
© Attructure Inc.
In Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki, a 2016 NHK documentary exploring the life of the then-recently retired director Hayao Miyazaki, there’s a scene where he calls a 3D simulation program “an insult to life” after seeing a crawling abomination created inside the program. Now, seven years later, program creator Masayoshi Nakamura and Attructure Inc. are back with a new game: ANLIFE: Motion-Learning Life Evolution.
As for what exactly the game is, its Steam page explains it like this:
Intervene in the evolution of virtual lifeforms that learn to move in a world powered by a physics engine. This world already features built-in mechanisms like heredity and natural selection. The player acts as a creator, manipulating these natural processes to help lifeforms learn and evolve.
The game is stated to have “no set gameplay or goals” and looks to be a simulator that lets you mess around with the environment and induce genetic mutations to see how the creatures within the biome evolve.
According to its Steam page, Attructure Inc. ANLIFE: Motion-Learning Life Evolution will release the game this year.
In the documentary, Miyazaki and Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki attend a presentation by a CGI team at Dwango Artificial Intelligence Laboratory led by then-Dwango president Nobuo Kawakami.
One thing is for sure: the blocky creatures in ANLIFE look far cuter than what Miyazaki was subjected to. Perhaps Nakamura took the legendary director’s comments to heart.
Source: IT Media News