StaudSoft's Synthetic World Beta

Released: Feb 9, 2015
Platforms: WindowsmacOSLinux
Last updated: 05 Sep 2026, 11:48 GMT

Updates & announcements

20 posts

11 Feb 2026Developer post
Major Update - Hard Survival, Environment & Bug Fixes
Over the last year, I focused on making the game deeper, more stable, and more alive. This update cycle includes major gameplay systems, UI improvements, and a large wave of bug fixes. Highlights Expanded City2 simulation with better NPC behavior, talking systems, daily routines,
Over the last year, I focused on making the game deeper, more stable, and more alive. This update cycle includes major gameplay systems, UI improvements, and a large wave of bug fixes.
Highlights

Expanded City2 simulation with better NPC behavior, talking systems, daily routines, and navigation updates.
Major gameplay server/entity updates for more reliable spawning, lifecycle handling, and world interactions.
Hard-survival mechanics improved with crafting, cooking/drinking flow, inventory interactions, and progression balancing.
HUD and manual experience upgraded with new in-game guidance and cleaner inventory/manual workflows.
Ongoing world and voxel generation improvements for environment stability and content iteration.
Gameplay Improvements

Better first-person gameplay tuning, including movement and player-rule updates.
Expanded item and interaction systems: equipment behavior, pickup/use flow, crafting, and content-side balancing.
Stability and Fixes

Large City2 bug-fix pass (AI, navigation, and gameplay integration).
Serialization and save/load related fixes.
Navigation and behavior fixes for creatures/NPCs.
Multiple hard-survival fixes for progression blockers and balancing issues.
General gameplay-side reliability improvements across networking and client sync paths.
Quality of Life

Improved in-game manual and help visibility.
Better HUD consistency and readability.
Iterative cleanup of gameplay wiring and system integration.
Ongoing Work
This release is part of a continuous iteration cycle. We will keep improving simulation depth, survival systems, and gameplay polish based on testing and player feedback.
City2 (the simulation of a living human city in the game) still needs a lot of bug fixes, especially regarding pathfinding. I also need to create more polished buildings and fully integrate the city-building AI. In the survival modes, upcoming work will focus mostly on gameplay improvements, UI polish, and overall feel. There is also a fish trap system that still needs a full fix.
Thanks for playing, and thanks for the feedback that helped shape this update.
Original post
16 Jan 2025Developer post
Special Update – HUD Toggle Feature + Sneak Peek at Upcoming Features!
Special Update: HUD Toggle Feature + Sneak Peek at Upcoming Features! Hello players, We’re excited to bring you a special update based on your feedback! It is in the "unstable" branch . Here’s what’s new: New Feature: Hide the HUD You asked, and we listened! You can now hide the
Special Update: HUD Toggle Feature + Sneak Peek at Upcoming Features!
Hello players,
We’re excited to bring you a special update based on your feedback! It is in the "unstable" branch. Here’s what’s new:
New Feature: Hide the HUD
You asked, and we listened! You can now hide the HUD (Heads-Up Display) for a more immersive gameplay experience.
How to Use It: Press F4, then navigate to the Game Menu to toggle the HUD. []Important Note: Hiding the HUD also makes the inventory and map invisible. These menus will still function but won’t be visible while the HUD is hidden. Please keep this in mind, as it could cause some confusion during gameplay!
This feature is perfect for players who love taking scenic screenshots or seeking a more immersive playstyle. Let us know how it works for you!
Preview: Upcoming Features in Development
We’re also sharing two new features that are currently work-in-progress. These are included in this pre-release for early feedback and testing:

Hard Survival Mode: A more intense and unforgiving survival experience for hardcore players. Balancing and additional content are still in progress.
City Simulation System: A brand-new gameplay layer focusing on managing and simulating urban areas. This is an ambitious feature, and we’re eager to hear your thoughts as we refine it further.
Please note: These features are not finalized and are not yet intended for full gameplay, but we wanted to share them with you early for testing and feedback!
What’s Next?
This update is focused on the HUD toggle feature, with a full release planned for next months. Stay tuned for more refinements, bug fixes, and expanded content as we work to deliver an even better experience!
As always, your feedback is invaluable—please share your thoughts on these new additions.
Thank you for playing,
Original post
25 Dec 2022Developer post
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you all. This has been quite a turbulent year. Sometimes I was afraid that I would have to play Fallout in the real world. This has also affected the direction of Synthetic World's development. I am currently working on a hard survival game mode that is as clos
Merry Christmas to you all. This has been quite a turbulent year. Sometimes I was afraid that I would have to play Fallout in the real world.
This has also affected the direction of Synthetic World's development. I am currently working on a hard survival game mode that is as close to Bush Craft (surviving in the forest) as possible. I have watched quite a few videos and have been in the forest myself. And don't worry the normal game mode remains.
Hard Survival Features:

