A Game of Deterioration — Time Reversal

A 2D simulation game where you heal a user-generated world before it collapses. Pillow + NumPy + cmu_graphics. Draw your own map, then drop in as a character with healing abilities to slow the decay.

Deterioration & Restoration (a.k.a. Can You Reverse Time?) is a 2D simulation game that challenges you to heal a user-generated world before it collapses into a fully apocalyptic state. Built in Python with cmu_graphics, Pillow, and NumPy, the project emphasizes procedural texture manipulation and dynamic terrain deterioration.

GitHub repository →

Key features

1. User-generated terrain

Start by “drawing” your own map in an editor reminiscent of Photoshop.

White regions become elevated terrain
Black regions become water
Quick brush tools and contrast adjustments let you shape a unique world before entering the game.

2. Deterioration & restoration

Textures degrade over time, introducing visible wear and tear on land and foliage.
Control a character with special healing abilities to reverse or slow the decay.
Collect power-ups and inventory items that boost your healing radius or allow instantaneous bursts of restoration.

3. Multiple game modes

Timed Mode — survive until the countdown expires without letting overall deterioration exceed 80%.
Infinite Mode — face continuous global deterioration with no countdown. Sustain your environment as long as possible, then end the game when you’re ready.

4. Real-time feedback

Visual cues show deterioration in real time, from subtle texture fading to severe breakdown.
A final results screen reveals how your world changed over time and charts your character’s growth in healing power.

5. Easy to run & expand

Simple Python 3.6+ codebase with clear dependencies (cmu_graphics, Pillow, NumPy).
Organized file structure (main.py, game.py, menu.py, and an assets/ folder for textures) for easy customization.
Debug keys and commands allow on-the-fly testing of terrain, zoom, and texture states.

Game assets

Equipment icons — speed, radius, burst, power. Character sprite — four-directional sprite (back, left, front, right). Textures — paired samples of original and deteriorated states (BIGLEAVES, BRICKS, DIRT, PATHROCKS).

Technical highlights

Procedural texture deterioration — implemented via Pillow image enhancements (contrast, brightness, color adjustments), plus Gaussian blur for water effects
NumPy-based editing — efficient brush masking and terrain upscaling with NumPy arrays, ensuring smooth real-time drawing and quick texture generation
Grid-based movement & collision — character movement is restricted by highly deteriorated cells, creating strategic challenges in navigating the environment
Data visualization — end-game charts display how quickly the terrain deteriorated vs. how fast the player’s abilities grew

Inspirations

Don’t Starve, RimWorld, and Hyper Light Drifter for 2D aesthetic, procedural terrain ideas, and survival elements
The concept of “time reversal” through healing is inspired by games that fuse resource management with real-time crisis mitigation

Deterioration & Restoration shows how iterative texture manipulation, user-generated terrain, and survival mechanics can combine into a compelling 2D experience. The balance between decay and healing — along with two distinct game modes — adds replayability, while the real-time data visualizations make each session feel unique.

Context

Course: 15-112 Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science — term project final, Fall 2024. Role: solo. Stack: Python 3.6+, cmu_graphics, Pillow, NumPy.