Chance of Rain
A slightly interactive and slightly meditative evolutionary pond simulation
Controls
- ARROW KEYS: control frog
- Z: surface/submerge
- X: tongue
- ENTER: options
Gameplay
This simulation is meant to be watched more than played (though you may interact with it by suggesting actions for the frog).
There are four types of creatures living in this rainy pond: a frog, fish, flies, and dragonflies. Enjoy watching them swim, fly, eat, die, and birth new generations. Flies birth larva into the water which swim towards the nearest rock, where they slowly mature and eventually sprout wings - becoming flies themselves. Well-fed fish will turn green and reproduce when near each other. Dragonflies swarm the lillypad to spawn new. Each parent passes genetic predispositions onto their offspring - which allows for behavior evolution over time. Creatures may die of old age or starvation. All the while, a happy frog swims about - ready to offer a guiding hand (or, rather, mouth) if one part of the ecosystem becomes unbalanced.
Occasionally, you may see some event-triggered haikus or tips to help you further enjoy and understand the game. Statistics about your world will also slide by from time-to-time (and can be triggered manually from the options menu). If your ecosystem fails or you lose a creature type, just keep playing - there are heavy storms that roll in occasionally to replenish your stock.
Every game has randomizations, so each experience will be unique.
DNA System
A DNA system has been implemented that allows parents to pass certain parameters onto their offspring. There is even a chance of slight genetic mutations for each parameter. Through this system, each species will actually evolve its behavior over time to be best-suited to its environment.
- Dragonflies pass on these parameters to their offspring
- speed, initial lifespan, threshold for hunger, starvation resistance, tolerance for rain, and others
- Fish pass on these parameters to their offspring
- speed, initial lifespan, threshold for hunger, and starvation resistance
- Insects pass on these parameters to larva which become adult flies
- speed, initial lifespan, swarming location, tolerance for rain, and others
Full "technical" breakdown of the DNA system:
Options
Press the ENTER key to adjust these options:
- If the text scrolls too quickly or too slowly, you may adjust your reading speed
- If you are returning to the game, you may disable tips to enjoy only haikus and stats
- If you want a more meditative experience, you may disable the text completely
- You may also manually prompt gameplay stats to scroll by. This will happen occasionally through normal gameplay, as well.
Creature colors
- Green: well-fed and fertile - will birth a new generation when a partner is found
- Red: starving - will alter its behavior to look for food more seriously
- Grey/Brown: getting old - will likely die soon
- Peach: just born!
Final thoughts
There is a ton of nuance and complexity to the system but my goal was to simplify the player's experience as much as possible. Furthermore, I wanted to expose as much of the game as possible to the player from within the game itself (hence the tips that scroll by). Creature lifespans can be as long 40+ minutes, so this game was definitely meant to be enjoyed in the background / as a virtual aquarium. Personally, I turn off all scrolling text and leave it on during the workday to observe the system over many hours. I hope you, too, find enjoyment in this experience :)
Itch.io Link
Versions
FINAL VERSION RELEASED! (10/29/2021)
- Version 9 will be the final update of this project, other than any future bug fixes or player suggestions
Click here for full change-log:
Just wanted to leave a note that this entire project was inspired by the moody-beauty "rhythmfrog" https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=44923 by @giacomopc
Ultimately my head landed in a very different place but that game was definitely the muse.
--
Also credit to this very easy to use particle system: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=32096
And a wave function from this project: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=37911
this is really cool. i love stuff like this. its like a well made watch, where underneath is a highly complex system of gears and weights all working together in a complex pattern....just to do the simplest thing, make hands go round to tell the time, or in this case, make a mini eco system. It's kinda beautiful. and the fact that you can jump in an control the frog is cool to. It would be cool if you could choose to control one of the other creatures too, but even as it is, its awesome. would love to see different eco systems, like a forest, or a microscopic one or something. anyway. love it.
@D0S81 Thanks so much for the kind words
I love the idea of controlling other creatures - I'll look into how hard it will be / if I can squeeze enough tokens out to pull it off.
As far as other ecosystems, I do have an idea floating around my head for a new sim of a 3-tiered waterfall / moss garden sort of thing. That structure would be eye-level / vertical rather than a top-down view like this game. Taking what I learned in this project (and the gap between the vision and ultimate reality of the project), I'd like to focus more on beauty and depth of a single creature - rather than having multiple different creatures with many "simple" behaviors. My vision is having a single insect that has many phases of life - starts off in the water, then on land, then in a cocoon, then becomes a flying insect. In a way, it is multiple creatures - but the circle of life is more focused and expressed. The fly lifecycle in this game is a good prototype for what I have in mind (water -> land -> flying), however they are only a pixel or three big... I'd like to zoom in and really see what's going on.
Anyways -- thats just a bunch of words and who knows if it'll ever happen - talk is cheap :D Thanks again for playing!
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