simulate a V69 as a joke... that will show up in my next video. For most engines, this new version should show a 20% improvement in performance. Let me know what you guys think or if you discover any issues!

New Video Tomorrow!

Hi everyone, this has been an absolutely insane month for me but progress is still being made on Engine Simulator. The physics simulation is now much faster and I documented some of these changes in my next video which will be released tomorrow. This should allow larger and more complex engines. The simulation should also be a lot more resilient and won't "explode" as easily. In a follow-up video later this month I'll test out these physics changes in Engine Simulator.

Also, you guys can watch the video early while it's still unlisted. Please refrain from sharing this link to non-Patrons though since that would kind of defeat the purpose of signing up for Patreon membership in the first place. Thanks for your support everyone!

https://youtu.be/oulfRfqTxJA

Cosmospeed Released!

Hey guys, sorry for the delay, I took some extra time to write a detailed tutorial and add some cool features like vehicle modding. You can find the game controls and modding examples here: https://github.com/Engine-Simulator/cosmospeed. If you run into issues, please message me or report it in the Discord server. Try to keep in mind that this is a demo and isn't perfect but it should at least start and not have any graphical glitches. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

Driving Simulator Release Date

Hi everyone,

I'll be releasing the driving simulator featured in my last video on February 27 to all Patrons. Just a note, this is absolutely not a polished product. As I said in my video, this was a 3 day project and it's not meant to be something that I'd market as a serious racing game. I think it's fun to play and enables you to experience your engines in an interesting way but I don't think I can entertain too many feature requests since I need to focus on Engine Simulator development.

If you guys really like the demo, I'll include a similar mini-game in the final version of Engine Simulator. Anyway, I'll get back to work now, thanks for the support everyone and welcome to our new joiners!

New Video and Patreon Exclusive Racing Game

Hi everyone! Development on Engine Simulator 3D has officially begun and the first devlog is coming out either tomorrow or very soon after (the video is currently awaiting approval from the sponsor). Most development is low-level at the moment but I am 100% committed to making sure you get your money's worth as long as you support me on Patreon so I've used the graphics/game engine code I've written for ES 3D and made a little racing app for you guys. It can load any .mr files and you can drive your engines around a space-themed racetrack. I'll be releasing it to Patrons shortly after the video is released, I'm still working out some minor bugs at the moment.

Thanks for your continued support everyone!

Status Update #5

Hi everyone! Full-time development on Engine Simulator 3D is happening and the first video about it will be released on February 21st. I'm trying to think of some better names for the program so comment below if you have ideas.

The game engine that will power Engine Simulator 3D will be significantly more sophisticated than that which powered the free version of Engine Simulator. It is completely cross-platform and so far can build apps natively for both Windows and MacOS. Linux support is also planned. I've decided against using a mainstream game engine for a few reasons which I'll discuss in my next video.

Steam Engine Simulator

I received an overwhelming amount of interest in having Steam Engine Simulator released to Steam. I don't want to take too much time away from the development on ES 3D but if I have a spare few days, I'll see about making a release. If anyone had any issues with the application, please let me know so I can adjust it before putting it on Steam. Thanks!

Steam Engine Simulator!

Hi everyone! As you may know my video about steam engines released yesterday: https://youtu.be/dzfjwXtATJA

As I promised, you all get a free copy of this software! I released it already on Discord but if you're not on the server, here's a .zip file. I'm considering releasing it on Steam for a really small price like $1 (just to cover my Steam fees) but you guys can keep this .exe version.

Controls:

• [s key] - hide/unhide stats
• [hold 1 and scroll] - increase/decrease heat
• [hold 2 and scroll] - open/close "throttle" valve
• [hold 3 and scroll] - engage/disengage flywheel brake
• [space] - manually spin crankshaft
• [f] - fullscreen (cannot be undone)
• [escape] - close application

Official Release of Engine Simulator v0.1.12

Engine Simulator has officially moved. I've added much better tutorials and resources to get started. Check it out here: https://github.com/Engine-Simulator/engine-sim-community-edition

What's next?

The next video will be the first official devlog of Engine Simulator 3D. I'm pretty happy with where the community (free) version of Engine Simulator is and I'm ready to start full-time development on the real game. I'm pretty excited about the project and I'll be sharing regular updates with you guys.

Thanks for the support everyone!

