NAME

       cultivation - game about the interactions within a gardening community

SYNOPSIS

       cultivation

DESCRIPTION

       Cultivation is a video game written by Jason Rohrer about a community of gardeners growing
       food for themselves in a shared space.

       Cultivation is quite different from most other games. It is a social simulation,  and  the
       primary  form  of  conflict  is  over land and plant resources---there is no shooting, but
       there are plenty of angry looks. It is also an evolution simulation. Within the  world  of
       Cultivation, you can explore a virtually infinite spectrum of different plant and gardener
       varieties.

       All  of  the  graphics,  sounds,  melodies,and  other  content  in  Cultivation  are  100%
       procedurally  generated  at  playtime.  In  other words, there are no hand-painted texture
       maps---instead, each object has a  uniquely  "grown"  appearance.  Every  time  you  play,
       Cultivation generates fresh visuals, music, and behaviors.

       Cultivation  is  certainly  an  unusual game, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good.
       From experience, some people absolutely love it, while others  absolutely  hate  it.  It's
       intended to be an "art game," after all, and mixed reactions go with that territory.

       When  two  sides  are  fighting,  they  often ruin the commons for everyone. The game is a
       metaphor about that kind of situation. Too much fighting destroys the island for everyone.

USAGE

       Cultivation explores the social interactions within a gardening community.  You  lead  one
       family  of  gardeners,  starting  with a single individual, and wise choices can keep your
       genetic line from extinction. While breeding plants,  eating,  and  mating,  your  actions
       impact your neighbors, and the social balance sways between conflict and compromise.

       Cultivation  features  dynamic  graphics  that  are  procedurally-generated  using genetic
       representations and cross-breeding. In other words, game objects are "grown" in  real-time
       instead of being hand-painted or hard-coded. Each plant and gardener in the game is unique
       in terms of both its appearance and behavior.  The  game  includes  an  extensive  in-game
       tutorial.

       In  Cultivation,  the  game  system teeters on the verge of uncontrolled conflict, and the
       player can make choices within  this  system  that  affect  the  balance.  Perhaps  it  is
       impossible  to  win  the game by acting only out of self-interest, but likewise, it may be
       impossible to win acting only out of altruism (I say "perhaps" here because, even  as  the
       designer  of  the  system,  I  have  only  explored a tiny fraction of the game's possible
       permutations). Players can directly see the results of the choices that they make.

       In the initial release of Cultivation, neighbors would respond to encroachment  with  both
       counter-encroachment  (claiming  some  of  your  plants  as  their  own)  and social scorn
       (refusing to mate with you). With only these mechanics in place, fighting just didn't feel
       serious  enough---a fight could continue indefinitely without any real consequences, since
       after two plots overlapped completely, no further revenge was possible for either side.  I
       had  to  think  of a more serious act to crown the peak of an escalating fight. Poisoning,
       which is now a key mechanic in Cultivation, fit perfectly. This mechanic allows  an  angry
       neighbor  to  poison  a plant. Poison not only kills the target plant, but it also renders
       the ground around the plant forever unusable.

SEE ALSO

       You can find more information at http://cultivation.sourceforge.net/

                                            June 2007                              cultivation(6)