For this first article, I'm delighted to present Terra Engine in detail, a geopolitical simulator under active development since 2024. Born from my passion for software engineering and geopolitics, this project aims to create a simulation engine that is flexible, scalable, and responsive to its community.
Terra Engine helps to better understand how countries interact in today's world, relying on real data and a rich simulation, designed for both the curious and geopolitics enthusiasts.
Note: The screenshots presented in this article are from the development version (v0.0.15) and are subject to change.
Customize Your Experience
The simulator allows you to start in several ways. Choose from predefined settings inspired by 21st century events, or create your own simulation by selecting countries, active mechanisms, and a leader to embody.
Take the reins of a nation and guide its destiny, or simply observe the evolution of the world according to your preferences.
Terra Engine main menu and the new simulation dialog with a variety of presets covering historical events, political crises, and natural disasters.
Data and Entities
Terra Engine integrates data from various sources: Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap for mapping, Wikidata, United Nations, World Bank and NOAA's IBTrACS for factual information. This data is processed and structured in the application's database "WorlDB" which covers the period 2000-2025, offering a comprehensive view of 21st century events.
Here's an overview of the available entities:
Entities evolve over time based on events that occur in the simulation. These changes make the world more lively and realistic.
In 2023, the Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine is marked as a battlefield due to the ongoing conflict with Russia. This modifier simulates the impact of war on population development and territorial reconstruction.
Explore the World
Terra Engine's interface allows you to explore the world in different ways. Navigate through an interactive 3D globe or switch to 2D mode according to your preference.
The imagery used for the globe comes from Natural Earth. It has been reworked and optimized before being used in Terra Engine. Different color themes are available to customize the display according to your preferences.
The interface offers thematic filters that color countries and territories according to administrative, economic, political, demographic, and cultural data you wish to visualize.
Map showing countries according to their governance status, with an explanatory legend.
Terra Engine uses a system of hexagonal cells to represent geographical phenomena. This method allows for the simulation of localized events such as natural disasters or conflicts, while maintaining a coherent vision on a global scale. A future article will present the applications of this system in the simulator.
H3 system illustrating the progressive division of the globe into hexagonal cells.
Information Panel
A detailed side panel is displayed when you select an entity. Organized into thematic sections, it allows you to explore in depth the characteristics of the selected entity. Navigation between different entities is simplified thanks to the navigation buttons located at the top right of the panel.
Side panel displaying general information about the United States.
Tooltips
Contextual tooltips enrich the interface by displaying details of each entity mentioned in the simulation. These tooltips can cascade, allowing you to explore relationships and related information intuitively.
Viewing information about a former leader of France, with the ability to hover over a modifier to display its details.
Historical Mode
The historical mode allows you to explore the world as it has actually developed since the year 2000, or to create alternative trajectories.
Drawing on a rich set of historical data, this mode faithfully reproduces political events, natural disasters, and territorial evolutions of our recent history.
Configuration panel allowing you to choose which aspects of the simulation will follow real historical data.
Interaction with the Simulation
In this simulator, actions constitute the main means for leaders, whether controlled by the user or AI, to interact with the virtual world.
Available actions vary according to the context and the entity being consulted. As a country leader, you access governance actions related to the exercise of power. From your personal profile, you can perform individual actions related to your daily life. During a conversation, contextual options are available to influence the discussion. Each action requires specific conditions and produces varied effects on the simulation.
The interface dynamically adapts the list of possible actions, thus offering an intuitive experience that is consistent with the current context.
Confirmation window for an action aimed at promoting birth rates, with a modifier detailing its impact on demographics.
Systems and Models
To faithfully reproduce the complexity of our world, Terra Engine relies on a set of interconnected systems that model different aspects of geopolitical reality, from political institutions to natural phenomena:
Artificial Intelligence
Leader Actions
Each leader functions as an autonomous agent, capable of making decisions, executing actions, and reacting to world events based on their objectives and relationships. Virtual leaders rely on decision trees to determine their daily actions, thus managing the actions and reactions of leaders in response to events.
Conversation Between Leaders
The conversation system allows direct interaction with leaders. These exchanges are influenced by opinions and diplomatic relations, creating interactions where geopolitical tensions are reflected in the dialogue. The use of Language Models (LLMs) is optional and can be activated to generate more natural conversations.
Example of a conversation between the American president and the North Korean leader, with responses generated by LLM.
World News
Follow world news directly in Terra Engine. AI agents analyze real-world events to classify them and link them to Terra Engine entities. This news, displayed on the application's main menu, offers an overview of the world's evolution.
Screenshot showing world news displayed on the right side of the application's main menu.
Modding
The modding system allows you to add content to the simulation. You can create new languages, events, or properties by modifying text files.
The WorlDB interface constitutes a true integrated editing laboratory, allowing you to profoundly modify the simulator's database directly in the application. You can thus adjust the history of nations, create new leaders, redefine diplomatic relations, or even introduce custom historical events. This flexibility transforms Terra Engine into a tool for exploring both our reality and alternative worlds of your creation.
WorlDB interface displaying Icelandic leaders and their periods of office.
A development console is available to test your modifications in real time.
Conclusion
Terra Engine is a simulator in active development that allows you to explore and understand the relationships between countries. You can observe the evolution of countries, take control of a nation, or simply follow the news. Whether you're interested in recent history, geopolitics, or simply curious to see how nations interact, this simulator accompanies you in your discovery of today's world.
Many features are currently under development. To not miss anything about future developments and to participate in the adventure, join us on social media!