Artificial Life software!

[Greven]

What critieria is there for Artificial Life software?

What does qualify certain software as being AL?

[shvarz]

if it simulates some kind of self-reproducing entities, then I say it is already an AL simulator.

[Carlo]

Well, agents in an alife software must also have the ability to mutate. That is, for me alife means evolution: which is made of ability to reproduce and mutate. But evolution also means other things, like complex interaction between great number of agents. For instance, I don't like software such as Framsticks, which is, as far as I know, all about optimization of shape for a single particular purpose, like moving.

[Greven]

Okay, this topic was not a question I need to get an answer for, but I rather wanted to start a discussion about this, and hear different views on this from all you great people ;)

[Endy]

I think that in addition to evolution Alife must be able to store/remember information and have some sort of definition between the life form and enviroment. Stuff like Conway's GOL seem too enviromentally dependent to provide anything really inovating, or have much interation between the lifeforms. I would like to see a better method, in DB, for the bot's to communicate with each other. Most of their interactions are either painfully direct, or are only seen over long time periods, with evolution.

Endy B)