AEON: A Neural Network Civilization Simulator in the Browser, Where Every Creature Has a Truly Evolving Brain

AEON is an open-source browser game combining god simulation and civilization building, where every creature has a real neural network brain that evolves, learns, and forms social structures. It merges WorldBox's sandbox creation with Civilization's deep strategy, requiring no installation to experience artificial life and emergent civilizations. Key features include dual game modes, genetic evolution of neural networks, and a complete economic system.

• Original Author/Maintainer: lordbasilaiassistant-sudo
• Source: GitHub (link: https://github.com/lordbasilaiassistant-sudo/aeon)
• Release Time: June 14, 2026
• License: MIT

AEON is described as "WorldBox meets Civilization with a soul"—offering both god-like creation fun (WorldBox) and deep strategy progression (Civilization), while giving each life a "real soul" via neural networks. It is not a scripted simulation but a true artificial life ecosystem.

Survival Mode: Play as a civilization leader—name your people, design flags, choose traits, and guide via policies, research, and diplomacy (no god powers). Focus on governance over micromanagement.

Creation Mode: Act as a creator—shape terrain (mountains, oceans, forests), create life, apply blessings/curses, and observe civilizations evolve in your world.

Each creature uses a fixed-topology MLP neural network as its brain. Key features:

1. Genetic Evolution: Genomes mutate/hybridize; natural selection shapes adaptive behaviors (e.g., finding water, gathering resources).
2. Heritable Traits: Size, speed, diet, aggression—visible and passed to offspring. Click any creature to view its neural network.
3. Need-Driven Behavior: Hunger/thirst drive actions—civilizations spontaneously settle near water sources.

Economic system: Resource nodes (wood, stone, ore) that deplete and regenerate; tech tree (science) and civics tree (government evolution); cities grow from camps to metropolises, claiming territory.

Social: Units (civilians, warriors, rangers) with distinct roles; military size depends on policies, with local defense bonuses.

Diplomacy: Fair system (AI uses same GovernanceAPI as players) with alliances, trade, and war.

Culture: Unique traits (martial, collectivist, pious) emerge from lifestyle—similar cultures stay peaceful.

Ecosystem: Wildlife (prey/predators) form a dynamic balance, providing food and challenges for early civilizations.

Browser-Based: Pure JavaScript (ES modules), no external dependencies—runs entirely in the browser, no server/data sent outside.

Performance: Sprint1 update optimized rendering (viewport culling, LOD) from ~34ms to ~1ms.

Structure: Code split into three parts:

• src/sim/: Core simulation (world, neural networks, etc.)
• src/render/: Canvas rendering, camera, effects
• src/game/: UI, input, governance API

Current State: Early development—core simulation works, but features are being refined. Completed: city building, unit pathfinding, performance boost.

Known Issues: Player nations decline passively; no win/lose screen; units don't rest during long marches; command mode lacks discoverability.

Future: Deepen economic system (action costs), "free person" agents (emotions, community), and 3D WebGL2 renderer.

License: MIT (free to use/modify/distribute).

How to Run: Use project's static server (node serve.mjs → localhost:8123) or any static server (ES modules need HTTP, not file://). Test: npm test (headless evolution test).

Community: Encouraged to contribute; full docs (DESIGN.md, MECHANICS.md, etc.) available. GitHub Actions run invariant tests; development tracked via issues and sprint plans.