Applying Cellular Automata and DEVS Methodologies to Digital Games: A Survey

Abstract

International audienceCellular automata were designed by John von Neumann in the 1940s, as a mathematical abstraction for modeling self-replicating algorithms. Since then, cellular automata have been widely studied theoretically and evolved into multiple variants. In the 1970s, Bernard P. Zeigler proposed a formalism rooted on systems theory principles, named DEVS (discrete-event systems specifications), which paved the way for component-based modeling and simulation and related methodologies. The purpose of this article is to survey how cellular automata and its variant, called cell-DEVS, may be used to implement computer simulations that can be used as digital serious games. The authors illustrate that implementation through some of the practical applications of such cellular automata. They show various serious game applications using real case studies: first, a simple bouncing ball and pinball game, a particle collision model, another on gossip propagation, and an application on human behavior at a metro station. Then, they show an application to social simulation using a voters game, a theoretical application (a model called Daisy World, which is derived from Gaia theory), and applications to physical phenomena such as a sandpile formation model or, finally, a three-dimensional model of a "virtual clay" that changes its shape when it is subject to pressure effects

A Plea for (Good) Simulations: Nudging Economics Toward an Experimental Science

“…An important factor in the original development of simulation techniques was that methods were sought to circumvent problems with the analytical intractability of equations describing nonlinear phenomena in the context of research into thermonuclear weapons at the Los Alamos National Laboratories (Galison, 1996;Keller, 2003). Today, however, the notion is more broadly used and includes application to so-called cellular automata (see, for example, Wainer, Liu, Dalle, & Zeigler, 2010) and agent-or individual-based models in which the solution of equations plays no or at best an attenuated role.…”

Blockyland

“…This shows that the participants were able to perform logical thinking and decision making based on the situation. In addition, we found that many participants used a strategy that was similar to the technique applied to improve the performance of CA simulations where cellular space is very large (Wainer et al, 2010). They realized that some of the given lands could be omitted, because they were far from the building areas and they would not be able to construct any buildings according to the rules.…”

“…Serious games seem to be an appropriate platform to present CA to adolescents. Previously, Wainer, Liu, Dalle, and Zeigler (2010) presented CA in serious games applications. However, those applications merely simulated natural phenomena from predefined structures and variables.…”

DEVS modelling and simulation of human social interaction and influence

“…CD++ is a modelling and simulation toolkit that implements DEVS and Cell-DEVS theory (Wainer, 2002). It has been used to solve a variety of complex applications (Wainer et al, 2010;Wainer, 2006). The tool allows models to be defined according to the specifications introduced in the previous section.…”

“…If the precondition is not met, then the next rule is evaluated until a rule is satisfied or no more rules are available. As discussed in (Wainer, 2006(Wainer, , 2010, this formalism allows security to be improved and development cost to be reduced thanks to the simulations.…”