LiSE

LiSE
Release date:	Alpha
Made by:	Zachary Spector
Runs on:	Linux Mac OS Windows
Exports to:	Linux Mac OS Windows

LiSE is an engine for life simulation games. It is currently in alpha. The source code is available under the AGPL3.

Though there is a graphical frontend available, with the option to export your game planned, the engine itself runs in a server. It's meant to handle the parts of game logic termed the "simulation," here meaning the abstract sort of simulation present in life simulators of the kind that Maxis once made. The intent is to enable a workflow where one developer can focus solely on the logic of the game, while others worry about making it look good and respond well to user input and so forth — and these developers never need to even talk to one another. Building your game in LiSE means you get a modding API for free.

Core features

• Infinite time travel, rendering traditional save files obsolete.
• Journalling to allow world state changes to be rewound and replayed.
• Integration with NetworkX for convenient access to various graph algorithms, particularly pathfinding.
• Rules engine for game logic. Rules are written in plain Python. They are composable, and can be disabled or reassigned to different entities mid-game.
• Can be run as a web server, so that you can control LiSE and query its world state from any other game engine you please.

Frontend features

• View and edit state graphs in a drag-and-drop interface.
• Rewind time and the interface will show you the state of the world back then.
• Code editor with syntax highlighting.
• Rule constructor: Build rules out of functions represented as cards. Looks like deckbuilding in a card game like Magic.
• Autosave. Actually, anything you do gets put in a transaction that gets committed when you quit. In any case you never need to save

Links

• github.com/TacticalMetaphysics/LiSE
• www.gamemaking.tools/forum/categories/lise - Feedback forum