Code center > Suggestions
Physical Sizes
PurpleYouko:
Zelos has a good point here.
Fat is so much easier to make than protein so organisms tend to bulk up on it.
In a completely unrelated comment. Fat gives a great protective layer against cold (one of the layers of the e-grid)
:D PY :D
shvarz:
Oh shoot, I almost missed this post! :)
Here is how I think it should be. It is loosely based on real biology:
Energy to make stuff:
200 energy = 1 fat = 5 carbs = 1 protein = 1 shell = 1 slime
(note: protein creation needs waste in 1:1 ratio)
Energy during utilization:
150 energy = 1 fat= 5 carbs = 10 proteins
(note: shell and slime cannot be utilized to get energy)
(note: protein utilization produces waste in 1:1 ratio)
Mass
1 fat = 1 carb = 1 protein = 1 shell = 1 slime
(note: I know it is not intuitive, I was surprised myself)
Size:
1 fat = 1 carb = 5 protein = 20 shell = 1 slime
I'll keep this post as a reference and will update when we agree on changes.
shvarz:
Here is another way to look at the proposed system:
Let's say three bots have 30,000 energy each.
Bot 1 puts it all in carbs. It makes 750 carbs.
Bot 2 puts it all in fat. It makes 150 fats.
Bot 3 puts it all in protein. It makes 150 proteins.
Bot 1 is 5 times heavier than the other two. It is also 5 times bigger in size than bot 2 and is 25 times bigger than bot 3. Being so haevy and huge it makes it almost impossible for this bot to move. This is your typical plant.
Bot 2 is intermediate in size. It is hard for it to move. It mostly sits around and eats. But it can extract a lot of energy from it's fats, so if necessary it can run at high speed, but it costs a lot. This is your typical fatty grazer.
Bot 3 is compact and it is very easy for it to move (all that muscle makes it especially cheap). On the other side it is heavy enough to deal quite a damage to other bots (if shots are proportional to mass). It can only extract small amount of energy from degrading protein, but it is enough to run around and hunt. This is your predator.
Makes sense?
Numsgil:
Hey Schvarz, good to hear you weigh in.
--- Quote ---Mass
1 fat = 1 carb = 1 protein = 1 shell = 1 slime
(note: I know it is not intuitive, I was surprised myself)
--- End quote ---
You're going to have to explain this one, because you're right, it's not intuitive.
shvarz:
I decided to use single buildng blocks for each kind of energy carrier to get these estimates.
Well, it goes like this:
Molecular weight (MW) of 16-carbon fat is ~270
MW of glucose (6-carbon) is ~180.
MW of amino acids varies between 100 and 200.
So, they are all on the same order of magnitude to begin with.
But carbs and proteins (proteins to a less extent) are surrounded by molecules of water (each MW ~20). It is hard to estimate how many water molecules are required to maintain glucose and proteins in addition to water already present in the cell. But 5-10 seems like a reasonable number. So in the end they are not that different to bother and distinguish.
If shell is made from proteins (like turtle's) or carbs (all insects), then it is reasonable to assume it will weigh (per molecule) somewhat less than regular carbs or sugar (because it lacks water). But do we want to bother with that? I say no. If shell is made from silicone, then it will be heavy of course, but there it is hard to define a buiding unit.
So, I decided to keep it simple and just make them all equal.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version