The interaction that I've created revolves around one element of control. The user only has one input. All they can do is create suns, by holding down their mouse button at any given point. The suns cause the little tree to become enlivened, and it starts to grow.
The user has a degree of control over the plant growth. The more suns the user has on screen at any one time, the faster and higher the plant will grow. Once the tree gets to a certain stage in its growth, it starts to sprout leaves, and then when it reaches the ultimate point of growth, it starts to sprout flowers too.
While the user has complete control over solar creation (a nigh-on godlike power), they are limited too. The creation of the tree is only partially controlled by them. They have one input which controls whether the plant grows, and also a remote control over where, but overall, they don't control the tree.
Having the tree grow remotely towards the suns (as long as they aren't placed below the highest branches) gives the user a sense that they know what's happening, but at the same time sometimes that won't always work, reinforcing the idea that Nature isn't our servant.
I'm pretty pleases with the project as a whole, but there are somethigns I wish I had had the time and knowledge to add.
Major source of code: Gaia Beta
Below is the code! Play!
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