Using Video Games to Simulate Evolution

Discover the incredible (and hilarious) ways that video games can simulate evolution. From Conway’s ‘Game of Life’ to Evolution by Keiwan, we’ll look at how games and other simulations can reproduce natural selection.
---
- Games and Simulations Featured -
Conway’s Game of Life:
Game - golly.sourceforge.net/webapp/...
Info - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway'...
Life Engine:
Game - thelifeengine.net/
Channel - / @emergentgarden
The Bibites:
Game - leocaussan.itch.io/the-bibites
Channel - / @thebibitesdigitallife
Cute Mold:
Game - erytau.itch.io/cute-mold
Creator - itch.io/profile/erytau
Clusters:
Game - www.ventrella.com/Clusters/
Creator - www.ventrella.com/
Lenia:
Channel - / @bertchan9774
Info - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenia
Evolution by Keiwan:
Game - keiwan.itch.io/evolution
Creator - keiwan.itch.io/
Evol Pedal:
2D Game - evolgames.itch.io/evolpedal
3D Game - evolgames.itch.io/evolpedal-3d
Creator - evolgames.itch.io/
Swimming Soft-Bodied Creatures:
Video - • Evolving Swimming Soft...
Paper - www.researchgate.net/publicat...
Evolving Soft-Bodied Animats:
Video - • Harnessing evolutionar...
Paper - direct.mit.edu/isal/proceedin...
Flexible Muscle-Based Locomotion for Bipedal Creatures:
Video - • Flexible Muscle-Based ...
Paper - www.goatstream.com/research/p...
Accelerated Policy Learning with Parallel Differentiable Simulation:
Video - short-horizon-actor-critic.gi...
Paper - openreview.net/forum?id=ZSKRQ...
Spore:
Game - store.steampowered.com/app/17...
Info - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore_(...)
Adapt:
Game - store.steampowered.com/app/88...
Creator - itch.io/profile/paul-herve
The Sapling:
Game - store.steampowered.com/app/99...
Channel - / @thesapling
Thrive:
Game - store.steampowered.com/app/17...
Homepage - revolutionarygamesstudio.com/
OpenWorm:
Game - openworm.org/
Channel - / @openwormorg
Thumbnail by: / hotcyder
This video is about evolution. Not the biological evolution you’re familiar with, where living organisms adapt to their environment. No, this is about virtual evolution. About discovering the extent to which video games, neural networks, and machine learning can shatter the natural order and let us experiment with the building blocks of life itself. …And the extent to which they can make us laugh.
The ambitious dream of using computers to simulate life dates back to Conway’s Game of Life, and you might be amazed at just how far the technology has come with games like Spore, Thrive, and Adapt.
So, for this entry into the archive, we’ll take natural selection into our own hands, and see how far we can push this concept before things get out of control...
0:00 Simulating Evolution
1:00 Dawn of Life
3:59 Cellular Models
6:09 Stepping onto Land
8:45 Machine Learning
11:12 The Dream of Spore
13:25 Biosphere Simulation
15:15 The Ultimate Game?
17:35 Unlimited Power
19:28 What Comes Next…
Copyright Disclaimer: Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. All video/image content is edited under fair use rights for reasons of commentary.
I do not own the images, music, or footage used in this video. All rights and credit goes to the original owners.
♫ Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio:
Mysterious Green Fluid, Sanity Unravels, Haddonfield Horror, Alone in the Dark, Dusk, The Witch, The Vanishing, Tenebrae, The Guardian
♫ Additional music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com):
Beauty Flow
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
♫ Classical Music:
Requiem 1 Giuseppe Verdi - Dies irae
Mozart - Requiem - Dies irae

[@cadenlikespigs]

Imagine being in class and your teacher says, “Alright guys, today we are going to learn about evolution. Pull out your gaming setups.”

[@user-sk5fe1yp8c]

“Good thing I have my high-end gaming computer so I can simulate a LOT”

[@TopatTom]

Hah that would make school better

[@thederpypikachu9873]

Finally those backpacks that were basically suitcases that some kids randomly had will be able to be used without wasting space

[@jj_the_ent]

“alright kids, we’re on the evolution module- but first rate my setup.”

[@theprimitivebushman8515]

If I was a teacher I would problem do that for space physics/ evolution module.

