Hmm, I think you have a problem of expecation.
Simulations that run at 2 cycles a second I would consider somewhat annoying but workable. Yes, it takes a long time to accumulate more clock cycles, but you probably have a large population, and so a more stable predator/prey interaction, and so perhaps you can increase mutation rates a bit (muller's ratchet is dependant on sample size).
If most of the bots are veggies, you can tweak the veggy controls so there'll be less veggies on the screen at once.
If your veggies are turning cancerous, try feeding them based on "kilobody" points. This does not reward veggies that reproduce unchecked. Feeding them nrg per veggy does reward these sorts of veggies. Hence why you're seeing them.
If robots aren't losing nrg, you probably haven't set up the costs page. It may not load older settings for nrg consumption. It's sort of a pain, but to make it do otherwise is sort of a pain as well.
Robots existing outside the borders in 2.4 is totally permissible. They just get forces applied to them to push them back in bounds. The simulation 'strongly encourages' that they remain inbounds. Simply aproach the simulation with the mentality that out of bounds is merely an area that the bots are encouraged not to go to instead of some mystical 'do not enter' area.
About the only thing happening to you that isn't supposed to happen is crashes and freezes, which seems to be just about missing from everyone else's computers. Uninstall and reinstall, and see what you get. If that doesn't work, congratulations! you are a truly excellent bug tester. We should get you a plaque (or is that the stuff on teeth?)
Anyway, running evo sims in DB is an art. It takes alot of experimenting and a sort of 6th sense that comes with practice. Ask yourself: "if something interesting did develop, would I be able to tell?"
