Vivarium
Make Trouble in Chemistry Lab
Overview
Vivarium is a 2D “falling sand” simulator where players cultivate a dynamic world usint pixels. Starting from the fundamental elements of sand, water, lava, etc. Players will guide the creation of chemicals, use newly created elements to face 4 different challenges.
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Gameplay
Players utilize a crafting system to overcome four distinct ecological and structural challenges:
- Alchemy:
Synthesizing the gold element from base materials.
- Demolition:
Crafting explosives and acids to clear structural barriers.
- Defense:
Building physical and chemical deterrents to protect an ink pot from airborne threats.
- Civil Engineering:
Designing a subterranean irrigation and drainage system to prevent catastrophic flooding.
LLM Engineering
The core innovation depends on the Procedural Chemistry Engine. LLM is behind every new element discovered.
Predictive Crafting:
To maintain the fast-paced flow of a sandbox game, when a player discovers a new element, the LLM immediately calculates all potential combinations with the player’s existing inventory in the background. These results are stored as “undiscovered” entries in a local database.
New discoveries are categorized into two forms: Element and Object. Players can combine any two known elements or objects together to discover a new result, which can be either an element or an object.
Element Generation:
- An element is the particle that players can place in the world as pixels. When generating one, LLM should return detailed information such as name, gravity, friction, melting point, boiling point, color, liquid particle, gas particle, etc. Then, we build the element locally to let players freely use it.
Object Generation:
- An object is a combination of elements. When generating one, LLM should return all elements that this object might contain. Players need to draw elements on a canvas. When placing the object, players can just stamp it onto the world.