Hey everyone! And welcome back to this bi-weekly update log.

After looking into my plans for a UI Overhaul, as well as moving the bibites to a new programming framework (module-based DOTS). Today we are going to talk about procedural sprite.

Procedural Sprites

This is probably the feature I've been the most vocal about. In fact, I've pitched the idea first in my second video like.... 1 and a half years ago.... god
The support was overwhelming, and the idea continued to form. I continuously had new ideas that took precedence over this one, but now the timeline for its implementation is pretty clear.

Why so late?

Well, I wanted to do that pretty soon. However, it's part of the things that it wouldn't make much sense to do if I'm going to do a full framework rewrite and have to re-write them anyway... So, in the end, I'm doing it as soon as it makes sense to do it.

What is it?

First of all, I love the appearance of the bibites. Their very basic pixel-"art" sprite allows us to interpret it however we like. Are they amoebas? Microzoa? Trilobites related lifeforms? Whatever you want really!

However, it's pretty clear to me that while it serves us well, there are a lot of problems with it. While there are some variations in their color, you can't get any form of information aside from that about the genetic make-up of the bibite. To get a better view into that, you don't have a choice. You have to click on the bibite and look at a wall of text enumerating their genes :

This is... fine. But honestly, this got to go.

So what's the solution? Well, that's where procedural sprites come in! Procedural sprites just represent the basic concept that each bibites will get a custom sprite generated from its genes (with a small level of variation between individuals). As a result, every individual will have a completely unique appearance. Here's an early concept art I drew up with a friend back in the days:

The idea would be that, at least at some level, we would be able to get some sort of intuition about the bibite by looking at it. The idea progressed a lot and an artist have since started helping me (Braxiations on Twitter), giving a far more concrete feel to the potential of such a feature :

This would also play very nicely with the idea of drawing lineage trees :

• Size Ratio: Chunkiness (Thicc-ness) of the bibite
• Speed: Length or streamline-ness
• Strength: menacingness of the mouth
• Mutability: variation of skin color pattern
• View angle and radius: Depth and size of eyes
• Diet: Shape of the mouth
• Pheromone sensibility: size/presence of antennas

I would probably also end up adding purely aesthetic genes, that would only impact certain features of their appearance, having only limited or no impact on the simulation otherwise (maybe they could be seen by other bibites?)

In the end, it would finally start putting those graphic cards to use!

Of course, it'll stay entirely optional and you'll be able to disable it if you want to save on computing power or prefer the OG look.

So yeah, that's it for today!
Let me know what you think or if you have ideas!