Complete guide to all the genes in the game

In this guide we are going to explain all the genes in the game and how we think they work. If you want to try to figure this out yourself do not read this guide!

Overview

In this guide we are going to explain all the genes in the game and how we think they work. If you want to try to figure this out yourself stop reading now!

You have probably seen us say things like “even we don’t know what this does” in marketing material, and perhaps you thought that was just spin. It wasn’t. We designed the creatures in Intelligent Design from the bottom up with simple rules that result in complex behaviour. How these rules interact is something we still haven’t fully discovered.

Before talking about specifics there are a few concepts which underpin everything:

Biomass

Think of biomass as the energy or health of every organism in the ecosystem. Each organism consumes biomass to live and reproduce. If an organism runs out of biomass it dies.

Adult-hood

Each organism will age up to a point where it becomes an adult. Only adults can reproduce.

Some genes cross over between organisms but it makes sense to think about them in turn.

Plants

The plants are the producers in the food web. They convert energy from the environment into biomass. They do this by sucking up water from the ground; so if the rainfall is low, then so is the amount of biomass they can get. Also, the collector buildings you create do the same thing. That means if you build too many collectors you’ll make it hard for your plants to survive.

Now the list of genes.

Height

This is the tallest the plant will get once an adult. If a plant can’t get enough biomass while growing it won’t be able to reach its maximum height. In other words, a plant only grows while a child with a good supply of biomass.

Life Span

This is the average life span of the plant in seconds. Most plants will die of ‘old age’ when they reach the end of this period of time. It also controls the adult age, so a plant with a long life span will be a child (unable to reproduce) for longer.

Absorption Rate

This is a measure of how quickly a plant can absorb biomass from the area within the range of its roots.

Root Range

This is the range of the plants roots. The bigger the range the more biomass the plant can absorb, but at the same time the more plants it is competing with and the further fire will spread. Fire spreads through the roots – which is a real-world phenomenon, by the way.

Metabolism

This is how much biomass the plant consumes per second simply to survive. A larger value means the plant needs more biomass.

Competiveness

This is how much biomass is sucked from other plants per second. In other words, each plant sucks biomass out of all other plants within its root range, and this gene controls the rate at which that happens.

Maximum Biomass

This is the maximum amount of biomass a plant can store. Any biomass absorbed above this value is simply wasted. It also controls how long a plant will burn when on fire.

Seed Drag

This is the drag of a seed produced by this plant. A bigger drag will mean the seed will float for longer, and potentially further.

Reproduction Rate

This is the time between every attempt to spawn a seed. So, a rate of 5 seconds means that the plant tries to create a seed every 5 seconds. A plant needs enough spare biomass to create a seed.

Seed efficiency

This is how much biomass is spent by the plant to release a seed (in addition to the biomass which is put into the seed). The bigger the number the more biomass is needed.

Seed force

This is the force at which a plant fires a seed.

Creatures

The creatures (herbivores and carnivores) in Intelligent Design have a lot of genes in common with each other – although the carnivores have a few extras which are to do with catching herbivores. All creatures are based on a boids (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boids) style swarming simulation.

Creatures are either male or female. They reproduce by females laying an unfertilised egg which males must fertilise by bumping into.

The genes:

Maximum Speed

This is the maximum speed a creature can reach. All creatures have the same acceleration but their speed is capped at this maximum.

Rotation Speed

This is how quickly a creature can change direction.

Cohesion

Creatures will steer towards the average position of other creatures of the same type (herbivore or carnivore) within the cohesion radius. In other words, they move towards other creatures within the cohesion range.

Alignment

Creatures will steer towards the average heading of other creatures of the same type (herbivore or carnivore) within the alignment radius. In other words, they try to move in the same direction as other creatures within the alignment range.

Separation

Creatures will steer away from the average position of other creatures of the same type (herbivore or carnivore) within the separation radius. In other words, they avoid other creatures within the separation range.

Obstacle Avoidance

Creatures will try to avoid objects (structures, plants or rocks) within this range by moving away from them.

Sense

This is the radius within which a creature can see things. Anything (objects or creatures) outside this range is invisible to the creatures.

Cautiousness

(Herbivores only) If a herbivore sees a carnivore within this range it will run away from it, even if the herbivore is hungry.

Metabolism

This is how much biomass the creature consumes per second simply to survive. A larger value means the creature needs more biomass.

Maximum Biomass

This is the maximum amount of biomass a creature can store. Any biomass absorbed above this value is simply wasted.

Absorption Rate

This is a measure of how quickly a creature can absorb biomass from whatever it is eating. A lower rate means a meal will take longer.

Hunger

Creatures lose biomass at the metabolism rate. When their current biomass becomes less than hunger multiplied by their maximum biomass they will start to search for more food.

Life Span

This is the average life span of the creature in seconds. Most creatures will die of ‘old age’ at the end of this period of time. It also controls the adult age, so a creature with a long life span will be a child (unable to reproduce) for longer.

Egg Gestation

This is how long, in seconds, an egg takes to hatch once it has been fertilised. It is particularly crucial for herbivores because carnivores can eat herbivore eggs!

Reproduction Rate

This is how often a female will try to lay an egg and a male will search for an egg to fertilise. The bigger the number the less frequent these things will happen. Much like plants, females need spare biomass to lay an egg.

Egg Efficiency

This is how much biomass is spent by the female to lay an egg (in addition to the biomass which is put into the egg). The bigger the number the more biomass is needed.

Herbivore Cohesion

(Carnivores only) Carnivores will steer towards the average position of other herbivores within the cohesion radius. In other words, they move towards herbivores within the cohesion range. If hungry a carnivore will just head straight for the closest herbivore and ignore this.

Herbivore Alignment

(Carnivores only) Carnivores will steer towards the average heading of herbivores within the alignment radius. In other words, they try to move in the same direction as herbivores within the alignment range. If hungry a carnivore will just head straight for the closest herbivore and ignore this.

Herbivore Separation

(Carnivores only) Carnivores will steer away from the average position of herbivores within the separation radius. In other words, they avoid herbivores within the separation range. If hungry a carnivore will just head straight for the closest herbivore and ignore this.

[MrDinnertime]

Awesome! thanks
I know I asked in Discord but it's great to have an answer here too :D

[Sean]

Efficiency in the game is to do with your ecosystem as a whole, it's the % of creatures born in the wild. Seed efficiency is as described above :)

[MrDinnertime]

Hey, Sean.

Any idea what the difference is, for plants, between Efficiency and Seed Efficiency?

Thanks!