This program is meant to simulate evolution in a colony of digital bugs that vaguely resemble real single-celled organisms. They have one sense, the ability to see the cell directly ahead of them, which can be occupied by either nothing, food, poison, or another bug. Their behavior is determined by looking up what their eye senses in a genetically inherited array of probabilities. They can reproduce either by asexual division, or by conjugation and genetic crossover, and you can watch the bumbling, twirling ancestors give rise to ultra-efficient feeding and searching machines in a dramatic illustration of Chuck D.'s theories. You'll observe many phenomena that closely parallel nature, especially once you bring poison and walls into the picture...
Prokaryote is shareware, and the recommeded fee is $10. Viva shareware!
Features:
-Full-color, blindingly fast display of the "petri dish."
-Fully adjustable window size.
-Up to 300 bugs can be simulated at a time. (Contact me to break this rule.)
-A selection of painting tools that allow you to completely customize your bugs' environment.
-Full file opening and saving ability. Simulations can be saved as ultra-tiny files that contain everything Prokaryote needs to know about the bugs and the environment, or alternatively in slightly larger format that contains an exact duplicate of the map you've drawn.
-The ability to save the current simulation in text form, and summarize the evolution of the current bugs.
-A built-in editor that allows the user to change any aspect of a particular bug, from its color to its energy, to its actual genetic material.
-It's majorly fun to play- (ahem... to experiment) with!
System Requirements:
-System 7.0 or later.
-A 68020 or better CPU or any PowerPC CPU. Prokaryote is fat, and runs native on both 68K and PPC machines.
-A 640x480 pixel or larger color monitor STRONGLY recommended. Prokaryote will run on a 512x384 monochrome monitor, but will look terrible and may occasionally act funny.
For questions, comments, etc., I can be contacted at adamw@holonet.net.
