Reality, Simulation, and Play

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Reality, Simulation, and Play

• Ernest W. Adams
• Adams Consulting Services UK

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What Is A Simulation?

• A simulation is a method of making a static model
  of an active process visible.
• Scientific theories
• Engineering plans
• Game designs
• A simulation allows us to see and try
• When experimentation is too expensive.
• Testing a bridge to destruction.
• When experimentation is impossible.
• Past events, like evolution.
• Very large events, like the behavior of galaxies.

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How Accurate are Simulations?

• In scientific work, we want the simulation to be
  as accurate as possible. But
• Some things we cannot perceive.
• Some things we do not understand at all.
• Some things we already understand well.
• Some things are too expensive or difficult even
  to simulate!
• We eliminate these things from the simulation by
  a process called abstraction.

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Abstraction in Narrative Media

• Abstraction is not limited to simulations.
• It plays a key role in storytelling, too.
• Books and movies abstract
• Human bodily needs
• Food, toilet, sleep, bathing, minor illnesses
• Routine necessities
• Shopping, cleaning the house, maintaining the car
• Portions of conversations
• Travel time
• Books also abstract
• Unimportant sensory details
• (In movies, objects people are visible in the
  background, but they are not described in books.)

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Abstraction by Elimination

• Simplifying a simulation by eliminating features
  for some reason.
• Example from a driving simulation
• The performance of the car is unaffected by
• Paint color
• Interior decoration
• Type of radio installed
• These features of the car are simply not included
  in the simulation.

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Abstraction by Simplification

• If we dont need to simulate a complex feature,
  we can replace it with a simpler abstraction.
• Example from a war simulation
• A certain number of military aircraft are lost
  each year due to failure of their landing gear.
• (Lets say we know from records that its 0.01.)
• If we dont want to study the landing gear
  machinery
• but we do need the problem in our war
  simulation
• we can abstract this issue by building in a
  random 0.01 loss rate for military aircraft.
• When it occurs, we tell the user it was because
  of landing gear failure.
• The user can change the rate of loss to study the
  effects of improving the gear, even if he doesnt
  know how to actually improve the gear itself.

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The Scientific Approach
Perceptions
Objective Reality
Mental Image
First we perceive the world
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The Scientific Approach
Perceptions
Objective Reality
Mental Image
Then we form a theory to explain our perceptions
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The Scientific Approach
Perceptions
Objective Reality
Mental Image
We perform experiments to test our theory
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The Scientific Approach
Perceptions
Objective Reality
Mental Image
And we refine it if it contains errors.
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The Scientific Approach
Objective Reality
Mental Image
But if we cannot experiment, we build a
simulation.
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The Scientific Approach
Simulation
Objective Reality
Mental Image
Some details have to be abstracted.
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The Scientific Approach
Simulation
Objective Reality
Mental Image
We compare simulation results with perceptions.
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The Scientific Approach
Simulation
Objective Reality
Mental Image
And adjust both theory and simulation as needed.
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Games

• Games exist for many purposes
• Entertainment
• Research into processes and situations
• Education and training
• Practice and skill-development
• The last three are called Serious Games.
• There is great interest in them at the moment.
• We will look at entertainment first.
• Entertainment involves play.
• Our goal is to produce not knowledge or
  understanding, but enjoyment.

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The Entertainment Approach
Game Idea
We begin with a game idea intended to entertain.
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The Entertainment Approach
Game Idea
From the idea we construct a design for the game.
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The Entertainment Approach
Simulation
Game Idea
We then build a simulation of the static design.
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The Entertainment Approach
Simulation
Game Idea
Objective Reality
We could use many ideas from reality
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The Entertainment Approach
Simulation
Game Idea
Objective Reality
But in fact we abstract most of them.
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The Entertainment Approach
Simulation
The Player
Game Idea
Objective Reality
The simulation is the heart of the game.
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The Entertainment Approach
Simulation
Game Idea
Objective Reality
We refine the simulation by playtesting for
enjoyment.
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The Entertainment Approach
Simulation
Game Idea
Objective Reality
We only care about realism if the player cares
about it.
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The Entertainment Approach
Simulation
Game Idea
Objective Reality
If the player doesnt care, we dont care.
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How Games are Different

• We abstract features that are not fun.
• We use illusion to create the appearance of
  reality.
• The eye sees what it expects to see.
• The brain finds patterns where none exist.
• The player is already pretending anyway.
• He is in the artificial world of the game.
• He tends to believe what the computer tells him.
• We are not concerned with being accurate we are
  concerned with being enjoyable.

