# "I tried a Nuclear War Simulator" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** chess\ **Created:** [November 22, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586 "2024-11-22T03:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/1 "2024-11-22T03:23:25Z")
[YT link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivlAapZhDlE) Michelle Khare. A youtuber who usually does stuff like “I tried to get to 1000 as a chess player” This was pretty good. Pretty intense. She did everything I would have. Only 10 mins long or so. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/2 "2024-11-22T03:39:42Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > “I tried to get to 1000 as a chess player” I tried to get to 1000 _what_ as a chess-player? Anyway, the video is around 20 minutes, not 10. No explanation for what it is, and scanning around for a bit it doesn’t look like something I could stand 5 minutes of to figure it out. The production value is tiny and the girl seems to be someone really, really into herself who expects everyone else to be, too? ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/3 "2024-11-22T03:43:11Z")
ELO. And i respectfully disagree. But you’re right, it was twice as long as i initially said. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/4 "2024-11-22T03:53:54Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > ELO. I had to google [that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system). But at least it allowed me to think about this. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PeHYQ1um25E/maxresdefault.jpg "Daicon IV Lyrics (ELO's Prologue/Twilight)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeHYQ1um25E) ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/5 "2024-11-22T03:58:47Z")
Love that song! ---
**Author:** ![StringsandHammers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stringsandhammers/32/17933_2.png) [@StringsandHammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StringsandHammers)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/6 "2024-11-22T06:41:25Z")
I watched the whole thing, it was pretty interesting but one gripe I had was there were not really multiple answers. There was really really only 2 ways to respond, maybe 3 if you count doing nothing… It would have been more interesting if there were a range of decisions before ending up with just 2 ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/7 "2024-11-22T07:00:29Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The production value is tiny You and I seem to have very different expectations for YouTube-videos. A ‘tiny’ production value on YouTube for me would be somebody filming themselves on a cell phone talking, maybe greenscreened into vaguely related footage, but this one seems actually capably done—actors, lighting, a set, stock footage, props, sensible editing, a score… Maybe not on the high end, but certainly way above YT average, at least in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/8 "2024-11-22T09:11:46Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > You and I seem to have very different expectations for YouTube-videos. I have expectations for “a tv show”, which is something 20+ minutes is. I don’t care if it is made by Hulu or Netflix or some Youtuber–if it looks like cheap homemade webisodes I’m not inclined to watch it, even if the answer is that it really _is_ cheap homemade webisodes. From what little I could stand watching while trying to get an idea of what I was supposed to be watching I couldn’t tell if it was scripted material or not. If this is some kid’s Youtube blog I’m even less interested in watching it. Which isn’t something I’d know from the lack of explanation in the OP and lack of description in the Youtube link itself, short of watching the episode-length video. (ETA, googling I see that Michelle Khare is 32 years old, from the video I assumed a high school kid.) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/9 "2024-11-22T09:24:34Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I have expectations for “a tv show”, which is something 20+ minutes is. I have no idea why anybody would think simple length is what makes something a ‘TV show’ with attendant quality requirements, but you do you. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/10 "2024-11-22T09:34:30Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I have no idea why anybody would think simple length is what makes something a ‘TV show’ with attendant quality requirements, but you do you. I’m saying at that length I have a minimum bar I expect to see passed before it is worth my time. (The only reason I clicked on the video in the first place was because the “nuclear war simulator” and the mention of chess in the tags made me think of the game of Global Thermonuclear War from the movie _WarGames_.) ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2024, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-tried-a-nuclear-war-simulator/1010586/11 "2024-11-22T13:51:39Z")
Yeah, the actions of the Enemy State really IMHO left only one recourse. Especially when naval units fell under attack. IRL “Do nothing” would also fall under trying to avoid nuclear winter. And a “small strike” would let our allies stay out of the war and avoid a lot of fallout.