SimCity: Welcome to the Glassbox Simulation Engine

[flowmotion 24]

^ Ever seen a PC with a vector processor for doing little things like inverting matrices 1 MB in size, or handling 64 digit floating point arithmetic in hardware? There are tasks that are not suitable to a PC's tiny selection of binary operations.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't one do those things with a $100 video card? (A relative of mine works in supercomputing, and he claims the hardware is now 99% stuff you can order from NewEgg.)

From EA's perspective, the cost-per-user of the online service will need to be very low, as it will be free (or funded incidentally through online store purchases). Therefore, they are would push as much computation as possible onto the end user's machine, and probably just use 'the cloud' to capture state changes.

Just my thoughts on how they plan to 'scale' this service - I could be completely offbase.

[Tarkus 6,933]

This must be adjudicated by the server end and certified free of problems before they can be added to the repository. This may become a huge task, but if the tools provided are good, there should be little to be done at the certification end. Perhaps qualified custom content providers need to be certified by the central site?

This would actually cut out one of the main causes of furor between various groups of custom content creators--modding practices (see 2006-2007). However, that said, it can still be a very time-consuming process sorting through stuff. The LEX at SC4D is a closed exchange, and the "scrutineering" process, which has a set checklist, requires a lot of effort from those vetting the items, particularly if the candidate submitting for LEX inclusion is complacent. We've had a few really good people get really burnt out after scrutinizing candidacy items over a prolonged period.

-Tarkus

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

This must be adjudicated by the server end and certified free of problems before they can be added to the repository. This may become a huge task, but if the tools provided are good, there should be little to be done at the certification end. Perhaps qualified custom content providers need to be certified by the central site?

This would actually cut out one of the main causes of furor between various groups of custom content creators--modding practices (see 2006-2007). However, that said, it can still be a very time-consuming process sorting through stuff. The LEX at SC4D is a closed exchange, and the "scrutineering" process, which has a set checklist, requires a lot of effort from those vetting the items, particularly if the candidate submitting for LEX inclusion is complacent. We've had a few really good people get really burnt out after scrutinizing candidacy items over a prolonged period.

-Tarkus

I think that means serious simplification of the tool set, does it not? I realize that currently it is a Brobdingnagian task, but if the backend-server-smartPCstation model is used, there will be only one place that needs to be considered (the backend) Testing should be an on-going process on a debugging instance of the product.

At the same time, why not vet people who are doing mods. It is a small percentage of the user community. It is time to end the "pick up my ball and BAT and go home" syndrome. Professional work of this nature (it is programming, no matter how you look at it) should be egoless.

  Edited March 18, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[PeterSweet 5]

Globals are just a set of a new earth design, zooming all over the global like Google Earth, sea temperature like warm and cold have a great impact on weather and climate around the world is like a circular motion equation to find the zooming all over the globals with your own regions plan from the new earth.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

A new video from EA/Maxis

[Mark Waybill 242]

It was good to see and hear the video clearly this time. It certainly looks promising in what it shows.

[brynhyfryd 222]

Blog from simcity website http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/GlassBox-Insiders-Look-Part-1

GlassBox Insider's Look - Part 1 (20 march 2012 by Ocean Quigley)

Hi Everybody. My name is Ocean Quigley and I’m the Creative Director on SimCity. Over the next few weeks we’ll be giving you an inside look at GlassBox, our new simulation engine. By the end of this series, you’ll understand how this powerful simulation engine works, how it will affect your gameplay experience and what it means when we say, “What You See Is What We Sim.” Here we go!

Why Bring SimCity Back Now? Ten years ago when we made SimCity 4, computers weren't powerful enough for us to simulate a city at the level of fidelity we wanted. We were able to give you a broad approximation of what was going on and we did our best to make it look plausible, but there wasn’t a tight connection between your actions and the simulation’s behavior. Now, with GlassBox, we can really represent everything that happens in your city. The buildings, the Sims, the vehicles, the trees, the roads—they’re are all really there, they are all living simulation objects. Your actions will result in a visible changes to the way that your city behaves. You will see direct consequences from the choice you make. The simulation responds to you. The overall life of your city is built out of the interactions of the things you create. Here's a video showing some of the simulation components that we've created. These are the basic building blocks of GlassBox, and we combine them to make the systems that constitute a city.