[@ackleackenkaker8508]

10:37 “Sometimes they succeed in tripping the AI up.” Throws a 1/2 ton crate at it, proclaims victory.

[@molybdaen11]

Everyone is a gangsta until the AI evades the blocks...

[@twelved4983]

@@molybdaen11 we’re training AI to escape their Matrix

[@sentienttoaster6961]

the scientists aftera huge ad box predictably kills the lifeform:

[@pipebombmailer]

me n the boys killing the boomer

[@jomsolsen9888]

Hey don’t knock it till you try it I can say that large boxes are very useful at stoping people from escaping my basement

[@purplehaze2358]

EvoSims are just.. so mesmerizing to watch. Seeing an entire virtual ecosystem come to life and evolve before your very eyes, in real time, is unspeakably satisfying.

[@123TeeMee]

It is amazing, but it’s also cool to see a creature and know that it has meaning and came about naturally. Makes it seem much more real than just an artwork.

[@sips3812]

I can imagine curious archive reading this

[@koyonafri]

dude i've seen you everywhere

[@dr.ivorobotnik1]

And then killing them all, accept some few lucky ones

[@5XOCYD]

I have seen you on terraria and JoJo vids my gosh

[@superspider64]

Another thing I want to mention about Thrive is that they've only just recently started taking tentative steps towards multicellular gameplay, it's fascinating to see this game that realistically should've only existed in the dreams of gamers slowly but surely coming to fruition

[@123TeeMee]

Thrive is a bit lacking on the design side of things

[@25439]

Its pretty much spore 2

[@Flobbled]

Slowly but surely should be its tagline. It had a decade of development and imho will take atleast another one, but due its open source nature and captivating ambitious goal it will probably never be abandoned. It will be made.

[@person4579]

@@25439 Or spore 3 since elysian eclipse is inbetween and is intentionally meant to be basically a copy of spore but alot better

[@aedenwright1994]

Unlike Star Citizen

[@YoungGandalf2325]

I knew it. Playing video games is the key to ensuring the future success of humanity.

[@accidiaet]

Maybe not for *your future success tho

[@laurenpinschannels]

yeah some games are in fact very good training. but you need to work on stuff that actually will teach you real life dynamics efficiently. Eco is good, I hear.

[@lordbuss]

Depends on the game. There are directly science-advancing games, like Foldit.

[@Pauly421]

I choose to believe this too

[@Chitose_]

3:59 *THE BIBITES!!!!!!!*

[@maiszerc2434]

Imagine your simulated lifeform evolved so much that it realized it lives in a simulation

[@person4579]

Imagine we evolve so much that we realise we're in a simulation

[@ragg232]

Imagine the computing power needed for that.

[@pipebombmailer]

@@ragg232 shhhhhhut mouth

[@blissful4992]

Even though it’s not possible, that’s pretty scary 😂

[@pugofwarbr]

@@person4579 then you realize..there was never a spoon

[@ThrottleKitty]

I literally bought a gaming PC to play spore... I remember the strange feeling playing it, of being both profoundly disappointed given what I'd expected, yet still very much in love with the cute silly little game it was. To this day nothing has ever lived up to what I thought that game would be.

[@Blanch590]

I would love a modern remake of the game but something tells me that won’t happen.

[@anastaswinn4630]

@@Blanch590 Did you forget about Thrive or Elysian Eclipse?

[@astick5249]

I would have never expected him to cover evolution simulators but it makes so much sense that he did

[@mechanwhal6590]

It’s evolvin’ time.

[@TopatTom]

Yeah

[@VirtuaVirtue]

Yeah

[@lvl1crook161]

Yeah

[@darkmoonthedirewolf9231]

Yeah

[@firegator6853]

Yeah

[@coziosity]

11:12 - Spore! I remember it being 2008 (when iPhones were totally new) and yeah, the hype behind Spore was insane. I couldn't afford it so a friend gave me a pirated copy on a disc and I loved it but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting 😅

[@lifeiscats1337]

Ummm…. It was never a mobile game? It’s always been a pc game, what are you talking about? Edit: I get he was talking about a disk now lmao thanks

[@negativefg7922]

@@lifeiscats1337 he's talking about discs. Im sure by saying iPhones were new he's just comparing the time and a popular thing back then

[@EirPlen]

@@lifeiscats1337.

