[HN Gopher] Orb Farm ___________________________________________________________________ Orb Farm Author : thunderbong Score : 386 points Date : 2023-05-19 10:17 UTC (12 hours ago) (HTM) web link (orb.farm) (TXT) w3m dump (orb.farm) | ttoinou wrote: | Background image is distracting, otherwise, very good ! It could | be gamified with points and fish reproducing, like try to find a | way so that users have to maximize some kind of goal while making | tradeoffs. Like city building games | ikesau wrote: | or it couldn't! i think exploratory play is much more in the | spirit of an ecosystem | Name_Chawps wrote: | Game probably needs some way of making the player feel more | invested in the game. Maybe you can only place so many | particles per day, and then you have to wait until the next | day. Or you can pay to get more particles now. | | If you could pay for some bonus materials that would be great | too. Though I'd rather unlock them randomly from a kind of loot | box system. | | And how come I can't level up? I don't feel like I'm making any | progress without an XP bar. Clearly this person does not | understand game design. | mynameisvlad wrote: | I hope this is sarcasm. | | Not everything needs to be a fully developed game. Sometimes | people make things for _gasp_ the fun of it and not to build | a comprehensive game that will appeal to everyone and their | demanding cousins. | jsilence wrote: | Still would love to see some graphs of the populations and | maybe also nitrogen. | pnt12 wrote: | It is. | | OP is stating his love for the worst parts of games. This | would be like someone saying they love pages filled with | ads, chat bots, pop-ups, auto play and scripts which take | seconds to load. | trhr wrote: | Or like someone who watches the Super Bowl for the | football game. | DonHopkins wrote: | Also it could use more full motion video cut scenes! | | It also needs swag: cute little square plushie stuffed | animals for each type of element. | jjulius wrote: | >Clearly this person does not understand game design. | | I think you're being a bit too critical for what just seems | like someone's fun little project. | Name_Chawps wrote: | Clearly you don't understand Hacker News comment design. | jjulius wrote: | The two responses to your comment missed your sarcasm, so | perhaps some of the onus is on you as well. | Name_Chawps wrote: | I usually like to get to know someone better before we | start talking about my onus. | EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: | Just seeing a black screen. Is my sin Firefox, or adblock? | thesuitonym wrote: | Firefox and uBlock Origin are not a problem for me. Maybe | noscript? | DominoTree wrote: | Works fine on Firefox 113.0.1 with uBlock Origin for me | kurisufag wrote: | neither. Firefox 104, uBlock Origin, works perfectly. | SummerlyMars wrote: | I'd say adblock (or maybe some other extension) - it works fine | for me in Firefox. | vrglvrglvrgl wrote: | [dead] | dang wrote: | Related: | | _Orb.Farm_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31321645 - May | 2022 (3 comments) | | _Orb.Farm, a Virtual Aquatic Ecosystem_ - | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23218186 - May 2020 (6 | comments) | xtian wrote: | Nicely done take on the form. The original game of this type was | a Japanese Java applet known as "Falling sand game". I'm not sure | it's preserved anywhere though. | | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling-sand_game | trhr wrote: | I'm pretty sure I played a similar game in like '95. It was | called Logo. It had a turtle, and you could use the turtle (and | your imagination) to draw pretty things on the screen. You | probably played it too. | snapcaster wrote: | Super cool! | 01100011 wrote: | Fun! Also funny because I've gotten into container ponds, medaka | (Japanese ricefish), daphnia/moina and other microfauna over the | last 2 months. It's an interesting hobby. The biggest thing I've | noticed is how much local bees need a water source. | afandian wrote: | If you like honey, water sources is one of a few things that | might disconcert you. | balaji1 wrote: | sea world tycoon! | SeanAnderson wrote: | :) Love seeing this at the top of HN! This project, along with | sandspiel (by the same creator), are some of my biggest | inspirations! | | If you're not aware, there's a relatively deep technical | explanation of how sandspiel was built which I found interesting. | If you're into orb.farm then you'll probably find it interesting, | too: https://maxbittker.com/making-sandspiel | | And, shameless plug, I've been teaching myself Rust/Bevy/ECS | lately and am creating a simulation ant farm. The project is | still in its infancy, and is nowhere near as cool as these, but | https://meomix.github.io/symbiants/ for some ants that scurry | around