This week we had Seth Giddings speak to us about Simulation as an idea. Seth has written many papers and articles over the years, surrounding video games and he spoke very passionately about the intricacies of simulation. I personally find this subject quite difficult to understand. For example, we discussed the idea that there are 'pure' forms of simulations games such as Flight Simulator and Sims, however on the other end of the spectrum is more narrative-driven simulations. Seth used the film Top Gun as an example of this but to me they are rather different categories. Top Gun is a simulation in that the world and characters are fabricated from ideas, however we cannot affect what happens. In a simulation game we can often control the environment in a real-time scenario to play out certain situations.

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I later did some of my own research on the topic. I looked at 4 different sources for definitions and here is what I found;

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A large number of scenarios and outcomes … are impossible to comprehend and evaluate without the help of a computer simulation model (Harrington and Tumay, 2000).

 

Simulation is normally used to assess the current, or predict the future, performance of a business process. The concept is designed to help practitioners and business owners discover new ways to improve their business processes through the use of mathematical, statistical and other analytical methods. (KB Manage, 2021)

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imitation or enactment, as of something anticipated or in testing.

the act or process of pretending; feigning.

an assumption or imitation of a particular appearance or form; counterfeit; sham.

Psychiatry. a conscious attempt to feign some mental or physical disorder to escape punishment or to gain a desired objective.

the representation of the behavior or characteristics of one system through the use of another system, especially a computer program designed for the purpose. (Dictionary.com, 2021)

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A simulation is an approximate imitation of the operation of a process or system that represents its operation over time.

Simulation is used in many contexts, such as simulation of technology for performance tuning or optimizing, safety engineering, testing, training, education, and video games. Often, computer experiments are used to study simulation models. Simulation is also used with scientific modelling of natural systems or human systems to gain insight into their functioning, as in economics. Simulation can be used to show the eventual real effects of alternative conditions and courses of action. Simulation is also used when the real system cannot be engaged, because it may not be accessible, or it may be dangerous or unacceptable to engage, or it is being designed but not yet built, or it may simply not exist. (Wikipedia, 2020)

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Simulation is... the creation of a model that can be manipulated logically to decide how the physical world works (MATLAB, 2012)

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These definitions give a huge variety of what a simulation is, referencing various practises where they may occur, different scenarios in which thy can be used etc. My personal interpretation is that simulations are required to give a better understanding of a situation that hasn't occurred, based on a number of facts and predictions. When it comes to modern media, I don't believe a film or book is a simulation. This is firstly because I don't want to confuse myself over where certain projects sit on a spectrum of simulation to reality but also because if the plot and characters are all worked out, it is not a simulation anymore (or at least it is only a simulation in the sense that it is not real). If you have seen that film already and you know what happens, it is no longer a predictive simulation which I personally consider to be closer to the true definition. 

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When applied to video games, simulations give players the opportunity to play activities and experiences they wouldn't have access to otherwise. For example, very few people in the population will go onto be pilots but flight simulator gives the player access to a whole new world of flying experience. I know that I won't be running a theme park anytime soon but Rollercoaster Tycoon gives the player the opportunity to experiment and make crazy things in a make believe world. I think particularly in a game design scenario, simulation games give way to endless possibilities and combinations of elements and this is what drives the interest in this segment of the market. ​

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Ultimately I think Simulations are a category in which many boundaries are blurred and a lot of what can be considered simulations are determined by the maker, player, viewer etc. - its simply down to personal interpretation. For me, its a topic that can be overcomplicated. I'm not particularly interested in simulations even in their purest form, so I try to keep my understanding of the idea rather simplistic. 

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Across this week I also looked further into developing my brainstorms to prepare for next weeks presentation. I developed a process that I completed for each brainstorm by expanding the ideas using the Lotus Blossom System of creative thinking and then using mood boards to specify which ideas appealed to me the most. By doing this with all of my brainstorms I found some a lot easier to expand on and research whilst others were incredibly difficult and felt almost two-dimensional or just weren't as of much interest to me. Below is the presentation I put together (NB I have added in a document of what I said during the presentation as a reference point. I discussed these ideas alongside the visuals to give a full description of my ideas).

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References

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KB Manage, 2021. Simulation. (Online) Available at: https://www.kbmanage.com/concept/simulation (Accessed 1st January 2021)

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Dictionary.com, 2021. Simulation. (Online) Available at: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/simulation 

(Accessed 1st January 2021)

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Wikipedia, 2020. Simulation. (Online) Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation 

(Accessed 1st January 2021)

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MATLAB via Youtube, 2012. What is simulation? (Online) Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCMafswcNkY&t=643s&ab_channel=MATLAB 

(Accessed 1st January 2021)

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