[@CallumsArmy]

​​@@lifeiscats1337 someone's slow

[@lifeiscats1337]

@@negativefg7922 OOHHHH THXX

[@AstroSamDev]

As a programmer, I have absolutely loved creating life simulations, along with neural networks. The ability to watch an ecosystem or species evolve, live, move, and learn, is absolutely wonderful. It's like watching millions of years of evolution go by in a few minutes or hours. It also shows parallels, with how even us people and the plants/animals around us are all just made of basic molecules, which just react to the things around them and move, which makes us able to do things. Wonderful video, I love every one, keep up the great work CA! 👍

[@Tapecutter59]

gDitto, I got into computers in the early 80's after reading about Conways game of life in a magazine. I got sick of doing it on graph paper and when a friend was trying to sell his apple 11, I bought it and taught myself to program. I later studied computing at uni and have been a degree qualified SE for 30+ years.

[@venetiaastrop280]

@AstroSamDev yes yes absolutely this, it's insane and fascinating in such a profound way, realising just how easily we can simulate life now all the learning possibilities that presents

[@marcolorenti9637]

"Are you saying we descended from a videogame?" - Kent Hovind.

[@Dojoge69]

evolution is so simple yet so complex at the same time

[@agimasoschandir]

(fill in blank) is so simple yet so complex at the same time evolution is so easy to understand yet...

[@sifouad6945]

And someone is running the simulation and making the rules and programing things and yet it's so complex This only means that the theory of evolution without God is false Someone created and desgined this universe and that's God

[@akaishuichi217]

exactly, wish they realize and analyze@@sifouad6945

[@kaantax8666]

@@sifouad6945 lmao no, the laws of physics are what makes evolution happen. it's the second law of thermodynamic that makes life possible.

[@atmaanu4825]

9:29 i know i'm not the only one who thinks that this look cute.

[@pengil3]

To me I’ve always wanted another more cartoony evolution sim like spore. I understand what games like Thrive are going for, it’s just that spore is fun, and it has charm.

[@parmenterlore]

I highly suggest checking out Elysian Eclipse. It's another in-development evolution sim, but it's aiming for that cartoony style and has 7 total life stages: Cell, Aquatic, Creature, Tribal, Medieval, Industrial, and Space. It's been in development since last year, but there's already a public cell creator demo and a patreon-exclusive live cell stage demo. There's more stages then Spore planned, but the developer has proven that they work very hard and have enough time/resources to meet the hard goals they set on their website every month. I'm very excited for its full release. The developer estimated last July that it would take about 1 year per stage to complete, so maybe it'll be released in 2029?

[@pengil3]

@@parmenterlore I know about EE. For now though, we don’t have access to it.

[@Blanch590]

@@parmenterlore I’ve never heard of it but thanks for sharing. Sounds like a lot of fun. Something that spore always felt like it was missing was a little complexity. It is still very charming and goofy and overall good fun but for me it’s just a little too simple.

[@silkmoth7951]

Just like you said in the ending, the future of this genre looks VERY big I would go as far as to say that this kinda of game/experiment is what will really blend the line of "What is Life", like, not only intelligence and sentience, but all kinda of lifes in general

[@kayrose3384]

10:16 Gen 80 is vibin

[@dracodracarys2339]

if you're reviewing more spec evo stuff how about Tribbetherium's "Hamster's Paradise"? It's like Serina but with hamsters instead of canaries and we get stuff like lizard-like hamsters that fly with wings made of modified hair, or giant hamster mammoths called hammoths, and there's also a warmongering intelligent race of Skaven-like hamsters called Harmsters. it's some crazy stuff and a fun read

[@tinobemellow]

Whoever wrote that must have really liked hamsters.

[@mr.random2877]

I actually enjoy Hamster's paradise and have been trying to do little fan art.

[@blueblaze27]

massively underrated series

[@mr.random2877]

@@blueblaze27 Indeed it is on par with Serina in my opinion. Have you read over the Harmsters?

[@blueblaze27]

@@mr.random2877 yes, it's a pretty good take on the sapient animals trope, i like how they aren't portrayed as benevolent like so many other spec evo projects do with their races/species

[@person4579]

Seeing a new upload from this channel is a blessing from go- i mean science because im an atheist

[@Texan_christian1132]

Shut up

[@person4579]

@@Texan_christian1132 Why

[@Texan_christian1132]

@@person4579 how dare you be atheist. God obviously created earth. Who else did?

