By H.R. SantaColoma
By H.R. SantaColoma
To install, first create a "nautilus" folder under "boats" in Virtual Sailor.
Unzip all the included files into the nautilus folder. Done!
I based my version of the Nautilus on the Disney Studios
interpretation, Cambell Grant's adaptation for the 1963 Golden Press book,
and my own ideas about what Verne intended. For instance, I did not create
a spike strip on the underside of the craft, feeling it would not make
sense in practice. I then further adapted the design to work in Ilan Papini's
Virtual Sailor, and be fun to operate. This entailed making sure the "poly"
count... the number of vertices and faces of the 3D model... was not excessive.
Two many "polys" slows down a model in the sim.
In my 1899 copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, there is only one
illustration of any portion of the Nautilus's exterior. It is obvious from
this engraving that the true aspect of the vessel has long been up to interpretation.
The important thing to bear in mind with Verne's vision is that nothing quite like it existed at the time. The Hunley submarine was man powered. The Davids of the Civil War were steam, but needed to operate on the surface only, because of that. The problem of creating a large, deep diving, and powerful submarine was far beyond the scope of mid nineteenth century technology. Verne knew this, and inserted his own solution... his Nemo had discovered a limitless power supply the world was yet to discover. And he was bourne out, a century later, with the first nuclear submarine... aptly named "Nautilus" by the U.S. Navy. In fact, at the Nautilus museum in Groton, Connecticut, there is an engraving of the engine room of the Nautilus above the doorway. Under it is written, "What man can imagine, he can acheive". It is a fitting tip of the hat to the value of imagination in the solution to scientific problems.
To use this simulated Nautilus, you need a copy of Ilan Papini's Virtual
Sailor. You can download a demo from his site, which allows one to
try out the various downloaded boats.
I set the bridge position in Nemo's main salon. You can get there by pressing
"F 1". The ship would have it's actual operational bridge up above the
water line, in the conning tower. I did not put interior detail in this
area, but opted for more detail in the saloon... including a control station,
with helm.
It is possible to sink other ships by ramming them with this boat. However,
I have been sunk while doing so. I am not sure if this is because of the
relative weight of the two ships, my angle of attack, or a combination.
But certainly a game can be devised in which the operator sneaks up on
an unsuspecting schooner, rises to the surface, and rams the ship. Perhaps
this could be done with two players, via the internet and the Virtual Sailor
site.
To cycle through the compass, control panel and neither, press "P". To
see an exterior shot of the Nautilus, press "F 2". The numeric keyboard
will allows you to explore the interiors of the various boats in Virtual
Sail. They will work differently depending on whether "Num Lock" is on
or off. See the help section of Virtual Sail for details.
Thanks, once again, for the help and guidance in 3D design, and the in's
and outs of virtual sailboat design, to: Jeff Koppe, Matthew Sebring, Daniel
Polli and Francisco Curro. The lights.x and sphere.x files are freeware
from Jeff's site.
This craft and all it's associated files are freeware, and may be used
and distributed at no cost, on the condition that the files remain unaltered,
and all files in the original package are included. It may not be released
in any collection without the permission of the author, who retains copyright.
Comments and queries are welcome and appreciated.