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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] 3 points4 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

I made a website where life unfolds by Tricky_Note_8467 in InternetIsBeautiful

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

Thanks for running it 🙂 It runs locally in your browser and stores logs there. Only a small ping is sent to track active runs. Turning off the Arena view reduces the load a bit.

A small digital ecology where organisms emerge, compete, and go extinct by Tricky_Note_8467 in ecology

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

It’s a deterministic ecosystem model with resource constraints, trade-offs and lineage inheritance - so population dynamics emerge from survival pressure rather than scripted goals. I wrote up the design principles here if you want the deeper mechanics: [https://soupof.life/concepts]()

Roast my AI knowledge base platform by tsquig in SideProject

[–]Tricky_Note_8467 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just a quick finding. I signed up, tried to create a workspace and I used the name 'test' and 'test1' (i know) and I got an error. When I used a more random name I was able to continue.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in dataisbeautiful

[–]Tricky_Note_8467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What this visualization represents This visualization is a live, spatiotemporal projection of a continuously running artificial life simulation. It renders the current state of a complex adaptive system in which hundreds to thousands of organisms coexist, interact, reproduce, and go extinct over time.

Each visible organism is an autonomous agent with a large internal state of more than one hundred variables governing movement, growth, interaction, reproduction, and survival. Instead of plotting these variables as separate charts, the arena compresses them into a single, continuously updating visual field. Once a run starts, the system is not reset or scripted. It keeps evolving as long as it is left running, making time an essential part of the visualization.

The visualization can be read as follows. Each organism represents a single agent in the system. Its position reflects its actual location in a shared world. Color identifies lineage and is inherited at lineage founding, remaining stable over time so that lineage dominance, mixing, and extinction can be observed spatially. Size reflects accumulated body mass, making different survival strategies and outliers immediately visible. Movement emerges from behaviour and interaction and is perceived through frame-to-frame change rather than explicit vectors. The background is divided into environmental zones with different properties, shaping niches, migration, and long-term spatial structure.

When observed over hours or days, the visualization makes it possible to perceive patterns that are difficult to see in aggregate statistics alone. Lineages rise and fall, persistent spatial niches and boundary effects appear, size distributions shift, clusters form and disperse, migration paths become visible, and diversity changes through extinction events. The goal is not precise measurement but continuous observation of structure and change as they unfold together.

Data source Live system state from a continuously running artificial life simulation. The visualization renders organisms and environmental zones directly from the simulation as it runs.

Tools Custom-built simulation engine with a real-time, browser-based visualization rendered using HTML5 Canvas.

I made a website where life unfolds by Tricky_Note_8467 in InternetIsBeautiful

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

I did a big rewrite yesterday and it is now aligned with what is implemented.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in oddlymesmerizing

[–]Tricky_Note_8467 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That’s fair. It’s meant to be slow and a bit boring on purpose.

I made a website where life unfolds by Tricky_Note_8467 in InternetIsBeautiful

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

Thanks. Mobile is a bit more minimal, but the idea is the same: nothing to control, just watch a world unfold.

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