cultivation(6)							       Games							    cultivation(6)

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 fight-
       ing 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 indi-
       vidual, 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)