Creating An Ecosystem Simulation Game In 6 Months

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Күн бұрын

Creating An Ecosystem Simulation Game In 6 Months
In this video, I detail my process of prototyping an Ecosystem Simulation Game by showing a broader step-by-step process of how I create it. Then I run a couple simulations and watch the creatures go through the process of evolution and share a few of my personal thoughts and mental struggles that accompanied me on this journey.
Follow me on twitter: / funmastered
Join my discord to get updates on the game: / discord
GAME IS OUT (IN DEMO)! Play below:
Game Page (Demo): fun-master-ed.itch.io/ecozone
Further Reading - BEST books on Ecosystems and Agent-based Modeling:
Darwin's On the Origin of Species - amzn.to/49GCTSv (If you're interested in evolution, this is a must read.)
Growing Artifical Societies - amzn.to/3OI2AKo (First complex artificial life CA simulation - Sugarscape. Also a must-read for simulation, agent-based modeling enthusiasts.)
Selfish Gene: amzn.to/49isEny
Basics of Programming: amzn.to/42HDOzC
Chapters:
0:00 Intro/Exposition
2:14 Beginning the project
2:55 Designing the creature
5:36 An Important lesson from Coevolution
7:47 Designing the plants
9:20 Procedurally generated terrain
10:17 How it works
11:46 Simulations
Additional Information/Disclaimer:
Currently, the phenotypes of the creatures aren't procedural enough as there are only 5 possible torsos, with varying degrees of Storage. This may skew the weight, which impacts the speed. I'll fix this if I ever do a part two.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the video!

Пікірлер: 506

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Hi all thanks for watching! I want to address some things that could clarify some stuff. I received a bit of constructive criticism with the video - Overly pretentious Agree, I will tone it down next video - Video footage seems off That's my bad, it was a period of about 6 months and I forgot about alot of the footage/they were lost. If this ever happens again I will use relevant footage - Redundant Agree, I'll tackle a unique angle of this niche if I ever am to do another video on this topic. I also received some questions - Will the game be a full release? nope, it's just a small interactive simulator you and your friends will be able to use - Source Code? yeah... I don't know when this will happen, but i'll make sure to do it - Long term project? I plan on providing support for bugs, but no more updates for now. People have done insanely good things with ecosystem simulators already So yeah thanks for the support too, hope this clarifies some things up, if you have any extra comments/concerns add I'll add it to this list.

@UnderfundedScientist Жыл бұрын

Big hype

@Eddie-hk5es Жыл бұрын

nice

@username2748 Жыл бұрын

@@Eddie-hk5es nah bro commented on his alt thats crazy

@jeffreychandler8418 Жыл бұрын

I personally would love a part 2

@williamtresise4721 Жыл бұрын

this is rlly good

@skylinedev2 Жыл бұрын

I love the ending so much. - "Through out this project, I was constantly wondering whether it is all worth it. My community was desperate waiting for new video for over 6 months, friends are wondering whether I am making something, and most importantly there were tons of other games and simulations that are much better. So, why should I even try? But at the very end, after all the trials and tribulations, seen all the progress and beautiful thing I accomplished. Most importantly, creating something I am proud of i can share with the world. I realized that even that was not the best, the experience, the knowledge, and the memories would be all well worth it. " 😀

@pigsterthepig448 Жыл бұрын

For some reason, the video just ends at 16:27 for me. Is this happening to anyone else?

@av3nt4dor8 Жыл бұрын

@@pigsterthepig448 because it’s that long

@skylinedev2 Жыл бұрын

@@pigsterthepig448 I guess, this video has been updated. At its launch version, it had this this beautiful ending part. It resonated with me so much, then I decided to type them out and share with all of us.

@healingpower1042 Жыл бұрын

hay man I hope he stays his work

@BruhFruhRuh Жыл бұрын

@@av3nt4dor8 no its 16:28

@brainbroad2091 Жыл бұрын

After watching the whole video, I might be able to explain why it is difficult for more cycles to persist. It is the size of the map. The map is too small to support a complex community that you are looking for. The more space you have, the more land to forage, hunt and recover. With such limited space, your populations are naturally become unstable due to the limited resources. The larger the map, the easier a plant can recover from overharvesting as the herbivores take over and will succumb to the predators. There is an interesting thing to note that drives this point home is the shrinking of your herbivores. This is a classic example of insular dwarfism. Probaby since your bodysize stat accounts for food storage, it was beneficial for the ai to shrink. Insular dwarfism occurs as an organism will shrink compared to their relatives to adapt to limited resources. Great living examples are Key Deer, a subspecies of White Tailed Deer found in the Fla Keys and will rarely get as tall as your waist, however most examples are no longer with us due to humans

@benrudolph5582 Жыл бұрын

US, California, "Catalina Island Fox" also evolved dwarfism, becoming roughly the size of a house cat.

