Dispersed 3D
What is real
The ground, the sky and the weather in this game are real, and you can check them. Below is every source the game reads, who publishes it, how often the game refreshes it, and when it was last fetched. After that comes the plain list of what the game makes up.
Fetched live, on a schedule
The site asks each of these again on its own schedule and writes a small file. The time under each one is read from that file when you open this page. If a file is missing, this page says “not fetched yet” and never guesses.
Tonight’s forecast
The chance of rain, the temperature, the wind and the sky cover for the hour you are playing. The cloud amount, the wind in the trees, the dust and the rain follow it.
- From
- National Weather Service (NOAA) — weather.gov
- Refreshed
- The site asks api.weather.gov again every 3 hours.
- Last fetched
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public domain (U.S. government).
Creek and river levels
How high the water stands and how much is flowing at the stream gauge on a camp’s named creek or river.
- From
- U.S. Geological Survey, Water Data — waterdata.usgs.gov
- Refreshed
- The site asks the USGS again every 3 hours.
- Last fetched
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public domain (U.S. government).
Wildfire smoke
Which days the satellite smoke maps show smoke over each forest, and how dense the analyst called it, for the last 14 days.
- From
- NOAA Hazard Mapping System — ospo.noaa.gov
- Refreshed
- The site fetches the maps twice a day.
- Last fetched
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public domain (U.S. government).
Fire restrictions
Whether a campfire is allowed today in the place a camp stands, quoted in the agency’s own words.
- From
- Montana DNRC (mtfireinfo.org), the Forest Service alerts, and BLM Arizona — mtfireinfo.org
- Refreshed
- The site checks these once a day.
- Last fetched
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public information from state and federal agencies.
The space station’s orbit
Where the International Space Station is, so the game can show it crossing the sky at the right minute.
- From
- CelesTrak (orbit data from the U.S. Space Force) — celestrak.org
- Refreshed
- The site fetches the orbit once a day.
- Last fetched
- Reading the file…
- License
- Free for public use; credited here.
The newest Starlink train
The orbits of the most recently launched Starlink satellites, so the game can tell you when the line of them crosses your sky tonight. It says nothing when the launch is over two weeks old or the orbits are stale.
- From
- CelesTrak (orbit data from the U.S. Space Force) — celestrak.org
- Refreshed
- The site fetches the newest launch's orbits once a day.
- Last fetched
- Reading the file…
- License
- Free for public use; credited here.
Built into the game from public records
These do not change while you play. The date is when each forest’s copy was fetched or built, read from the forest’s own files.
The shape of the ground
Every hill, ridge and draw you drive over, from lidar and the federal elevation model, checked against survey points.
- From
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) — usgs.gov
- Refreshed
- Not live. Built into the game when each forest was made.
- Built into the game
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public domain (U.S. government).
The color of the land
The color and the tree cover come from this aerial photograph, not from a palette we picked.
- From
- USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP), through the USGS — naip-usdaonline.hub.arcgis.com
- Refreshed
- Not live. Built into the game; each patch carries the date it was flown.
- Built into the game
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public domain (U.S. government).
The roads
Where each road runs, its number, its surface, how it is kept, and the dates the Motor Vehicle Use Map says it is open.
- From
- USGS National Transportation Dataset and the Forest Service road records — usgs.gov
- Refreshed
- Not live. Built into the game; the seasons were checked on the date shown.
- Built into the game
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public domain (U.S. government).
The creeks
Where each creek and river runs, its name and whether it flows all year.
- From
- USGS National Hydrography Dataset — usgs.gov
- Refreshed
- Not live. Built into the game when each forest was made.
- Built into the game
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public domain (U.S. government).
The far ridges and their names
The summits, ridges and gaps you can tap, with the names and heights the federal record gives.
- From
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — usgs.gov
- Refreshed
- Not live. Built into the game when each forest was made.
- Built into the game
- Reading the file…
- License
- Public domain (U.S. government).
Worked out in your browser, or borrowed with credit
Nothing is fetched for these while you play.
The campsites
Every campsite, where it is, what it costs, its stay limit and its season, as the record says.
- From
- American Adventurer public dataset — davelalande.com
- Refreshed
- Not live. The record as it was when each forest was made; where it says nothing, the game says nothing.
- License
- Public API of the same project.
The sun and the moon
Where the sun and the moon are, worked out for this place, date and hour, every frame. Sunrise and sunset are never typed in.
- From
- NOAA solar position method — gml.noaa.gov
- Refreshed
- Computed in your browser. Nothing to fetch.
- License
- Public method (U.S. government).
The stars
The 518 brightest stars, in the right place and color for this latitude and moment.
- From
- Yale Bright Star Catalogue, 5th edition — vizier.cds.unistra.fr
- Refreshed
- Not live. The catalogue does not change; the game turns it by the clock.
- License
- Public domain.
The compass
The difference between magnetic north and true north at your spot, for pointing your phone at the sky.
