Economic simulation as a game for programmers
I would like to create a kind of game of economic simulation and tell what kind of it can be and why it is of interest. And the interest is not only gaming, but also scientific in the framework of artificial intelligence. Those. so that programmers can write bots whose task it would be to manage an enterprise / gaming agent automatically. Therefore, I would like to find like-minded people.
Of greatest interest here is the fact that 1000 real players playing over the network can create a rather interesting environment. I found an example of this in the game “Virtonomics” (which I will briefly describe). No perfect retail sales simulator will be as interesting. And the players make mistakes or choose these or other accents during development. From here behavior which is required from the automatic machine to the manager of such enterprise will be not banal within the limits of the known methods, and there is something to study.
Below, I will describe a few “pas” about the game of Virtonomics, and then briefly describe what other simulator game can be done, and so that it would be interesting for both ordinary players and programmers.
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The following business philosophy is tested on the simulation of the game "Virtonomics" (virtonomica.ru). I am by no means a specialist in economics, I don’t do real business (banally there is no start-up capital of $ 1 million;)) and, as a matter of fact, the following easily follows only from the basic course of economics in high school / university. But simulation / game teaches not to count, but to feel intuitively “capital growth” —it is interesting, fascinating, and gives a certain view of the real world.
The mistake of many beginning businessmen is to concentrate at the beginning of establishing a business in the local market, without understanding the functioning of the entire international economy. Allegedly, it is difficult to study all the possibilities of the game (economy) for a long time, boring and why not. You can start with something simple - such tips, as a rule, are given to beginner players and they prevail on the “virtonomics” forum. Such a novice businessman does not act effectively and until he fills with cones on it, it is very easy for those who came to the market to earn money, that is, It turns out some hazing. This is a losing way of business development.
Everything depends on everyone, there is no independent market as long as you do not have a trillion, own production of raw materials / semi-finished products is a utopia, all divisions of the company should have market relations
The market is such a thing, where everything depends on everyone. It is impossible to create an independent structural unit, independent production or even extraction. The resulting independence is always illusory, and most likely not effective. Only with more than a trillion can we try to create truly independent oligopolistic, monopolistic submarkets.
But we initially only have $ 1 million and we need to enter the international market without being as concerned and as efficiently as possible.
But many still believe in the possibility of independence. And their main attempt in the development of the market is to get this independence at least with time. But it is obvious to all that retail depends on suppliers of products, production from raw materials and the length of the technological chain, mining is initially worth real money (but fortunately it is possible to buy them for auctions at virtual billions for free), but most importantly it also depends on production . Well, the most important thing is competition - to sense from your independence, if you can’t sell your product, it’s just not competitively capable.
And then you start thinking - and the meaning is independence? Raw materials can cost less than you mine, similarly, products can cost less than you produce yourself, and you never sell your products. And it is more profitable to trade in strangers. Moreover, the situation on the market can quickly change, and what was profitable today may become unprofitable tomorrow. I hope now it is clear that everything depends on the situation on the market. But it is not so easy to evaluate it, experts calculate it and it’s not suitable for estimations, but for us it’s important to just start to feel the market intuitively.
Hence, by the way, there is such a trend in the real economy to approach the assessment of the situation on the market for its various specialized units. And not so that these are my favorite “my” units, I will provide them at cost. And maybe the market situation is such that it is more profitable to buy at a “foreign” cost? And their close or repurpose?
Go ahead …
This is a truly capable stereotype that it is more profitable to work together or within a corporation (in reality, the team is needed inside one company, you simply will not physically keep track of everything, this nuance is not simulated in the game, so we will not take it into account). Every respected businessman should remember and respect only their own interests. Why do you expect that the one with whom you agree will be even per gram to act in your interests? If it is not profitable for him, then he will not, and if it will be profitable.
This stereotype is largely shaped by the “desire for independence”, allegedly I have not enough capital to ensure “independence”, and we will cover the entire industry with like-minded people and everything will be fine.
First, it will not work (it is potentially only possible for corporations where each member has at least a trillion. A trillion conventionally is the sum of the maximum possible volume (turnover) of the international market). Secondly, "everyone will be fine" exactly as much as he will have capital. And if so, then there is no difference, on the contrary, “personal relationships” will hamper you in making decisions according to your knowledge of the market (remember, we learn to evaluate it intuitively - in reality it is difficult, but in the game it is easy, because have a variety of reports).
In general, this is elementary; in business, I must say no to emotions. Trading in one local country is exactly the same as trying to sell everywhere, it is unpromising. This will be the averaging of your profits - and as you know, such averaging tends to zero. Exactly the same applies to the choice of goods. You can not trade in retail than one - you need to consider the whole range. In one city it will be something profitable to trade, in the other the same product will give a loss. From this it follows even more clearly that it is impossible to trade at retail only by what you produce yourself. It is likely to be unprofitable.