@cxwhitt3097 Жыл бұрын

We have dwarf white tails in the San Juan's as well. Same reasoning as the Keys, smaller food stores and easier to swim from island to island.

@Penndemonium Жыл бұрын

12:10 these creatures were like "ha! food too far away? simple. just teleport." and i admire them for that 12:46 OMG THEY DID IT AGAIN. legendary.

@UsmanDev Жыл бұрын

Amazing video! Felt like a proper documentary that showcased your simulation. Great work

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

thanks Usman!

@ilaik Жыл бұрын

If you keep going you chanel is going to blow up. Please keep doing this series.

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Will do

@amit6875 Жыл бұрын

@@eddie.z damb, that was a long time ago😢

@lucasinatur2925 Жыл бұрын

You could add something like biomes or different properties for different areas like "humid" or "desert".

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

On my list. I'd also have to add a bunch of accompanying features to go with that but its going to happen

@zwenkwiel816 Жыл бұрын

ah yes good idea, more variation would likely lead to more stability

@vaule2930 Жыл бұрын

Mind-blowing

@eggela Жыл бұрын

Mind-blowing

@BadAnimations-se8le Жыл бұрын

Mind-blowing

@Something_Simple Жыл бұрын

Mind-blowing

@fahimmiah9280 11 ай бұрын

Exactly what JFK said 🤯

@rystal Жыл бұрын

this is an absolute piece of art, the editing is SO FREAKING GOOD WHAAAAAAT

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Thanks Rystal!

@seek..... Жыл бұрын

Add a reply...

@brainbroad2091 Жыл бұрын

I love the inclusion of plant evolution to adapt to herbivores. One my favorite examples is the (now extinct) moa and lancewood trees. You see, Moa were the apex plant eater in NZ acting as elephant and deer, with a wide ranging diet and long reach for leaves. Their voracious appetite lead to one of the very few examples in ontogenic dimorphism in plant morphology. This means the body and parts of the tree change as it ages! The lancewoods start their lives with leaves filled with defenses to protect it from being chewed up by the birds. The leaves have a silica glass in their sap rich with poison to tear the throats of the bird, and the leaf structure was more like the front of a swordfish. However as the tree reached a height above the grasp of the moa, the leaf shape would change to finally fill the canopy without worry of predation!

@lightyear3429 Жыл бұрын

I suppose, that's why moa went extinct? ; )

@rauldrac1 Жыл бұрын

I always have so much fun looking at this kind of videos were someone makes a virtual ecosystem and explain the mechanics behind it. I encourage you to do more of this.

@noelhermann6877 Жыл бұрын

I just love stumbling upon videos like that just blow my mind. Its not only an inspiration for people that code / develope things but also entertainment. I love the editing, the content and the way you deliver it. Very glad i came by this channel and i really hope (if thats what you aim for) that its gonna blow up and you can inspire more people with your content. Keep going my man, you really got the guts for it.

@K9Thunder619 Жыл бұрын

KZfaq channels with videos like this have a million + subscribers I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you only had under 10k! Just subbed and keep up the good work this was awesome to watch and your voices perfectly matches the edits and vid

@Munch0ni Жыл бұрын

severely underrated video, you’re a natural at making compelling and entertaining vids. Look forward to more :]

@hyperfixatedd Жыл бұрын

This is amazing, I'd be delighted to see more from this project

@StopRotting Жыл бұрын

How do you only have 6k subs man . This video was one of the best I've seen in a while . Awesome job

@rushcode. Жыл бұрын

Yeah! Just go for it man! This video was beautifully documented. It was an absolute delight to watch and glad to see you're still making amazing things. I can only dream of making something like this in the distant future. I can't imagine the amount of work that went into learning how to make this simulation and detailing the video...It was totally worth it! Let nothing stop you!

@the_slurp_kinghansen5936 Жыл бұрын

I am… AMAZED! Thank you for making this i hope for the best (and never give up even in the darkest moments you just gotta power past it) Good luck loved the video!!)

