October 2000
- Interactive Fiction Competition 2000 Aaron Mitchell
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Travis Casey
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Zak Jarvis
- trade skill idea John Buehler
- trade skill idea Dave Rickey
- trade skill idea Zak Jarvis
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Mordengaard
- trade skill idea Richard Tew
- trade skill idea Val Trullinger
- trade skill idea Phillip Lenhardt
- trade skill idea John Buehler
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Wes Connell
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Brad Wyble
- trade skill idea Vincent Archer
- trade skill idea Jeff Freeman
- trade skill idea Corey Crawford
- trade skill idea Yves K
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Tamzen Cannoy
- trade skill idea Robert Zubek
Koster, Raph writes about simgames and skills in rpgs:
> If making bread was the point of the game, and there were dozens of grains,
> many sorts of ovens, many possible bread shapes, and lots of
> variables--sure, what the heck. It could get especially challenging if there
> were managing multiple ovens and bakeries at once. Not that I am suggesting
> making this game--I am just saying that if you break down the games here,
> and examine them topologically (what is the SHAPE of the gameplay), you'll
> find extreme similarities.
i don't think the two are exactly isomorphic. simgames are much more
than resource management, although they may involve some of it as well.
the fascinating thing about simgames (and this is probably more true
of older maxis games than of, say, rollercoaster tycoon) is that
they're simulations of complex autonomous systems - the system being
simulated is autonomous of the user, governed by a set of coherent
but hidden laws, and exhibits complex interactions between elements of
the system. the fun in simgames is then figuring out the fundamental
laws out of the incomprehensible jumble of interactions, as well as
in experimenting how tweaks to the system influence its overall
behavior.
but maxis games are even more than complex, autonomous simulations -
they also somehow manage to model a complex real-world system at just
the right level of abstraction. there lies the appeal of simcity - it
represented city management at the optimally interesting level. a more
detailed simcity would be tedious - a more abstract one would be
uninteresting.
but how to find these sweet spots? i'm afraid that's a skill all by
itself. :)
rob
--
Robert Zubek
rob@cs.northwestern.edu - trade skill idea Patrick Dughi
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Batir
- trade skill idea Arabis2000@aol.com
- Open Source 3D Interactive World Server Ian Macintosh
- Reactive keyboard J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #243 - 14 msgs Dr. Cat
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Madman Across the Water
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? sverre@munthe.net
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Jeff Freeman
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Matthew Mihaly
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Marc Bowden
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Zak Jarvis
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Madman Across the Water
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Vincent Archer
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Dave Rickey
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Mud / Web Integeration Lee Hulbert
- Mud / Web Integeration Wes Connell
- Mud / Web Integeration Bruce
- Mud / Web Integeration Bruce
- Mud / Web Integeration KevinL
- Mud / Web Integeration msew
- Mud / Web Integeration msew
- Mud / Web Integeration Richard Tew
- Mud / Web Integeration Nathan F. Yospe
- Declaration of the Rights of Avatars sverre@munthe.net
- Declaration of the Rights of Avatars Matthew Mihaly
- Declaration of the Rights of Avatars Justin Rogers
- Declaration of the Rights of Avatars Andy
- OT: Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- OT: Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Grandmaster Nuclear Safety Technicion or Grandmaster Warrior ( was John Szeder
- Alternate Means of EQUAL Enjoyment (formerly trade skill idea) Geoffrey MacDougall
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Richard Tew
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Zak Jarvis
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Inq Admin
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Richard Tew
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Matthew Mihaly
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Koster, Raph
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Richard Tew
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Matthew Mihaly
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Richard Tew
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Inq Admin
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain William McCarroll
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Matthew Mihaly
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Mordengaard
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Justin Rogers
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Matthew Mihaly
- Grandmaster Nuclear Safety Technicion or Grandmaster Willowreed@aol.com
- [world-create] Progressive Aristocracy (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [world-create] Progressive Aristocracy (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- VRML Richard Tew
- Admin: System outage J C Lawrence
- absolute vs. relative coords KevinL
- absolute vs. relative coords Inq Admin
- absolute vs. relative coords Nathan F. Yospe
- ADMIN: More troubles I'm afraid, and the details of the recovery. J C Lawrence
- integrated character webpages ala Black and White creature pages msew
- integrated character webpages ala Black and White creature pages msew
- Admin: Kang.Nu troubles J C Lawrence
- Admin: Kanga.Nu troubles... J C Lawrence
- travel times (commercial/graphical vs grassroots/text) Fredfish {E. Harper}
- travel times (commercial/graphical vs grassroots/text) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Admin: We're back in business J C Lawrence
- Triangular Damage Infliction System Ben
- Triangular Damage Infliction System Ben Chambers
- Triangular Damage Infliction System Travis Casey
- Fwd: absolute vs. relative coords Nathan F.Yospe
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Christopher Allen
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Chris Lloyd
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? tanis@mediacom.it
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Christopher Allen
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Federico Di Gregorio
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Christopher Allen
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Frank Crowell
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Frank Crowell
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Christopher Allen