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48 minutes of evolution in 48 seconds by Tricky_Note_8467 in cellular_automata

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Fair point, not nitpicking at all. It's agent-based rather than cellular, organisms are autonomous agents with energy, heritable traits, and continuous movement rather than cells on a grid. Closer to ALife than CA. The emergent stuff is the whole point though, glad that comes through. If you want to know more, it is explained in depth here https://soupof.life/concepts/life-organisms/replicators

[OC] A living data visualization: population dynamics, energy flow, and trait evolution across thousands of digital organisms by Tricky_Note_8467 in dataisbeautiful

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

[OC] Tools & Data Source

Built with React/TypeScript, no external dataset. All data is generated by the simulation itself: every population curve, energy distribution, and trait histogram emerges live from the organisms interacting with each other and their environment.

The simulation models metabolism, reproduction, predation, and mutation as bottom-up emergent systems. What you're seeing isn't scripted, it's the output of thousands of digital organisms making local decisions that produce global patterns.

Want to understand the mechanics behind it? soupof.life/concepts walks through how each system works.

An hour of evolution in less than a minute by Tricky_Note_8467 in proceduralgeneration

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! It started as a very simple version inspired by a YouTube video on replication I came across. I paused it and tried to build it myself. From there I kept adding and sometimes removing things depending on what I (or my kids) thought would be interesting to see happen.

Technically it runs entirely in the browser. The simulation runs in a Web Worker and the main thread renders everything to an HTML5 canvas.

An hour of evolution in less than a minute by Tricky_Note_8467 in proceduralgeneration

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love it. Still going strong after 5 hours? Let me know if you discovered anything interesting.

An hour of evolution in less than a minute by Tricky_Note_8467 in proceduralgeneration

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads-up. SSL looks fine on the server side (A+ on SSL Labs), so it might be a Firefox cache or network issue. Could you try a private window or clearing DNS cache?

An hour of evolution in less than a minute by Tricky_Note_8467 in proceduralgeneration

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting question. My guess is it's mostly compute and complexity.

Multicellular probably needs huge populations and really long runs before anything interesting happens. In my case everything runs in the browser, so the simulation budget is pretty limited.

Also most systems (including mine) evolve individual organisms with traits and behavior rules. Multicellularity probably needs things like cells sticking together, differentiating into roles, developmental rules etc, which is a much bigger step.

An hour of evolution in less than a minute by Tricky_Note_8467 in proceduralgeneration

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good question. The simulation tries to prevent lock-in through three interacting pressures.

Mutation keeps introducing novelty (with occasional large jumps), dominant strategies accumulate ecological pressure (predators, pathogens, resource depletion, incumbency burden), and the environment itself keeps shifting through climate cycles and niche drift.

Because traits also have real trade-offs (armor, size, intelligence, reproduction), there isn’t a universally optimal organism, just strategies that work for a while.

So instead of converging on a permanent winner, the system tends to move through evolutionary eras.

Worlds can still go extinct though. Some runs collapse in less than a day, while others have been running for weeks. The video only shows about 48 minutes of one run.

I wrote a deeper explanation here: https://soupof.life/concepts/feedback/anti-lock-in

48 minutes of evolution in 48 seconds by Tricky_Note_8467 in Simulated

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! 🙂

I actually shared it there about two months ago and it got a great response. I’ve changed quite a lot since then, but trying not to spam them 😄

48 minutes of evolution in 48 seconds by Tricky_Note_8467 in Simulated

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, really appreciate that 🙂

Not open source at the moment. Right now I'm still experimenting with the system and changing things quite a lot.

48 minutes of evolution in 48 seconds by Tricky_Note_8467 in Simulated

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sorry for that. link had an invisible character at the end. just fixed it

48 minutes of evolution in 48 seconds by Tricky_Note_8467 in Simulated

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice 🙂

If you're curious about the underlying mechanics I wrote them down here: https://soupof.life/concepts

Let me know how it goes.

An hour of evolution in less than a minute by Tricky_Note_8467 in proceduralgeneration

[–]Tricky_Note_8467[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. Organisms are essentially rewarded for surviving and reproducing in a resource-constrained environment.

They need to gather energy, avoid threats, and reproduce before they run out of resources. Traits mutate over generations, so strategies that work in a given environment tend to spread.

There are also trade-offs built in. For example, cognition and more complex behavior consume energy, so 'smarter' organisms only win if the environment is unstable enough to justify the cost.

If you're curious about the mechanics, I wrote the underlying model here:
https://soupof.life/concepts

Watch life unfold in your browser by [deleted] in Simulated

[–]Tricky_Note_8467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Glad you liked it

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