[@hilmandapewaukongo4225]

I hate how underrated you are You can make something as simple as games and turn it into such a philosophical discussion

[@molybdaen11]

Welcome to the game theory.

[@balazssimon5738]

Here me out: non-euclidian spore.

[@tiedeman39]

Spore already has non-euclidean geometry

[@droopsmoop]

the soft bodied creatures at around 9:14 kinda looks like the in silico models they used in the making of the Xenobots, even with the contracting (heart muscle)/passive (epidermal) cells and the generally cube-y form. I wonder if the two projects are actually linked

[@tanelialahuhta5841]

it also kind of looks like among us

[@person4579]

@@tanelialahuhta5841 among us

[@efegokselkisioglu8218]

@@tanelialahuhta5841 amogus

[@efegokselkisioglu8218]

@@tanelialahuhta5841 fussy sussy baka

[@lunarsoul1737]

I remember watching a video by Wessel Stoop once (maker of The Sapling) and he said that one of the main reasons he made the game is because, while he liked Spore, it was a let-down, so he wanted to make a game that was more like what he wanted Spore to be.

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

He made this because spore was anything but a simulation game

[@memerdemerhighondrugs1]

i just played conway's game of life and immediately made a smiley face using cells reacting to each other 💀💀💀💀

[@Numbskulli]

Never been this early!!! Just wanted to say love your content, you’re the channel that first got me into speculative biology and I could never thank you enough.

[@espinas5981]

Now this, this is fascinating as hell! (This is nothing against the darker, more post-apocalyptic videos, but I mostly come to this channel for much more "natural" type content)

[@modernmajorgeneral4669]

I am so glad you have made this video. I have for a long time had an interest in evolutionary simulation games, and have actually played quite a few of the games mentioned, but there is a lack of videos on this subject. You have filled that lack well. Thank you.

[@Kevinwelch2001]

Glad this video is here. I’ve been searching and have found many of these games over the last two years so it’s great to see a lot more and other people interested in these games.

[@sarmadali7191]

I was so happy when you mentioned The Bibites, I have been following it's development for a few months now and it's just such an amazing sandbox-esque game.

[@historyofbrazil]

Hiii, i have a game play to you 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zp-yg6CEZaqioM0

[@micahvance8382]

OMG! I love all your videos, and this one really takes the cake. One of my favorite creators of content to look forward to. So interesting to learn about all these different simulators 😮💯

[@EmergentGarden]

worst one is 2:32 great vid, thanks for the shout out! :D

[@alejolab]

Agree! A purple flower would be enough to destroy those simple organisms.

[@DaniTheCatgirl]

i just wanna say i found your channel like 3 days ago and ive already watched almost all your videos. Your work is amazing and its one of the most interesting styles of content ive seen

[@TopatTom]

I can tell this took a lot of time

[@wither5673]

that first game LIFE is literally the perfect embodiment of, like you said ''how effective simple rules can be at creating emergent behavior. it show's how life just...happens because some chemicals happened to be mixed around just right in the right environment and then BAM!!! the run away chain reaction that is life.

[@njdinostar]

I am so happy to have found this channel! Thank you for exploring and summarizing and sharing! References are great!

[@Zedryx69]

This is one of my favorite game genres. Being able to evolve your own creature, or watch as they evolve on their own... It's VERY interesting.

[@commandereclipse5373]

Evolution games/Evolution Sims are such a beautiful niche genre that I adore following. Maybe it's the dream of crafting your own lineage of lifeforms that behave and interact like real creatures. Maybe it's being able to bring about complex interactions natural from basic rules. Maybe it's just a god complex. But damn oh damn, I just love playing around with them! Also, I'm so happy you brought up Thrive. It's got its head in the clouds for sure, but development's really picked up in the last year or so. Hell, they're even tweaking around multicellular prototypes! Even if we never see all the stages, I love watching them chip away at the problem, little by little.

