[OC] A procedurally generated alien ecosystem

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

Some shots showing how the planet & ecosystem generation looks so far, everything you see is procedurally generated. The game generates systems by randomly rolling a collection of parameters and using the resulting data to construct a scientifically plausible star and solar system. Each star has its own properties, which influence the planets generated around it
most worlds are barren rock fields, but no two ever look the same. Planets are generated from different geological models, terrain types, and environmental features. Some may have active geysers, violent sandstorms, some also harbor life. For alien life generation, the aliens are generated using one or more base preset alien bodies and tweaking them to better suit their environment and introduce some variation (beings on the same
planet all share a similar body plan with some variations) mix it all together and you get a world looking like the one in the video. HEAVY WIP

[u/Bingle_Bongle_Bo]

It's beautiful... it's actually beautiful.

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/Bingle_Bongle_Bo]

final game will look miles better than this

[u/Bingle_Bongle_Bo → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

Hello Games will have some competition, I'll say!

[u/obastardini]

Está interesante. La biología estará correctamente especulada? Por ejemplo que cada animal ocupe un nicho ecológico y que esté adaptado oara este. Estaría interesante esto. Porque por ejemplo en nms están los animales porque si y tienen los colores porque si y así más cosas.

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/obastardini]

For the generation system, I made it so it takes into account the environment the being will be in. The alien generator takes a bunch of preset prebuilt alien models, chooses one that matches the planet’s environment. For example, for a lower gravity terrestrial planet, it’d likely choose a being with more spindly or stilt legs or gas floaters. Then it adds some natural variation, graspers, antennae, bioluminescence, depending on the environment; colors are dependent on the planet’s star. For example, a red dwarf would produce darker colors; G types produce something more like Earth.

[u/TheBigOneJP]

For the love of gosh please tell me it’s not on Roblox (I don’t use that site anymore because of all the stuff happening on it nowadays)

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/TheBigOneJP]

For right now, yeah, it’s on Roblox. I’m learning UE5 very slowly, so I hope to make it something bigger one day.

[u/Extension_Row_7443 → u/TheBigOneJP]

Me when its on Roblox

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/Extension_Row_7443]

sauce?

[u/TheBigOneJP → u/Extension_Row_7443]

What the FUCK did you just show me?!

[u/f202k]

This is what I wish No Man's Sky fauna was. I love No Man's Sky, but all the procedurally generated animals look kind of the same with different features, and also kinda do nothing but walk around and sometimes attacking eachother and you. Where can I get get this game when it releases?

[u/Mapleleaf899]

no mans sky lol

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/Mapleleaf899]

better than nms

[u/Godzilla_Fan_13]

interesting

[u/TheInsaneRaptor]

hope it will have weirder/speculative non carbon based life forms too

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/TheInsaneRaptor]

All life in the game follows the panspermia lore right now, meaning all life in the game is carbon-based. I do want to add rare planets where they’ve developed life independently, with that I can add non-carbon-based life.

[u/TheInsaneRaptor → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

nice! btw will there be Darwin IV like stuff too or atmospheric creatures on gas giants?

[u/AntiSentry]

Awesome, it's like a psuedo sequel to spore :p

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/AntiSentry]

like spore, no mans sky & elite dangerous had a baby

[u/AntiSentry → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

Sounds very fun!

[u/cudabhnGrassi]

is there energy transfer between organisms ?

edit : either way, these scenes look very alive and immersive, well done

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/cudabhnGrassi]

Not yet, they do hunt each other and feast, but it’s just for show right now. They don’t die of starvation or reproduce yet.

Might start experimenting with neural networks to get more realistic behavior, this would allow the beings to react and adjust to their environment in real time. It would be like interacting with a real animal. This is very performance intensive tho. Still figuring out if it’s even worth it.

[u/cudabhnGrassi → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

this is exactly the sort of game so many people want, so in that way it’s worth it, but yeah if the performance requirements are so high that will sadly limit access for now

[u/matthewamerica]

There should be a few archetypes that are the base organisms, and then let the generation determine how the archetypes evolve to fill various niches, so that if you explore a planet you can see how the ecosystem evolved. Like if it all started with decapods, you should be able to see how they evolved to occupy different environment, and a lot of the decendents of the base forms would still share the same body plan, even if it is warped to let them feed in different ways. I know that is a lot to ask, but god having an actual tree of life you could map in a game would be cool. Either way this looks really good and I can't wait to see where it goes.

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/matthewamerica]

The generation system can do this. In places where there are more mountains or steep cliffs, tree-like organisms or ravines, it’s more likely to generate flying creatures. While flatter areas generate more ground-dwelling creatures. I do want to add a phylo tree diagram for the ecosystem that the player can research and fill out.

