I don't get the "nobody used my ideas" sentiment. Think about Eastern Front (which I haven't played) or Balance of Power (which I have, on the Amiga). There ar

I don't get the "nobody used my ideas" sentiment. Think about Eastern Front (which I haven't played) or Balance of Power (which I have, on the Amiga). There are tons of games that are similarly built, in whole or in part, on such mathematical models: SimCity, Rollercoaster Tycoon, the Civ series, any number of turn-based and real-time strategy games going back to the 8-bit era. Even RPGs use mathematical rules, with a handy dose of chance, to decide the outcome of different kinds of attack. There's even a whole (I seem to remember) chapter in Stephen Hill's "Amiga Game Maker's Manual with AMOS Basic" on building "simulation games" using simple mathematical models. Whilst I respect Chris Crawford's contribution to the video games industry I don't understand this perspective at all.