There is a lot of news coming, and it is very important to remember that what we at Gala Games, with the help of the community, are working on building is going to fundamentally change gaming forever. Each of the games and projects we are working on are small trees in what will one day become a massive forest of content and creativity, driven by player actions and with a vibrant player-driven economy. We have been careful to plant these trees far enough apart to allow them to grow so that they don’t shade one another out, devoting resources and nutrients to them all to help them grow. While you can only see a few saplings right now, the ground all around us is seeded with acorns that will one day grow into mighty oaks.

This is why today, we want to talk to you about forests. An earlier version of this simulation was shown briefly shown in an AMA as a background several weeks ago, but now you can download it and play it for yourself. This simulation is the forest growth model playing out inside of a game environment. (Feel free to move around and look at it from new angles. WASD is your friend!) It shows, in a sped up fashion, how forests in Mirandus grow. We have been working hard at defining a language to have data-driven AI structures. At a very fundamental level, every living thing is functionally the same. Creatures and plants all grow, age, and if in ideal conditions, breed. A tree grows, and if it is healthy, it produces new trees. If too many trees do this at once, they will crowd one another out and some trees will have to compete with others for sunlight and nutrients.

This simulation is obviously a gross simplification of what the forests in Mirandus will look like (they will obviously look MUCH cooler than this), but it was specifically designed to show the logic behind the lifecycle of trees. In this simulation, green trees represent healthy and growing trees, yellow represents those that are sick, and those that are grey have died and will collapse to provide nutrients for the other trees. This aspect of simulation can be expanded to intersect with every other creature in the world. A rat, goblin, or deer will have their own requirements that will be layered into the ecosystem, which will be responsive to player interactions. This is important, because the world of Mirandus is waiting for YOU to come and make it your own.

We see the future of Mirandus looking like this:

The first player characters to enter the world of Mirandus will be the first explorers to step foot in it open meadows, dark forests, and plains. It is not a new world, but it is one which has passed so far from human memory and experience as to seem nearly completely untouched. From time to time, remnants of the past may be seen in the bones of the earth, but you will need to look carefully. When the first five explorers entered the world of Mirandus and founded their great cities, putting down their roots as the Citadel of the Sun, Stars, Moon, Wind, and Earth, they opened a path for so many more to follow. The first to come after them were the progenitors of the world of Mirandus. The Arch Dukes, Princes, Marquesses, and Dukes were the next to stride into the land, planting the stakes defining the bounds of their land — their towns with stout walls, bustling workshops, a noisy markets. Following them came those rough pioneers who placed the frontier villages, which served as centers of localized trade and commerce. After them, the farmers, ranchers, and outposts spread throughout the land, followed by the hearty homesteaders moving the boundaries of civilization even further out into the forests and glades of Mirandus. Then, stepping into the world came the People of Node, some of which had received tools for their labors which would give them the ability to craft and make things for the Legion of Gold which followed them.

As time marches on, the world of Mirandus will become deeper, shaped by the avatars which inhabit it…shaped by YOU, the character. Striding boldly into the world to adventure, hunt, craft, collect, and fight.