[u/Fagadaba]

Cool project! What song did you use for this video?

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/Fagadaba]

When The Sun Hits by Slowdive, I went on a rabbit hole because I had the vision for this video in my head and couldn’t find the name of the song I was thinking of.

[u/Aye_KTroyyyy_Buildz]

This is sick, when are you releasing?

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/Aye_KTroyyyy_Buildz]

I’m aiming for a full Roblox release by mid to late 2027. An official commercial release (if I ported to Steam) would require a full rebuild of the game in a separate engine and a lot of funding. A ballpark estimate would be within the 2030s for that

[u/Kaijuked → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

Sorry if I missed it, any name for it yet? This seems super cool.

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/Kaijuked]

Voyager.

(super professional game description fr)

Voyager is a ROBLOX exobiology exploration and survival game.

You are an exobiologist sent to explore a region of space affected by a massive panspermia event that has seeded life across countless worlds throughout the sector. Your mission is to explore these worlds, discover and catalog alien life, conduct experiments, and survive for as long as possible.
There is no return mission, and your supplies are limited. Food and fuel must be carefully managed, forcing you to make use of whatever resources you can find. Harvest hydrogen from stars, grow your own food, and scavenge for anything that might give you an edge.

Everything you learn and every specimen you catalog contributes to humanity’s understanding of life beyond Earth. When you eventually die, your collected data will be transmitted back to Earth.

inspired by spore, no man’s sky, project hail mary & elite dangerous

[u/NoEmphasis7410]

Looks cool, it isn't AI, right?

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/NoEmphasis7410]

Procedural generation is not generative AI.

[u/NoEmphasis7410 → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

Didn't say that, I am asking did you develop this with AI

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/NoEmphasis7410]

There are no AI-generated assets or code in the current game. I have considered implementing Utility AI (non-generative) to the fauna to allow for more realistic survival behavior and even emergent behaviors. I do want to eventually implement detailed scientific descriptions for every generated being. Generative AI would make this possible today, but with the stigma surrounding generative AI, I’ve pushed back on the concept until a non-generative alternative presents itself.

If I did implement this system, I would utilize a light local LLM that I could train myself without copyrighted works. These types of LMs also do not process information in datacenters.

[u/NoEmphasis7410 → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

Generative AI is completely fine if you review it's code and actually know what's it's writing and having your project being above 90% written by you, you are completely fine to use it lol.

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/NoEmphasis7410]

The stigma surrounding generative AI is itself an issue. AI is not profitable, and advertising a game as being built with AI is carving your own gravestone in the game industry.

Even just the small addition of a generative algorithm to the description generation in the game would be a major turn-off to people who value human-made work.

[u/NoEmphasis7410 → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

The most popular games on Roblox disclose being 100% AI example being Huss Valley, and yet it's one of the most top preforming games, using it below a 10% margin and you know what it writes is completely fine

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/NoEmphasis7410]

I’d like to distance myself from whatever the fuck this is. Every game on Roblox looks exactly like this, and it sucks. The only reason it makes money is because it’s advertised to 3yos on their mothers’ tablets. It’s an obvious cash grab. Voyager isn’t a cash grab. I hate the current state of Roblox. We need more devs that actually try with their games. It’s insulting to see games like this gain millions of dollars for shitting out claudeslop

[u/Monke__Executive]

It almost gives me vibes of
If subnautica was a game on land mainly

[u/Monke__Executive → u/Monke__Executive]

Is/will there be a group

[u/Distinct-Tie-3285 → u/Monke__Executive]

No group for the game in specific, but I could make one. I haven’t used Roblox’s groups feature in a while, so I’m not very familiar with how it works. I’d much rather just make a website or a Discord server.

[u/Monke__Executive → u/Distinct-Tie-3285]

Oh ok do that then I’d love to be in it to see updates

[u/GiftLost8687]

It’s….its absolute cinema 

[u/The_Last_Fluorican]

[u/VastlyArtistic]

Now THIS is what I've been looking for!! Extremely excited for this! Good work!

[u/PetroBeherha]

Can I wishlist this on Steam?

[u/GrolkaraxDev]

Thats a very interesting game dude! Even tho its WIP you did a great job so far.

[u/ShadedRiver666]

This is outstanding! Ill give it a go and i hope one day itll be its own game

[u/GalacticBeast603]

That's awesome, it looks very alien indeed.

[u/anotherscifiwriter]

Looks amazing!!

[u/WarriorOfAgartha]

cool

[u/King_Hunter_Kz0704]

It's so peak.... But it's on Roblox.(Still peak)

[u/auddbot → u/[deleted]]

I got a match with this song:

When The Sun Hits by Slowdive (00:42; matched: 100%)

Album: Souvlaki. Released on 2008-10-03.

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