Steps
Learn what a step represents in a Machinations model, why choosing its time interval matters and how to configure steps in a diagram.
What a step means
A step is one increment of model time. When you Play a Machinations diagram, its resources and components change one step at a time. Their values at a particular step describe the model's state at that moment.
In the Willy Wonka example, the number of chocolate bars without golden tickets might be four at one step, then ten at the next. A step can stand for whatever interval makes sense for the system you are modeling.
Choose what one step represents before building the diagram. That makes its flows and results easier to interpret.
Set up steps in Machinations
Write what one step means in the diagram’s Description, for example “One step is one day”, so that anyone who opens the model reads it. The number of steps a Play lasts is the step count in the Playbar beside Play (its menu is headed Steps per Play); set it to match the question, for example 60 for two months at one step a day. The unit menu next to the count renames the step (Step, Turn, Round, Epoch, Year, Quarter, Month or Day) so the Playbar reads in your unit. The Speed control only changes how fast a Play animates, so you can slow a Play down to watch resources flow; it never changes the result. The small arrow on the Play button renames a Play (for example Game or Season) and suggests matching step words.