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From: manuelp@cs.kun.nl (Manuel Polling)
Subject: Re: Dynamic environments
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References: <SMISHRA.95Mar14123439@kiwi.acns.nwu.edu> <3k74hv$8p0@hptemp1.cc.umr.edu>
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 10:15:13 GMT
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In <3k74hv$8p0@hptemp1.cc.umr.edu> jja@saucer.cc.umr.edu (John Adelsberger) writes:

>Sunil Mishra (smishra@kiwi.acns.nwu.edu) wrote:
>: Anyone know of any games that have anything close to a dynamic environment?

>: By dynamic environment I mean one that is based on some set of physical (or
>: metaphysical) laws, so that all objects obey these physical laws, and the
>: objects can themselves be altered if you manage to figure out some way to
>: alter the manner in which they are affected by these laws.

[cut out some details]
>: Anyone interested in attempting the construction of such an environment?

>: Sunil

>Great idea.  Unfortunately, in principle, it would require infinite
>processing power.  No matter how "real" you make interactions, you don't
[cut out some details]
>this is a SIMPLE example.  How about the processes that keep the sun
>going?  In your sim, it can't just go.  Every subatomic interaction has
>to be modeled.  There are decillions of such events every second.  I
>rather doubt any current computer can model such a thing.

>--
>John J. Adelsberger III			"I swear by my life and my love of
>jja@umr.edu				 it that I will never live for the
>					 sake of another man, nor ask
>Send all flames to root@127.0.0.1 	 another man to live for mine."

>							- Ayn Rand

I don't think it would have to take that much power. Just
keep it simple, maybe things have to happen for the right reasons, but who
is to say what the right reasons are? A sun does not have to be kept going by 
all those little interactions, it can also be going because that is what suns
do! Take a black box view on it. Of course you would have to be carefull 
when you decide on the laws that govern a 'sun object', but it does not have to
be that complicated. 
--

	Regards, Manuel.