@MC_CN Жыл бұрын

Your production levels are on a quality similar to that of /Disrupt or Inside A Mind! Keep it up!

@krissosful Жыл бұрын

Awesome job, thanks a lot for sharing👏👏

@username2748 Жыл бұрын

Dang that’s crazy

@reuben4721 Жыл бұрын

really good video, editing is very well done, keep it up

@Rotaka Жыл бұрын

Fascinating idea and incredibly well-made, too! I love the production quality, looking forward to your next video ! :)

@kaigokumikanamo16 Жыл бұрын

this is how i want my yt feed to be....good editing and good content, you've just earned urself a sub man

@vaderdev Жыл бұрын

this was well made my guy!!!

@HimitsuHunter Жыл бұрын

One thing you could try is having the Predators and prey have a mechanism to swap between behaviors. Predators that can become herbivores and herbivores that can become predatory. And probably you can add a mechanism that lets the plants reward the predators for preying on herbivores. Those 2 things would likely stabilize your ecosystem and make it more dynamic as well.

@That1Knife Жыл бұрын

Definitely something I would not finish, probably not start either because I'd know I couldn't even get 1/4 of the way. Proud of you, good job.

@Blocky_Frog Жыл бұрын

This is great! Instantly subscribed, surprised you’re not more popular.

@hallucinatinghawk3917 Жыл бұрын

This is truly awesome. I’m into biology, terrariums, and video games. Perfect!

@zaidlacksalastname4905 Жыл бұрын

First unity video I've seen where nothing goes wrong. Bit of a change of pace when you just skip to when it's working. Great video!

@zn3128 Жыл бұрын

I am brand new to DAW and soft soft - these tutorials are excellent an very helpful to get soone like up and running. Appreciate

@neehans1490 Жыл бұрын

I FIND THIS VERY INTRESTING i hope u continue working on the game and making it AMAZING

@shadowcrafter01 Жыл бұрын

Even just seeing the intro I can see you put much effort into this. Definitely gonna watch til the end!

@achtsekundenfurz7876 Жыл бұрын

That intro reminds me of a game which starts out as Factorio Light until the player character has a "What have I done" moment and spends the 2nd half restoring nature, finally leaving a beautiful world behind. No clue what the name was, tho. :( And this is an executable.4k (!) in size, which catches that mood quite well, too: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oKhgqaWezrrWZqM.html

@kamilstudios Жыл бұрын

Awesome! Although I don't really understand much from the video (I'm a game animator with really basic coding knowledges), it is always interesting to watch how programmer building the system and logic for the game / simulation. Keep up the great work! You've got a new subscriber :)

@stickworldanimated9545 Жыл бұрын

This is Amazing good job!

@journeyg4249 Жыл бұрын

almost everything you say I don't know what your talking about since I know very little in coding. such a great video you made!

@plusultraIscool Жыл бұрын

You make amazing vids, and deserve more subs, keep it up

@JabolPunk_33 Жыл бұрын

Amazing work!

@erinkarp Жыл бұрын

It's been great seeing more and more evo sims popping up on youtube

@linusadestedt6517 Жыл бұрын

Definitely worth a subscription!

@howtogame2745 Жыл бұрын

This is actually amazing

@gartersnake3288 Жыл бұрын

this editing is amazing

@Nahemii Жыл бұрын

Thats really cool! Would love to see it work out one day and become a lasting cycle :D

@galaxytsd Жыл бұрын

Now this is the content im looking for

@barodrinksbeer7484 Жыл бұрын

Hey, I would recommend trying R (stats programming language) for data analytics of your sims. It can be ported with Unity/manually imported. It will read your data much faster then excel.

@sorushflummi411 Жыл бұрын

Hi :) If You want to make a Thriving Ecosystem, try giving the Plants the Ability to use some Energy to create Fruits, where the Seeds are contained, which the Herbivores relase at random Spots. Or keep, for Mates, Predators and later. Or they themselve produce something the Predators can eat. The Preds also have a random Chance to eat a Fruit/ Piece from a Plant on their Way - the Herbis same - the Pred also with the Ability to give some Energy back to the Ground, but starts at Zero and have a higher Metabolic rate, as Reason why they started to predate. That would be ... [misses word, What would be Your word?] to watch!!

