PY points:
1. Hmm, did you see the this page? It explains how "protein/carb/fat system" may lead to appearance of different species. No additional physics necessary.
2. The mechanism for specialization is in genes. They allow different behaviour, thus - specialization.
3. In the thread linked above Nums explained how the feeding would work in such system. It is done for the bot, so there is no need to code specifics, just general decisions based on data ("crunchy" -> "spit out").
Point 1
I read every thread. Doesn't make it any more possible for that to happen though.
DBs live in a world defined by the VB code. In that code it
not possible for any robot to tell the difference between carbs, fat or proteins. in each case all you see is energy and body. You shoot it and all that comes back is energy.
It makes no difference whether a robot shoots a veggie or another robot. He gets the same energy back. Not only is there no
incentive to specialize but there is no
ability to do so without a change in feeding efficiencies for food types.
Almost all creatures specialize in some way as to what they eat. Dogs eat meat and get sick if they eat grass. Cows eat grass and would probably have a hard time digesting a dog.
point 2
only up to a point. The genes can only do certain things within the Visual basic code. DB isn't an infinitely variable system like real life is. There is absolutely no way in the present system for any robot to become a specialized feeder. Even a robot that evolves to only fire shots at other robots with no eyes (specific veggie) can still get energy back from shots that miss the veggie and hit another bot by accident. In a specialized feeding system we could stop these shots doing any damage at all unless the feeding robot had the right enzymes to feed from the other robot type.
point 3
that is exactly my point. I want this to be sub genetic level and behind the scenes. I don't want a robot to have to fire a specific shot at a specific type of food or use a genetic instruction to metabolize sunlight. It should be automatic in the presence of the correct resources. Only bots that feed on other bots should need to shoot at all.
:D PY :D