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Monthly Update: 2018.04.30

George Singer edited this page Apr 30, 2018 · 1 revision

If you’re new to this list, or need a refresher of what Simula is about, see the links at the bottom of this email for an explanation of the idea. Simula is currently looking for feedback, contributors, and alpha testers. Email me back if you’re interested.

YC Rejection

Despite receiving an invitation to apply to YC last month (an email saying we were in the top 10% of applicants), we did not receive an acceptance into the YCS18 batch. While disappointing, I think this is understandable: good investors like startups with actually usable MVPs and exponential usage curves. We’re just not there yet. Simula has the potential to be huge, but it’s up to us to demonstrate that we are on a real path towards huge.

(If you’re curious, you can see Simula’s updated YC application here).

Godot Update & Goals for May

Godot has given Simula a real path towards solving its engineering issues. Recall that Godot is an open-source game engine that, very recently, opened up support for Linux VR capabilities. Our plan for the past couple of months has been to scrap Simula’s ad hoc rendering system (fraught with problems that are making our prototype unusable), and to replace it with Godot’s. This process has involved

  1. Making hundreds of low-level Haskell bindings into Godot’s C API
  2. Making a high-level Haskell API for these low-level bindings
  3. Replacing Simula’s core rendering logic with high-level Godot piping

This month we have completed the remaining issues with (1), have made some progress on (2), and are gearing up to charge forward with (3). Goals for May are thus pretty straight forward: complete or make substantial progress on (2) and (3).

Simula Master Plan

This month’s YC rejection spurred some more long-term thinking about where Simula is going and what Simula might look like from an outside perspective.

  1. Simula Master Plan. Here is an on-going DRAFT of Simula’s current long-term plan.
  2. Simula Scenario Analysis. This is what we think Simula could look like from an angel investor/YC’s perspective. Very speculative.

Resources & Explanation of the Idea