Simulation of poisoning and diseases. Injuries do not heal immediately, but have to be bandaged. If they are not bandaged the player bleeds to death. Balanced diet is necessary to keep the body at 100%.
Campfires consume wood. They must first be lit with embers.
Sleeping is necessary. To sleep well you need a shelter. There are several available for this purpose
Camps can be built piece by piece in one place. To do this, the player must collect wood and leaves.
Fruits, vines grow on the trees and can be harvested by the player. This is how the player gets ropes
Traps for animals
Revised fire simulation
Food decays
Food can be cooked by placing it near a fire. Cooking takes time
New tools that can be made: Axe, spear, ... :
These tools will be getting older when you use them. They have to be repaired or replaced.
But I also added other improvements:

Less rendering commands: To render the same scene the engine now needs 3 times less commands. This makes the rendering much faster.
Post processing effects (Flare, Bloom)
Custom Shader Support
Improved Mesh LOD
Improved Mod Support. I want to support C# as an additional plugin language because many other engines do. Also, Lua bugs me because it doesn't have runtime type checking.
Artificial Intelligence:

Economic simulation: I have developed a complex economic simulation for the game (similar to city simulator) that runs in the background.
Planning algorithm: I have also developed a planning algorithm that is powerful enough to build cities/states that are economically plausible in this economic simulation.
I am currently improving the performance of the planning algorithm with the help of neural networks. Then it will be put into the game.
I am currently still testing the features to be able to release a bug-free version.
And some more experiments ...
Original post
07 Apr 2021Developer post
Small Patch: Update Crossbow Icon
Hello, I fixed some small bugs: Damage of cross bow is increased Added impact impulse when object is hit by cross bow bolt Sheeps try to avoid water Enemies stop moving when dead Enemy may no hurt sound, when dead
Hello, I fixed some small bugs:

Damage of cross bow is increased
Added impact impulse when object is hit by cross bow bolt
Sheeps try to avoid water
Enemies stop moving when dead
Enemy may no hurt sound, when dead
Original post
05 Apr 2021Developer post
Happy Easter: New Update and Bug Fix
Happy Easter, I have uploaded a new version of my game. This time included are many bug fixes that previously crashed the game. New features New Tree Textures + Higher Resolution Better Tree Rendering New Landscape Renderer Improvements regarding the cross bow Better Grass Textur
Happy Easter, I have uploaded a new version of my game. This time included are many bug fixes that previously crashed the game.
New features

New Tree Textures + Higher Resolution
Better Tree Rendering
New Landscape Renderer
Improvements regarding the cross bow
Better Grass Texture
Better Grass Rendering
Updated "Start World"
Screenshots
The new forest. We fixed the bug of the "flying trees" (thanks to V.).
In the back you can the new forest with a building.
This is how the forest looks like in a flat landscape.
Upcoming Features

Completely new rendering engine that supports Vulkan, OpenGL ES, DirectX 12, OpenGL and Metal.
Ambient Occlusion + Procedural Materials (when this is done, I will rework all 3D models)
Spherical Harmonics for Light Probes
Radiosity (2 variants)
AI: In a very small level 2 AIs could make war with each other (attack cities, destroy them, found settlements). That it works on a large scale will be a challenge.
Improved memory management for framebuffers (will make Screen Space Reflections possible)
In the next month I will also tune the AI so that it can work on bigger landscapes.
Original post
24 Dec 2020Developer post
Merry Christmas
Dear friends of Synthetic World, I wish you all a happy and blessed holiday season. In view of the corona pandemic, I hope you are all healthy. An eventful year lies behind us: In the Synthetic World new cities were created and a new game mode was introduced in which you have to
15 Sep 2020Developer post
Update: Cities, Small Settlements, Buildings
This update finally brings cities, settlements and buildings. The individual settlements are connected with roads. The buildings contain beds, tables, chairs, lamps and zombies. Updates: Automatically generated cities (big city, small city, single settlement) New Building Prefab
This update finally brings cities, settlements and buildings. The individual settlements are connected with roads. The buildings contain beds, tables, chairs, lamps and zombies.
Updates:

