Conceptually I think Cellscape is pretty simple so far, but there are some significant programming challenges, and some of the choices about properties and algorithms will be key. When people are discussing how come our universe has just the right physical constants for life to emerge it is often mentioned that if just one physical constant were just a little different (I forget which one) then the universe would just be a big cloud of hydrogen gas. The same applies to the Cellscape universe - poor choices for initial underlying parameters could cause little or nothing to happen. Whether this will prove to be a significant problem or not is too early to tell.
Percy, all I can say is I'm totally impressed. Your entire concept just boggles my mind (easily done, admittedly). I never realized that something even remotely like this could be done without a bazillion lines of esoteric code - and here you are discussing it like "oh, it's 'just' coding once I figure out the parameters." I think it may be time to turn in my stereo microscope, hang up my binoculars, throw away my felt tips and florescent paint, and sit back and let the high tech folks show me how evolution REALLY happened.
My only question: Which button do I push to turn it on?
[This message has been edited by Quetzal, 10-07-2003]
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