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Newbie / AZPaul Intro
« on: March 18, 2005, 06:58:25 PM »
Howdy y'all.
I found Darwinbots v2.3 a few days ago and am getting used to the function. Nice program. I have coded up a small number of Bots that actually live, feed, reproduce and like that. At this point I am running some simulations but am having some difficulties with a major item. I'm hoping y'all can set me right.
Sexual reproduction.
I use the .in/.out as species ID. According to the docs the genome of the "closest body" is taken as the sex partner. I assumed (silly me) that I could ID this "closest body" using .in/.out. It don't work. Appears the .in is populated from the last bot I "saw" which, in too many cases, is not the closest body when .nrg reaches the threshold set for my .sexrepro gene. Right so far?
Mutation in allele frequency is the source of almost all genetic change (most being deadly), but sex (shuffeling of complete genes from those that have survived their mutations to form a unique genome) is the prime vector of "survivable" variation within a large speciel population. OK, so a couple hundred Bots is not really a "large" speciel population, but, we deal with what we got, right?
For my simulations I cannot have my Alpha mating with some wayward Delta. Especially a mean nasty Delta that feeds on Alphas. Poisons the gene pool doncha know and that's just bad form. Mating outside the species is a no-go in our version of real life and cannot be allowed in the simulation.
This is one of the most powerful features within NeoDarwinian Evolution and that's where I want to be.
Any of y'all have a workaround?
Cosmetic items:
.backshot -- Doesn't want to work for me in the way I have it applied. Bots discharge waste. I load up .shootval then -4 .backshot. Nothing happens. Waste continues to accumulate. I substitute -4 .shoot in the gene with no other changes and the Bot pukes up the waste just fine. Don't ask why, but I want to make them poop not puke.
If there is a .valbackshot or .backshotval or whatever I cannot find it in the docs. Maybe I cannot .backshot through a shell?
Any help?
Graphs -- I run my simulations for about 3-5 hours each. (The "best Bot" save feature (I set for 30 min) is much appreciated.) I like to have the population graph up on my desktop so I can keep track that nothing drastic is happening, like everyone is dying. Problem is that while I'm in my other applications doing some "real work" this graph is alway "on top" and in my way. I will look at it when I want to on the desktop and don't need this thing in the way of my spreadsheets, web pages and documents. Are there any options to "alway on top?"
Finally, (I promise) I diddle around some, changing this, that, the other option, resetting graphs, starting, stopping, setting up simulations and etc like that. I've managed to generate "run time errors" frequently. Considering what I paid for this program (another much appreciated feature) this is just an FYI.
OK, I lied. One more comment. I appreciate the efforts you folks put into this program. I know a lot of you people are building MonsterBots for competition, but as a learning tool in NeoDarwinian Evolution and simulating atleast some aspects of natural selection this program is already one of the better feature-rich simulators without undue complexity. And I thank you.
Verbosely yours,
-P
I found Darwinbots v2.3 a few days ago and am getting used to the function. Nice program. I have coded up a small number of Bots that actually live, feed, reproduce and like that. At this point I am running some simulations but am having some difficulties with a major item. I'm hoping y'all can set me right.
Sexual reproduction.
I use the .in/.out as species ID. According to the docs the genome of the "closest body" is taken as the sex partner. I assumed (silly me) that I could ID this "closest body" using .in/.out. It don't work. Appears the .in is populated from the last bot I "saw" which, in too many cases, is not the closest body when .nrg reaches the threshold set for my .sexrepro gene. Right so far?
Mutation in allele frequency is the source of almost all genetic change (most being deadly), but sex (shuffeling of complete genes from those that have survived their mutations to form a unique genome) is the prime vector of "survivable" variation within a large speciel population. OK, so a couple hundred Bots is not really a "large" speciel population, but, we deal with what we got, right?
For my simulations I cannot have my Alpha mating with some wayward Delta. Especially a mean nasty Delta that feeds on Alphas. Poisons the gene pool doncha know and that's just bad form. Mating outside the species is a no-go in our version of real life and cannot be allowed in the simulation.
This is one of the most powerful features within NeoDarwinian Evolution and that's where I want to be.
Any of y'all have a workaround?
Cosmetic items:
.backshot -- Doesn't want to work for me in the way I have it applied. Bots discharge waste. I load up .shootval then -4 .backshot. Nothing happens. Waste continues to accumulate. I substitute -4 .shoot in the gene with no other changes and the Bot pukes up the waste just fine. Don't ask why, but I want to make them poop not puke.
If there is a .valbackshot or .backshotval or whatever I cannot find it in the docs. Maybe I cannot .backshot through a shell?
Any help?
Graphs -- I run my simulations for about 3-5 hours each. (The "best Bot" save feature (I set for 30 min) is much appreciated.) I like to have the population graph up on my desktop so I can keep track that nothing drastic is happening, like everyone is dying. Problem is that while I'm in my other applications doing some "real work" this graph is alway "on top" and in my way. I will look at it when I want to on the desktop and don't need this thing in the way of my spreadsheets, web pages and documents. Are there any options to "alway on top?"
Finally, (I promise) I diddle around some, changing this, that, the other option, resetting graphs, starting, stopping, setting up simulations and etc like that. I've managed to generate "run time errors" frequently. Considering what I paid for this program (another much appreciated feature) this is just an FYI.
OK, I lied. One more comment. I appreciate the efforts you folks put into this program. I know a lot of you people are building MonsterBots for competition, but as a learning tool in NeoDarwinian Evolution and simulating atleast some aspects of natural selection this program is already one of the better feature-rich simulators without undue complexity. And I thank you.
Verbosely yours,
-P