Okay. 2.43o (out later this weekend) makes a change in the bot radius calculation, increasing the potential size range of bots as a function of their body. In short, I mutliply the volume of the bot (from which radius is determined) by log(body) before taking the cube root to find the radius. This has little noticable effect on bots with small amouts of body but has the effect of making bots with large amounts of body several times larger (in size, not mass) than they are today.
This has the potential to impact sims and league standings. Large bots will now exhibit greater fluid resistance and friction, requiring more nrg to move in sims with such physics. They will be more easily seen, more easily tagetted by other bots and there may be other, more subtle impacts on tie length, tie establishment range, shooting range, etc. Being large has it's advantages to be sure, but also its disadvantages.
I hope people will take some time to access this change and not dislike it out of hand. Personally, I favor it strongly for several reasons. One is that a greater size disparity in bots allows for a more specialization and niche adapatation, particularly as the environment gets more complex. For example, once I implement burrowing in shapes, then selection can favor being small, being able to hide in a tunnel, to shoot from cover, etc. A larger potential range of bot sizes can aid selection and adaptation to niches which require certain sizes, favoring the evolution of body management genes as an important fitness criteria.
Additionally, 2.43o speeds up zooming in and out when using the toolbar buttons (speed now matches the mosue wheel). Each click now zooms in/out 5%. It was 2%.