@killermushroom4579 Жыл бұрын

underrated keep going your futures bright

@TylerGreen Жыл бұрын

Loving the research involved with this video. Felt like a short film! This was a very interesting how the animals favored eating. Curious to see how the predator data will look if you make a part 2. Really nice job, would make an excellent course/class. Also curious, around 13:10 is that the music from Interstellar?

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

it is! Thanks Tyler

@xx4002 Жыл бұрын

this is amazing

@kingfhd2424 Жыл бұрын

bro this is the best game developing video i have ever watched. i want to play this so bad

@PunmasterSTP Жыл бұрын

That was really well-done!

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@bencressman6110 Жыл бұрын

I think with these kind of projects, it gets really hard when you try to hard-code too many emergent phenomena. (Predator/prey, even plant/animal) There’s just so much troubleshooting that has to happen and in the end I think it boils down to the lack of resources to have millions of entities in a massive environment with many niches. It’s just too computationally laborious. The Bibites are great in how they use neural networks b/c this allows for more emergent behaviours, but even that project falls prey too many of the same pitfalls. It’s a constant fight between computational power, simulation size, simplicity of game rules, and simplification of emergent phenomena in our own biosphere. Does that make sense? This was really cool, and I’m excited to see more. I especially like that you made the flora dynamic so it could interact with the animals. I look forward to seeing more, but it’s a hard task you’ve set for yourself.

@nerd6174 11 ай бұрын

I was into ecosystems and coding so like DREAM VID

@P1xls-lp8hf Жыл бұрын

Ive loved ecosystems but now a game! Amazing!

@bobinwobbin4094 Жыл бұрын

absolutely insane that you only have 6k subs keep it going

@EvanDoesDev Жыл бұрын

First also so excited to watch!

@prologik85 Жыл бұрын

Simply awesome man!!! I'm sure my IQ was increased on at least 10 points. Congrats on your great work.

@novakain4736 2 ай бұрын

please do not end this project. evolution has no end, and therefore this has endless possibilities. id love a speculative evolution simulation based game, like if this game and spore have a love child.

@Frosty-zd4rl Жыл бұрын

Amazing! Also very informative. If you keep makin' stuff like this you'll get up there in no time. EDIT: Also, despite what other people said, I didn't feel like it was super pretentious or anything. I feel like it was more professional/scholarly than pretentious if anything; and I get how those could be confused. By the way, what's the intro song? I really like it lol

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Thanks for feedback! The intro song is called Cold War Games, it's on epidemic sound :) Thanks for watching!

@ravinrabits4858 Жыл бұрын

@@eddie.z yeah, what do they mean by pretentious? I didn't pick any of that up while watching the video.

@HALMC Жыл бұрын

this is what i was looking for

@futureskyline2033 7 ай бұрын

I love the moment when the creature suddenly spot the food. My attention is fully engaged and the sound effect is awesome. 😂

@AttackOnTyler Жыл бұрын

if the plants had stages of viability, where food can only be harvested at a point of maturity, could that allow the plants the time to reproduce. also different energy consumption at different stages of maturity? I assume plants are not growing in size when flowering/pollinating/seeding. Also plants aren't entirely eaten, mostly fruits and seed. Also not all seed is digested. Some more armored seeds pass through and remain viable after passing. fantastic work though and continuing on or not, this is some fantastic work and I appreciate the journey you've shared

@spacerattheratfromspace7024 Жыл бұрын

Very amazing and underrated!

@KryyssTV Жыл бұрын

Adaptive systems like ecosimulation would actually be the solution for RPGs which have a heavy focus on damage typing. One of the biggest issues with RPGs is lack of endgame content and players getting bored once they have the perfect build - but adaptive systems would prevent that from ever happening. For example, if NPCs type-1 are spawned with a fire weakness and NPCs type-2 have a water weakness and the spawn area is defined by comparing populations in neighboring regions exclusive to each group then eventually players will focus on one group over another depending upon popular loot drops and skills. So the meta game would develop around defeating one group (let's say type-1), but the adaptive system would begin to adjust spawns to increase the likelihood of type-2 NPCs. Player behaviours would then shift the meta to gearing up to fight type-2 until the tipping point is reached to swing spawns back to favouring type-1. Consequently, the content players take part in frequently is constantly shifting which alleviates grind and players will never have a permanent optimum build.

