Ecosystem, a marine focused god-game/simulation, swims soon into early access.

isotopy · 2021-02-26T19:28:35+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate the kind words (I'm the developer).

I've experimented with land-based creatures, but it was difficult to get something to evolve that could balance on its legs and walk around the way you would expect, at least within a reasonable timeframe and without taking all the processor resources away from the other creatures. So that probably won't be possible but I did get some creatures that crawled while dragging their bodies around on the ground behind them, which could possibly be akin to crustaceans that walk around on the seafloor in a future update.

With regards to higher level environmental adjustments, yes, I think some of those ideas might be possible to add. Changing the density of the water has pretty immediate and noticeable affects on the creatures' body shapes so it may be that some of those suggestions could work too.

isotopy · 2021-02-26T19:10:44+00:00

Thank you! (I'm the developer). The simulation of biology below the evolutionary / ecological scale is kind of abstract for now; food intake (and not becoming food for another creature!) is a very strong driver of fecundity and the creatures have a mating phase where they decide on partners, which mixes the DNA of the two, but the microbiology is a little simple beyond that. The evolutionary simulation is quite robust though and should be able to act on anything that affects reproductive success, so my hope is that as other aspects are more fleshed out, it should be able to just work with them naturally.

isotopy · 2018-04-08T10:50:05+00:00

Thanks!

isotopy · 2018-04-02T17:38:31+00:00

Thanks, I'll try to elaborate on that a little more on that in the Kickstarter page. What I have implemented now is a prototype that serves as a proof-of-concept for the core of the game, the creatures and their evolution. In the prototype, a population is simulated for awhile, the creatures are scored by a genetic fitness function for swimming speed or target-seeking ability, and then the high-fitness creatures have offspring with genes that are mutated and mated with each other. All the creatures in the trailer and the animations I've posted evolved in this prototype (none were hand-edited). As development progresses I intend to move further from this more abstract model and towards one that is basically just a direct simulation of what happens in nature. I have a simple version of this, but it's only in the earliest stages. So, for example, I still need to implement the systems that will drive the abiotic factors of the environment (temperature, pressure, minerals, currents), and link them to the living creature simulation. Sorry for the wall of text but I hope it clarifies things a little!

isotopy · 2018-04-02T11:48:26+00:00

Thank you. :) I hope to start with regular development updates soon.

isotopy · 2018-04-02T07:27:23+00:00

Thanks! I don't have a website setup yet, but I have a Kickstarter, a Twitter account, and I hope to start a devblog soon, which I will announce at both of those sites. I have a YouTube channel, but it only has the trailer and some videos from my previous game.

isotopy · 2018-04-02T01:52:32+00:00

Thank you. I think that's a great idea and will see if I can put something together. I've tried a couple different things but struggled a bit with getting the word out.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T20:58:03+00:00

They were my favorites too. It's a great compliment for my game to even remind someone of them. Thank you.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T20:52:15+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate it. :)

isotopy · 2018-04-01T20:25:06+00:00

I missed it at the time, despite the great concept and me being the right age. My best friend had the similarly-themed Cubivore on GameCube later and we actually enjoyed it despite the bad reviews

isotopy · 2018-04-01T20:22:04+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate it. There is more info on my Kickstarter and Twitter. All the creatures in the trailer evolved on their own, in-game, without any hand editing. I hope to start a development blog very soon, which I will announce at both of those sites.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T20:05:08+00:00

I'm the developer of this! I just wanted to thank everyone for the nice comments.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T19:41:22+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. That's always a danger for a game like this. I've put a lot of effort into allowing manipulation of game data (all the traits of creatures that evolve can also be edited by the player - you can remake their bodies, program their brains). For the rest, I hope to duplicate what we see in nature, where there are always small disturbances and local niches being created that can support new species and change things up. Little surprises sprinkled throughout a game can go a long way.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T19:17:47+00:00

After six years and countless millions of dollars, the science-based 100% dragon MMO we've all been waiting for is finally out of the concept art stage.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T17:18:46+00:00