And in such a choice will help us only at least an approximate calculation. A bit of figurative mathematics, so that it would be intuitive to what to strive for Imagine a surface (mathematical). On the X axis - we have cities, on the Z axis - we have goods, and on the Y axis - we have the expected profit. And then the economy is reduced to the choice of such (X, Z) that give maximums for Y.
In the real economy, such a surface is quite smooth (differentiable), in the game “Virtonomics” even those who possess trillions do not play effectively, well, they cannot find these (X, Z). Therefore, the surface is cut with tops and valleys. This means that there are scarce goods, and there are goods with overproduction. In addition, the developers of Virtonomics periodically open up new markets, and with these or other innovations they “heave” markets up. But the main contribution is still made by players with their inefficient business.
Therefore, as a matter of fact, it is relatively easy for “newbies” to enter the retail market and consolidate there; you just need to find the right one (X, Z).
So, what kind of game I propose to create. The main method of creation - we make the game in stages. Those. We make the first minimal stage when gameplay appears. About a hundred players appear and only then begin to develop the game further. The second is that the players themselves must be able to fill the game with content. Those. no initial products / production schemes / names of technologies and other things.
It begins so that the player is given the opportunity to settle in a certain area, which he gives the name, then you need to come up with 3 names of animals / fossils / objects / methods of processing. Then someone moderator approves such names, and the machine gun randomly gives different indices - the complexity of the extraction / danger / utility. And with the accumulation of the intelligence index, it will be allowed to introduce new products, etc.
Now the first stage is to create a retail market. To stimulate the player - the game character will have needs for food / water / heat, etc., and they need to be met. Then there should be a plan of action for the player - he worked for two hours, slept for 5 hours ... As a result, the game character will have reserves. And in the beginning there will be only a barter market in which goods will be exchanged. Gradually, the market will turn into the fact that a certain product will become the benchmark for one and the other for another. There will be some equivalent of money. How this happens can be considered that the first stage is ready.
I am not very familiar with Web programming, so someone may want to help me, but I can write the logic of the game myself. In general, you need a team of 2-3 programmers :) But I expect to write in C # + ASP.NET. Also, unlike similar games that are trying to commercialize, I tend to OpenSource ...
Of greatest interest here is the fact that 1000 real players playing over the network can create a rather interesting environment. I found an example of this in the game “Virtonomics” (which I will briefly describe). No perfect retail sales simulator will be as interesting. And the players make mistakes or choose these or other accents during development. From here behavior which is required from the automatic machine to the manager of such enterprise will be not banal within the limits of the known methods, and there is something to study.
Below, I will describe a few “pas” about the game of Virtonomics, and then briefly describe what other simulator game can be done, and so that it would be interesting for both ordinary players and programmers.
')
Some provisions for the game "Virtonomics"
The following business philosophy is tested on the simulation of the game "Virtonomics" (virtonomica.ru). I am by no means a specialist in economics, I don’t do real business (banally there is no start-up capital of $ 1 million;)) and, as a matter of fact, the following easily follows only from the basic course of economics in high school / university. But simulation / game teaches not to count, but to feel intuitively “capital growth” —it is interesting, fascinating, and gives a certain view of the real world.
We think only globally
The mistake of many beginning businessmen is to concentrate at the beginning of establishing a business in the local market, without understanding the functioning of the entire international economy. Allegedly, it is difficult to study all the possibilities of the game (economy) for a long time, boring and why not. You can start with something simple - such tips, as a rule, are given to beginner players and they prevail on the “virtonomics” forum. Such a novice businessman does not act effectively and until he fills with cones on it, it is very easy for those who came to the market to earn money, that is, It turns out some hazing. This is a losing way of business development.
Everything depends on everyone, there is no independent market as long as you do not have a trillion, own production of raw materials / semi-finished products is a utopia, all divisions of the company should have market relations
The market is such a thing, where everything depends on everyone. It is impossible to create an independent structural unit, independent production or even extraction. The resulting independence is always illusory, and most likely not effective. Only with more than a trillion can we try to create truly independent oligopolistic, monopolistic submarkets.
But we initially only have $ 1 million and we need to enter the international market without being as concerned and as efficiently as possible.
But many still believe in the possibility of independence. And their main attempt in the development of the market is to get this independence at least with time. But it is obvious to all that retail depends on suppliers of products, production from raw materials and the length of the technological chain, mining is initially worth real money (but fortunately it is possible to buy them for auctions at virtual billions for free), but most importantly it also depends on production . Well, the most important thing is competition - to sense from your independence, if you can’t sell your product, it’s just not competitively capable.