Resources: What Are They Good For? Absolutely everything. Let's start with resources. You can think of resources as information. Put another way, information flows through your city in the form of resources. For example, the many Sims that populate your city are resources that walk or drive from building to building, carrying "population," money, happiness or germs. Inside a building, you might have resources for power, water, coal, or education. There are lots of different resources, and they're used to control what the simulation does. Resources can be held in different places. They can be in a building, they can be carried about by Sims or vehicles (agents), or they can be inside maps of various sorts. The natural environment is a collection of resources to be consumed, added to, or transformed by the city. When a building has the right sorts of resources, it will come to life and start running simulation rules. The rules can do a number of different things:transform resources, pack resources into agents and send them on their way, change a building’s state, interact with maps, or create and destroy things.

Why Rules Run the World. The rules define the behavior of buildings. They define what the building actually does. They are the simulation logic inside a building that brings it to life. It is not enough for rules to be running invisibly inside buildings. The buildings need to show you what's going on. When a rule is doing something, we represent it visually or audibly. You’ll hear it with sound effects or see it with an animation, an effect or some other visual representation. For example, when an industrial building is producing goods; you can see gears moving within it and watch as individual resources are being made and processed. And because each building has its own rules and resources, you can combine building components together to extend what they do. Adding another component adds additional simulation behavior.

Zoning, Roads And Pipes…Oh My! The roads and pipes are the circulatory system that agents use to move resources within a city. The buildings hook onto networks and absorb or create agents. Zones also hook onto networks and run simulation rules that determine what buildings should actually appear in a given area. Remember those industrial buildings we discussed earlier? You can see trucks delivering resources from them to commercial buildings to be sold. Sims carrying money will travel to those commercial buildings and exchange one resource (money) for another (goods). Those are the major components of GlassBox—the toolkit that our designers are using to create a living, dynamic SimCity. Check back in soon when our Lead Gameplay Engineer, Dan Moskowitz, explains the Economic Loop and how GlassBox powers SimCity, the ultimate city simulation!

  Edited March 20, 2012 by brynhyfryd  

[Simlock 3]

^ ^ sounds promising! I hope you'll still be able to control a sprawling metropolis though!

there is a new video demonstrating a little of glassbox here:

http://i.joystiq.com/2012/03/20/take-a-second-first-look-at-simcitys-glassbox-engine-debug-g/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+weblogsinc%252Fjoystiq+%2528Joystiq%2529

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The amplification here makes it rather clear why the universe of discourse will be relatively small. The player will have his hands good and full if he has to interact with things being simulated, which was not the case in SimCity 4. SC4 is a statistical simulation. This, on the other hand, looks like a very complex game with rules that depend on the player's action for each item simulated, at least with respect to getting something started.

I hope it doesn't get down to the level of The Sims where you had to allow him to take a pee. Let's assume that some rules can run without intervention by the player. Let us also hope that individual Sims are created by the game and not by the player except in extreme circumstances of some kind. It is a city simulation, not a family group simulation, after all. You might consider the Sims to be agents with special rules for the functioning of the city.

With this engine, however, it would not be very difficult to move into a single home or group of homes, and make a version of The Sims that could function in place of UDI. Much more detailed, and much later than the basic game, I hope. I foresee a "Pets in the City" module along with a real, well-simulated tiergarten (zoo). It might be possible for a player to suspend the city simulation (sort of), and concentrate on some minor aspect, but I think this is something for expansion packs. One of the things I would like to see is an EMO in the city that could conduct drills and respond to disasters. In a disaster situation, control of the EMO might well be a player thing.

The generality of what we've seen of Glassbox indicates many possibilities, and if the coding is a simple as the illustration, it will be quick and easy to debug. I wonder how many man-years have gone into the development of Glassbox? It is interesting that somebody (EA?) was putting rather a large amount of money into pure research on this.

[Mark Waybill 242]

Certainly this engine looks promising for the future. I shall look forward to reading the further editions of the blog.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I am not the sharpest tack in the box, but this idea has been circulating around in the old wet processor since the announcement. This is a very fancy piece of software, and I am beginning to see that besides gaming simulations is has applications in the real world as well. I hope EA has this throughly locked up in copyright and patents because they could become very rich.

I can see applications in market research, scientific simulations, and so on. The idea of an agent which can contain an amount of something that can be dropped off in quanta makes for a very interesting feature. If agents can also be agents of query, things get even more interesting.

  Edited March 21, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[Simlock 3]

The part where Ocean Quigley says the engine is designed to hold "TENS OF THOUSANDS of agents" is the most exciting!!