@AL-fl4jk Жыл бұрын

I’ve been waiting for something like this forever. I used to play Darwin pond 😅

@geo1082 Жыл бұрын

KZfaq recommended ever so often bring me a good video

@ankush4484 Жыл бұрын

thank you so much

@deeznuts9027 Жыл бұрын

4:47 That is a fucking awesome detail

@profaneddonut5342 Жыл бұрын

the start look like they're moving at lightspeed and i love it

@healingpower1042 Жыл бұрын

you have a great future a lot better then now

@Magicpencil-go6ke Жыл бұрын

Legendary

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Thanks

@Eljay_Kay Жыл бұрын

Getting strong Johnny Harris vibes from the narration. I love it!

@UnderfundedScientist Жыл бұрын

Absolutely legendary

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Appreciate it

@UnderfundedScientist Жыл бұрын

@@eddie.z seriously excited for the next episode

@gameobject5487 Жыл бұрын

truly incredible

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

appreciate it

@breadrug3709 Жыл бұрын

HOLY CRAP THIS IS SO FFFF GOOD

@wazaDev Жыл бұрын

This has to be your best researched video yet, expected it to be good but not this good damn man you really did amazing. if this doesn;t get at least 1 mil then IDK. Oh and if you want to make it look any better i think having more models for the creatures would be nice, Looking into mesh manipulation in unity it is possible for you to premodel some veriations of body parts then using the genes modify the meshes some how, this would at the least make the creatures look more unique overall. What i said might not make much sense cause I'm mostly a 2D Dev but hopefully its clear. Another thing, adding different environmental factors would be nice so like a weather system or an entiar climate simulation and see how the creatures evolve based on those factors

@steve_cat5504 Жыл бұрын

I like the editing

@leviathan3729 Жыл бұрын

i like this tipe of simulation videos, please do more (if you can). i know that probably you already thought to add this but you should add a mimic version of each type of animal that isn't edible or that is stronger, ecc... so that the predators and the population of the other type of beings can be well stable. p,s, this video is really well done. keep on doing videos

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Thanks, yeah that's a good idea. Mimic vs Monarch is a pretty cool scenario to test out

@karloleskovar1080 Жыл бұрын

I bet ur a beast at it now

@Gaston-Melchiori Жыл бұрын

Great video man!! Minor sound issue: your voice is soft at times and the music loud...

@jirapaassawachaichit4319 Жыл бұрын

I did legit the same thing (but with much simpler graphics and scripts) and faced the same problem with the predators. Even when I set the predators to reproduce faster when there were more prey and reproduce slower when there were less, either the predators couldn't catch up with the reproduction rates of the prey, or the predators end up killing all the prey. Seems like the balance is very delicate.

@healingpower1042 Жыл бұрын

Keep up the project of simulating ecosystem

@jaegers931 Жыл бұрын

It works perfectly for me!

@joeykubler430 Жыл бұрын

Wow. I loved this video so much. I am new to this channel. I think you did an amazing Job!! Also, could you make this simulation available for ppl to test out? Or do you think it’s too basic for that? Anyways, that’s all from me now bye!!

@ogdoge2669 Жыл бұрын

This was great, I'd love to see you add in fungus, bacteria and viruses to help flesh out the ecosystem even more

@meermohamad4707 Жыл бұрын

I can feel you bro

@wolvencreator8585 11 ай бұрын

* looks at pinned comment * Overly pretentious?? Who said that?!? You don't sound pretentious at all. Keep doing what you're doing! Your tone, in my opinion, is gentle yet deeply fascinated and passionate about your work. For me, it evokes the same feeling - though I may be biased because I already deeply love anything to do with biology and natural history anyways. But still! Don't worry about your voice. That 'constructive criticism' is completely unfounded and not applicable to your video or your delivery.

@ItzClaud Жыл бұрын

Good job

@daytonpeters4355 Жыл бұрын

I would watch a series dedicated to this simulation and seeing how far you can take it

@thepoggersmomentsarereal8130 Жыл бұрын

This is great. Would love to see simulations of plant evolution too!

@eddie.z Жыл бұрын

Thanks

@thepoggersmomentsarereal8130 Жыл бұрын

@@eddie.z no problems !

@Eddie-hk5es Жыл бұрын

yes

@BBearVR Жыл бұрын

OMG IS THIS VIDEO IS SO UNDERRATED❤

@justabasichuman5057 Жыл бұрын

this guy is gona blow up i can tell

@theothetorch8016 Жыл бұрын

0:04 Massively defied my expectations. Instead of a boring unchanging voice explaining this boring thing for hours, this seems to be a lot more impressive and well made with great storytelling.