LiSE, the Life Simulator Engine
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:06 pm
I'm writing an engine!
It's for life simulation games, which COULD refer to crazy complex stuff like The Sims or Dwarf Fortress. Then again, a "life sim" might be the sort of game that runs on an elaborate schedule, with a lot of options for where to go and what to do above-and-beyond what to say in any given conversation, which is nonetheless largely a scripted experience--the designer has decided what you have to do, and you have to find out what that is by paying close attention to who's where when. Cherry Tree High type.
For the latter type, LiSE requires very little actual coding. Instead it has a database that keeps track of how the game world changes over time. So you can open up the world editor, set it up how it should be at the start of the game, then advance it one day at a time and make tweaks to the world. LiSE will remember all that, and replay the same changes when it's time to play the game.
But if you want to include simulation rules, yet don't want to code more than you strictly need to, LiSE tries very hard to help you avoid that. Game rules are described by associating "triggers" with "actions" -- the actions say what the rule should do, and the triggers say when it should happen. Both actions and triggers are code -- Python functions -- but they're quite short, and if some other game already has the function you want, LiSE makes it quite easy to import it into your own game. (Obviously raises copyright issues if anyone ever makes something commercial with this. But that's a problem for another day...)
I've only just gotten to the point of making it do things like display styled text at particular times, because I've been focused on making the simulation core work. But I think I'll be sending out test builds soonish. Let me know if you want to test them.
It's for life simulation games, which COULD refer to crazy complex stuff like The Sims or Dwarf Fortress. Then again, a "life sim" might be the sort of game that runs on an elaborate schedule, with a lot of options for where to go and what to do above-and-beyond what to say in any given conversation, which is nonetheless largely a scripted experience--the designer has decided what you have to do, and you have to find out what that is by paying close attention to who's where when. Cherry Tree High type.
For the latter type, LiSE requires very little actual coding. Instead it has a database that keeps track of how the game world changes over time. So you can open up the world editor, set it up how it should be at the start of the game, then advance it one day at a time and make tweaks to the world. LiSE will remember all that, and replay the same changes when it's time to play the game.
But if you want to include simulation rules, yet don't want to code more than you strictly need to, LiSE tries very hard to help you avoid that. Game rules are described by associating "triggers" with "actions" -- the actions say what the rule should do, and the triggers say when it should happen. Both actions and triggers are code -- Python functions -- but they're quite short, and if some other game already has the function you want, LiSE makes it quite easy to import it into your own game. (Obviously raises copyright issues if anyone ever makes something commercial with this. But that's a problem for another day...)
I've only just gotten to the point of making it do things like display styled text at particular times, because I've been focused on making the simulation core work. But I think I'll be sending out test builds soonish. Let me know if you want to test them.