Yes, and I discussed how you could alter some aspects of reality to make AI itself more difficult in the simulated universe. This would effectively push back the date of AI simulation in the simulated universe and avoid wasting computational resources on pointless simulated recursion.

And as mentioned, attempting to simulate an entire alternate earth is only one possibility. There are numerous science fiction created world routes you could take which could constrain and focus the sims to particular research topics or endeavors.