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Directed evolution -- the video game!

I want it. I want it now. I will die after playing this game 94 hours straight.
 
Now, this game has been built up in my head to a level that I'm sure it can't meet. However, if it just plain sucks I plan to hunt the creator down and disembowel him with his own cds.
 
Dragonrock said:
Now, this game has been built up in my head to a level that I'm sure it can't meet.
Click to expand...

Quite apart from its neat evolution stuff, it also looks like its attempting to be SimCity, Civilisation, Populous and Command & Conquer, too. I wonder how cohesive it will be and how satisfying each of these aspects will be.
 
All this game proves is that there is a creator...and we know who created that creator...etc.
 
"Spore" looks fun.

The constraints of the "Sims" family of games always become rather apparent after a while, though complexity and sophisticated graphics can make up for that to a certain extent. Maybe Spore doesn't feel so "canned".

I've always longed for something where the constraints were closer to the fundamental design constraints on organisms in the real world -- even if it meant sacrificing some of the visual appeal.

I found it.

If you liked Dawkins' biomorphs, you'll love this. It's a free download (you also need the Java VM).

"Sodarace is the online olympics pitting human creativity against machine learning in a competition to design robots that race over 2D terrains using the Sodaconstructor virtual construction kit."

The physics engine's rules are actually pretty simple, but creating "models" takes a bit of practice. The reason it takes practice is that the program doesn't babysit; it's up to the designer to come up with something that "works". In the sodarace, that's determined by locomotion, but there are lots of other things models can be designed to do; racing just provides a simple way to define and evaluate effectiveness.
 
How does this work? Does it actually work on the basis of real evolution, basically just random changes and survival of the fittest, plus the addition of this odd direct control of the life form to put them into specific situations to get certain results (which is what it looks like)? Or, is it some sort of "instinctive need to evolve" programming where it has certain prebuilt steps it always goes through which are already coded in there?

I would prefer the former. That way, one could just not even interact, and show an IDer the programming, and they would need to admit that something can easily just plain evolve without intelligent guidance.

Who else plans on getting this game just to let it run without any interaction on your part to see what happens?
 
I don't see any evidence of evolution programming in this video. It looks like at each generation you are given a stock list of attachments to your creature, and then the computer creates an environment for the creature which is compatible with it (ie if you make a herbivore, there will be plants around for you to eat, and if a carnivore, animals around that are slow enough for you to catch and eat). It looks like every characteristic of your animal is chosen by you. There's also a godlike aspect to this, since you are buying them buildings, musical instruments, weapons, all which influence how the culture develops. I don't think the game would do anything if you don't interact with it. You have to propel your little animal around to make it catch and eat prey, for example.
 
Hmm... That seems interesting in a way, but I still want my idea to be realized.
 
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