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The part where Ocean Quigley says the engine is designed to hold "TENS OF THOUSANDS of agents" is the most exciting!!

Well, I hope it is not limited to five digits anywhere. All this is a matter of memory allocation and CPU power. The 64-bit addressing gives practically unlimited capability with virtual memory, and if necessary the servers can be 128-bit. Let us guess that what was really meant was a myriad or a myriad of myriads. This kind of thing is very hard to test, by the way. This is probably why we have all the CTDs in SimCity Deluxe.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I can certainly see the potential for GlassBox outside of video gaming. As to their copyrighting it and becoming rich, Microsoft copyrighted Word and Excel and Powerpoint etc. I Use Open Office. But within reason certainly they could in theory make it a very profitable creation. Many sectors could benefit from such a simple and powerful simulation tool.

I can certainly see the potential for GlassBox outside of video gaming. As to their copyrighting it and becoming rich, Microsoft copyrighted Word and Excel and Powerpoint etc. I Use Open Office. But within reason certainly they could in theory make it a very profitable creation. Many sectors could benefit from such a simple and powerful simulation tool.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Simulation is a more specialized market than office applications, but there is most surely a client base to be had. One could start with scientific organizations that use a lot of simulations. If Glassbox is good enough, things like nuclear reactors could be simulated. This has been done since the 1960s if not before using the limited machines available then.

Outputs need not be graphic, but if a good graphics interface and method of defining its appearance were included it would clearly enhance any such product. If they decide to go this way, EA could rename itself as EAS (Electronic Arts and Sciences). This could help divorce the idea that they are just a gaming outfit.

BTW, being on Linux I use Libre Office.

[Mark Waybill 242]

It would be interesting if they took up that idea. Possibly someone from Maxis has suggested such a thing already. That would create the necessary profit to keep SC viable and an on going project.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

It would be interesting if they took up that idea. Possibly someone from Maxis has suggested such a thing already. That would create the necessary profit to keep SC viable and an on going project.

Well, we assume the business mavens at EA are smarter than the average bear. In this case, they may very well have a tiger. They just have to beware of riding it with a smile.

[nashville nelson 51]

So basically the GlassBox engine can calculate physics. The Agents can transport photons, H⁺, electrical charge or gravitons and the rules are determined by the laws of physics. A Unit can be a planet exchanging graviton-agents or an atom getting hit by a neutron. It should also be possible to calculate chaos like a mass panic to test some new exit routes or an advanced prey and bait simulation. This sounds amazing!

[JoeOh 20]

I wonder if the glassbox engine will take advantage of the CUDA cores on the GeForce cards.......any info on this?

[nashville nelson 51]

^ They are using the Bullet Engine. Maybe you find the answer on their site.

[Dan] We're using the bullet physics engine.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

1. Agents do not run rules. They can hold data but the networks with the paths they go on run their rules. Spawning sims in the game was just a debug demonstration showing what would happen if you spawned 100 sims in a closed loop of nothingness then connect that loop with the outside world.

2. I am glad that this game will be rated T.

3. Tens of thousands of agents is not good because I have built medium sized cities with 199,205 population (hundreds of thousands) and you must remember that moving products, resources, and utilities are all agents as well.

4. You cannot Crash to Desktop in SimCity Deluxe. The only game released called SimCity Deluxe is for the iPad. What you need to remember is that we are talking SimCity 4 Rush Hour, also known as SC4 Deluxe. It is like calling The Sims 3 Limited Edition Sims Deluxe because The Sims Deluxe was the original The Sims, with House Party and a couple of fountains.

5. The GlassBox engine can theoretically have a cornucopia myriad of applications including SimEarth/Spore 2, Sim Petroleum/Refinery/Oil Tycoon 2, Smart Grid simulator, SimTower 2, SimCopter/Streets of SimCity 2014, SimFarm 2, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I don't believe that Glassbox will do any graphics things except to update the simulation data held in an interprocess communications area. If you want to have multi-processing active, you can't assign all program functions to what is really the simulation engine. The graphics engine will surely be separate.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

Did I mention graphics? Glass box runs the simulation and tells the graphics engine to run an animation or sound. The graphics engine, physics engine (bullet), and GUI are unique from the simulation engine (glass box) that work together.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Well, that's what I read into your post. It is unfortunate that everything in the announcement is so vague.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

Did you watch any of the videos? I got half of my info from the videos.

