Design Choices for a World-Modelling System

Abstract

The problem of adequately simulating an environment containing simultaneous actions and continuous processes is discussed. Two different approaches are outlined and compared on six design issues. It is argued that the six choices are not independent, and that when their mutual constraints are taken into account there are only four main families of world-modelling systems, differing primarily on the issues of Units of Simulation and Activation of Processes, The strengths and weaknesses of the different designs are explored.