UnsignedByte/Rules-of-Life

Simple simulation with programmed cells

Cell Evolution

Programmed cells follow rules and evolve

How it works

Element

The superclass of all elements on screen, named class Element

Attributes

• this.age is the age of the element, or the number of frames it has been onscreen.
• this.x and this.y designate the position of an element on screen, where (0,0) is the top left of the canvas.
• this.size is the diameter of the object, in pixels.
• this.color is the color value of the object inhex, stored as a String.

Methods

None

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Commands

A class containing a single command used by a Cell instance

Attributes

• this.condition specifies an array with 3 values, in the form distanceTo(subject) (comparison) (value).
• this.action is the action to be taken when this.condition is true.

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Cells

The main element of the simulation; this is what evolves.

Attributes

• class Cell is a subclass of Element, and inherits its attributes.
• this.args is a list of the Command instances that this cell follows.
• this.defComm is the default Command to follow if none of the conditions in this.args are fulfilled.
• this.fraction is the percentage of mass baby takes when reproducing.

Methods

• Method move() calls all the necessary methods each frame.
• Methods beginning with closest are used to find the subjects for a Command instance.
• Methods eatCells() and eatFood() are used to consume nearby smaller cells and food
• Method reproduce() is used when the cell wants to reproduce, creating a new cell with a possibility of mutation in commands.
• dist() and compDist() are used to find the distance between two cells. compDist also returns the target position.

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Food

Eaten by the cell. This spawns randomly, but is also created around instances of Spawner and underneath large Cell objects.

Attributes

class Food is a subclass of Element, and inherits its attributes.

Methods

None

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Spawners

Spawners create food around them when a smaller cell is eaten by it.

Attributes

• class Spawner is a subclass of Element, and inherits its attributes.
• this.id is the id of the spawner.
• this.defaultSize is the initiation size of the spawner.

Methods

The only method, this.act(), does three main things:

• Eat nearby Cells that are small
• Eat Food
• Expel Food outside if this.size is greater than this.defaultSize

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Hiding spots

Force larger cells to split (reproduce()) while allowing smaller cells to hide.

Attributes

class Petri is a subclass of Element, and inherits its attributes.

Methods

splitCells() splits larger cells within range.