Originally published as an Advisory Hour Substack post on 2026-07-29. This first-party site copy preserves the text, localizes public supporting media, and connects the record to its project trail.
Original post
The island was my first try and using math to build a procedural location. This means that everything from the water, trees, terrain and more-from their textures, to shape are made via procedural systems that run in your browser. It was my first experience in understanding that frontier AI (which seems like a decade ago-this was before we knew of Fable) could expand the mind on what’s possible.
The Island V1 has a distinct vibe-it’s an obtrusive mix of color. Bright greens and 90s era texture like things emerge from all corners. Entering in first person mode, you can explore the island and make sense of what hidden things might await to be discovered.
There’s a slight tweak or iteration on Island v1 I have titled Island v1.1, which isn’t in the island lab. It adds a few small objects-a pier, and NPC controlled enemies that move about. The island had me realize that assembling land and putting plants on it is only one part of an interesting part of world building. The other part is the lore and character interactions.
Eventually I set aside v1.1 and began an experiment with v2, which explores the ideas more. What if the characters and their interactions in the world had memory and relation? What would that do?
This little island holds a special place in my heart. It opened my mind to the possibility that I just wasn’t thinking big enough with my AI experiments. Tomorrow we’ll see how I attempt to simulate an entire civilization.
Connected work
- Island Lab Series: Day 1 of 5: Start with the map of all three island experiments and the question behind each version.
- Launch Island V1: Walk through the original procedural island in the browser.
- Island Explorer build notes: Read the technical record behind the first procedural island.