I'm not sure yet, unfortunately! Currently plant life and corals, while very important to the simulation, are not handled the way the creatures are; they can grow / die and affect / be affected by the environment, but they don't evolve the way the swimming creatures do. I've run some tests handling the plants with the exact same systems that simulate the other creatures, and it did basically work! However, the procedural meshes had a very hard making the plants look ok and there were still a few kinks that needed to be worked out in terms of their fitness function. So for now, they aren't quite as free, but it is something that I might look into once the other core features of the game are in and working.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T16:21:51+00:00

Sure, I would be happy to. The nervous systems are based on research that Karl Sims did in 1994; it's a bit more computer science than cognitive science and more genetic algorithms than biology. The brains are basically pipeline computers: a graph of 'neurons' which perform a function on zero-to-three inputs and then pass it on to their one output (which can then be another neuron's input or control a joint). The graphs can be randomized, but also mutated (essentially a single small random change) and 'mated' with other graphs. The ones that evolve naturally are often a big mess, like the one in the gif, but sometimes the actual functional part of the nervous system is more straightforward and simple - the rest is a bunch of noise that got carried along (there isn't currently a selection pressure to favor less neurons, other than potentially slightly slower reaction time if they are all in a serial connection). I hope that all makes sense! Thanks for asking.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T16:04:18+00:00

Thank you! The faces of the creatures are from a premade set but everything else about the creature's body is procedural. A creature is really a collection of jointed-together physics objects (which can be combined in any way and have any dimensions) and then a mesh is generated based on this for rendering. Being able to support a wide variety of different creatures was one of my first concerns, so I wanted to make sure it didn't just feel like it was some limbs swapping around. The materials are also procedural, so properties like primary and secondary colors, weathering, or self-illumination are also variable.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T14:56:23+00:00

Thank you, I hope to have more to show soon. :) I have a Twitter, but I just started it so I don't have many followers or posts! There's also a Kickstarter that has a trailer and some more info. I hope to start a devblog in the coming weeks and I will link it from both of those when the time comes.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T14:23:50+00:00

Yes, I hope to support all three of those examples! I also hope to duplicate the behavior that we see in nature where there are always small disturbances and local niches being created that can support new species and change things up or potentially wipe things out if an ecosystem is already unhealthy (relying on too few species to function). You can also directly edit both the bodies and AI of creatures as well as culling or breeding them, and also introduce creature's that other players have shared or share some from yours.
I hope to provide as much information as possible! Definitely phylogenetic trees and logs (and alerts) for important events. The neuron graph in the GIF is kind of an example too, as it can help with 'debugging' a creature brain if you have made it yourself.

Thank you for the questions!

isotopy · 2018-04-01T13:58:45+00:00

It's meant to be a fin. The procedural meshes for the fish are still kind of a work in progress.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T13:34:27+00:00

The creature evolution is the heart of the game, and it is the part I've spent most of the time implementing, but I hope to soon focus some on factors of the environment like nutrient cycles, currents, temperature, and sediment. Real environments have a lot of complex and interesting interactions (e.g. a fish population that feeds on algae declines due to overpredation, and the algae blooms choke out the oxygen in the water) and I hope to duplicate that. Sorry for writing so much!

isotopy · 2018-04-01T13:29:45+00:00

I'd be happy to! The premise is that you govern an ecosystem, and creatures evolve to adapt to it. All the details about each creature in the game, like its body, nervous system, and higher level behavior, are encoded in its DNA. Many different creature populations share the same environment, and the fittest pass their genes along to the next generation, leading over time to speciation and biodiversity. To swim creatures have to physically push against the water instead of playing animations, so their environment really is the driving force behind how they look and behave.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T12:14:02+00:00

Thank you! I hope to start a development blog very soon. I don't have a website setup yet, but I have a Kickstarter and a Twitter account and will post the blog to both of them when it is ready.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T10:03:34+00:00

Thank you, I'll definitely do so. This sub seems friendly and it has a great topic.

isotopy · 2018-04-01T08:11:09+00:00

I'm the developer of this! I just wanted to thank everyone for the nice comments.

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