New Video on January 21st!

Hey guys! My next video about steam engines is set to launch on January 21st, 2023. If you're at the Tuner level or above and would like the name that appears in the credits of my video to be different than your Patreon display name, please let me know!

Future Video Schedule

The next video after this one will be Engine Simulator 3D Devlog #1! I have a variety of videos planned for the next few months. While in the forest during the holidays, I recorded some b-roll for a planned video about 2-stroke engines. I also did some reading about diesel engines but it'll take some time before I get them completely implemented.

White Screen Issue Fixed!

Thanks to some volunteers in the Engine Sim Discord server I was able to fix the white screen/crashing issue for some users. If you had this issue, please download v0.1.12a-ER04 which is linked in this post. This update also contains a lot of other cool features but I'll talk about that in a separate post.

Thanks for the continued support everyone!

Happy New Year!

Hey everyone, Happy New Year! You guys have made this project possible and I'm happy to say that we've reached our funding goal! I know it's a little lower right now but it's normal for the amount to drop on the first of the month with cancellations or payment declines. I thought I'd provide this update on the future of Engine Simulator and what I'm working on now:

0.1.12 - The Rotary and Usability Update

This is a fairly significant update which I'm still working on. It corrects most of the common complaints people have had about the simulator since day 1 like crashing on startup, an easy way to load/change engines and the error-log displaying in-game. It also adds rotary (Wankel) engines which have been heavily requested for months.

0.1.13 - The Fluid Simulation Update

I have already begun working on this update in the background and it was originally supposed to be part of 0.1.12 but I thought it would be too radical and best left as its own version. The version includes a complete fluid simulation overhaul and generally more realistic engine simulation. That means: no more 200% volumetric-efficiency naturally aspirated engines! In addition to this, I'm planning to include a BeamNG exporter for this release. I've spoken to some modders and gotten semi-familiar with how it all works and I think adding an exporter would be great for Engine Simulator and help it find a place in the sim racing community.

Engine Simulator 3D

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering where Engine Simulator 3D is. Well, development is happening, I assure you! It's a big project and I don't want to keep you guys waiting for a release. This is why I'm trying to do as much work as I can in the current version of Engine Simulator and then transfer that code over to the 3D version. That way you guys can use the various physics updates and usability enhancements without having to wait for the newer advanced client.

I know this will be a big year for Engine Simulator and I'm exiting to get things going. Thanks everyone!

New Engine Simulator Version for Patrons Only!

Hey guys, I have lots of time for development now, so I've added some highly requested features to Engine Simulator for the 1.12 release happening soon! I've created this release candidate for you guys to try out. This (finally) adds a "Load Script" button as well as an in-game console that shows you the errors that were found in your script. It's also a bit more resilient than before and can handle more error cases (so the program won't just crash with no information in the error_log.log file).

As a final feature, I'm going to try adding support for laptop trackpads so the scrolling issue is solved for people without a mouse.

Important: older scripts will probably not work with this version without a minor modification. Simply write main() at the end of the script. This will tell Engine Simulator that you want to use the script as a standalone. Check out the included engines for an example of how this is done.

If you find any bugs, message me here on Patreon or reach out to me on Discord (which is probably the easiest way to reach me). For those of you who are still not on the Discord server, I strongly recommend joining since we have a Patreon-only page there where you guys can ask me and others in the community any questions you might have.

New Tiers and Junior Mechanic Price Adjustment

Hey guys, Engine Simulator development is about to ramp up in a big way! I quit my job at Google and will now be working on Engine Simulator full-time (more on this in a later update). I just wanted to let you guys know that I’ve had to restructure the Patreon membership tiers to suit demand and better align the tiers with the value they provide. The Tuner and Grease Monkey tier are staying the same. The Junior Mechanic tier, however, will be increased from $1.50 to $3.00 USD. I’ve also added 3 new elite level tiers (see more below).

Junior Mechanic Tier Price Increase to $3.00

I hate to increase the price like this on you guys, and this was a difficult decision to make, but I believe it’s a necessary adjustment to balance the tier. Patreon generally recommends having the lowest tier be no lower than $5.00, however, I’m trying to keep the price as low as possible. If this increase places the tier outside of your budget, that is totally understandable and there’s no pressure at all to continue supporting! If you would like to continue, please switch to the new version of this tier before the original is deleted. Keep in mind that this tier will only give you a copy of the Steam release if your lifetime contribution is above the price of the game (around 10-20 dollars). It will be much easier to reach this amount at $3.00/month and you’re always free to cancel your membership after that point. You do need to be an ongoing supporter in order to get pre-releases though, so it’s up to you to choose whatever works best with your budget and interests.

