Vendian is an artificial life simulator. The creatures are simple Lisp programs competing for food and reproduction. [more]
The world is full of food, represented by green pixels. Brighter green means more food. Vendians eat food to gain energy, and if they collect enough, they can reproduce. A simple creature might be:
(if (> (food-here) 0) (begin (eat) (if (> (my-energy) 700) (fork 30) nil)) (if (> (food-ahead) 0) (move) (turn-random)))
Move toward food, eat it, reproduce when fat enough. When a creature forks, its code is copied to the offspring — but with errors. Parameters change, expressions get duplicated or deleted, random code appears. Mostly this kills the offspring. Sometimes it creates something better.
Color indicates genetic lineage — similar colors share ancestry. Gray cells are obstacles.
Controls: Drag to pan • Scroll to zoom • Click creature to inspect • Space to pause
It would be nice if the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing warnings about toxic substances and just gave me the names of one or two things still safe to eat.