Part 8.1: Playtesting
We’ve made a lot of progress in this three episode series so far. Even though we’re still on the first episode, we’ve implemented concepts of hydrodynamics, demographics, competition, predation, and perception. I’ve covered a lot of concepts so far and the algorithm is getting pretty complex, but I think that the actual simulation, and the patterns between evolutions and changes to the environment, are still predictable and intuitive.
To test how intuitive the model is, as well as a free chance for catching any bugs, and to give readers a chance to get involved, I will be setting up a “play-testing” demo on the Community Forum and try to hit three birds with one stone. Everyone who joins will control a species which will be represented by a collection of stats in the algorithm. Every round I will input these into the algorithm to see how the populations change over the millennia. Every round players will get 100 Mutation Points, and will be able to spend these on evolving their Traits. Every time a species evolves I will input the evolved stats into the algorithm and see how it changes the overall ecosystem. At the end of every round, I will display stats of how your species performed via the Performance Statistics. I will basically be acting as the computer when you actually play Thrive with the final implementation of Auto-Evo. Hopefully this gives a little taste of what Thrive will feel like when the Aware Stage has been fleshed out!
Keep in mind this is a very, very, very early play-test. Think of it as an alpha of the alpha of the alpha. It’s mostly to fix bugs, observe patterns between traits, and see how intuitive the gameplay and the provided performance statistics are.
If you want to join, the play-testing will be hosted on the community forum (where you will have to make an account) here: