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NeuraQuarium

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

Editing critter files

A topic by Coppini created Jan 09, 2023 Views: 188 Replies: 5
Viewing posts 1 to 3

First of all, thanks for the amazing game, I'm having a lot of fun with it here!

I was checking the save files for critters and noticed that there's some information stored there in plain text... but most of it is just the headers/variable names, and almost all the 'relevant' information uses different ASCII characters. I copied a critter file to try editing the species and individual name (one of the few 'custom' info in plain text), but it ended up crashing the game once I tried to place it, so I guess that is impossible for now.

I was wondering if it would be possible to somehow access that info in a readable (and most importantly editable) format, since most of it seems quite straightforward when seen ingame (even the neural network seems based on specific weights and decisions on each neuron, so could probably be translated into a JSON file). The idea of adding some 'intelligent design' here and there is always interesting to mess a bit with Evolution games testing weird changes and ideas - or at the very least to be able to name our species with fun and interesting names! :P

Developer (2 edits) (+1)

Hi there!

The neural network is already fully editable in-game -- click on a neuron to bring up the NeuroSurgery screen and tweak to your hearts' content!

As for the rest -- stay tuned for the next update, because I think you might find it interesting...


🤦‍♂️ Worst thing is that I had even seen that before already… and somehow simply forgot later on. Still, editing things in text format feels easier for me than messing through the UI haha I’ll definitely stay tuned then! Looking forward for future updates!

Hi there, thanks for making such a unique simulation!  I'd been looking for this kind of game for quite a while.  Quick question related to Coppini's:  I would like to be able to add in a specific saved critter (from a .critter file) to an existing environment.  I see the "add critter" button under Tools, but it appears to just add a random critter.  Is there a way to add in a specific critter?

Developer

Click the "load saved preset" button just to the left of the "Add Critter" button and you'll be able to select any .critter file you want as the critter to be used by the Add tool.

There are a lot of other ways to add existing critters to your sim. In addition to adding one at a time, you can:

  •  Use the "load preset" button in the simulation settings panel to change the default spawn to a saved critter
  • Use the "merge pops" button in the main menu to bring the critters in another save into your current sim
  • Use the "spawn source" option in sim settings to select a save, or save directory, to use as the source for critter spawns instead of a random or specific critter
  • Use "micro-merge" to periodically merge a small number of critters from a directory of Autosaves

Thank you!