And then you start thinking - and the meaning is independence? Raw materials can cost less than you mine, similarly, products can cost less than you produce yourself, and you never sell your products. And it is more profitable to trade in strangers. Moreover, the situation on the market can quickly change, and what was profitable today may become unprofitable tomorrow. I hope now it is clear that everything depends on the situation on the market. But it is not so easy to evaluate it, experts calculate it and it’s not suitable for estimations, but for us it’s important to just start to feel the market intuitively.
Hence, by the way, there is such a trend in the real economy to approach the assessment of the situation on the market for its various specialized units. And not so that these are my favorite “my” units, I will provide them at cost. And maybe the market situation is such that it is more profitable to buy at a “foreign” cost? And their close or repurpose?
Go ahead …
Company company wolf
This is a truly capable stereotype that it is more profitable to work together or within a corporation (in reality, the team is needed inside one company, you simply will not physically keep track of everything, this nuance is not simulated in the game, so we will not take it into account). Every respected businessman should remember and respect only their own interests. Why do you expect that the one with whom you agree will be even per gram to act in your interests? If it is not profitable for him, then he will not, and if it will be profitable.
This stereotype is largely shaped by the “desire for independence”, allegedly I have not enough capital to ensure “independence”, and we will cover the entire industry with like-minded people and everything will be fine.
First, it will not work (it is potentially only possible for corporations where each member has at least a trillion. A trillion conventionally is the sum of the maximum possible volume (turnover) of the international market). Secondly, "everyone will be fine" exactly as much as he will have capital. And if so, then there is no difference, on the contrary, “personal relationships” will hamper you in making decisions according to your knowledge of the market (remember, we learn to evaluate it intuitively - in reality it is difficult, but in the game it is easy, because have a variety of reports).
There is no favorite country, there are countries where it is profitable to trade, there is no favorite product, there is a profitable product
In general, this is elementary; in business, I must say no to emotions. Trading in one local country is exactly the same as trying to sell everywhere, it is unpromising. This will be the averaging of your profits - and as you know, such averaging tends to zero. Exactly the same applies to the choice of goods. You can not trade in retail than one - you need to consider the whole range. In one city it will be something profitable to trade, in the other the same product will give a loss. From this it follows even more clearly that it is impossible to trade at retail only by what you produce yourself. It is likely to be unprofitable.
And in such a choice will help us only at least an approximate calculation. A bit of figurative mathematics, so that it would be intuitive to what to strive for Imagine a surface (mathematical). On the X axis - we have cities, on the Z axis - we have goods, and on the Y axis - we have the expected profit. And then the economy is reduced to the choice of such (X, Z) that give maximums for Y.
In the real economy, such a surface is quite smooth (differentiable), in the game “Virtonomics” even those who possess trillions do not play effectively, well, they cannot find these (X, Z). Therefore, the surface is cut with tops and valleys. This means that there are scarce goods, and there are goods with overproduction. In addition, the developers of Virtonomics periodically open up new markets, and with these or other innovations they “heave” markets up. But the main contribution is still made by players with their inefficient business.
Therefore, as a matter of fact, it is relatively easy for “newbies” to enter the retail market and consolidate there; you just need to find the right one (X, Z).
From modern economics to prehistoric times
So, what kind of game I propose to create. The main method of creation - we make the game in stages. Those. We make the first minimal stage when gameplay appears. About a hundred players appear and only then begin to develop the game further. The second is that the players themselves must be able to fill the game with content. Those. no initial products / production schemes / names of technologies and other things.
It begins so that the player is given the opportunity to settle in a certain area, which he gives the name, then you need to come up with 3 names of animals / fossils / objects / methods of processing. Then someone moderator approves such names, and the machine gun randomly gives different indices - the complexity of the extraction / danger / utility. And with the accumulation of the intelligence index, it will be allowed to introduce new products, etc.
Now the first stage is to create a retail market. To stimulate the player - the game character will have needs for food / water / heat, etc., and they need to be met. Then there should be a plan of action for the player - he worked for two hours, slept for 5 hours ... As a result, the game character will have reserves. And in the beginning there will be only a barter market in which goods will be exchanged. Gradually, the market will turn into the fact that a certain product will become the benchmark for one and the other for another. There will be some equivalent of money. How this happens can be considered that the first stage is ready.
I am not very familiar with Web programming, so someone may want to help me, but I can write the logic of the game myself. In general, you need a team of 2-3 programmers :) But I expect to write in C # + ASP.NET. Also, unlike similar games that are trying to commercialize, I tend to OpenSource ...
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/177371/
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