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An experimental, AI-boosted Dwarf Fortress mod that evokes a speculative world where technological instability is amplified by disruptive events.
Ktown is a mod for Dwarf Fortress, a world simulator known for its complexity and emergent narratives. This experimental project integrates open-source generative AI APIs to enrich the game with dynamic events, satirical dialogues, and environmental descriptions responsive to the simulation. The narratives, chaotic and unpredictable, reflect Rare Futures, evoking fragmented digital aesthetics.
The project includes an interactive website, a living archive collecting history books, philosophy, characters, intellectual relationships, and societies generated by the mod. Users can explore chronicles, comment, and remix stories under Creative Commons licenses, fostering a collective narrative. Ktown uses AI to subvert linear narratives, exploring technological tensions.
About Gaara Collective
Gaara Collective, founded in 2022 by Ian Margo and Levi ‘Yitzhak’ Jiménez, has been active since 2019. The collective explores the intersection of technology, cyberculture, and hyperconnected subjectivities. Inspired by Deleuze, Guattari, Negarestani, and Yuk Hui, they create speculative imaginaries that challenge notions of identity and technological ecology through video art, net-art, generative AI, and performance. Their projects include immersive web games, AI-generated video art, and research on digital performativity. They have exhibited at Okay Space (Athens, 2024), DeepWeepGallery (2025), and blockchain platforms like Objkt (RARE’s and Minoritarians, ACCOMPART’s 2025). Levi collaborated on Xenoimage Dataset (Medialab, 2022) and presented Terro(rist), Theo(ry), Terr(itory) at XenoVisual Center II (2025). Ian participated in Hangar.org, Documentamadrid (M-HOLE, 2024), and the Hyperplex residency in San Francisco, researching AI and language philosophy. They use Python, JavaScript, and Stable Diffusion, embracing open-source and collective creativity to redefine digital art.
Potential collaborators (skills, background, interests)
Experience in Python, Lua (ideal for Dwarf Fortress modding), or AI API integration. They will implement the mod, textures, and narrative simulations.
Knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and frameworks like React or Flask. They will design the website interface with a subversive aesthetic.
Specialists in net-art, graphic design, or 3D visualization (Blender). They will create futuristic textures, visualizations, and decorative elements.
Creative Writers that will design AI prompts generating philosophical, historical, and speculative texts, inspired by digital subcultures.