[Modpack] Self Organizing Systems 0.3.1

[Dokimi]

They are alive!

These mods explore the principles underlying complex systems. e.g. systems theory, evolution, swarm intelligence etc.

They are the closest a Minetest block will ever come to being alive.

These mods can be fun to use in a general game, or they can used as a hands on way to explore some of the most fundamental laws of nature.

• Autocell: cellular automata. One of the simplest possible demonstrations of how self organization occurs.
  
  Selfrep: several self replicating "tools" that build useful controlled structures. e.g. a road, tower, tunnel, etc.
  
  Selfrep_doomsday: explores the power of exponential growth. Devices that explode in a wave of uncontrolled expansion, like out of control nano-tech. Makes a challenging survival game.
  
  Ecobots: replaces the default vegetation with an ecosystem of selfreplicating blocks. Also includes examples of network and swarm intelligence, and evolution. They are alive!
  
  Autosky: mimics some of the basic process that give rise to local scale weather systems. Clouds and rain form spontaneously due to the availability of water, local topography, etc.
  
  Neuron: allows the player to build neurons, and basic neural networks.
  
  Evolve: bots that uses an evolutionary algorithm to find the best mining strategy (or any other task you set it to solve).

Be Aware!:
These are complicated. Read the instructions in each mod folder for more details on how these work and how to use them.

These can be unpredictable... be prepared for surprises.

These mods are all variations on a theme, but... activating them all on the same map might be unwise...
e.g. Doomsday, Ecobots, and Autosky can all be demanding on computing power on their own.
e.g. Doomsday is the ultimate griefer's tool... it will destroy the world.
If in doubt try each mod independently first.


License:

Code is licensed under GNU LGPLv2+.

Textures and sound are licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported.

Dependencies:
- default
- farming,
- flowers
- fire,
- tnt.

Author:
All mods were created by myself (Dokimi).

DOWNLOAD

View Code at Github:
https://github.com/DokimiCU/self_organizing_systems.git



Just one of the Ecobot ecosystem types. Swamp forest grading into "Generalist" forest in the distance, with shellfish beds in the foreground. Remember - these are not static like in default. These are growing, changing, adapting, and inhabited by semi-intelligent animals.

For more screenshots check out the comments...

[burli]

Very interesting

[texmex]

This is very impressive, Dokimi. I'm interested in ecobot especially. It gives a vision of how biomes could possibly work in the future: not only forests would grow, change and die, but different biomes could compete with each other. Plains next to deserts would slowly be taken over by the desert if not stopped by a forest, for example.

[Byakuren]

Another harmful system (but less dangerous than the existing ones) could be mold that spreads to wood and other organic materials. Maybe including dirt, if there is moisture around.

[texmex]

Another harmful system (but less dangerous than the existing ones) could be mold that spreads to wood and other organic materials. Maybe including dirt, if there is moisture around.

Yes! And moss, creating real primeval forests. I believe biome humidity level is provided in at least mapgen version 7.

[Desour]

This looks interesting, I'll test it.

[Dokimi]

This is very impressive, Dokimi. I'm interested in ecobot especially. It gives a vision of how biomes could possibly work in the future: not only forests would grow, change and die, but different biomes could compete with each other. Plains next to deserts would slowly be taken over by the desert if not stopped by a forest, for example.

I think I'll leave this version of ecobots as it is - it's nice to have something that's complicated enough to work, but simple enough to understand.

That said I may create an "Ecobots Deluxe" in the future, with all the ecosystems including the oceans filled out. Now that I've figured out how to do it I should be able to pull it off. Although, while it's easy to get stuff to grow in Minetest, getting it to grow naturally and balanced is very hard. The amount of ecological understanding required is extreme.

But before all that Ecobots needs road testing! I have no idea what this thing can do. I would love it if people posted screenshots etc of how it evolves in different conditions.

[Dokimi]

Another harmful system (but less dangerous than the existing ones) could be mold that spreads to wood and other organic materials. Maybe including dirt, if there is moisture around.

