[belugacat]

Oh wow, super fascinating reference, thank you for posting it! I’ll have to check it out, I’ve been prototyping game concepts with many thousands of agents who all do interesting things for the player to investigate (the key here is that they don’t have to be particularly complex or meaningful, they just have to overlap in enough thought provoking ways to keep the player engaged), and I’ve had a similar insight (“make agents identify a position and adopt the opposite stance”) that seems to yield interesting early results.

(sorry, nothing concrete to share and likely won’t for a long time)

[crawfordcomeaux]

I feel excitement over reading this. Would you be open to trying out some ideas to experiment with? I've been wondering if a framework for amplifying/accelerating evolution in bacterial cultures that's based in graph theory holds for culture in general. Also, trying to identify a sustainable model for a gift economy that can outperform debt economies.

[eightysixfour]

If you're looking for a playground for this kind of thing (and can code), check out https://hash.ai/

[crawfordcomeaux]

Thanks! How's what you're doing different?

[eightysixfour]

I'm not the gamedev above, just thought you may be interested.

[sdwr]

Sounds interesting! I see games in a similar way, as collections of simple mechanics that overlap/intersect/stack.

I think one of the keys to a complementary bundle of mechanics is that they're distinct. Acting on different time scales, different reward structures that tug the brain around, creating choices that feel meaningful and don't ever repeat exactly.