Good article. The difficulty with simulating these plots and new settlements is that the player’s interests aren’t the same as any individual freeman’s. Letting the player map out fields could certainly be done, but it wouldn’t meaningfully change the game as conventional city-builder players of any skill also have a layout in mind before they begin the game.

Players also value a high quantity of content and replayability, again at odds with the interest of a medieval freeman, churchman or lord who preferred consistency to novelty for the reasons mentioned in the preface.