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Video games and urban simulation: New tools or new tricks?
Abstract
Video games allow complex systems modelling, revealing retroaction loops, replicating self-organization and the emergence of hierarchical organization, functional differentiation and social segregation through multi-level interactions. Recent trends focus on improving modelling tools’ graphic quality and interface attractiveness and on using video games to facilitate urban studies teaching and research. This apparent convergence between simulation and video games is addressed through a selection of strategy and city builder video games. Comparisons reveal that simulations and video games point to similar results:, they both allow the simulation of complex urban processes, like hierarchical urban networks or urban segregation. Games even seem to allow going one step further, being often more comprehensive simulations. However, the main limitation of video games emerges from their didactic power: video games and simulation software implement rules and models in almost opposite means. Games induce players to learn the model but not to challenge or to produce new knowledge.
... modifiables ou explicites, ou qui ne sont pas connus à l'avance par les joueurs. Cette réflexion rejoint celle du statut des jeux sérieux et de la question de la modélisation arbitraire imposée par le modélisateur (Rufat & Ter Minassian, 2012 ;Batty & Torrens, 2001). 45 In fine, notre posture entre neutralité et engagement s'est construite en rapport à la nonconsidération que les acteurs du territoire ont des stratégies de prévention dites alternatives, et qui sont pourtant nécessaires à prendre en compte pour considérer la durabilité du système. ...
... Le jeu vise à explorer différents scénarios de gestion du risque (défenses frontales, modes d'urbanisation, défenses douces, retrait stratégique), dont le déroulement est à la fois induit par les choix d'aménagement des joueurs et par la simulation en tant que telle, contraignant ainsi les trajectoires de jeu.Application du jeu sérieux aux catastrophes 11 La forte dimension ludique de la simulation participative favorise largement la sensibilisation de joueurs dans un domaine donné. Comme d'autres l'ont pointé précédemment(Sawyer et Rejeski, 2002 ;Ter Minassian et Rufat, 2008 ;Djaouti et al., 2011 ;Rufat et Ter Minassian, 2012 ;Blasko-Drabik et al., 2013), les jeux sérieux ont à la fois un but didactique qui permet d'expliciter la complexité de la simulation, et une visée de plaisir. ...
The serious game LittoSIM models the risk of coastal flooding, using real data, to which an island on the French Atlantic coast is exposed. It proposes to four teams of players to manage the territory, planning urbanization and coastal defense, and then to observe the consequences of land use planning during marine submersion events. The serious game, supported by a multi-agent model, facilitates the apprehension of risk by elected officials and community workers and is designed to enable actions to be monitored, as well as to give them different orientation within the platform. This article aims to raise the question of realism in a participatory simulation : how has it been implemented, for what purpose, with what effects ? The spatial mapping of the game firstly presents a duplication of the territory management and plays on spatial and temporal scales and on interpersonal exchanges. In addition, game scripting, through incentive levers that invite players to change their daily work practices, creates a lag and thus raises awareness of the issues. Finally, the participatory approach, whose realistic dimension is claimed, questions the researcher about his accompanying posture.
... Procesos y vías de desarrollo a coordinar con otras ciencias, especialmente las computacionales, robóticas, la Inteligencia Artificial. Ésto requiere de un progreso armónico en el que las Tecnologías de la Información Geográfica Digital han de tener, como ya viene sucediendo, una relevancia cada vez mayor, constituyendo una base fundamental de información y conocimiento como soporte, entre otras aplicaciones, para la toma de decisiones en muy diversos campos, incluido el entrenamiento y aprendizaje (Hu-Au, 2016) en entornos geográficos virtualizados, la simulación en entornos geográficos o el "juego" (Zyda, 2005), los conocidos como "Serious Game", Serious Game (Rufat, 2012) cuyo escenario sea la realidad virtualizada. España. ...
... While thinking how to plan urban areas of the future it is important to get information about the development of trends using gamification. City building games are identified as one of the sources (Rufat & Minassian, 2012). As a type of "serious games", application of a gamified environment allows to obtain personal preferences without even asking a person if he prefers a project or not. ...
Public engagement and participatory advancement in architecture have entered a new level, as public expectations rise and technological innovations create new opportunities. Stakeholders can contribute to architecture through variety of new technological tools that evolved significantly over the last decade and the key question is how to make architecture better by using them. The paper presents findings of the initial stage of research – exploratory literature analysis of emerging trends for adopting virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and other human–computer interactions in urban design and architecture. The goal is to figure out the most recent trends of how public can participate and improve the quality of architecture through modern technologies. The results show that directions of current investigations on participatory advancement in architecture by using extended reality (XR) solutions develop in these main directions: easy to use tools, simulation of space and content, evaluation of results, continuous participation of stakeholders and adoption of XR solutions in architectural design, urban design and landscape architecture.