3 New Elite Tiers

For the enthusiastic Engine Simulator supporters who really want to guarantee the project succeeds, I’ve created 3 new elite tiers with exciting benefits. If any Grease Monkeys are considering an upgrade and have ideas of what they would like to see as benefits of these tiers, feel free to message me and make suggestions. Ultimately, I want you guys to get decent value for your money.

Hotrodder Tier

As you may have noticed the list of Grease Monkeys at the end of my videos has grown significantly. If you’d like a more prominent position, the Hotrodder tier would be perfect for you.

Engineer Tier

Supporters at the Engineer tier will have one of their engine creations bundled as a default engine with Engine Simulator. This will be especially prominent in the 3D version of Engine Simulator which will have an in-game engine selector. Your name will also be featured in the game’s splash screen (aka loading screen).

Master Mechanic Tier

I don’t expect many to sign up for this tier and that’s why it’s limited to 5 supporters only. This exclusive tier grants all the benefits of the previous tiers but you’ll get a verbal shout-out at the beginning of each video and you’ll basically become a fixture of Engine Simulator lore forever!

Special Engine Simulator Release

Hey guys, hope you liked the video I posted earlier this morning. I posted this already in the Discord server but just in case any of you are not there, here is your special build of Engine Simulator that supports rotaries: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jv8NxKNkoicmOmrcYTD4oJDjtdhBn2Av/view?usp=sharing. This build is a little "rough" and definitely a pre-release but the default rotary engine should work as shown in the video. If you encounter issues or have questions, message me here or on Discord.

The public won't have access to this build for at least a week or so, so enjoy it! I don't mind if you create your own engines or YouTube videos with this version but I'd appreciate if you didn't distribute the build to non-Patrons. Thanks!

Secret Instagram Post

Hey guys, I made a secret post on Instagram before the official rotary engine video release tomorrow morning (8 AM EST). Pretty much no one cares about my activities on Instagram so you're the first to know! Check it out here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl7RT56uY4t/

Calculating Rotor and Housing Shapes

Hey guys, check out this short demo which will appear in my next video (scheduled release: December 11). This shows the algorithm I developed to calculate both the rotor housing and rotor shape. As you may have noticed, I like to make things as realistic as possible so not only do the rotor and housing look correct, they are correct and have the ideal theoretical shape that a real engine would use. The algorithm can calculate these shapes using just the throw of the eccentric shaft and the rotor radius. I probably could have faked it and drawn a triangle with some arcs attached or used a pre-made asset, but where's the fun in that??

Exclusive Rotary Preview

Hey guys, it's really late right now (I've been putting in some serious overtime to get this done) but I wanted to share some exclusive updates with you. The rotary engine works! The audio is a secret right now since it's not ready yet but I'll say this: it actually sounds good... I'm really excited for the upcoming video and I hope you guys like it. In case you didn't know, all active patrons (at the time of the video release) will get early access to rotary/Wankel engines before the general public!

Another update, after Canada Post finally figured out how to be a functioning mail service and un-lost my package, I received my miniature steam engine from stirlingkit.com! They have generously offered to sponsor a future video where I'll demo the engine and try to replicate it with software. While I haven't had a chance to try their products yet, they have given me an affiliate link. If you guys need a gift for Christmas or want to buy a miniature engine for yourself, consider using this link https://www.stirlingkit.com/?ref=K1aa6IgJ and using my coupon code AngeTheGreat to get 10% off! (Disclosure: I do get a small commission for every sale made)

Anyway, that's all the shameless advertising I'll be doing for today. Thanks for the continued support everyone!

Status Update #4

Hello legends!

It's been a busy month but some real behind-the-scenes progress has been made on Engine Simulator 2.0. Unfortunately, it isn't exciting enough to deserve an entire video yet so I've held off on the devlog. This is fairly normal in the initial stages of software development where the work is not easy to visualize, but it's important to get the foundations of the software correct before rushing to anything else.

