Machinations Essentials

Name: Machinations Essentials
Rating: 4.5 (56 reviews)

Learn the fundamentals about Machinations, how to create diagrams, run simulations and solve problems in your systems

Created byNicolás Alejandro Munafó Lorenzo

Last updated 10/2024

English

What you'll learn

Basics of Machinations
How to build Machinations diagrams
Simulation steps and resources
Run simulations and predictions
Solve problems using Machinations models
Using pools, resource connections, sources and converters
Adding randomness to models
How to use charts

Course content

4 sections • 40 lectures • 52m total length

Introduction1:33

What is Machinations?1:27
Let's see how Machinations can help us create models, run simulations and make predictions to make informed decisions.
We are going to use as an example a campaign for Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Will you be able to visit Wonka's factory with a limited amount of money and time?
Simulation Models in Machinations3:31
Sometimes it might be too hard to run an experiment in a real system. Maybe the system is too complex, tests may be destructive, it may take a lot of time or it might be too expensive.
In those cases, it is recommended to build a model, which is an abstract representation of the real system, and then run simulations on the model with specific parameters to get results, analyze them and make informed decisions.
Steps0:24
Overview of Steps2:28
Steps in Machinations2:25
In Machinations, the execution time of the simulation is counted in steps.
Steps are the increment of time in the simulation. This means that when a simulation runs, everything happens step by step. In each step the system will have a specific state which is shown through different components. For example, in the Willy Wonka diagram, in one step the number of chocolate bars without golden tickets can be 4, then 10, then 11 and so on.
Resources0:22
Resources Overview1:51
Resources in Machinations2:20
Explore how resources like Wonka bars (with and without golden tickets) are produced, transferred from source to pools, and tracked by a register to calculate money spent.
Preliminary Analysis Overview0:18
Preliminary Analysis2:39
Running Simulations0:32
Play2:59
Step0:58
Reset and Pause1:39
Learn to control an interactive simulation by playing, stepping, pausing, resuming, and resetting to observe state changes, resource transfer from sources to pools, and progression toward golden tickets.
Predict3:28
Run predictions in the background to simulate many outcomes, view the histogram, and estimate the 30% chance of visiting Willy Wonka's factory for informed decisions.

Project Introduction0:44
Project Overview0:33
Present a model for a simple lute and craft game; players collect wood and stone per minute, build houses with five wood and two stone, and compute two-hour production.
Creating a new diagram0:43
Introduction to Pools0:18
Pools: storing resources0:48
Introduction to Sources0:19
Sources: generating resources1:06
Introduction to Resource Connections0:33
Resource connections: transferring resources2:17
Introduction to Randomness0:46
Adding Randomness1:10
Introduction to Converters1:02
Converters: creating houses2:12
Place a build house converter to turn wood and stone into houses, wiring five wood and two stone to it, then trigger the converter to produce houses.
Introduction to Triggers0:35
Triggering Components1:14
Best Practices on Styles0:11
Changing styles2:07
Learn to style diagrams by selecting components, applying colors (blue wood, purple stone, green strokes), adjusting widths and highlighting KPI, and configuring connections as diagonal, square with waypoints, or curved.
Defining Steps0:36
Setting Steps for our Project1:00
Using charts1:39
Predictions: estimating KPIs2:26
Best practices on Predictions0:40
Congratulations!0:08

Requirements

No experience in simulation models or systems needed. You will learn everything you need to know about simulations and Machinations

Description

Welcome to the Machinations Essentials course!

You are going to look at the basics of Machinations and create your first diagram working on a Loot and Craft project. You will understand how to use Machinations to analyze and create models to solve problems and make informed decisions. By the end of this course, you will have a good comprehension of the most important components, resources, steps, simulations and predictions.

In the first lesson you will learn the basics of Machinations to understand how simulation models work and how predictions can help you make informed decisions.

In the second lesson you will create your first Machinations project, in which you are going to design, simulate and analyze a model for a basic loot and craft system. This covers the basic components and skills required to build a simple Machinations diagram.

At the end of the course you can take a test to assess your knowledge about Machinations, simulations and the components.

Overall, in this course we will cover the following topics:

Simulation models and abstraction
Steps
Resources
Performing a preliminary analysis: defining data, results, steps, runtime and resources
Running simulations with interactive plays
Executing predictions to extrapolate results
Pools
Sources
Resource connections
Randomness: dice throws and random functions
Converters
Triggers: automatic and passive
Diagram styles and best practices
Charts

Who this course is for:

Game designers
Token engineers
Product managers
Data analysts and scientists
Process owners

Machinations Essentials

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 2min

Machinations Fundamentals15 lectures • 27min

Project: Loot and Craft23 lectures • 23min