A simulation project that models an ecosystem where creatures interact with their environment and evolve. The simulation features customizable parameters, real-time statistics, and visual representation of the ecosystem.
The project is a part of Object Oriented Programming course at AGH University of Cracow, Computer Science.
- Paweł Fornagiel [pFornagiel]
- Adrian Krawczyk [adriankrawczyk]
This project is a simple simulation of a world where herbivores roam the map, searching for food to survive and reproduce. Over time, these creatures evolve into different species based on their genetic traits, which influence their movement and behaviour.
The world itself a rectangular grid divided into square tiles. Most of the map is covered by steppes with sparse vegetation, while some areas, around the center of the map, are dense jungles where plants grow faster. Plants appear randomly, with higher concentrations in jungles.
Each creature is a herbivore, characterised by its position, energy, direction and genotype.
One day of simulation consists of the following:
- Creatures with not enough energy are removed from the map
- Creatures consume plants on their fields and reproduce based on their current energy
- Creatures move one tile in the direction they are facing
- Next gene of each creature activates, which determines their rotation
- Creatures rotate according to the genotype
The simulation is meant to show how these creatures change their genotype over time, adapting to their environment through natural selection. Enjoy watching evolution unfold!
Both creature and map behaviors are highly customizable. Users can tweak minor settings, such as plant growth rates, animal energy levels, and genotype mutation frequencies, or introduce more dramatic elements like forest fires, which spread each turn and add an extra layer of challenge for survival.
Parameters GUI includes functionalities such as:
- Parameter validation and error handling
- Visual feedback for input validation
- Save/Load functionality for created configurations
The app provides a real-time visualization of roaming creatures and dynamic environmental changes. User can observe the simulation as it unfolds, with options to pause, restart or initiate a new simulation asynchronically, independently of the current one.
A comprehensive statistics panel provides deep insights into the ecosystem. Users can track individual creatures, monitor the most common genotypes, and analyze creature-to-plant ratio graphs to study long-term trends.
Additionally, to ensure optimal performance and visibility, based on the map size creatures are rendered either as sprites on larger maps and as single pixels on smaller ones.
Before running the application, ensure you have:
- Java 21 installed. Download from Oracle.
- IntelliJ IDEA (if setting up the project for development).
The latest release contains a compiled .jar file that you can run directly.
- Download the latest release from the Releases section.
- Open a terminal and navigate to the folder where the
.jarfile is located. - Run the application using the following command:
java -jar DarwinWorld.jar
