Will Wright's Dynamics for Designers. This is a GDC talk from 2003. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBcfiiulw-8 ![[willwrightDiagram.png]] The talk is about "how we use emergence to model larger possibility spaces with simpler components". Will uses '**structure**' to mean a snapshot of the system - what are the constituent parts regardless of the passage of time. **Dynamics** are the way those parts interact through time. **Models** used very widely to mean both the models we build in the computer and mental models. This is entirely consistent with my own use of the term [[Model]]. Some of his main points: science is a modeling activity, and up to now, it has used traditional math as its primary modeling method. This has hit some limits when dealing with complex dynamic and emergent systems. Since the advent of the computer, [[Simulation]] has emerged as an alternative way of modeling. These are very different: math is a more linear process, with complex equations, simulation is a more parallel process with simpler components interacting together. Interesting parallel between story (linear) and gameplay (parallel). He also talks about stochastic methods and Monte Carlo technique as an example of the simulation approach. ![[wrightAgentsLayersNetworks.png]] ![[wrightAgentsLayersNetworks2.png]] ## Here is the full presentation deck from the talk: ![[WillWright_gdc2003-1219299619900309-8.pdf]] [[The Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK)]] [[Planet Garden]]