System Design
About this model
This diagram represents a complex gaming or economic simulation environment, focusing on resource management, trading, and upgrade mechanisms within a hypothetical game or system. The diagram delineates several key dynamics such as the generation of resources (tokens, base, division, crates, gold, etc.), their accumulation in pools, conversion into various forms, distribution via gates, and the conditions under which these transitions happen.
Source nodes in the diagram generate various resources like match tokens, division upgrades, and crates, indicating points where new assets or opportunities are introduced into the system. Pools serve as reservoirs for accumulating these resources, suggesting a mechanism for players or entities within the system to store value or capacity. Converters and gates manipulate these resources, transforming them into different forms or triggering specific outcomes based on the game's logic, such as upgrading cards or determining win/lose conditions. Output nodes are geared toward achieving progression or realization of objectives within the scenario, represented by pools dedicated to tokens, victories, and higher-level resources. The interplay between these elements through resource connections and state connections suggests a system where strategic allocation, timing, and transformation of resources are crucial for success or advancement.
This public Machinations diagram, “System Design”, was shared in the Machinations Community by Jay Sampat.
You can open the original diagram in the Machinations app, press Play to watch how resources move through it, and change its values to see how the system responds. Machinations is a visual tool for designing, simulating and balancing game economies and other systems, where resources flow through sources, pools, drains, converters and gates. In a diagram, a source creates resources, a pool stores them, a drain removes them, a converter changes one resource into another and a gate decides where they go next.