The Nerdy Stuff — How Amber Tides is built

◆ The headline flex

100% procedural. Zero binary assets.

No texture files, no 3D models, no audio files, no sprite sheets. The entire world is built at runtime in TypeScript — which is why the whole download is smaller than a single high-res photo on some apps.

Babylon.js 9 WebGL2 TypeScript (strict) Vite Capacitor 8 Capgo OTA Web Audio API Cloudflare Pages ~8.5 MB 0 asset files Built with Claude + Gemini

🧱 Procedural generation

Meshes — assembled from Babylon primitives in code (no model files).
Characters — a shared rig (torso / limbs / face / hair helpers) builds the whole cast.
Materials & signs — code-defined colours; labels drawn live to canvas textures.
Audio — fully synthesised; the music is composed, the instruments & SFX synth-generated.
Sky — a gradient dome with a day/night crossfade. No skybox images.

🎮 Engine & rendering

Babylon.js 9 on WebGL2.
Post-FX pipeline: bloom, ACES tone-mapping, vignette, FXAA + a glow layer.
Real-time sun & dynamic shadows that move with the in-game clock.
Custom GPU vertex-shader for foliage wind-sway.
Shader warm-up on load & frozen static meshes for a hitch-free first frame.

🏗️ Language & architecture

TypeScript, strict — and a point of pride: zero as any, zero @ts-ignore.
System-based (ECS-flavoured): every feature is an ISystem in a strict dependency order.
Systems never import each other — they talk only through a fully-typed event bus.
Decoupled loop: simulation is a fixed 1/60s step; render is capped at 60fps.
Math-based collision (no physics engine) and per-system save/load serialisation.

📦 Cross-platform & delivery

One codebase → desktop browser, mobile browser and native Android (Capacitor 8).
Over-the-air updates (Capgo) — ship fixes to installed apps with no store round-trip; auto-rollback on a bad bundle.
Signed release APK (v2 APK Signature Scheme).
CI/CD on Cloudflare Pages — git-push deploys, auto-SSL, global CDN.
One version number locked across package.json, the git tag and the live bundle.

◆ How it fits together

The architecture, at a glance

01

DELIVERY

how it ships & reaches players

Desktop browser

WebGL2 canvas

Mobile browser

touch input

Android native

Capacitor 8 · WebView

◄ git push

Cloudflare Pages

CDN + SSL CI / CD

CAPGO OTA live JS bundle pushed straight to the Android WebView · auto-rollback on failure

02

RUNTIME & ENGINE

boot path → render

index.html → src/main.ts → MenuScreen + Game

Game Loop

simfixed 1 / 60

render≤ 60 fps

simulation & rendering fully decoupled

renders

Babylon.js 9 WebGL2

bloom ACES tone shadows glow GPU wind shader

update(dt)

03

CORE

the wiring spine

GameContext

SERVICE LOCATOR

scene · clock · camera · input · …

HUB

EventBus

FULLY TYPED

systems never import each other — they only publish & subscribe here

SystemManager

ISystem ORDER

init · update · dispose

04

SYSTEMS

~50 independent modules · all via the bus

brew friendship mainQuest personalQuests festival pubs vibrancy farming weather audio graphics lighting social save + ~36 more

05

GENERATION · CONTENT · PERSISTENCE

Procedural Gen the flex

meshesMeshBuilder

charsNpcKit rig

texturescode / canvas

audioWeb Audio synth + score

skygradient dome

→ NO asset files

Content

DATA TABLES

catalog festivals quests flowers …and more

Persistence

SaveManager

per-system serialize →

↳localStorage

↳Capacitor Preferences

◆ Under the bonnet

Every system, listed

~50 independent systems, each owning one slice of the game and coordinating only through the typed event bus. Registered in a deliberate dependency order.

Core loop, input & world

InputSystem — keyboard, touch & on-screen controls.
TimeSystem & Clock — integer-tick game clock, day phases.
SeasonSystem — 7-day seasons, a 28-day year.
ActorSystem — Sophie & Pudding, movement.
InteractionSystem — "what can I interact with right now?".
CameraRig — the follow camera.
BeaconSystem — world markers for location quest-steps.
InteriorsSystem — walk-in buildings.

Brewing, economy & growing

BrewSystem — the gather→brew→name→label→shelf loop.
InventorySystem — what's in the bag.
WalletSystem — caps (the in-game currency).
PubSystem — daily pub orders, sales, tips.
CellarSystem — the brew-collection reward ladder.
FloraSystem — wildflowers & the Florilegium.
FarmingSystem — cultivated plots & the greenhouse.
EggSystem — the hens (and Kevin's love of eggs).

People, story & progression

FriendshipSystem — bonds & a 5-heart scale.
MainQuestSystem — the nine-act, year-long story.
PersonalQuestSystem — chained friendship favours.
WomensDaySystem — Lucienne's collaborative brew finale.
SocialSystem — gifts, pints & Roon's crafting.
FavourSystem — the village notice-board deeds.
NewsSystem — the daily Island Gazette headline.
VibrancySystem — the island "wakes up" as you play.
SecretsSystem — Pudding's hidden mysteries.
TidelineSystem — the morning shore ritual.
IntroSystem — the arrival sequence (new games).
FinaleSystem — the hidden heart of it all.

Festivals, decorating & play

FestivalSystem — four seasonal festivals.
FestivalBandSystem — a band plays on stage.
MinigameSystem — the festival stalls & signature games.
CustomisationSystem — outfits, decor & furniture.
CharmSystem — an island "charm" rating from your decor.
PhotoSystem — an in-game camera & the island photo album.

Rendering, atmosphere & audio

GraphicsSystem — the post-FX pipeline & glow, with High/Med/Off tiers that also throttle frame-rate & resolution to save battery.
LightingSystem — lighthouse beam, lamps, interior glow.
SkySystem — dome, clouds, sun, moon, stars, fog.
WaterSystem — the breathing sea.
AmbienceSystem — reads the clock's phase for mood.
WindSystem — drives the GPU foliage sway.
WeatherSystem — petals, leaves & snow that follow you.
LifeSystem — smoke, steam, fireflies, drift.
JuiceSystem — footstep dust, brew sparkle, ambient motes.
CrittersSystem — chickens, ducks, butterflies, gulls.
AudioSystem — the synth soundscape: SFX + a generative music bed that shifts with the time of day & the turning season.

◆ Casual brag material

A few numbers & quirks

⚡ Performance & feel

Thermal-aware: a render-DPR cap + fps cap cut GPU load ~4× — without changing game feel (the sim is fixed-step).
Identical timing on a 60Hz and a 120Hz phone.
QA via headless soak tests (Puppeteer + SwiftShader software-GL) that fast-forward seasons, festivals & save/load.

🌍 The world

A 9-act main quest, ~50+ chained friendship favours, a hidden finale.
Four seasonal festivals with a band & minigames; live day/night & a turning year.
A wardrobe of 17 procedural outfits — every character built from the same code rig.
British island, British spelling, happy hour all the way down.

Every line of code was written by AI — Anthropic's Claude (Fable 5 & Opus 4.8), with the intro film & loading art by Google's Gemini — directed, designed and tuned by one person. Made with Babylon.js · TypeScript · Vite · Capacitor — and rather a lot of care.