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NeuraQuarium

Neural-net evolution in a chill aquatic environment · By urocyongames

I'd love to see the source for the critter engine..

A topic by lvngbth created Jun 03, 2021 Views: 315 Replies: 3
Viewing posts 1 to 3

- Just what do the various points on the neural net represent? At the moment, without the source/more documentation, users can see that something is going on, but not what.

- It's sometimes hard to click on a critter without pausing the simulation.

One bug: the suggested save file names - eg 'NeuraQuarium Save 03/06/2021 13:01:49' - are not legal in Windows because of the / and : characters.

I'd rather not be running this in a Windows VM in the first place. It's using  Mono and Unity, isn't it? Is there any chance of a native Linux version?

Developer

Hey, thanks for the feedback!

I'll do the quick answers first:

  • I've had trouble clicking on critters too, especially as they evolve to be smaller and faster! I went ahead and added a hacky little solution -- if you click and it's a total miss (nothing under your mouse) the program will do another search with a wider radius.
  • I can't believe I missed that issue with the file name suggestions! Fixed that.
  • I never considered a Linux build, because (a) I didn't think there'd be much demand and (b) I don't have a Linux machine to test on. But why not? There's a Linux build available now in the downloads. Let me know how it works for you!

Finally, the meaty one... What does the neural network mean?

A Critter's Brain (Approximate)

(Note: This is not 100% accurate, it's just an explanatory slide from a presentation I made on the topic.) 

I've gone back and forth on including more info about the network graph. Initially, the input and output neurons all had their own labels, but it was really cluttered and hard to read. What I've been thinking of doing is adding just a few icons identifying groups of neurons (for example, the visual center on the top right is 5 neurons; so I'd just put an eye icon that encompasses all 5 of those rather than labeling each neuron individually.)

I'll keep pondering and possibly add some more explanatory information to the HUD in a later update.

Thanks again, and enjoy!

(+1)

Linux users vary in how vocal they are :) On Steam, if something works with their 'Proton' system - and most things I am interested in now do - I am not particularly fussed about a native version. Here, if I can see that something is made with tools that can do the port easily, I am more likely to ask...

.. and the Linux build 'just worked' (latest version of Ubuntu MATE, 64-bit), thank you!

Thank you for that - the group icons would be fine, particularly as it's can be very difficult to interpret just what's going on in a neural net, so seeing that 'vision' excitement leads to that action should be enough.

There could definitely be more info around the basic rules of life. I think that energy is mostly a 'reproduction energy' thing, but having lots / none increases/decreases health, and health is life (high) or death (zero). Eating increases energy, but it doesn't look like, for example, moving quickly uses more than just sitting there. Strength determines who eats who? Or is there some directional element in the way that there is for the green stuff? (It's amusing to see a Critter desperate for more energy going backwards, pushing along the food that would save it if it were at the other end...)

I cannot resist wondering what could be added to this without adding to the runtime overhead. Something like attack (teeth) vs defence (shell / spikes) vs hiding (triggering other Critter's visual neurons less - or is this what colour mutations effectively do?) vs...  all competing for the same limited resource at birth, with the proportions depending on mutations/sex.  

The obvious niche I am waiting to see evolution fill is 'going along walls, eating all the dead fatally bruised Critters'!

The other thing that I can see some people appreciating is the option to turn the sound off :)

Thanks for being vocal, btw, running on Linux here as well <3