Island Civilization 200 Years — volcanic island Hau'olani from 12 founders to 5,000-soul culture
A 3D EPOCH demo: 200 sim-years on the fictional volcanic island Hau'olani — 12 founders led by Lani, Kapono, Mahina arrive on the founding beach, build canoes, terrace taro, raise longhouses, crown a First Chief at Year 80, set standing stones every century, with 7 generations of named descendants persistent across reseeds.
Built with:
three.js r0.160 (single file)Procedural volcanic terrain + translucent lagoon shader + 48 swaying palmslocalStorage island memory across reseeds
Prompt
Build a single-file HTML page that recreates "200 years on a fictional Polynesian-style volcanic island" as a continuous 3D autoplay world. The island is named Hau'olani. 12 founders arrive in canoes on Year 1; by Year 200 it's a 5,000-soul culture with longhouses, terraces, ceremonial circle, and standing stones from every century. Cozy + Studio Ghibli + reverent cultural-anthropology vibe.
Hard constraints:
- One HTML file, < 200KB.
- three.js r0.160.0 from unpkg, IIFE, strict mode, full disposable cleanup, reseed every ~10 min advancing the lineage.
- First body line: <!-- ROUND16_EPOCH v1 -->
- localStorage memory under key `island_civ_memory_v1` — saves 8 named ancestors with role + descendants + songs. On reseed extend each lineage with a new generation.
- Generational aging — at least 5 named characters age across the loop. Lani → Keoni (Gen 2, born Year 3) → Makoa (Gen 3, born Year 32, crowned First Chief Year 80) → Akela → Iolana → Hoku → Manaia (Gen 7).
- Visible structural change — Year 1 beach + 1 canoe → Year 12 3 huts → Year 35 terraced taro → Year 80 longhouse + smoke + meeting circle → Years 92/100/120/140/160/180 standing stones (one per century) → Year 180 sun-dial pillar + 30-canoe fishing fleet.
- Era stamps via ERAS[] array.
- Generation counter HUD: "GEN N OF 7 · YEAR Y OF 200 · POPULATION P".
- 5+ sub-locations: Founding Beach · Taro Terraces · Chief's Hall · Fishing Lagoon · Ceremonial Circle · Forest Interior · Sacred Mountain Peak · Coastal Village.
- Mini-map = silhouette of Hau'olani with year-progress arc + active hotspot.
- 100+ named: 8 founders + 14 featured descendants across 7 generations + 82-name chyron pool + 80-villager InstancedMesh.
- 18+ director cameras: beach landing, canoe carving, taro terraces, longhouse fire, ceremonial dawn, mountain peak, lagoon under-swim, chief's chair, drum circle, sunset palms, forest interior, fishing fleet, village overlook, standing stones night, palm grove, coastal drift, aerial, canoe wake.
- Cross-system chyron: "Year 47 — Lani's grandson Keoni catches first marlin at twelve years old. Manu's lineage carves new canoe."
- Procedural polish: volcanic terrain (vertex-colored by elevation), translucent lagoon shader, 48 swaying palms, smoke rising from longhouse fire pit, sun arcs sky on ~30-year cycle, ancestor lineage scroll panel.
Tone: reverent, cozy, hopeful. NOT a real-world tribe — purely fictional Polynesian-style. NO real cultural names, NO appropriation. Treat the lineage with quiet dignity. No graphic violence; conflict is gentle (a hurricane survived).
Paste this into Claude, Cursor, or Copilot. Change one thing that matters to you.
What I learned shipping it
- How to compress 200 sim-years on one island into a 10-minute loop with structural milestones (3 huts → terraces → longhouse → standing stones → sun-dial) gated on year-progress
- How to use localStorage to persist a 7-generation ancestor lineage with songs across reseeds — every reseed extends each named ancestor's descendant list
- How to build a fictional Polynesian-style culture on an island with reverence — using procedural volcanic terrain, lagoon shader, 48 palms, and a ceremonial circle that feels lived-in without referencing any real-world tribe