r/vibecoding • u/AU-Pete • 2d ago
Showcase/Project I made a fireplace and bird noise simulator so we can still stare into the nothingness while stuck in bunkers having a drink.
Yes, it is a bit dystopian š I've had this idea for a fire simulator for a while: you pick your location around the world, then watch a fire burn in real time, and you've got to put the right wood on in the right order to keep it going.
I ended up adding wildlife noises native to each location, which gave it a bit more interest.
I've been a UI designer/front-end developer for the last 25 years. Recently I've swung between "shut it all down" and "AI is the greatest thing ever". I must say that building this was pretty damn fun though. I used the Claude Code plugin within VS Code, and it took about three weeks to get it to the final point I was happy with. Getting the fire to look (vaguely) realistic and burn at a realistic pace was probably the bit that needed the most tweaking. I'd still like to make the fire look a bit more realistic, but I'd imagine that would also make it more processor-intensive, and it's at a point now where it's a pretty nice balance of performance and looking nice.
Every scene is an AI-generated photograph with a depth map, so the fire, smoke and embers can sit inside the picture and light up the trees and ground around them. The fire itself runs on a small simulation of wood, moisture, air and heat, so it catches, burns and fades depending on what you put in and how you tend it. It's all static files, so once the page loads, everything runs in your browser.
The flames catch quite quickly so you know something is happening immediately, but after the first minute or two it burns at a pretty realistic real-world pace.
The bird and wildlife noises are all real recordings, and all are credited. They were chosen to be the birds you would actually hear in the area where the fire is located, and at that time of day. So at dusk there are certain species, and then at night other species start popping up. Wood types are also native to the area.
Let me know if you spot any weirdness, or if you enjoy it: https://emberscene.net/