- From
- NOAA and the British Geological Survey, World Magnetic Model 2025 — ncei.noaa.gov
- Refreshed
- Computed in your browser. Nothing to fetch.
- License
- Public domain model.
The grain of the ground
The fine texture under your wheels is photographed ground from elsewhere; the aerial photograph still decides the color.
- From
- Poly Haven and ambientCG — polyhaven.com
- Refreshed
- Not live. Built into the game, each with its source written down.
- License
- CC0, public domain dedication.
The campfire’s crackle
One real field recording of a campfire, filtered and looped. It plays only if you turn the fire sound on.
- From
- SKrafft, on Freesound — freesound.org
- Refreshed
- Not live. Built into the game.
- License
- CC0, public domain dedication.
What the game imagines
The same list as the “What is not real” part of Help and About in the game. You are the one thing the game adds to a real place.
- The amount of cloud and the wind in the picture are this game’sThe shapes of the clouds, their shadows and how the trees move are drawn by the game. Only the amount of cloud and the strength of wind follow the forecast.
- The trees are not real treesNobody surveyed a tree. They stand where the photograph shows canopy, at a density and shape we chose.
- The grass is not real grassIt grows where the photograph is green and open. How tall and how thick are our choice.
- The rocks, stumps, logs and shrubs near you are not mappedThe game scatters them from the photograph’s colors and the slope. None is a real rock or stump.
- The far ridges’ color, haze and light are not realThe ridges stand where the elevation model puts them. What covers them, the haze and the light on them are decoration.
- The deadfall is inventedFallen trunks across rough roads are placed by the game, the same every visit. None is in any record.
- The mud and the flats are inventedSoft spots, flat tires, the odds and the minutes they cost are the game’s numbers.
- The ford is this game’s set pieceThe creek and the camp are real. How deep the crossing is and whether the rig stalls are the game’s.
- The ground close up is photographs of other groundThe fine grain under your wheels was photographed somewhere else. It carries texture, never color.
- Road-number post: built by Momatio’s Asset LabThe brown road-number posts are a 3D model made by the Asset Lab. They stand only beside a road that has a number in the map.
- Camp gearThe table, cooler, lantern, jugs, can and axe were built by an AI in Momatio’s Asset Lab.
- The red level on the leveling cardThe T-shaped level with two bubble vials was built by an AI in Momatio’s Asset Lab. The bubbles follow the real lean under your wheels; the 3 degree ring mark is the game’s.
- Dave, the camp neighbor: built by Momatio’s Asset LabThe man by his pickup at dusk is a made-up neighbor, modeled on Dave Lalande, who made the game.
- The deer at dusk is the game’sSome evenings a deer walks through. Whether she comes and where she goes are chance, not a sighting.
- The bulletin board is the game’s; the words on it are the record’sWhere a camp’s record quotes a posted rule, a board stands at the edge of the spot and shows that quote word for word. No quote in the record, no board.
- The speeds, the fuel, the water and the light budget are the game’sTwenty miles an hour on a forest road, the tank, the jug: one man’s figures from six seasons out, not a measurement.
- The trip to town is this game’s reckoningThe town and the straight-line distance are the record’s. The road miles, the speed and the time in town are ours.
- Stay limits and a campsite’s season are shown, not enforcedThe game tells you what the record says. It does not stop you.
- Field notes and the season’s endField notes are things the game saw you do. None is a fact about a place.
- A road the map closes today is closed, and the gate is oursThe dates are the agency’s. The gate, its look and where it stands are the game’s.
- Washboard and dust are this game’s guess; the surface is the record’sThe road’s surface class is the agency’s. Whether it is rough or dusty today is a guess.
- How a road looks is this game’s drawing; what it is made of is the record’sThe ruts, stones and weeds are decoration made from the road’s recorded class.
- A creek’s course is the USGS’s; its look and width are the game’sWhere the water runs is the record. How wide, how deep and how it ripples are drawn.
- How thick the smoke looks is this game’s drawing; that there was smoke is NOAA’sNOAA says whether and how dense. How the haze looks is the game’s.
- The Milky Way’s place is computed; its look is the game’sThe band is where the galaxy really is. How bright and smooth it is drawn is ours.
- The rig, the hood and the nightThe truck you sit in, the hood, the parked truck and the night you sleep through are all ours.
- The two tents’ minutes are this game’sHow long a tent takes up and down are Dave’s own minutes, not a measurement.
- A tent left to hold a site is not a tent the record knows aboutThe tent and fire ring you leave are markers the game puts down.
- The friend on the radioA made-up person at home who knows only what the game knows.
- A sound in the night is the game’s, and the game does not know what it wasOne short crack at the edge of camp, made in your browser. It is not a recording from this place.
- The woodpile, the fire’s minutes and putting it out are the game’sLogs, minutes of fire and the water to put it out are numbers the game made up.
- Silence is not permissionWhere the record says nothing, the game says nothing. Nothing recorded is not a permission slip.
This page was built 2026-10-14 03:50. Times are shown in your own time zone.