Gut Guardian: A Microbiome Simulation

An interactive 2D simulation where players manage a gut microbiome, learning how beneficial microbes protect against pathogens and how antibiotics can disrupt this delicate balance.

Features

• Interactive Gut Environment: Cross-section view of the gut with gut lining, mucus layer, and lumen
• Data-Driven Species: Microbe species are defined by data resources, allowing for easy creation of new species with unique sprites and stats.
• Multiple Microbe Types:
  • Beneficial Microbes: Slow, steady reproduction, strengthen mucus layer. Includes Bacteria, Fungi, and Archaea.
  • Pathogens: Opportunistic microbes that feed on food particles or the gut lining.
  • Viruses: Infect and destroy other microbes.
  • Probiotics: Special beneficial microbes with enhanced properties.
• Player Actions:
  • Antibiotic: Eliminates 70-80% of all bacteria, damages mucus layer.
  • Probiotics: Spawns beneficial microbes to restore balance.
• Dynamic Systems:
  • Intelligent Food Spawning: Food particles spawn in accessible areas of the lumen.
  • Robust Population Dynamics: Centralized manager systems for reproduction and death ensure stable and accurate population tracking.
  • Pathogen Energy Economy: Pathogens gain energy from food or by feeding on the gut lining, creating a balanced ecosystem.
  • Mucus layer thickness responds to beneficial microbe count.
  • Viral infection of pathogens with cumulative chance.
  • Save/Load functionality.
• UI Features:
  • Population Pie Chart: A dynamic pie chart and legend visualize the current microbe population breakdown.
  • Hover over microbes to see their names.
  • Pause/resume and reset the simulation.
  • Settings screen to adjust simulation parameters.

Controls

• 💊 Antibiotic Button: Apply antibiotic effect
• 🥛 Probiotic Button: Deploy probiotic microbes
• ⏸️ Pause/Resume: Pause or resume simulation
• 🔄 Reset: Reset simulation to initial state

Educational Value

This simulation demonstrates:

• How beneficial bacteria protect the gut.
• The negative effects of antibiotics on microbiome balance.
• How probiotics can help restore gut health.
• Population dynamics in microbial ecosystems, including viral predation.

Technical Details

• Engine: Godot 4.5
• Language: GDScript
• Platform: PC (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Architecture: Core systems are data-driven using Godot's custom Resource objects, especially for defining microbe species.

Getting Started

1. Open the project in Godot 4.5
2. Run the main scene (scenes/main/MainMenu.tscn)
3. Click "New Simulation" to start
4. Use the buttons to interact with the microbiome
5. Observe how different actions affect the gut ecosystem

Project Structure

res://
├── scenes/
│   ├── main/           # Main menu and simulation scenes
│   ├── microbes/       # Microbe scene files
│   ├── ui/            # UI scenes (settings, menus)
│   └── systems/       # System scenes (food particles, etc.)
├── scripts/
│   ├── microbes/      # Microbe behavior scripts
│   ├── ui/           # UI scripts
│   ├── systems/      # System scripts (food, antibiotics, etc.)
│   ├── environment/  # Environment scripts (gut lining, mucus)
│   └── autoload/     # Singleton scripts (GameManager, MicrobeManager)
├── assets/
│   ├── sprites/      # Microbe and environment sprites
│   ├── sounds/       # Audio files
│   └── fonts/        # Font files
└── data/
    ├── microbes/     # Microbe species data resources (.tres)
    └── ...           # Save files and configuration

Development Status

✅ Completed:

• Core architecture and systems
• Refactored microbe system to be data-driven
• Foundation for additional microbe types
• Microbe behavior and AI (including viral infection)
• Environment systems (gut lining, mucus layer)
• Interaction systems (antibiotics, probiotics)
• Basic UI and menu systems (including pause/resume and settings)
• Sprite integration
• UI bug fixes (pause/resume, settings screen)

🚧 In Progress:

• Save/Load system
• Audio implementation
• Visual polish and effects

📋 Planned:

• Tutorial system
• Achievement system
• Statistics tracking

Credits

• Game Design: Educational simulation for microbiome learning
• Sprites: Custom microbe sprites (bacteria, pathogens, fungi, archaea)
• Engine: Godot 4.5