1. Re: artificial life program - Martin
- Posted by John McAdam <john.mcadam at MAIL.TELEPAC.PT>
Jun 25, 2000
-
Last edited Jun 26, 2000
>Hi John
>Very very neat program - it runs just fine on my system.
>I haven't examined the code yet - but I will. Have you plans to introduce
>predators? Any chance that the herbivorous rabbits would become >carnivorous
>with your evolution scheme? Is it really evolution, ie with selection
>pressure? or is there random variation only?
>The initial setup is pretty psychedelic too. Well done.
>Bye
>Martin
Yes, Martin, I plan to put in foxes, deer, lions, and humanoids in a next
version. I have a rough version but it will be awhile before its ready. When
a rabbit breeds, its offspring have either a couple of slightly altered likes
and
dislikes, memories, and fertility - or a couple of slightly altered AI commands
- or sometimes a total mutant with a new family name. Each time a rabbit
breeds, a variable is incremented which sets the level at which the next rabbit
can breed. Thus it becomes ever more difficult for the rabbits to breed. Only
the best can acheive it. This is what the genetic AI algorithm does - it tries
a bunch of alternatives then selects the best, then tries to refine the optimum
code. Each rabbit has at least 10 AI commands, some have 20 or 30. There
are 520 different possible AI commands. That gives at least 520 to the 10th
possible individuals! Obvioulsy, trying them all would be impossible. I've set
the rabbits lifespan to a maximum of around 3000. then it becomes increasingly
costly for them to move and so on and they die of old age. Any of them that
die beyond 2000 get saved in a file.
The initial setup is the melting of the ellipses. This will be hidden in the
background in the final version while an intro screen is displayed.
In the meantime I am quite dissatisfied with the individual rabbits lack of
learning
potential. I'm looking at ways the individual could learn and pass on knowledge
to the next generation. Don't expect anything soon though. I'm not too bright
and these things take a little time to get resolved in my head before the code
can start coming out my fingers 
JOHN
