Simulacron-3 vs. The Thirteenth Floor vs. The Matrix

(Originally posted on Friday, 17 April 2020)

My rating for the novel: 9/10
My rating for the movie: 9/10

Simulacron-3 is a novel written in 1964 by an American science fiction writer Daniel F. Galouye. The Thirteenth Floor is a science-fiction movie loosely based on Simulacron-3 that was released in 1999 – the same year in which The Matrix was released.

I watched The Matrix first, although not in the cinema. Why? Because I was discouraged by a short movie teaser where characters were running on the walls. Later I watched it on the TV and I loved it, because the wall-running was explained by the fact that it happened in a hacked simulation. This movie is an all-time classic, so won't described it any further.

Later I watched The Thirteenth Floor (also on the TV) and I love it too, but for a whole different reason. There are very few special effects, but the story is a very interesting mystery. It is about a murder of a scientist who designed a simulation of the world from the 1930s. Before he was killed he had left a crucial message somewhere in the simulation and his friend tries to find it by going into the simulation himself. The plot is quite complicated, but I was able to notice and remember all the crucial details, especially the names of all the characters. It's like a detective story with science-fiction elements. Moreover I like the acting in this movie more than in The Matrix.

I have just finished reading Simulacron-3 and it blew my mind. The story is totally different from the movie (The Thirteenth Floor) – it is much more futuristic and at the same time much more philosophical (well, the novel was written first, so I should rather say it the other way round, but I describe it in my own chronology). The novel is written in the first person perspective, which gives some interesting insights into the lines of thinking of the main character.

Interestingly, the simulated world in the novel is exactly from the same time as the real world (for commercial purposes), unlike in the movies (in both movies the simulated world is older than the real one). In the novel there is also a very interesting concept of a “dependable observer” in the simulation, but this aspect is described far too quickly in my opinion. It's a unit (person) in the simulation who knows that his world is just a simulation and can quickly report to the operator in the real world when something goes wrong within the simulation (the operator would need much more time to notice the same problem). The point is that this unit (person) in the simulation is just an average guy, unlike the Agents in The Matrix.

Many things in the novel are better than in the movie (The Thirteenth Floor) but one rather important thing is definitely worse. I can't explain it without giving spoilers. For this very reason I think it is better to watch the movie first and then read the novel. As I wrote, the movie on its own is VERY interesting. In some aspects it's even better than the novel.