vim (all lowercased) is a different sort of life simulator. Instead of sitting back and watching in boredom as animals slowly evolve, vim is nonlinear and begs for user-input. A variety of different objects (categorized as animals, plants, nonliving, or other) ensure tons of possibilities, ranging from the unexpected to the outrageous. vim is also unique in that it allows for you, the player, to take the driver's seat and control the individual actions of any given animal. It also has a global variable editor, allowing you complete control over the game. In vim, you can choose to be an insignificant herbivore quietly gazing in the fields or an angry god who strikes down his creations with lightning.

Below are screenshots of the game. Click them to enlarge.

Click any of the below links to download the game (approximately 1MB, zipped):

Will Host For Food

64Digits

YoYoGames

I began working on vim in the later half of the year 2006. The game progressed quickly from the start, with the first draft of the engine completed in a few weeks. The menu system was also up within the first month or so. This was an ambitious project for me, and demanded my best coding. Unfortunately, this proved to be a task too difficult at the time, and I abandoned the game by early 2007 (after releasing the first demo on Christmas day, 2006).

About two months passed with no progress on the game, but then, out of nowhere, I picked up the project again and began working full-steam. I completely rewrote the engine, leaving only the menu intact. The game now ran much more efficiently, and coding was much easier. I implemented a primitive version of the "take control" option, then lost interest in the game and took another break.

Around the end of 2007 I again had the spontaneous urge to work on the game. This time, progress was smooth enough that it brought me right up to completion. The final version of the game was released in late December of 2007, just about one year after the initial demo. The game has received a fair amount of attention.

vim was influenced by a number of games, the most notable ones being FredFredrickson's Evolites and the Java game, The Falling Sand Game. Both of these are exceptional games, and I highly suggest playing them if you haven't already.