[@e-genes2727]

I been developing a free one

[@mvw9078]

Great video, CA! I think Evosims are fascinating to me personally because of the poetry of it. It's a complex multicellular lifeform (us) trying to understand and recreate the exact mechanisms of its genesis. So fascinated are we by our own seemingly random existence that we tirelessly create complex equations, simulations, and so on in an attempt to understand it. With the lack of other sapient life (that we can recognize as such), it almost seems that evosims, especially combined with learning AI, are an interesting attempt by a sapient creature to create something it can recognize as itself, or like itself. To create a friend we can talk to. Maybe - truthfully - we're just lonely as a species. Maybe we're like a lonesome child, dreaming up imaginary friends... except one day they might not be so imaginary.

[@ragg232]

This gives me an idea for a story

[@mvw9078]

@@ragg232 I'm a writer myself, so it's all I think about. Good luck with it!

[@mistyminnie5922]

AMAZING video. Really extensive, exploring and showing different simulations with the why and how. Games linked in the description, awesome. Just a really complete video.

[@nichtmal5208]

I'm trying to simulate a really basic ecosystem with types of boids and evolution rn and I really love how from a few simple rules such beautiful behavior can emerge. Great video and I hope it gets more people into this mind-blowing topic

[@12isaac00]

10:37 They threw a whole man sized box towards that dude, ofc he got caught off guard. Justice for boxdude.

[@Cyaner]

Honestly, as much as I love this category of games and that its begun to get more traction, there's still a certain charm to a more light-hearted and less brain-required game like Spore as opposed to some of these games coming out. I think it'd be nice to, in addition to games that are more sciency, also see games that are less learning based and more fun based crop up in this genre as well, much in a similar way of spore.

[@VoyagerEugen]

Evolution didn't spare you

[@christopherwoods5150]

I was trying to track down videos to make a playlist, and not having much luck. This is great, and exactly what I had in mind, thank you.

[@Blanch590]

It never fails to amaze me how humanity has advanced to the point that we are basically creating whole artificial universes by simply using math and programming. Life simulators will always have a soft spot in my heart. It’s always such an interesting and cool experience to watch these “organisms” evolve, prosper, reproduce, and eventually die. Really makes me appreciate the real world and the laws that created it a whole lot more by actually seeing it in action, even if it is just a game.

[@williekopenski8471]

Glad you devoted an entire chapter to my favorite game, Spore.

[@Shoyro]

This reminds of this computer that just started making digital lifeforms without warning one day. It has done all sorts of things like change the "biome" and altered the physics, and the lifeforms have to adapt or go extinct. This is something that should be looked into more.

[@catowisdom1922]

any source on this?

[@EverettHaran]

@@catowisdom1922 "I made it the fuck up" - Shoyro

[@Hoogalindo]

Sounds like bs.

[@Pauly421]

Yeah nah.

[@user-cw8gn9rp9i]

I just love your videos, I started watching you recently but I already really like your videos. I used to love speculative biology, but your channel has become a real Klondike for me, my ideas and dreams. By the way, I am Russian and I watch your videos with subtitles, it’s a pity that there are almost no well-known Russian KZbinrs who talk about speculative biology in such detail and interestingly.

[@florix7889]

One of your best vidéos. It brought nostalgia, curiosity, awe, and dépression at the end X) Good job love your channel, kiss

[@YoungHenBeats]

Thank you so much for making these videos. Biology and evolution have always been so fascinating to me.

[@Joshua-nn9le]

What's fascinating about the mythology of evolution? Evolution is pure myth with no evidence whatsoever, where Is that evidence AKA transitional forms, where are the transitional forms anyways? Can you name and provide evidence of them? The earth should be cover with all sorts of transitional forms.

[@YoungHenBeats]

You've clearly missed out on an education, but I'll try my best. Every organism is a so-called "transitional form". All life forms are constantly evolving to their highest potential for survival. We know this because of genetic variation. All life forms pass down their DNA to offspring with some variations which can alter a single living thing's chances of then passing down its own genes.

[@ruriva4931]

I’m not a big gamer but I love myself some biology/ecology. I was just thinking about rain world and now this, loving this channel!

[@Green-bucket]

This video was amazing thank you for teaching me about this genre

[@flechedesneiges5114]

I'm so glad you talk about The Sapling, it deserves much more attention !

[@CalvinBloopers]

I’ve been following the Bibbits

[@Sleeper____1472]

As you mentioned at the end, there is also species. This game is very brutal, literally seeing creatures turning to piles of meat infrint of your eyes. The game doesn't really have many limits, allowing for really weird things.