Automatically generated cities (big city, small city, single settlement)
New Building Prefab system that allows you to create buildings in the 3D editor, which can then be used by the world generator.
New Building Editor
Better roads
"EvalAI" mode where robots dominate the landscape. They can be defeated by destroying the computers in the fortresses.
Street crossings
Sleeping bag
Many new furniture (stove, cupboards, lamps, bathtub, beds)
Land generation
Better HUD that displays nearby enemies
Bugfixes
Actually I wanted to add a quest system, but currently I didn't want to do that because I might have created new bugs. Will be in the next update.
Original post
21 Jun 2020Developer post
Robots have conquered the landscape!
Robots have invaded the landscape. They monitor every square inch with their surveillance drones. Don't get caught, or you'll have their fighter units on you. And don't try to attack their strongholds where the control computers are. They are protected by dangerous self firing de
02 Jun 2020Developer post
Let it burn (part 2)
Hello guys, that took a little bit longer than expected. I uploaded a new version to Steam. The player and other entities can now start to burn and can also die of burn wounds. Then I updated the dynamite. The resulting damage on the voxel does now look much better. And as I also
17 May 2020Developer post
Let it burn, baby! (Part 1)
So todays update is all about fire: - Placed entities like the construction set can now burn. - The new trees can burn - The muzzle flash on the weapons is repaired. - Now the fire emits light when it burns: Additionally the trees now drop seeds and can grow! It is in the unstabl
10 May 2020Developer post
Tweet: Bug fix
I uploaded a small bug fix: - Rendering of particle effects is restored - Drag and Drop is now working again
07 May 2020Developer post
Update: A small patch
I uploaded a small patch: The wood blocks are now floating on the water. The pregenerated Start_World is now updated to the latest version of the world generator Engine Logging: If you have an AMD graphics card you might perhaps know that the shadow map does not look "very nice".
I uploaded a small patch:

The wood blocks are now floating on the water.
The pregenerated Start_World is now updated to the latest version of the world generator
Engine Logging: If you have an AMD graphics card you might perhaps know that the shadow map does not look "very nice". I am trying to find this bug, so I added logging to the 3D engine.
Original post
05 May 2020Developer post
Update: Faster 3D Engine, Better World Generator, Game Play
Hey guys, I increased the speed of the 3D engine. Now a much more detailed landscape is possible: I also updated the world generator: Just for fun I added an ocean: And I connected all caves with each other! The world generation speed is now 5 times faster! Note that in order to
03 Apr 2020Developer post
Trees, Buildings, Editor and Engine
Hello and welcome back, before we start with the development update, I want to wish you all a good health. These are hard times during the Coronavirus crisis. I hope we all get better soon. Assets In the last weeks I had the flu, so I had a lot of time to create new assets: New h
20 Jan 2020Developer post
Tweet: First village generated by the AI
Yes! The first village generated by the AI! This is only a debug view. When it is finished these buildings will actually be placed in the landscape! We will improve the performance in the next weeks so that we can create bigger cities. And we are testing other AI algorithms.
12 Jan 2020Developer post
Uploaded a new version to the unstable branch
Hey, I just uploaded a new version to the unstable build with the new trees. You need to create a new map with the generator to see them (so do not use the predefined map with the seed 0). Be aware: This is only a testing release. It could be that a map create with this version c
10 Jan 2020Developer post
Tweet: AI and Forests
Now most of the visual bugs in the trees are resolved: I will upload an unstable release as soon as possible. And I implemented several AI algorithms that will drive the city generation: - A* Planning - Alpha-Beta Adversary Search - Monte Carlo Tree Search Except for the first on
05 Jan 2020Developer post
Tweet: Trees in the game
First screenshot of the new trees in the game! There is still much to do. The trees currently create holes in the ground and some trees do not have leafs.
02 Jan 2020Developer post
Tweet: New trees are now generated by the world generator
The new trees are now connected to the world generator. So exited to see them in the world! When they are cut down they will collapse to the ground and fall into pieces.
31 Dec 2019Developer post
Tweet: Castle Generator and Happy New Year
The basic castle generator is now working. Every castle has it's own dungeon. Happy new year! The AI language compiler (C to PDDL) is finished and the shadow rendering for the low end render system makes progress.

StaudSoft's Synthetic World Beta

Updates & announcements

Major Update - Hard Survival, Environment & Bug Fixes

Highlights

Gameplay Improvements

Stability and Fixes

Quality of Life

Ongoing Work

Special Update – HUD Toggle Feature + Sneak Peek at Upcoming Features!

Special Update: HUD Toggle Feature + Sneak Peek at Upcoming Features!

New Feature: Hide the HUD

Preview: Upcoming Features in Development

What’s Next?

Merry Christmas

Small Patch: Update Crossbow Icon

Happy Easter: New Update and Bug Fix

New features

Screenshots

Upcoming Features

Merry Christmas

Update: Cities, Small Settlements, Buildings

Robots have conquered the landscape!

Let it burn (part 2)

Let it burn, baby! (Part 1)

Tweet: Bug fix

Update: A small patch

Update: Faster 3D Engine, Better World Generator, Game Play

Trees, Buildings, Editor and Engine

Assets

I also updated the engine:

The editor was also improved:

Tweet: First village generated by the AI

Uploaded a new version to the unstable branch

Tweet: AI and Forests

Tweet: Trees in the game

Tweet: New trees are now generated by the world generator

Tweet: Castle Generator and Happy New Year