Party Planning: Guest Flow & Activity Pacing

Live Activity

Party Levers

Music volume 55%

Lighting mood 40%

Guest count 40

Live Party Stats

Dinner Dance Games Mingle

Avg satisfaction

At active zone

Novelty of current activity

100%

How it works

Each guest i has a fixed preference for every activity pref_i[a] ∈ [0,1] and a crowd tolerance tol_i ∈ [0.3,1]. At any moment the host's chosen activity gets a fading "spotlight" boost that models novelty wearing off:

spotlight(a) = a is active ? 1 + 1.5·e^(−Δt/τ) : 1     (τ ≈ 14s, floor 1.25)
utility_i(a) = pref_i[a] · spotlight(a) · modifiers(a)

Modifiers couple your levers to specific zones: the dance floor needs volume and dim light (×(0.4+0.9·vol) ×(1.3−0.6·light)), loud music makes the lounge harder to talk in (×clamp(1−(vol−40)/70) above 40% volume), and bright light helps guests see the buffet.

Guests commit to whichever zone currently maximises their utility, but only switch once the alternative beats their current zone by 15% and they've stayed at least 3 seconds — otherwise everyone would twitch between zones every frame. Their final happiness also depends on local crowding:

density = occupancy / 20
comfort_i = clamp(1 − max(0, density−0.6)·2·(1−tol_i), 0.3, 1)
satisfaction_i = clamp(utility_chosen / 1.6, 0, 1) · comfort_i

The takeaway from the model: running one activity too long drains its spotlight bonus and satisfaction drifts down even if it's everyone's favourite — real party planning is as much about pacing (when to switch) as it is about which activities you offer.

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