Oak Bay Ferry Simulator

Click the link below to view the flash file (flash player is required) plus read the Vancouver Sun article about the game below!

PLAY BC FERRY SIMULATOR

 

Amy O'Brian
Vancouver Sun


Wednesday, July 27, 2005

VANCOUVER - Do you think you could have done a better job of manoeuvring a powerless, 7,000-tonne ferry than the captain of the Queen of Oak Bay?

Think you could have caused less damage or steered the massive vessel into its berth?

A Vancouver web designer has created a ferry crash simulator that provides answers to such matters.

Scott Hastings threw together the colourful "ferry collision simulator" in the days after the Queen of Oak Bay lost power and coasted into Sewell's Marina at Horseshoe Bay, crushing several boats beneath its massive hull.

No one was injured in the crash and Hastings, a web designer and creator of Boomcity.biz, thought it would be amusing to let people create their own ending to the collision.

"I've been a traveller on the ferries for many years, so I thought it's a great way to jibe at them without really upsetting anyone," the 28-year-old said Tuesday.

"We still promote safety in the game itself, although it's more fun to crash into more boats."

The simulator allows the computer user to steer the giant white ship either towards the berth, towards the purple and yellow sailboats in the marina, or towards the shore.

When the ferry comes to a stop, the game calculates the amount of damage done and either congratulates or berates the player, depending on the dollar value of the damage.

Without touching the controls at all, the ferry sails straight into the marina, causing a minimal $229,046 in damage, according to the website's calculations. The real Queen of Oak Bay crashed June 30 on its way into Horseshoe Bay after the vessel lost power because of a missing cotter pin worth less than a dollar. It had recently undergone a $35-million refit.





end