That being said, I have a few other videos planned for the near future which will use the Engine Sim Free Edition codebase:

- Rotary Engines! Yes, you heard it here first. I'm currently working on some updates to the free version to test the feasibility of rotary engines. This will be documented in a sponsored video coming around the beginning of December. See below for notes about this sponsorship.

- Steam Engines! Yes, you also heard this here first. I was contacted by a company specializing in miniature steam and internal combustion engines. They will be providing me a functioning miniature steam engine and I will be simulating it in Engine Simulator. Overall, it should make for an entertaining video with a very relevant sponsor that I think my audience will be interested in. I have no intentions of making this one long ad and I think it'll be an informative and interesting video. Let me know what you think!

My Software Company is Finally Incorporated!

This took a lot of time and research, but it's finally done. The funds from this Patreon have been instrumental in paying for numerous lawyer and accountant consultations. Thanks a lot everyone! I'll release an update about the details of this new corporation very soon.

Note About Sponsors

I promised you guys I'd be transparent with external sponsorships and that's exactly what I intend to do. These are fairly small-scale sponsorships and are similar to ad-reads that other YouTubers do. I've never done ads before but they're pretty essential for smaller channels like mine, so I'll at least try it out and see how the reaction is. I was very careful about the sponsors I chose to work with so hopefully there won't be too much backlash...

Thanks for the continued support everyone!

Status Update #3

Hi everyone, happy Halloween! Sorry for the late update, it's been a pretty eventful month and I have quite a lot of updates to share:

New Video

As most of you probably know, I released a new video a few weeks ago: https://youtu.be/2bJTkBsiTPc. However, not many people know about what this means for Engine Simulator behind the scenes.

- The fluid visualization shown in the video is actually a mockup of the kind of system I want to add to Engine Simulator to visualize the fluid flow throughout the engine. Much of the time I spent working on that will be directly transferable to the game

- The fluid visualization (not currently open-source) also allowed me to make some enhancements to the fluid simulation which will make the audio generation much better in the final game

MotorTrend

Engine Simulator actually appeared in MotorTrend which brought some publicity to the game and new Patrons. I spent some time doing a short interview with them and implementing some engines for a custom video released on their website: https://www.motortrend.com/features/engine-noise-simulator-video-ange-yaghi-interview/

Devlog Coming Soon

I wanted to upload a devlog this past weekend, however, one thing I've learned over the years on YouTube is that videos that don't have much to "show" are best avoided. I'm very close to having something that could actually be interesting to demo in a video so the first official Engine Simulator devlog will be releasing soon. Thanks for your patience!

Mac/Linux Support

A lot of people asked for this, so I'm committed to making the game work natively on both Mac and Linux and funds from this Patreon have helped me secure the necessary testing hardware. Thanks everyone!

Game Engine Enhancements

While Engine Simulator worked well enough on many computers, some people had issues starting the game and some combinations of hardware seem to trigger this issue. I'm overhauling a lot of that code to avoid a situation like this again and deliver decent performance on as much hardware as possible.

Almost at our Funding Goal!

We are very quickly approaching our funding goal of $3000! Thanks guys, this really helps a lot and has been a great motivation these past few weeks. As I've stated before, feel free to cancel and restart your subscriptions as you deem necessary based on your own financial situation. When the game does release, so long as you have a lifetime contribution greater than the cost of the game (~10-20 USD) you will receive a free copy on steam.

Have a great week!

Patreon Mini-Devlog #1

Hi everyone, I've been working on prototyping Engine Simulator's engine viewer. Doing this in code would be extremely tedious which is why I'm working through these problems in Blender. Things like: how the UI will work, how the parts will scale and change shape dynamically depending on engine parameters, etc. Let me know what you guys think!

Update Open-Source Engine Simulator?

Hey everyone! As you may have noticed, I released a video yesterday where I showed new features like unequal length headers and more advanced filtering to reduce artifacts. I was intending for these changes to be closed-source and available only to Patrons via a private release of the application. However, some Patrons have requested that new features be included in the open-source version of Engine Simulator. If this happens, the names of all current Patrons will be added to the open-source codebase for posterity: https://github.com/ange-yaghi/engine-sim 

I'll leave this as a poll. Let me know what you think! NOTE: this does not apply to the final Steam version of Engine Simulator which is a completely separate project