and emergently create piles of sand. Pan/Zoom launching in | a couple of hours, feeding them hopefully in the next week or so. | If you have ideas for simple features I'd love to hear them or if | you want to follow along with the project check my profile for a | Discord link. | dang wrote: | Discussed here: | | _Making Sandspiel_ - | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34555913 - Jan 2023 (10 | comments) | | _Making Sandspiel_ - | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19793835 - May 2019 (9 | comments) | | _Sandspiel - A falling sand game built in Rust and WebGL_ - | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18696291 - Dec 2018 (185 | comments) | DonHopkins wrote: | Also check out Sandspiel Studio, which lets you explore, edit, | and define your own rules with a Scratch-like block visual | programming language! | | https://studio.sandspiel.club/ | | Making Sandspiel (maxbittker.com): | | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34555913 | | https://maxbittker.com/making-sandspiel | | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34561910 | | DonHopkins 3 months ago | parent | context | favorite | on: | Making Sandspiel | | I am a huge fan of Sandspiel, which Max described in this | article from 2019, and recently I was delighted to discover | that he and TodePond have been doing a huge amount of wonderful | work since then. | | What happens when you combine Sandspiel with a Scratch-like | blocks based visual programming language that lets you look | inside and see how rules work, tweak and modify them, and even | define your own rules for different types of particles? And | then form a community around it for sharing and learning from | each other and building on top of each other's work. | | Here is Max's and TodePond's brilliantly ambitious visually | programmable sequel, Sandspiel Studio! | | https://studio.sandspiel.club/ | | Here's my profile, where you can play with the version of Max's | flower growing rule that he shows here: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifyYITDq1oo | | ...to grow underground potatoes and fancy flowers: | | https://studio.sandspiel.club/user/clanzgor8006109mtjooi348t | | I've written more about Sandspeil Studio and related topics of | artificial life, cellular automata, and visual programming, and | quoted some interesting discussion with Max and TodePond from | their Discord server (they actually already knew about most of | this stuff, but they love it as much as I do), in the "Ask HN: | What weird technical scene are you fond/part of?" discussion, | in reply to api's comment about Digital Artificial Life: | | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33698163 | | api 67 days ago | parent | context | favorite | on: Ask HN: | What weird technical scene are you fond/pa... | | Digital Artificial Life -- as in evolving program ecosystems, | artificial chemistries or cellular automata that can manifest | life-like phenomena, etc. | | Haven't done much with it in a while but was very into it in | college. It's both a minor scientific field (would probably be | grouped under both theoretical biology and AI research) and a | hobbyist field with some really interesting projects. | | DonHopkins 67 days ago | prev [-] | | That's one of my long time interests and hobbies, which I write | about on HN and discuss with other people frequently. I'm | supposed to be doing something else right now so I'll quickly | drop a few disorganized quotes and links here. (Sorry I didn't | have time to be more concise!) | | A few years ago I ran across Max Bittker's beautiful | "Sandspiel", which is a delightful cellular automata toy that | simulates sand and other rules: | | https://sandspiel.club/ | | A few days ago I saw him tweet some amazing stuff that | resonated with me, which then led me to discover what he's been | working with Lu Wilson (TodePond): Sandspiel Studio -- user | definable rules using a block based visual programming | language. | | https://twitter.com/maxbittker | | "working on goth fungus kidpix": | | https://twitter.com/maxbittker/status/1593868837111451649 | | Lu Wilson (TodePond): | | https://twitter.com/TodePond | | Sandspiel Studio: | | https://studio.sandspiel.club/ | | Sandspiel introduction: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecCVor7mJ6o | | Sandspiel Studio in 60 seconds: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOA-lR3Xc34 | | Rainbow Sand: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGTsy79wx4U | | Huegene: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltpkO7jcFOY | | Flower: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifyYITDq1oo | | TodePond's Spellular Automata: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvlsJ3FqNYU | | We had a great discussion on the Sandspiel Studio