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The article doesn't say, but it looks like SimCity 3000. I haven't kept up with the more recent iterations of the game, but the complexity of the simulation se

by drv 16y ago

The article doesn't say, but it looks like SimCity 3000. I haven't kept up with the more recent iterations of the game, but the complexity of the simulation seemed to increase with each new release (2000 added a water system, and 3000 added garbage, among other things); I'd be curious to see how this solution's complexity compares to those in the other games. Perhaps more interesting would be how the optimization was performed. If I remember correctly, the manual from the original SimCity hinted at formulas used in the underlying simulation; I'm sure some dedicated players have reverse engineered such information for the newer games.

potatolicious 16y ago
SimCity 4 added significantly more complex transportation simulations (particularly in the expansion) - but was more or less handicapped for performance reasons (pathfinding only allowed movement towards the destination... conveniently ignoring the subway stop right behind the Sim). Popular (almost de facto standard for SimCity fans) mods have sprung up to correct this, and with modern hardware there is really no performance hit. Transportation is now, IMHO, the toughest part of the simulation - even fixing their pathfinding, it's still wildly unpredictable what your sims will do, and creating a mega-city generates a lot of congestion that so far I've been unable to avoid.
jcl 16y ago
FWIW, Electronic Arts open-sourced the original SimCity code for the OLPC project, so you can now look at the original formulas/algorithms directly: http://www.donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/ http://www.donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/ http://code.google.com/p/micropolis/ http://code.google.com/p/micropolis/ It looks like the creator of Magnasanti optimized his solution by hand using pencil and paper, first finding modular arrangements that worked well, then assembling them in a predetermined overall design ("inspired by the Wheel of Life and Death"), which makes this more of an art project than optimization exercise. I wouldn't be surprised if there were still better solutions that sacrifice, for example, aesthetics or regularity.

by drv 16y ago

potatolicious 16y ago

SimCity 4 added significantly more complex transportation simulations (particularly in the expansion) - but was more or less handicapped for performance reasons (pathfinding only allowed movement towards the destination... conveniently ignoring the subway stop right behind the Sim). Popular (almost de facto standard for SimCity fans) mods have sprung up to correct this, and with modern hardware there is really no performance hit. Transportation is now, IMHO, the toughest part of the simulation - even fixing their pathfinding, it's still wildly unpredictable what your sims will do, and creating a mega-city generates a lot of congestion that so far I've been unable to avoid.

jcl 16y ago

FWIW, Electronic Arts open-sourced the original SimCity code for the OLPC project, so you can now look at the original formulas/algorithms directly: http://www.donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/ http://www.donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/ http://code.google.com/p/micropolis/ http://code.google.com/p/micropolis/ It looks like the creator of Magnasanti optimized his solution by hand using pencil and paper, first finding modular arrangements that worked well, then assembling them in a predetermined overall design ("inspired by the Wheel of Life and Death"), which makes this more of an art project than optimization exercise. I wouldn't be surprised if there were still better solutions that sacrifice, for example, aesthetics or regularity.