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How We Use Illusion to Simulate Intelligence

• Most games arent really artificially
  intelligent.
• We trick the player into thinking they are with
• Software
• Random numbers (faking the landing gear problem!)
• Letting the computer cheat (giving it extra
  information)
• Graphics
• Non-uniform opponents, variations in animation
• (People will assume a visual difference a real
  difference.)
• Sound, ie. language
• Very large numbers of audio clips to play back
  speech
• Unfamiliar subject matter
• If a subject is unfamiliar, players will trust
  the game.
• Marketing
• Ads that suggest the game is smarter than it
  really is

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Simulation in Different Genres
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Sports Games, e.g. Madden NFL Football

• Simulated Issues
• Athlete abilities
• Strategies
• Weather
• Time
• Pitch design
• Most rules of the game
• Injuries
• Crowd excitement
• Details that add realism
• Athletes celebrating
• TV commentary
• Stadium appearance

• Abstracted issues
• Exact physics of human bodies
• Athlete intelligence
• Penalties the player cant prevent
• (Can be adjustable.)
• Morale
• Egotism
• Referee variability
• Home field advantage
• Details that we cant afford
• Every person in the crowd

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Flight Sims, e.g. Microsoft Flight Simulator

• Simulated Issues
• Basic physics
• Thrust
• Lift
• Drag
• Gravity
• Performance limits
• Ceiling
• Speeds
• Weight capacity
• Fuel
• Weather
• Time
• G-force effects on pilot

• Abstracted Issues
• Air traffic control
• Aviation regulations
• Prohibited airspace
• Aircraft maintenance
• Oil
• De-icing fluid
• Tire condition
• Fragility of the craft
• Engine problems
• Interactions with passengers
• Financial considerations

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War Games, e.g. Medal of Honor

• Simulated issues
• Death
• Strategy
• Line of sight
• Terrain
• Vertical elevation
• Concealment
• Delay to travel
• Weapon properties
• Range
• Rate of fire
• Destructiveness
• Vehicle properties
• Speed
• Turn rate
• Armor
• Ammunition remaining
• (Sometimes.)

• Abstracted issues
• Reduced performance of damaged units
• Logistics
• Supply lines
• Fuel
• Weather
• Time
• Day and night
• Changing seasons
• Human needs
• Food
• Sleep
• Care for the wounded
• Accidents
• (Landing gear again!)
• Leadership morale
• Diplomacy and politics!

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Serious Games are a Mixture

• They cannot abstract just to maximize fun.
• They must blend reality and fantasy.
• Games must be enjoyable enough to keep the
  players attention, but accurate enough to
  reflect reality.
• There are safety issues involved.
• Serious games that teach firefighters, police,
  etc., risk causing death or injury if they are
  not accurate.
• Testing a serious game is more difficult
• but they have enormous potential.

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Games That Are Too Much Fun

• The game does not require understanding of the
  principle to win.
• The child gets so involved with the gameplay that
  he ignores the principle the game is intended to
  teach.
• The game treats learning as an add-on feature,
  not an essential element of the gameplay.
• Often designed by a game designer!

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An Example

• Dont use a combat flight simulator to teach the
  principles of flight.
• Its too much fun.
• There are too many distractions.
• Kids will only fly and fight, and wont pay
  attention to the principles.

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A Better Way

• Use a simple game that directly illustrates the
  principles.
• Avoid irrelevant details that are fun but really
  have nothing to do with flight.

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Games That Are Not Fun Enough

• The game makes learning the primary focus.
• It does not engage the childs imagination.
• It is often a poorly-disguised drill
• or it insults the childs intelligence.
• Quick, Captain! Mr. Spock needs to know 22!
• The principles to be learned must be meaningfully
  incorporated into the gameplay.
• Often designed by teachers.

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Games that Confuse the Students

• Most simulation games (Sim City, etc.) are
  interlocking systems of equations.
• They often require the player to manage multiple
  problems at once.
• Fire danger, crime, pollution, taxes, roads...
• Rather than illustrating a single principle
  clearly, they illustrate many principles
  complicatedly.

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Games that Confuse the Students

• You cannot hold all other variables constant
  while you observe the effect of changing one.
• To do well in the game, you have to understand
  and learn to manage ALL the principles, and...
• ...this is a process that takes HOURS AND HOURS
  (value for the money again).
• Its good fun, but its very bad pedagogy.

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Chocolate-Covered Broccoli?!

• You cannot make a child like broccoli by covering
  it in chocolate.
• Instead, give them a small amount of broccoli,
  cooked in an interesting way, and NO chocolate.
• Children will know that an educational game wont
  be as much fun as a shooter BUT they may play
  anyway IF its all there is to eat.
• Dont try to compete (in school) with commercial
  games for the childs attention.

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Designing In-School Educational Games

• The game must be simple.
• If it illustrates too many principles at once, it
  will confuse the student.
• The game must be short.
• If a game takes too long to play, students will
  lose interest or miss the point.
• The game must be imaginative, but should not try
  to be a commercial game.
• Commercial games are optimized for fun. You
  cannot compete with that.

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Reality, Simulation, and Play

• Ernest W. Adams
• Adams Consulting Services UK