Discord | server, where I posted some interesting links: | | [lots more links and info in the original post:] | | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34561910 | | Also be sure to check out TodePond's amazing videos and | software! | | For example, "Screens in Screens in Screens": | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4OIcwt8vcE | | "Top 9 Ways to Make Sand": | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDyvjkAs5-Y | | "Top 9 Ways to Make BIG Sand": | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mbs0sx3z2A | | "Tourism 2: Off-Road": | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvlsJ3FqNYU | | "Spellular Automata": | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvlsJ3FqNYU | | There's so much more, and I think you'll love it all as much as | I do: | | https://www.youtube.com/@TodePond/videos | | London Creative Coding - Feb 2023: The Spatial Programming Pipe | Dream - Lu Wilson: | | https://youtu.be/L2U_Sd1qMJ4?t=2579 | Nezteb wrote: | I love ants and replicating their behavior in code! | | You might like these projects: | | "Coding Adventure: Ant and Slime Simulations" by Sebastian | Lague: | | Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-iSQQgOd1A | | Code https://github.com/SebLague/Ant-Simulation | | "C++ Ants Simulation 1, First approach" by Pezzza's Work: | | Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81GQNPJip2Y | | Code: https://github.com/johnBuffer/AntSimulator | SeanAnderson wrote: | Thank you for the resources! I'll add them to my list of | bookmarks. :) | harrisi wrote: | This is maybe a bit too specific to Clojure and more | generally about concurrency in it, but Rich Hickey | introduced Clojure with an ant simulation demonstration. | The video quality is not great, but there's an article | (sadly not up anymore, but on the way back machine): | | https://web.archive.org/web/20160409080236/http://juliangam | b... | | Video directly: https://youtu.be/dGVqrGmwOAw | phailhaus wrote: | I am a _sucker_ for falling sand games, thanks for making this. | Makes me want to make my own, I 've been brainstorming ideas of | complex "ecosystem" games for a while but never thought to just | use a sand engine! | mystickphoenix wrote: | If you haven't been exposed to it, check out Noita. It's a | falling sand action roguelike where the entirety of the world | is simulated. | phailhaus wrote: | Haha, already got it! Super hard though, if it wasn't for | mods I'd never play that game. | denton-scratch wrote: | Makes my laptop fan run noisy. | __MatrixMan__ wrote: | Schrodinger wrote a book on the relationship between life and | entropy that explains this connection pretty well. | markfchapman wrote: | "procratinating, my mind quiet and feels calm, processor on | fire" | denton-scratch wrote: | Hah. 16 syllables; I thought haikus were supposed to be 17, | but I know nothing. | rirze wrote: | that's a feature | MattRix wrote: | And? | gooob wrote: | the universe continues, it seems | [deleted] | thih9 wrote: | PSA: The "clear" tool can clear the wall of the orb as well. | ChrisArchitect wrote: | (2020) | degenerate wrote: | FYI you can use "glass" selection to build walls/cliffs at the | start, so all your sand and stone isn't piling into a hill at the | bottom. | selectas wrote: | So much nostalgia seeing an "interface" like that :) | m0shp_t wrote: | Win95 was my first! | swah wrote: | That was very calming - your project? | yreg wrote: | I got a placeable Earth globe after playing for a while. Anyone | knows what it means? | monkeynotes wrote: | Needs to count days in the green or some other success metric to | accumulate. | blastro wrote: | This is so cute and fun. Thank you! | micheljansen wrote: | Really nailed the 90's aesthetic! | tantalor wrote: | Could do without the Windows UI elements, barf. | dreen wrote: | Can the fish multiply? If so I have failed them | onemoresoop wrote: | Mine die after a while... | programmarchy wrote: | I got a little microchip. Maybe an easter egg? Put it in my farm | although it doesn't seem to do anything. | syx wrote: | I love these kinds of sandbox games, Orb Farm is super nice to | have it running directly in the browser for a little | procrastination break. Although my favorite is probably The | Powder Toy [0], I've been following this project for years. | | [0] https://powdertoy.co.uk/ | ldayley wrote: | The guy that created orb.farm[0] is the same guy behind | sandspiel.club[1], which is a browser-based Rust/WebGL | powdertoy-like implementation. I added it to my phone's home | screen so my kids have been playing with it for years! | | [0]: https://maxbittker.com [1]: https://sandspiel.club | uSoldering wrote: | You should check out Noita on Steam. :) | throwaway290 wrote: | Windows only, unlike Powder Toy. | Evidlo wrote: | Works well in proton | oersted wrote: | The balancing seems a bit off. But oh man, this thing is so | mesmerizing and addictive :) | | Daphnia are too aggressive eating algae and produce too many eggs | when doing so, so the algae population gets constantly suppressed | in most settings. | | Fish also barely eat daphnia so it is hard to control their | population with them. | | It is also too hard for daphnia to eat grass. It slowly grows | uncontrolled to fill a lot of the tank, significantly reducing | mobility and blocking light. Grass also produces too little | oxygen. | | Bacteria always end up dying off quickly because there is not | enough material for them to decompose. It's unclear where the | stuff they eat comes from and how the nitrogen bacteria produce | affects plant growth. | | As a result of all of this, oxygen is always fluctuating at the | minimum, going into the red at night often. Which means fish | always die eventually, which seems to be making people sad :( | | But again, really entertaining and beautiful :) | imakira wrote: | I figured out you can limit the living area of Daphnia using | glass and sand, and then feed the fishes with only grass. | RajT88 wrote: | You have to tinker a bit. I haven't figured out the role that | the bacteria play yet, but too low of oxygen means you need | more algae/grass to generate more O2 during daylight hours. | (And yes, it will crash at night when there's less | photosynthesis) | | Don't put too many critters in there either. Mine is pretty | stable for a few hours now with 3 fish, and ample grass and | algae. | | Side question: Is it in my head, or are the fish slowly | growing? | fishtoaster wrote: | For bacteria: I _believe_ their role is to provide nitrogen | in the sand by eating algae poop. Nitrogen in the sand is | required for plants in that sand to grow. | | You can test this a bit: | | 1. Create a new sphere and fill it with water. Add a bit of | sand at the bottom | | 2. Add algae and fastforward. | | 3. The algae will multiply, causing the o2 to shoot up. | | 4. The algae will die off because of the high o2. Their dead | bodies (purple dots) will litter the sea floor. | | 5. Put in some bacteria. | | 6. You can watch the bacteria eat the purple dots. Note that | the sand changes color slightly as they do - I think that's | the sand becoming nitrogen-rich. | matt3210 wrote: | Great gui! | LorenDB wrote: | Who else has figured out that you can expand the orb into a | square? | shever73 wrote: | Oh yes, I've also added secret passages in which fish seem to | die trying to find their way out :/ | EscapeFromNY wrote: | One of my fish died and I don't know why :( | trhr wrote: | You need to build a stateless fish tank via replicas. It's | pretty common that a new feature gets introduced into the | upstream. You never even see it until one of your tanks | crashes. That's why it's critical to have a backup strategy, | n+1 redundancy, and a robust change control process to limit | contagion risk. | | I used to have a roommate that had like 12 tanks going all the | time. I couldn't even complain, because I hosted my own | kubernetes cluster, so I understood exactly why he needed them. | 2023throwawayy wrote: | Welcome to the world of fish keeping. | smburdick wrote: | You should deepfake Leonard Nemoy's voice for the characters. ;-) | DonHopkins wrote: | Like Yoot Saito's "Seaman"! (Which has The Real Nimoy.) | | Seaman on the Sega Dreamcast - Leonard Nimoy's intro on the day | podman will give birth: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIO41Blysg | | Seaman (Dreamcast) - Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN): | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IV8hCvsXy0 | | Seaman creator Yoot Saito on the fishy Dreamcast AI that was | way ahead of its time: | | https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/6/20850674/yoot-saito-interv... | | >Sega's Dreamcast was ultimately a failure, as Sony came to | dominate the early-2000s market with the PlayStation 2. But | Sega's machine left behind a library of uniquely innovative and | influential software. And perhaps no title was as memorable as | Yutaka "Yoot" Saito's iconoclastic Seaman, a virtual pet | simulator that had you use a microphone to converse with a | moody, sarcastic man-fish, with help from a narrator voiced by | Leonard Nimoy. | d883kd8 wrote: | Bait | unglaublich wrote: | Old and similar https://dan-ball.jp/en/javagame/dust/ | pazimzadeh wrote: | What are the bacteria supposed to eat? Unless they are | cyanobacteria? | greggsy wrote: | They eat waste from algae, but they seems to devour it too | quickly, and may even spur more algae growth. The balance and | influences seems to be a bit of a mystery, despite the | documentation. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-05-19 23:00 UTC)