Dear Tim,

What’s that, five months or so? A break involving watching people play Cities: Skylines, and writing. Making video games. Taking a holiday to Greece.

And after playing Cities: Skylines, something began to click and whir in my head, and a new way of tackling Kalmany came to mind.

Kalmany v3.0 aka Kalmany Gammon is now in development. Whilst Kalmany is still running, there’s been no updates or changes so the simulation has probably hit a kind of homeostasis. How boring, right? When things aren’t being shaken up or modified then the idea stagnates. Surprise, surprise, I have taken on the larger task of updating, rebuilding, and redesigning the simulation.

I can think of Kalmany Beetroot as a good proof of concept. With that, it has informed what needs to change so let’s just summarise how it’s going to change:

Location, location, location

The first thing I did was construct a much more in-depth map of Kalmany, breaking constituencies into regions. Each one will have details kept against them such as their landscape features, weather effects, infrastructure, and so on. This will inform parts of the simulation such as transportation, infrastructure projects like housing and industry, and immigration and birthplaces.

The amount of data that’ll be stored will increase but will be interesting to see if I can whip up an interesting and semi-realistic weather system that isn’t just numbers pulled from a hat (that’s boring).

Citizens First

So I’m scrapping looking at any of the political side of the simulation for now and it’ll start with a general simulation on the inner workings of the country. I think this is a better way to start off as it means I can deduce better policies and effects of the government from how the country functions. Rather than trying to fit things in and around what we have, the base ground will prevent me messing up the political system from changing how citizens interact.

The first step in this is to rebuild/readapt the birthing logic and creating a proper set of immigration logic. Currently, Kalmany attempts to ensure that the population is a steady twenty-four thousand. This new way of thinking could create a burst in population.

Corporations and Capitalism

The economy in Kalmany is basic. I’ve always wanted to create a more convoluted economy system filled with assets changing hands and a proper upper/middle/lower class developing within the country. What inequalities can I create from varying salaries, companies’ demand and supply, imports and exports upsetting the economy?

And what of stocks and shares in companies? How can privatisation and nationalism affect the company’s operations?

The Complexity of a Multi-Variable Differential System

The trouble with such a huge overhaul of the system is trying to suss out where to start. Yes, I began with births, but I mentioned immigration. Immigration depends on foreign entities existing and being involved. Those foreign entities will have import/exports. This affects the economy. Which means corporations could sell more or less. Which affects money. Which affects livelihoods of the citizens. Will they get sick from not having enough water? How do I track water supply? Who works for the water company?

The system is going to feed in itself from every and all channels, creating a full blown system of feedback with only certain pieces of random information feeding into it. Organising such a structure is already a large task in itself and so I need to start by breaking it up into pieces that I can work on individually. I’ve made many a diagram to try and visualise to myself how it’d operate, and each one has fell down in trying to encompass all attributes.

But imagine how interesting a system would be when I have it operating? What kinds of questions could we ask? What kinds of complications can I introduce?

The beauty of simulation is that fascinating question of ‘what if?’, which holds more heart than say Warwick University’s use as a tagline.

Anywho the smoking lounge has been quiet since you’ve been gone. The council say they’re likely to rip it all down. I hope you’re planning on returning it soon as that heartless man Barney Wringley is intending to build a cinema complex in the building, and I know you’re the only one who can stop him. I’m fairly certain he has other intentions that he’s not made obvious. Where are you now? Do you need help? I’ve not received a message by rat for months, nor the messages you left in the source code of the Facebook group page for Davey Jones’ Footlocker; Shoe Emporium Deluxe. I hope you’re okay.

Yours incrementally,

Stan