Ben Turner (@Xeus)

Nature of Code Final Project, Spring 2012, Prof. Daniel Shiffman

Project for my NYU ITP Introduction to Computational Media/Nature of Code classes.

Intended to create the building blocks for a system of people with randomly generated characteristics who age, breed, pass along genetic information to offspring, and interact with their environments, religious traits, and governments/cultures.

Coded in Processing. Also uses a node.js express server.

Repo includes back sketches as well as a Wolfram CA sketch and the node.js express JSON server which are also used for this sketch.

Most recent code uses these directories: genetic_crossing_noc_final, WolframCA_test, and galapagus_json.

• Prof. Dan Shiffman for all his documentation and code from Nature of Code, particularly his chapters on forces, genetic algorithms, ToxicLibs, and cellular automata
• Prof. John Schimmel for his Processing-Nodejs code

Download these files (if you didn't just git clone [email protected]:Xeus/Genetic-Crossing.git the whole directory and run them on your system; they're already built as applications.

MacOSX:

• https://github.com/Xeus/Genetic-Crossing/tree/master/genetic_crossing_noc_final/application.macosx
• https://github.com/Xeus/Genetic-Crossing/tree/master/WolframCA_test/application.macosx

Windows:

• https://github.com/Xeus/Genetic-Crossing/tree/master/genetic_crossing_noc_final/application.windows
• https://github.com/Xeus/Genetic-Crossing/tree/master/WolframCA_test/application.windows

Download the latest version of Processing.

Clone my git repo. Open your Terminal and go to the directory parent you want to install to. Then type git clone [email protected]:Xeus/Genetic-Crossing.git.

Navigate to the ./Genetic-Crossing directory. Type ./galapagus_json to change directories so you can do node.js stuff.

See package.json for dependencies. Type npm install to install them. Uses MongoDB and the Heroku toolbelt.

• http://www.mongodb.org/downloads
• https://toolbelt.heroku.com/

Set up your .env file to include your MONGOLAB_URI variable, which has your user/pass to connect to MongoDB.

It should look like this:

MONGOLAB_URI=mongodb://username:[email protected]:27017/json

Finally, type foreman start to start up the node.js express server.

From your file explorer or finder, open the genetic_crossing_noc_final.pde file in the genetic_crossing_noc_final directory so that it opens in Processing, where you can run it. You'll also want to open WolframCA_test.pde from the WolframCA_test directory AFTER the node.js express server and the other sketch are running.

You'll end up having two Processing sketches running, plus a node.js express instance.

Then, experiment! Right-click on the screen to move God. Type u to pause physics, space bar to freeze the sketch completely, f to toggle funerals (hide dead people from the view).

• Documentation blog
• Github

Also upped to OpenProcessing.org: http://www.openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=47390

Last update 02 May 12: Demo'd in class and upped to Github.

Search for "TODO:" to find things requiring more work/fixes.