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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8612604" data-attributes="member: 22779">There is an additional point to think about though too.&nbsp; When someone says this or that system is a simulation, I doubt they mean 100% of the game.&nbsp; There are all sorts of fuzzy, grey areas in between.&nbsp; When people say 5e isn't a simulation, for me, it's because the main component of the game - combat - doesn't actually simulate anything.&nbsp; Combat starts, everything exists in this sort of quantum cloud of possibilities, until we finish combat and we can say A lived and B died.&nbsp; But, as we go through the system, we can't really determine anything about what is going on.&nbsp; The system doesn't tell you anything, really, about how B died any more than chess tells you how that pawn died when the queen took it.&nbsp; All we know is the pawn is gone and the queen remains.&nbsp; Now, for some people, this is a feature, not a bug.&nbsp; It allows the players to narrate pretty much anything they want and, so long as the table is happy with the narration, fine and dandy.&nbsp; Which pretty much precludes the system from being a simulation.&nbsp; You can't take a simulation, make up any narrative you like and not contradict the simulation.&nbsp; Now, as far as planet generation goes in Traveller, I'd call this a decent simulation mechanic - not of the creation of a planet but, at the end of the process, you have a planet that is pretty plausible.&nbsp; Granted, this mechanics aren't really player facing, so, there's no narrative going on here really.&nbsp; It's telling you what is, right now, rather than how you got there.&nbsp; But, it creates something that is reasonably plausible, so, good enough.&nbsp; Whereas the D&amp;D dungeon generator doesn't give the slightest toss about plausibility.&nbsp; All of the inputs are based around making an interesting game - monsters are restricted by CR ranges, DC's for various hazards likewise are governed by the level of the dungeon, a purely game concept that has no meaning in the context of the game world.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8612604, member: 22779"] There is an additional point to think about though too. When someone says this or that system is a simulation, I doubt they mean 100% of the game. There are all sorts of fuzzy, grey areas in between. When people say 5e isn't a simulation, for me, it's because the main component of the game - combat - doesn't actually simulate anything. Combat starts, everything exists in this sort of quantum cloud of possibilities, until we finish combat and we can say A lived and B died. But, as we go through the system, we can't really determine anything about what is going on. The system doesn't tell you anything, really, about how B died any more than chess tells you how that pawn died when the queen took it. All we know is the pawn is gone and the queen remains. Now, for some people, this is a feature, not a bug. It allows the players to narrate pretty much anything they want and, so long as the table is happy with the narration, fine and dandy. Which pretty much precludes the system from being a simulation. You can't take a simulation, make up any narrative you like and not contradict the simulation. Now, as far as planet generation goes in Traveller, I'd call this a decent simulation mechanic - not of the creation of a planet but, at the end of the process, you have a planet that is pretty plausible. Granted, this mechanics aren't really player facing, so, there's no narrative going on here really. It's telling you what is, right now, rather than how you got there. But, it creates something that is reasonably plausible, so, good enough. Whereas the D&D dungeon generator doesn't give the slightest toss about plausibility. All of the inputs are based around making an interesting game - monsters are restricted by CR ranges, DC's for various hazards likewise are governed by the level of the dungeon, a purely game concept that has no meaning in the context of the game world. [/QUOTE]

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