Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start From: bc@lnec.pt (Luis Miguel Sequeira) Date: Tue, 06 Jul 1993 17:49:51 +0000 desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins) wrote: >Computers don't give a nice 'reality' feeling unless you are completely >blind to what is going on behind the screen. The best strategy >boardgames (like ASL) are much more realistic than the best computer >strategy games, just because they are more complex and can model more >stuff. Computer games are just not sophisticated enough to be realistic >in the way you want them to be. Who knows, that might happen one day. >But it is a long long way off. I've read this twice, and something strange seemed to happen in my mind. On the above lines, I seemed to understand that DdJ implied that computers aren't really up to provide for good simulations, just because they simply aren't sophisticated enough... Which means that a game designed to be played by humans to act as referees (eg. ASL) is too complicated for our poor average computers of the '90s? I wonder how anything is ever simulated, then. Say, we want to model a mission of the Space Shuttle. I suppose they go to Victory Games or Avalon Hills, get a few thousand rules written, and get back with some hundred or so "typical wargamers" (eg. old chess fanatics who discovered a lot of interesting things in Diplomacy - or even Galaxy), and let them "simulate" the actual Space Shuttle mission using dice, some cardboard pieces - and LOTS, and LOTS of formulas, tables and rules! Interesting idea. Hmmm. Hope that this isn't widespread, or else we'll see a major sales drop in all computers... Just by the way, I'm really curious. Without using computers, how are simulations _really_ done, then? :-) - Luis Sequeira _________________________________________________________________________ / / Computer scientists do it byte by byte. _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/_/ _/_/ _/ We don't ask for miracles to get the job _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ done, we RELY upon them! _/ _/ _/ _/ If the job still isn't done, we'll stick _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ with Emacs instead... bc@lnec.pt Luis Miguel Sequeira Laboratorio Nacional de Engenharia Civil Phone 351-1-8482131 Ext. 2752 Centro Informatica/Grupo Sistemas Centrais "Don't call me, I'll call you" Av. Brasil, 101 - 1700 Lisboa, Portugal / _________________________________________________________________________/ Referenced By Up