Ecobot kind of does this, in a controlled manner by having decomposers. My early unbalanced versions were susceptible to "fungus" outbreaks eating all the trees.

[Dokimi]

... I believe biome humidity level is provided in at least mapgen version 7.

Do biomes currently have environmental factors (e.g. temp, humidity)? I've seen them in the code, yet I thought I'd read other things saying they'd been abandoned. It would be very useful for an Ecobots-deluxe if Minetest does have this feature.

Yes! And moss, creating real primeval forests. ...

Ha, oh we can dream! I'm not sure how complicated it will be possible to make this before my head explodes. At the moment I'm thinking in very abstract terms, not "how can I make an Oak tree?", but "how can I make a K selected terrestrial temperate zone autotroph?"

[Dokimi]

For those who are interested in knowing what it took to make ecobots, here's a view of an early version, back when it was just a heaving pile of robo-sludge.

[azekill_DIABLO]

Awesome idea! it's 'an itelligent self-changing blocky virus'!
might be a bit cpu cosuming, if you use many of them.

[paramat]

Interesting work.

[Dokimi]

... might be a bit cpu cosuming, if you use many of them.

So far...
- The doomsday ones can get laggy when they are huge (and they get HUGE).
- Autocells was laggy but I think I've fixed it (it'll be in an update)
- The sponge get's laggy because it has to create so many blocks to keep the water out

But... strangely... Ecobots hasn't been laggy for me, considering what it's doing. Earlier versions that grew super fast had issues, but now... I think it just ticks along slowly. It doesn't do much, but what it does do it does in the right kind of way. If any thing I'll probably slow it down even more.

[Dokimi]

Every time I use Ecobots I've ended up fiddling with it. I've changed the pioneer plant from a block to a grass. This makes such a huge improvement to the feel of it I'll likely release an update sooner rather than later. It makes for a real jungle slashing experience now.

[texmex]

Every time I use Ecobots I've ended up fiddling with it. I've changed the pioneer plant from a block to a grass. This makes such a huge improvement to the feel of it I'll likely release an update sooner rather than later. It makes for a real jungle slashing experience now.

Getting better and better by the looks of it! Is there a way to speed up the growth process? I'm impatient…

[azekill_DIABLO]

looks very nice.

[Dokimi]

Updated!

Among many minor changes...
- the grass (note, this will cause a temporary glitch on old maps - grass will be black until something makes them refresh)
- settings for plant growth rates (you can set them high at the start, then slow it down so you don't have to weed it all the time!)
- plants will no longer grow in water or do so many suicide charges into the dark (note, any existing aqua-plants will die... it'll have to work to claim that swamp)
- animals need to eat to reproduce
- a pdf better explaining how this all works.

I think it's in a state in which I can leave it alone for a while now. Have fun with it!

[azekill_DIABLO]

epic!

[Sokomine]

It's a very intresting concept and impressive structures that evolved through it. Wish I had more time to take a look.

[Dokimi]

I've been working on some major changes to the Doomsday mod. It should be in a usable form, but I wont do a proper update until I've fixed/added things to the other mods (which may be ages away).

If you want the new Doomsday (it is much better!), it is available on Github, under the 0.2 branch.

I'll post some screenshots of it...

[Dokimi]

In 0.2 Doomsday devices now grow forever, lifting them from merely gigantic, to super-mega-uber gigantic. The only way to stop them is with a kill switch in settings.



The Grey Goo: now has a more open and varied growth making exploration better.

[Dokimi]

In 0.2 The Weapon is brutally efficient, but it does have a slight weakness to ice, just to give you a vain sense of hope.

[Dokimi]

...The Weapon in a fight with the Grey Goo... because I could!

[Dokimi]

Did someone say a Doomsday fungus would be interesting...? I agree!

Introducing The Blight...

[Dokimi]

...and after all the damage these Doomsday machines cause we really need something to set things right...

Introducing the Terraformer...