For my second Ludum Dare entry I decided to try for something a bit more ambitious: a simulator modeling fictional Religious groups under various evolutionary pressures. The design required way too much, even with my attempts to keep things simple.

Windows .exe and cross-platform jar (tested in Ubuntu) are now up. To compile from source, you'll need LibGDX (~Aug 24, 2012).

"Gameplay" is limited to tweaking the three stats for your Religion and letting it rip. There are various controls to pause and change the speed of the simulator. Esc will quit the app (from most screens--might have forgotten one or two).

I had plans to allow the player to mutate their Religion a bit every few dozen to hundred years or so, but even with that it'd be a bit difficult to call it a game. The traits that you can tweak are mostly violent (dramatic population changing) ones--I would have liked to have modeled peaceful conversions if there was time, as well as more frivolous stuff. The sim also needs some way to depict splitting / Schisms in addition to mutation, to really be an evolutionary sim. Oh well. At least it runs.

The sole sound effect was made with bfxr, and the graphics were made with Paint and GIMP.