Darwinbots Forum

General => Biology => Topic started by: Ramiro on August 28, 2006, 04:48:58 PM

Title: Spores?
Post by: Ramiro on August 28, 2006, 04:48:58 PM
Is there any way a DBots can make a structure like a spore?

BAsically:

VERY low methabolism (energy cost)

no active search for food

resistant to the attack of other bots

very slow or no locomotion at all

no reproduction

ready to go back to the active form when it comes across an anergy source
Title: Spores?
Post by: shvarz on August 28, 2006, 06:01:36 PM
Sure.  Just make it turn off all its genes except for eyes.  You should also create a bunch of slime and shell before you go dormant - that will make it resistant to a lot of attacks.
Title: Spores?
Post by: Ramiro on August 29, 2006, 07:50:48 AM
Thanks, but I have no idea how to transform this ideas into actual "genes". I guess  I should start reeding the guides...

Any idea if there is any bot with similar characteristics?
Title: Spores?
Post by: Jez on August 29, 2006, 08:43:10 AM
It's not really a spore, more a super resistant bot being a bit lazy!

Easy enough to do though, take a working bot and decide on your conditions to become a 'spore', something simple like (*.eye5 0 =) will do to show how it would work.

All the genes in your working bot now need the extra condition (*.eye5 0 !=) so that they become inactive when your 'spore' conditions are met and only work when the condition is not met.

You then have a bot that will do nothing when its 'spore' condition is met and can add another gene to tell the bot what to do when it is a spore. (100 .mkshell maybe but this costs energy!)

A more complicated version with multiple spore conditions or a whole set of conditions to meet before it switches the bot back on can be done by using a memory location but I'm guessing you aren't worried about that yet.

The last bot I posted, Bubbles, uses a similar technique, switching off most of its genes if it is poisoned or paralyzed and activating a suicide gene instead of a 'spore' gene.

BTW (Question for someone:))I take it that shell and slime can be used at the same time? Are there any disadvantages to using them together now?
Title: Spores?
Post by: PurpleYouko on August 29, 2006, 08:56:54 AM
Quote
I take it that shell and slime can be used at the same time? Are there any disadvantages to using them together now?
yes they can and no there isn't

Remember that slime gradually goes away though. It gets dissolved into the surroundings. And shots can diminish the shell barrier.
Title: Spores?
Post by: Jez on August 29, 2006, 09:10:23 AM
Quote from: PurpleYouko
yes they can and no there isn't

TY PY!  
Title: Spores?
Post by: Ramiro on August 29, 2006, 08:37:30 PM
Quote from: Jez
It's not really a spore, more a super resistant bot being a bit lazy!

Easy enough to do though, take a working bot and decide on your conditions to become a 'spore', something simple like (*.eye5 0 =) will do to show how it would work.

All the genes in your working bot now need the extra condition (*.eye5 0 !=) so that they become inactive when your 'spore' conditions are met and only work when the condition is not met.

You then have a bot that will do nothing when its 'spore' condition is met and can add another gene to tell the bot what to do when it is a spore. (100 .mkshell maybe but this costs energy!)

Thanks Jez

Making a shell is quite expensive in energy terms for any bacteria, so I guess it should have to be steh same for DBots, but I did not know that there was already a command or intructions in gene languaje to create it, so my first question is not very relevant.

Much more interesting is selecting a condition to become a spore:

Sensing its own energy reserves?

Sensing the energy reserves of other individuals of the same species? It is called Quorum Sensing in biology

Is there any way that a Bots can send this information to another?
Title: Spores?
Post by: Numsgil on August 29, 2006, 10:47:57 PM
To botain information from other bots you either need to be facing them or tied to them, so information flow works differently from in bacterial colonies that use chemical emissions.

Very possible though.  *.refnrg returns the nrg of the bot you're looking at, *.nrg gives you your own nrg.
Title: Spores?
Post by: Ramiro on August 30, 2006, 08:27:51 AM
THANKS!!! Something to start working on...
Title: Spores?
Post by: PurpleYouko on August 30, 2006, 09:15:19 AM
Quote
To botain information from other bots

Numsgil made up a new word. Cool  
You should get a patent on that one. It might catch on.
Title: Spores?
Post by: Jez on August 30, 2006, 09:27:12 AM
You can botain   communication between bots using the 'in' and 'out' commands. Excalibur and Bubbles both do this, Excalibur displays whether others need to build shells or poison and Bubbles displays the location of any enemy bots it can see.
This information can be read by any bot that sees them.

All the sysvars can be seen in the sysvars2.21 in your Darwinbots folder, plus explanations for the commands can be found using the ingame DNA help or on the Wiki page (http://www.darwinbots.com/WikiManual/index.php?title=Sysvars)
Title: Spores?
Post by: Numsgil on August 30, 2006, 09:36:28 AM
I totally invented botain on purpose.  Yep.