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« on: September 09, 2008, 01:28:58 PM »
It seems that having more than two species increases natural selection.
My first simulation had somewhat mean algae (veggies, which tried to eat everything approaching), modified animal minimalis (eating body instead of energy, and growing) and a parasite. Improvement of this third species was my goal.
First I made it to attach to an organism which was turned back. Well... it weren't very successful, but a random mutation made it effective at least against the algae. Swirling in one place seemed to be a better strategy somehow, as it allowed to use the host as a morgenstern. I kept the mutated version, as it was clearly better than the original one. It still couldn't do much against animal minimalis, until I added a calming venom. It allowed to spray any organism in front of the parasite, making it not to attack this species.
Then the thing gone interesting. One particular mutation I remember was making the parasite attach not only to one organism, but virtually to anything, including their own siblings. They still sucked energy from the last organism they were attached to. A poor alga or animal minimalis couldn't do anything, as they were tied by multiple parasites. This net (or rather glue) made them unable to do almost anything. Veggies still could harness energy from the sun, but tied predators were doomed.
Then animal minimalis changed. They evolved into cannibots. Holding glue became a nice source of food for a short time, and they still could eat plants. Their reproduction slowed somewhat, but it were not a problem, as I somewhat castrated them earlier (in other simulations they were annoying me with rapid growth, so I culled their reproduction to 50 specimens). Parasites were in peril again.
Unfortunately, it was not a stable ecosystem. When I were in the kitchen, the plants somewhat eliminated everything. I still don't know how they did it...