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Project Keystone – Exploring Our World

What is Project Keystone?

The objective of Project Keystone is to create an interactive ecosystem simulator that will dynamically reflect the outcomes of player interventions. This simulation will be as accurate to real life as possible given the interest, manpower, and time constraints available to us. As many aspects of the simulation should run as independently as possible. Within computational constraints, each individual organism should respond to its individual stimuli / make its own decisions. The interconnectedness of the ecosystem of the game should arrive organically through the interactions of these individual choices.

Phase I:

The first phase of Project Keystone will focus on standing up systems necessary to begin work on the above areas of focus. Initial locations, conditions, and species will be implemented in reference to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

Ecological areas of focus:

  • Water cycle and Precipitation
  • Pioneer Species
    • Mosses and Lichens
  • Soil Types and Nutrients
  • Ground Cover
    • Grasses, Bushes, Flowers
  • Day / Night Cycle and photosynthesis
  • Trees
  • Decomposition
    • Insects, Fungi
  • Animals
    • Insects
    • Small Mammals
    • Birds
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Larger Mammals 

Phase II:

Project Keystone will be able to simulate a wide variety of biomes and natural environments Project Keystone should be able to ingest real world topology and weather data. 

Ecological areas of focus:

  • Weather, Seasons and Natural Disasters
    • Temperature, Wind, Floods, Fires
  • Erosion
  • Pollution

Phase III: 

This phase will focus on expanding Project Keystone’s repertoire of species. Species will be able to adapt as the simulation continues as offspring mix traits with small chances for random mutations.

Ecological areas of focus:

  • Dynamic traits and Evolution

Phase IV:
What the fuck is in the ocean? Has anyone figured it out? Should we put it in the game?


Phase V:
Make this fun or make it accurate enough we can provide it as an ecological tool

Pledge

Fairness and Accountability are at the heart of what is driving us to make Project Keystone. As such we make the following commitments

Commitments

– Monthly blog posts updating the public on the state of the project

– Democratic Decision Making

– Open team recruitment (All applications to the project will receive consideration)

– Open feedback policy (Our team commits to always honestly and fairly constructively critiquing each others work and being open to good natured feedback)

– Equity split proportional to commitment