SimTower will certainly have a different graphics engine than SimCity. I never thought that I implied that GlassBox handled graphics but I am really bad with implying and inferring (as well as non-truth).

[Gamma Stardust 50]

Glassbox engine and the theory behind it... I would guess the following is everyday read of Maxis devs:

Abstract: Agent-based computational economics (ACE) is the computational study of economies

modeled as evolving systems of autonomous interacting agents. Thus, ACE is a specialization to

economics of the basic complex adaptive systems paradigm. This study outlines the main objectives

and defining characteristics of the ACE methodology, and discusses similarities and distinctions

between ACE and artificial life research. Eight ACE research areas are identified, and a number of

publications in each area are highlighted for concrete illustration. Open questions and directions

for future ACE research are also considered. The study concludes with a discussion of the potential

benefits associated with ACE modeling, as well as some potential difficulties.

Keywords: Agent-based computational economics; artificial life; learning; evolution of norms;

markets; networks; parallel experiments with humans and computational agents; computational

laboratories

here or more in-depth here.

[Mark Waybill 242]

Tesfatsion's essay was a most interesting read. I have spent much time speculating these things and had come to similar conclusions in a rather abstract and ignorant manner (I was described rather properly by emo_fighter at RollerChat as a 'pseudo intellectual' with a PHD in Pigheadedness at one point), utilising whatever resources I could observe about me. The conclusions these reaearchers are arriving at are similar to those I arrived at. It is pleasant to see progress in this field. I was always very absorbed in 'norms' of behaviour and social mathematics, and 'GlassBox' style programming was something I dreamt of as a boy.

On a lighter note if ALife and ACE walk together hand in hand up the hill, maybe we shall have living Sims tumbling down it.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Did you watch any of the videos? I got half of my info from the videos.

SimTower will certainly have a different graphics engine than SimCity. I never thought that I implied that GlassBox handled graphics but I am really bad with implying and inferring (as well as non-truth).

Yes, lad, I watched them all. But you have to remember that I am looking at this not as a product but as a proposal for a product.

They have some neat tricks, including "Glassbox" complete with a new definition/operational language. I really haven't noticed anything about the graphics, but I do hope it will be OpenGL based and not DirectX. DirectX is a Microsoft lock-in and I am 100% for full portability.

If Glassbox depends on one Microsoft proprietary API, it is also a lock-in.

Considering the number of x86 systems that are around between Apple and Linux, they would be throwing away around 30% of the games market as it currently stands.

If it can't run under Android on a larger platform, they are throwing away a very large piece of the market, indeed. Tablets won't be as wimpy as they are now by the end of 2013. They may not release for Android, but it should be possible without a lot of emulation software.

I want native mode versions for Windows, MAC OS, and Linux at least. This is a triviality in today's development environments. The only fly in their ointment is they may not be able to use some arcane base language without some handsprings. However, they could use something like QT4 and get along quite well.

[RomeoJGuy 0]

http://www.technologytell.com/apple/91032/os-and-browser-market-shares-for-february-2012/

http://netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

8% market share combined is much different than 30%, and most people using a Linux OS aren't playing games with it, so it seems business wise to make little sense to make SimCity available on any OS.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Since wine is available a Linux edition is only a faint wish. Those of us who are interested in running something besides business apps on Linux can always use the windows interface layer. However, it would be rather poor of them to not have a native mode for Apple OS/x. And, if one gets that far, it is not much of a stretch to have a few conditionals in the make file to allow any Unix-like system.

I have some very strong doubts about the statistics presented. There are many editions of Linux, and since it is basically a free download, one doesn't necessarily collect accurate statistics. I don't recall having to register on any of the four sites I downloaded working copies of the system from. Counting downloads does not equal number of users. If anything, the whole area is inaccurate and probably overstated. For example, I have two different working copies of Linux on one machine right now that I use interchangeably. This is often the case, and at one point I had three.

My main concern with all applications other than operating systems from any source is that it should be portable, at least at source level, and avoid any platform lock-ins. This is necessary if a platform should fall from underneath your app. Applications should not be tied in any way to a given operating environment.

Perhaps it be because over my working lifetime I have used so many different systems and suffered through so many conversions. If I had my druthers, there would be exactly one POSIX-compliant operating system for the x86 architecture. PC's are like home appliances. They should work the same way, all the time, until they fall to pieces.

  Edited March 29, 2012 by A Nonny Moose