Why is it that some game ecosystems feel like they exist long before you press play? A meditation on fictional worlds that seem to have a life of their own.

There’s a mod for Red Dead Redemption II… that lets you play as any animal in the game’s ecosystem. And it is, quite literally, a transformative experience. With this mod I tore through a town as a deer, and I raced through the grass as a mountain lion, and I soared through the skies as an eagle… And through it all, I gained a new understanding of a world I thought I was already deeply familiar with. I knew this virtual ecosystem was vibrant, but by changing my perspective, I realized… it’s alive.

Some worlds feel like they exist long before you press play. When a game pulls this off, the results can be breathtaking — and sometimes even a little uncanny. So let’s discover what makes a digital ecosystem truly seem to have a life of its own…

0:00 Living Game Ecosystems
1:04 A Thousand Details
3:43 Dwarf Fortress
6:10 Secrets of Immersion
9:27 Physical Worlds
11:30 Simulated Routines
13:13 Pursuing Perfect Ecosystems
15:38 Momentary Beauty
17:59 A Wildlife Adventure
19:50 Worlds that Linger

Media Shown: Red Dead Redemption II, Lost Ember, Dwarf Fortress, Ants Simulation, Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, God of War, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Star Wars, Journey into Prehistory, Planet of the Apes, The NeverEnding Story, Black Narcissis, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Wizard of OZ, Marvel’s SpiderMan, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, Lord of the Rings, Cleopatra, Waterworld, DAU, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

Copyright Disclaimer: Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. All video/image content is edited under fair use rights for reasons of commentary.

I do not own the images, music, or footage used in this video. All rights and credit goes to the original owners.

♫ Music Used – That’s The Way It Is Instrumental, Do Not Seek Absolution, Mountain Banjo, Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow, Fatherhood and Other Dreams (Red Dead Redemption 2) Main Title, Hummingbird (Lost Ember), Trailer Music (Dwarf Fortress), Pictures of the Past (Rain World)

♫ Additional Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio:
Mysterious Green Fluid, Sanity Unravels, Haddonfield Horror

♫ Additional music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com):
Beauty Flow, Bittersweet
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

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