[@kitkags]

Hey, I'm loving all of your videos. I recently discovered the channel and I've been watching them all. I specially like the way you go through Biology in games. This got me thinking on other games you could go through maybe in the future, like the Wasteland of Fallout for example with its wacky biology after a nuclear holocaust.

[@Varler_]

That was a really well-made video, thanks for introducing so many neat programs to us!

[@123TeeMee]

Alien-project and space simulation toolkit are the coolest ones I’ve seen lately, although the creature evolution elements of them aren’t emphasised or very well visualised. Cell lab is my favourite of all time but it only works on android which is probably why it never took off, despite achieving amazing multicellularity mechanics.

[@123TeeMee]

On the ethics of things, it partly comes down to complexity, consciousness and chaos. If there is some great absorbtion of data and continuous operation to process it, in complex interconnected ways, that might be ethically significant, so you wouldn’t want to make disruptive changes to such things that they werent prepared for, and that can only be a question for humanity’s biggest AIs, not the tiny neural networks that accompany these virtual creatures. However, the general principles of not causing harm to life are important to hold, so in some ways, you should treat virtual creatures as if they were real.

[@anastaswinn4630]

​@@123TeeMee i have tried so incredibly hard to get evolution to work in cell lab. I always have to start with a swimmer with three cells, because anything smaller usually doesnt see mutations.

[@BallisticDamages]

I can't wait to try these, always loved spore but was certainly eager for a bit more depth and realism 😆

[@juke_b0xx]

digging this new editing style!

[@labonnelambda58]

Awesome ! I've watch a number of videos about simulating evolution. None was covering everything, and I got some new game/simulator names.

[@elizabetho.7484]

Oh wow--LOVE this!

[@smile--]

I would honestly watch a full length documentary about this.

[@JayKay-xz6qg]

An absolutely incredible video! thank you so much for this :)

[@evangelineaudet7242]

This is the funniest video i think you have made lol. Just the chaotic music at the beginning and the humor throughout the video.

[@cdemr]

I really liked this video. Thanks for your work. Made me think of xenobots, a bunch of cells reprogrammed into a lifeform but in real life. Or like these artificial cells they made recently.

[@7andahalf]

Every time I see a video like this, it makes me want to play Spore again. Even though I love that game with all my heart, it always did feel like something was missing. Guess I'll have to spend some time in Adapt and The Sapling now lol I hope Thrive is still being worked on and doesn't end up in game development limbo. It sounds like my (and many others) dream game

[@jujuoof174]

Your videos touch so interesting subjects and are so intertaining and calming I love them

[@crappyanimations9992]

I loved this video so much. Thank you for showing me these games, as I just happened to be looking for games like these.

[@wolfytda]

RAHHHH I LOVE EVOLUTION GAMES

[@DextersStuff]

I love your vids so much pls keep it up!

[@Nurpus]

Incredible video! So many things out there to play with

[@Mapper8703]

7:34 Just imagine this running at you though

[@JONEPUNK]

This reminded me of the The TechnocCore from sci-fi series "The Hyperion Cantos". It's a sentient AI kind that that exists on its own realm and wich evolved from an evolution simulator just like the first ones you showed us.

[@THE_ONLY_REAL_WAFFLE]

Great that you're also looking at life simulators!!!

[@seanmaclean1341]

I remember around 2006 or so I used to poke around at another evo sim called Darwin Pond that would simulate generational adaption and mutation, at a rate that you could play with. I certainly think my interest in these were directly tied to my hype for Spore ahaha

[@teacupanimates]

i love this channel, it feeds my curious brain

[@zackarieneifert7014]

On one hand, I am so sad that this video hasn't introduced me to any new games. on the other, I am so happy that so many games I have interest in are getting attention

[@TheWobolo]

this video is absolutely fascinating! thank you

[@thesis-and-nieces6722]

A human puts in an algorithm with his presuppositions, and desired outcomes that creates a program to simulate the human desired outcome. Best demonstration i have ever heard. 👍

[@Wnick1996]

I remember seeing the first spore prototype back in the mid to late 2000s. Seeing it and comparing it to the game we got, I feel that it looked better then the final release. Still enjoyed it but I would love to play that prototype. Adapt looks like the Spore game that we should have gotten.

