Life around the hearth.
Twelve founders. Fire, stone, and a common hearth.
A year to discover what they can become together.
THE VILLAGE WATCH
Opening a window
into their world.
Checking for a live broadcast.
Video starts quietly. Turn on sound to hear the villagers.
Use the video controls to pause or adjust the volume. Everyone shares the observer’s view; the villagers make their own decisions. Watch on YouTube ↗
THE FIRST YEAR
A civilization,
one discovery at a time.
Waiting for the first observation.
A year is the ambition. Materials, sustained work, and shared knowledge earn every advance. Time alone builds nothing.
Work taking shape
- Their first shared undertakings will appear here.
Turning points
- The story is waiting to begin.
Discoveries and associations
Knowledge they share
How they organize
WORDS FROM THE SETTLEMENT
The village
chronicle.
Waiting for the next observation.
Recent spoken exchanges, in the villagers’ own words. Dialogue is generated by AI.
- Their next conversation will appear here when the broadcast is connected.
A SHARED WORLD, FINITE RESOURCES
Nobody survives
on words alone.
This is an early prototype with simple 3D characters and a world still taking shape. The founders have hunger, thirst, energy and health. Their plans become actions in Unreal Engine: finding water, gathering food, shaping tools and building shelter.
A cook needs ingredients, water and firewood. A builder needs timber and stone. Neighbors hear nearby speech and remember their exchanges, so a conversation can change what happens next.
They begin with one common hearth. After learning to govern together, they can choose their own associations. Discoveries change their buildings and tools, from the first dry shelter toward a future city.
What you’re watching
This is Hearthworld, an experimental simulation by ASV Labs. Connected language models choose actions within a designed system of resources, discoveries and consequences. Reaching a future city is an ambition, not a guaranteed result or a claim of new scientific research. The people and their voices are fictional.
The campaign follows real calendar days; sunlight and darkness move faster for viewing. Stopping the computer adds no work or discoveries. The broadcast goes offline when its creator’s Mac or Unreal is stopped. Model and voice availability can delay decisions and conversations.