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Sprotiel:
Hi all! I've actually discovered DB a long time ago (Autumn 2003) but I played with it only for a few weeks and then I shelved it. I'd like to help with the code. I've already had a look at it and, frankly, it's a mess! The physics model is quite weird and, IMHO, should be brought more in line with reality.

So, may I meddle with the code and if yes, how can I submit changes to the code and where do I start?

shvarz:
Just want to say "Welcome!".  As for changes - talk to PY and Numsgil, they will simply incorporate the code and make an "official" new version release.  What kind of changes are you talking about?

PurpleYouko:
Hi Sprotiel

Welcome to DB.

Please feel free to play with the code all you like. If you make some changes that make the program work better than it does now then just let Numsgil and Myself know so that we can evaluate your changes then incorporate them into the next release.

What exactly do you see wrong in the physics?

I know a lot of the code could be improved on but I think we are mostly there.
Also which version of the source are you looking at. There are a number of different versions out there. I think the last posted version was for the first release of V2.36.5. Anumber of small fixes have been made since then but the source has not been updated.

Sprotiel:
Sorry, my first post sounds much more critical than I intended. The thing is, I'm mostly interested in evolution sims and I was a bit disappointed to see that this part of the program didn't seem much improved. What I'd like to see would be vegetables that can evolve without predators (I.e. that can compete between themselves for something else than space), viable evolution for multibots, etc.

Anyway, the actual changes I'd like to make would mostly be to make the code read better, so that the logic becomes more apparent. Separate clearly what happens inside the robots from what happens outside, find a way to not use robots to make corpses and walls, etc.

Concerning the physics, the most obvious incoherence is that we have solid friction even though bots are supposed to live in water. Fluid friction (I.e. proportional to velocity) would make more sense. I haven't yet understood all the code, but it's written in such a way as to make me feel there must be mistakes. Perhaps there aren't, but rewriting it would make it is possible to understand and modify it.

PS: the version I have is 2.36.5, from the FTP server.

shvarz:
Evolving veggies is what we need!  Bring it on!

More realistic friction would be awesome too.  Just remember that DBs is very open system and does not necessarily represent things moving through water.  It can be air, it can be ground and it can be open space and everything in between.  Also, even fluid friction behaves very strangely when you go down to the levels of microorganisms, see this thread for details: http://s9.invisionfree.com/DarwinBots_Foru...p?showtopic=186

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