[@NoArtisticLimitation]

Why does no one know/remember Creatures? That was one of the most complex (I say this knowing practically nothing about programming) games I’ve EVER seen! And it’s been around since the 90s! So... Start with an egg, that hatches into one of a number of “starter” creatures called Norns. They learn, think, and grow, just like small children. And when they get to adult stage, they can even breed, creating a brand new Norn with genetics from both parents. You can even get them to teach each other! Honestly, it’s easy enough to learn, and even kids can follow along, but when you actually take the time to get into details, it’s actually pretty hard to master.

[@NoArtisticLimitation]

I gave the most bare bones explanation, tbh. There’s so much more than just what I put.

[@marcogiorgini8566]

The quality of this video is extraordinary

[@khlorghaal]

i remember one of my childhood dreams was to create artificial life from nothing; it was surprisingly, almost disappointingly, easy

[@gloryarrowthescaredhamster]

Another one like adapt and spore is called Elysian Eclipse. I think you should feature that one too.

[@survroproductions200]

i remember an old concept of mine i once called the "5 feelings" it had the variables like pleasure, displeasure, confused, etc. always thought how various beings would interact with themselves if they had the "5 feelings".

[@Sky.Lukewalker]

This is an awesome way to show what it would be like for evolution to exist. Videogame tech ftw!

[@iaintneednoIDforthis]

why are there creationists in this video

[@agustinfranco0]

because they like to tell people how dumb they are

[@jonhall467]

Lovely

[@knownas2017]

An incredible video! Thank you, sir.

[@iLikeDucks_]

Ive been watching the bibites for a while seeing it here made me so happy :)

[@Jasper_Silva]

About the games inspired by Spore. I personally LOVE this trend of people who grew up playing imperfect games by big companies and go on to develop high quality indie titles that end up surpassing or building on those games, you see a lot of those coming from fans of Maxis (now EA) games like Spore itself, Sims and Sim City. In a way I guess that's a kind of evolution too.

[@dimetrodon2250]

Big corporations tend to "play it safe" and try to appeal to a wide audience, plus a bigger team can lead to a "too many cooks" situation. Since the biggest motivator is profit, big studios will try to cut costs more often. Meanwhile smaller studios and devs are usually more passion driven (there are definitely exceptions to this, plenty of people are out to make a quick buck). People working on passion projects have the goal of making the best possible version of the idea inside their heads. This shift in goal from profit to product can have drastic affects on the final product's quality. However,successful profit-driven studios tend to amass more resources since they are larger, so its not always easy to make direct comparisons.

[@angelmatesmolan]

Before I die I wish to see real digital life

[@Johnnydt]

this is one of my favorite videos of all time

[@tomsterbg8130]

This is an amazingly great video! I never looked at Spore as an actual evolution game since there seems to be no like AI or natural selection and just you playing with premade models. However the highlights shown in this video are really good, especially biosphere simulator. As someone who loves pouring hours into editing small stuff like what that game allows, I'm all in for it. That game is just too cheap to not play, a game so complex shouldn't be like 9 dollars.

[@Gameknight2169]

10:40 "While sometimes they'd succeed in catching the AI off guard" Bruh you'd fall too if a boulder twice your size was yeeted at you

[@cheetocabra]

Another game that is building on the outline of Spore is Elysian Eclipse. There are some videos showing off the upgraded customization options, and they are planning cell, aquatic, creature, tribal, medieval, industrial, and space stages.

[@tristanmisja]

But it doesn't have natural selection, does it? Also, like Elysian Eclipse, there's a game called Thrive based off of Spore, but it's 10x more realistic and has actual evolution

[@jiraffe9600]

@@tristanmisja Elysian esclypse is still going to be great. It will be spore, but better. Also, unlike Thrive it will be completed in the next decade.

[@Khal_Rheg0]

Great video! Thanks you!

[@deltha_the_1st]

Two "dies irae" in the first minutes, That man know how to manage music in a video!

[@christianmarx3249]

whe need a spore 2

[@gaborholotajr.4427]

You could make a documentary-style video about the "Zone"'s biology from STALKER (Anomaly, but the others could do as well, they are all quite similar). From what I understand, the games do have an ecosystem of sorts that is not centered around the player.

[@khlorghaal]

im unfamiliar with stalker's technique, but theres an enormous difference between presenting it that way using gamedev facade techniques, versus actually simulating the interactions