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README
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*****************************************************************************
* *
* PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE LICENSE *
* *
* ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *
* *
* *
* The following program(s) and/or data file(s) are declared Public Domain. *
* *
* Conditions of use: *
* ------------------ *
* *
* 1) No part of this distribution will be omitted (incl. this README file) *
* 2) None of the Copyright texts will be modified or deleted. *
* 3) None of the files should be stored and/or converted onto environment- *
* ally damaging media. (paper listings, faxes, etc...) *
* *
* Provided the end user sticks to the above mentioned author's wishes, he *
* or she is authorized to use, copy, analyze and improve the items. *
* *
* *
* The Author, *
* *
* Laurence Vanhelsuwé *
* *
* Auroville 19/MAY/94 (India) *
* *
* *
*****************************************************************************
-------------------------------
Program Title: MegaJitter V1.3
-------------------------------
Author: Laurence Vanhelsuwé
0. Short description
1. Requirements/Installation
2. How to use it
3. Internals
3.1 Command Line Options
3.2 Creature Genes
3.3 AREXX Support
3.4 Speed Optimizations
4. Limitations/Warnings
5. History
6. Future
7. Bibliography
8. Credits
0. Short description:
------------------
MegaJitter (from now on: MJ) is a biological Evolution simulator.
It tries to simulate a simple ecosystem with creatures which eat, get born,
procreate and die.
Believe it or not, but without ANY pressure on the program's part, these
creatures often EVOLVE into new species which are optimally adapted to their
environment !
Many different environment scenarios can be configured for MJ, with totally
different species emerging.
The main "Laws of Nature" the program codifies are as follows:
- if you eat food, you get X energy points
- moving costs energy
- if you run out of energy, you die.
- if you reach a fitness threshold, you're allowed to procreate.
- any offspring get copies of your genes, but in slightly mutated form.
MJ Doesn't have miracles, the Fittest Survive, that's the bottom line.
On the Amiga, MegaJitter's dual-screen approach offers a full screen of
graphical statistics plus the actual ecosystem with pixels representing food
and creatures.
For research purposes, the animated ecosystem can be disabled for faster
simulations (overnight runs for example).
1. Requirements/Installation:
--------------------------
This Release (V1.3) contains the following directories/files which should
be copied into an empty directory called "MegaJitter" (or something like it).
==================================================
SCENARIOS (dir)
CHAINREAC Clusters
Hedges Oasis
REXX (dir)
GOD MSC
.Product-Info ja.s
makefile mj
mj.c mj.wth
README SCOPTIONS
==================================================
Required:
---------
- V39 of the Amiga OS.
- a 68020-based Amiga or better.
- at least 1.5 Mb of RAM to run.
Optionally:
-----------
- AREXX for external program control.
2. How to use it:
--------------
This distribution actually contains 3 programs: MegaJitter (MJ) proper and
two supporting REXX utilities.
For MegaJitter itself,
Just type: "MJ"
Or "RUN MJ"
or MJ followed by any of the command line options.
(type "MJ ?" for a list or see below for details)
The two REXX programs are GOD and MSC and control or configure MJ, respectively.
- MSC Stands for "MJ Set Scenario" and takes one argument: a MegaJitter scenario
file.
For example, to configure the "Oasis" scenario you would type:
RX MSC SCENARIOS/OASIS
'RX' Is of course the REXX program dispatcher. You can omit this if you are
using a Shell which allows direct execution of REXX programs.
- GOD Is a MegaJitter scenario finder. It generates random sets of starting
parameters and configures MJ to use them.
Then, for about 15 minutes it monitors the running, simulated environment
to see if the parameters result in a stable ecosystem.
If so, it dumps the settings to the screen, otherwise it kills off the failing
ecosystem and generates a new set of parameters, ad infinitum.
Use as follows:
RUN RX GOD >godlog ;capture all output in file 'godlog'
3. Internals:
----------
3.1 Command Line Options
--------------------
The CLI command template for MegaJitter is :
AUDIT/S,DATALOG/S,NOANIM/S,VISION/S,SEX/S,SHOWDEFAULTS/S,MAX_BUGS/K,
INIT_BUGS/K,INIT_FOOD/K,INIT_ENERGY/K,INIT_VARIANCE/K,MUTATE_RANGE/K,
FOOD_RATE/K,FOOD_ENERGY/K,X_AND/K,Y_AND/K,OASIS_SIZE/K,NTSC/S
For those not yet 100% familiar with the 2.0 DOS template syntax, here's
a quick guide:
labels followed by:
/S mean that they are used on their own to enable some feature (a |S|witch)
/K mean that they should be followed by a value (a |K|eyword)
Note: numerical parameters have lower and upper limits. See section 3.3 for
figures.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUDIT Enable full internal audit of creature processing.
This will show you (in the CLI window) what each particular
bug is doing, and sometimes, why.
Example: MJ AUDIT NOANIM INIT_BUGS 1
Default: AUDIT is OFF
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATALOG Dumps the statistics in numerical form to STDOUT.
This is useful if you want to capture the statistics for
further analysis, like correlation of variables, etc...
Example: MJ DATALOG NOANIM INIT_FOOD 1000 > MJ_RUN043.DAT
Default: DATALOG is OFF
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOANIM Inhibits the opening of the animation screen and lets the
program use a much more efficient representation for the
ecosystem, allowing faster simulations.
Example: MJ NOANIM
Default: NOANIM is OFF
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISION Enables the VISION capability (gene) for all creatures.
With VISION on, creatures can SEE food and override their
genetic movement pattern somewhat so that they can home in
on food directly.
Normally creatures are completely blind and rely on bumping
into food frequently enough to survive.
Vision gets modulated by the DAY/NIGHT oscillator.
Example: MJ VISION AUDIT INIT_BUGS 35 OASIS_SIZE 20
Default: VISION is OFF
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEX Enables the SEXUAL reproduction gene for all creatures.