mudmen

of mudworld

mud men mud men mud men

demo

https://kjleitz.github.io/mudmen (note for mobile users: the ground/terrain doesn't render on any mobile device I've tested, at the moment... so, try on desktop instead)

controls

• press m to open the map (every pixel of the map is one "square" on the ground when you're following a mudman)
• press ← and → (left and right arrow keys) to cycle through the 1,000 wandering mudmen
• click a spot in the viewport to get the mudman you're following to traverse to the spot you clicked
• press n to invoke nighttime (or just wait ~30s), press d to invoke daytime (or just wait ~30s)
• sit back and watch

basic explanation

• all terrain, flora, biomes, etc., are procedurally generated with simplex noise
• each of the 1,000 mudmen represent individual behavior-tree-based AIs, and their pathfinding uses a variant of the A* algorithm
• the three meters at the top right represent social satisfaction (yellow), warmth (red), and hydration (blue) for the mudman you're following

try out locally

first, install pnpm.

then:

git clone https://github.com/kjleitz/mudmen.git
cd mudmen
pnpm install
pnpm run start

...then open http://localhost:8080.

behavior

notes

1. physiological (animal and physical) needs
   • water
   • warmth
   • food
   • air
   • sleep
   • excrement
   • childbirth
   • death
2. security (safety and planning) needs
   • taking shelter
   • building shelter
   • fight
   • flight
   • tool-making
   • tool use
3. social (platonic and romantic) needs
   • proximity to others
   • talk to others
   • watch/follow others
   • inherited (familial) relationships
   • friendships (same sex)
   • romances (opposite sex)
   • attraction
   • respect
   • act of sex
   • help others
   • helping offspring with physiological needs
   • helping offspring with security needs
4. self-esteem/recreational (creativity, fun, practice, and accomplishment) needs
   • build utility structures (housing, hospitals, etc.)
   • build emotional structures (monuments, memorials, cemeteries, etc.)
   • build recreational structures (museum, theatre, stadium, etc.)
   • find stuff
   • discover new places
   • discover new things
   • discover new animals
   • collect things
   • play
   • tell stories
   • pretend/act
   • laugh/listen

todo

• pathfinding
• find item of type
• thirst (find water and consume it)
• thirst (fill water bottle)
• thirst (build well)
• food (find food and consume it)
• food (gather food)
• food (farm food)
• hunting
• social
• shelter (take shelter)
• shelter (build shelter)
• warmth (find fire and sit by it)
• warmth (build fire)
• sleep
• pee and poop?
• dangers
• fight dangers
• flee from dangers
• use tools
• make tools
• interact with others
• death
• mourning

nature

notes

1. landscape
   • land
   • sea
   • elevation
   • biomes
     • forest
     • desert
     • plains
     • arctic
2. weather
   • sun
   • rain
   • snow
   • seasons
   • clouds
3. day/night
   • daylight
   • different animals
   • temperature
   • danger
4. flora
   • grass
   • trees
   • food-bearing plants
   • farms
   • seeds
5. fauna
   • small animals
   • medium animals
   • large animals
   • pets
   • danger
   • herbivores
   • carnivores
   • land animals
   • water animals
   • sky animals
6. metaphysics
   • player (as god)
   • spirits
   • gods
   • fairies
   • magic
   • demigods

todo

• procedural terrain
• land
• islands
• elevation
• ocean
• snow
• [-] general fertility
• [-] flora
• trees
• pets
• ground animals
• air animals
• sea animals
• tree animals
• SPIRITS!!!
• acorns and pinecones (seeds)
• choppin' down trees
• frogs
• ponds
• birds, bees, and butterflies
• wolves
• bears
• clouds

items and objects

notes

• water
• fire (item? what other category?)
• regenerating items
• holding items
• placing items

todo

• water bottles
• refill water bottles after a while
• campfires
• cooking food and stuff
• rocks (these are structures)

why

• math, geometry, art, and logic