... La grande flexibilité et la diversité des voies possibles des succès comme des échecs, peuvent ainsi aider les apprenants à développer une base de connaissances flexible pouvant être appliquée à diverses situations du monde réel(Di Loreto et al., 2012).7Le projet ESCAPE-SG répond ainsi à la plupart des critères évoqués précédemment, il utilisera en plus les éléments de design des jeux dans un contexte de non jeu(Deterding et al., 2011 ;Rufat & Ter Minassian, 2012) et aura pour vocation à être utilisé en cellule d'exercice de gestion d'alerte et de crise. Sur table tactile, les joueurs auront accès aux cartographies du territoire concernés par l'aléas et pourront afficher l'ensemble des couches d'information géographique d'intérêt ainsi que leurs tables attributaires (fig. ...
Escape-SG is a simulator project inspired by serious games. It will immerse the trainees in realistic situations of potentially major crises requiring the evacuation of populations. Developed for and with crisis management actors, these scenarios will aim to assess their knowledge of procedures, improve their interaction and communication skills within crisis cells and prepare them to manage major events that may involve massive population displacement. Developed to operate on a touch table, this simulator will be integrated into crisis management simulation rooms where it will make an important contribution considering complex social dynamics in the scenarios proposed.
... Nevertheless, using them "seriously" (for purposes that are not primarily for entertainment) has its constraints. Rufat and Minassian [13] compared selected city-building games (SimCity 4 and CityLife) with urban modeling tools used in research and concluded that simulations in the city-building games were based on similar models to the ones used in research, but the main difference was in the ability to change the simulation parameters after observation and learning. Whereas scholarly modeling tools offer this feature, games do not. ...
The city-building game Cities: Skylines simulates urban-related processes in a visually appealing 3D environment and thus offers interesting possibilities for visualizations of real-world places. Such visualizations could be used for presentation, participation, or education projects. However, the creation process of the game model from geographical data is inaccurate, complicated, and time consuming, thus preventing the wider use of this game for non-entertainment purposes. This paper presents the automatic methods scripted in the Cities: Skylines application programming interface (API) and bundled into a game modification (commonly referred to as a game mod) named GeoSkylines, to create a geographically accurate visualization of real-world places in Cities: Skylines. Based on various geographical data, the presented methods create road and rail networks, tree coverage, water basins, planning zones, buildings, and services. Using these methods, playable models of the cities of Svit (Slovakia) and Olomouc (Czech Republic) were created in the game. The game mod GeoSkylines also provides methods for exporting game objects such as roads, buildings, and zones into a Geographic Information System (GIS) data format that can be processed further. This feature enables the game Cities: Skylines to be utilized as a data collection tool that could be used in redevelopment design projects.
... Rather, commercial entertainment games are optimized for entertainment purposes or they reflect the attitude of the developers [12,14,15]. Rufat and Minassian stated that simulation games can be used to learn the implemented models, but that the player does not necessarily connect the implemented models to the reality [16]. Together, these disadvantages lead to only a minority of the didactic scenarios being covered by commercial entertainment games at present. ...
Simulation games offer a safe space to experiment with system models and provide learning experiences about interdependencies and thus, are considered to foster the development of a deeper understanding of systems. This article describes the use of SimCity in the university course Infrastructure Management, which has been in continuous operation since 2002. Methodologically, a total of four events were observed. Students’ motivation, the didactic scenario and the perceived learning outcomes were examined with the help of a focus group discussion and questionnaires. The didactic scenario shows characteristics not described in this combination in the literature to date: (1) the moderated open, simultaneous and competitive play in groups, (2) the used regional planning scenario and (3) the long, regular period of application of more than 15 years. The results show that SimCity 4 can still serve as a platform for exciting learning scenarios more than 15 years after its initial release. It could also be shown that the didactic scenario motivates the students and that SimCity also generates gaming fun. Furthermore, it could be argued that a regional scenario can be implemented by simple means and is perceived as motivating by the students. Furthermore, this study indicates that even a technically complex and fast-moving medium such as a computer game can be used in a didactic scenario over a longer period with limited effort. Nevertheless, the challenge of game aging should be actively addressed. Furthermore, the study revealed that game-based learning still faces challenges with being recognized by students as a serious learning activity.
The article deals with comparative use’s analysis of a hybrid urban video game developed by a French research unit (ESO) as part of an urban planning project in Rennes (France). Initially planned to analyse the involvement of young people in the city's factory, the INVESPACE-La Halle experiment also made it possible to observe professional representations of the gamification of co-design process. Finally, the article highlights the contributions and limitations of these digital experiments, on the one hand, in the development of participatory urban planning and, on the other hand, for research on participation.
The inherent complexity and the deep transformations underwent by contemporary cities and territories require a new urban culture. This requires a new strategic alliance between educational system, pedagogy (teaching and learning methods) and urban practice. In this context, we suggest the use of LEGO-bricks as a powerful tool: (1) to make easier the understanding and comprehension of the physical/spatial characteristics of the built environment and its planning and design; (2) to introduce and adapt, implemented together with a problem-based learning methodology, the teaching of urbanism not only at universities (as it has been traditionally done) but also at other pre-university education levels (primary or secondary education). By introducing this innovative pedagogical methodology by using LEGO-bricks in two cases studies –workshops at secondary (High-School) and tertiary (School of Architecture) education levels, we conclude that LEGO-bricks is an appropriate pedagogical tool at (pre)university levels for introducing urbanism and changing the perspective of educational system but also for facilitating the understanding of urban issues at different education levels.
The standard Urban Economics model (Alonso, Muth, Mills) describes analytically an equilibrium of household location in urban areas. We build an agent-based model able to reach this equilibrium in a dynamic way. This allows us to simulate the development of a city by a combination of heterogeneous agents (based on income and preferences for the amenities), transport time cost and amenities locations. We explore the conditions under which non-trivial residential patterns and urban social structure can be obtained.
The major idea of this paper is to simulate the construction of a segregate urban structure by means of spatial representations. To maintain such a project, the model must be quite simple because we wish to simulate and understand processes of production of space, their temporality and their dynamic influence on individual learning of space, rather than to reproduce a real situation. Furthermore, this work is included in a research project of UMR 6012, which aims to do a spatial analysis centred on the analysis of processes in a context of weak quantification. We use a multi-agent system in order to implement complex process: a spatial structure at macro level emerging from simple rules established at micro level and a feedback from macro to micro level. A model is constructed as following: Simulated households wander through the multi-agent universe to find the best place of residence according to constraints as their incomes or the prestige of places. They learn about this space by practice and, consecutively, construct varied representations that are going to participate in the construction of a collective representation of space. These two types of representation will contribute to help each household agent to find the best residential choice. Then, these choices will modify the characteristics of spaces and the new spatial structures will compel household agents in their practices of space, their individual representations and their choices. This feedback based on spatial representations contributes to a great extent to the construction of segregate urban forms.
An increased interest in coupled natural and human systems motivates the simulation of dynamic interactions between humans and their environment. Simulation games often include this capability suggesting their use as research and/or educational tools, but this requires a somewhat realistic representation of environmental processes. This paper reviews the hydrology in the simulation game SimCity 4. The components of the hydrologic cycle included in the game relate mainly to drinking water supply, treatment and distribution. Groundwater, the sole source of drinking water, is present in unlimited quantity, but becomes polluted as a result of agricultural and industrial land uses. Water treatment plants are included, but in a somewhat unrealistic manner, in that they rapidly clean up aquifers in situ. The drinking water distribution infrastructure consists of water towers, pumps and pipes, but again, they are included in a somewhat unrealistic manner. Water towers and pumps both extract groundwater and are differentiated solely by their capacity, power usage and cost (rather than function). Besides for entertainment, the game should be valuable for educational purposes in lower level undergraduate courses to illustrate that/how water supply affects a city and vice versa. The general game architecture is capable of a more realistic representation and inclusion of additional components of the urban hydrologic cycle, which are discussed.
The move to 3D graphics represents a dramatic artistic and technical development in the history of video games that suggests an overall transformation of games as media. The experience of space has become a key element of how we understand games and how we play them. This book investigates what this shift means for video game design and analysis. Navigable 3D spaces allow us to crawl, jump, fly, or even teleport through fictional worlds that come to life in our imagination. We encounter these spaces through a combination of perception and interaction. Drawing on concepts from literary studies, ... More
The move to 3D graphics represents a dramatic artistic and technical development in the history of video games that suggests an overall transformation of games as media. The experience of space has become a key element of how we understand games and how we play them. This book investigates what this shift means for video game design and analysis. Navigable 3D spaces allow us to crawl, jump, fly, or even teleport through fictional worlds that come to life in our imagination. We encounter these spaces through a combination of perception and interaction. Drawing on concepts from literary studies, architecture, and cinema, the book argues that game spaces can evoke narratives because the player is interpreting them in order to engage with them. Consequently, it approaches game spaces not as pure visual spectacles but as meaningful virtual locations. The book’s argument investigates what structures are at work in these locations, proceeds to an in-depth analysis of the audiovisual presentation of gameworlds, and ultimately explores how we use and comprehend their functionality. It introduces five analytical layers — rule-based space, mediated space, fictional space, play space, and social space — and uses them in the analyses of games that range from early classics to recent titles. The book revisits current topics in game research, including narrative, rules, and play, from this new perspective. The book provides a range of arguments and tools for media scholars, designers, and game researchers with an interest in 3D game worlds and the new challenges they pose.
Teaching with the computer simulation game “SimCity” is one way faculty can achieve some of their decision-based learning objectives. The research on attainable (and not attainable) teaching outcomes with computer simulations is now fairly clear. SimCity provides a dynamic decision-making environment in which students can learn such teaching objectives as (1) systems thinking, (2) problem-solving skills, and (3) “craft” in the planning profession. However, SimCity has inherent weaknesses that prevent it from being a one-size-fits-all teaching tool for all students. The article concludes with a discussion on which type of students do better with SimCity.