fixed reaction forces on collisions with tall vertical walls in the "Blocks" world (previously, in 2 out of 4 wall orientations, creatures could tunnel through such walls instead of bouncing back) improvements in the UI Android: better control over FPS, dependent on display and system preferences in the default "Move" tracking camera mode, the abrupt camera jump to target is prevented when the target (tracked selection) is changed before the ongoing change animation finishes improvements in the UI Android: more robust handling of margin (safe area, display cutout) changes added documentation for fields and modes of TrackingCam added a few missing classes to classdoc and its index pages non-ascii characters entered into the genotype edit field no longer cause issues reduced semi-transparent shadow margins around app windows in Windows 10 and 11 improvements in the UI "playground" room: multiple creatures can be simulated, and they are saved so the playground state can persist across app runs "playground" room: individual creatures can be cloned and deleted "playground" room: added an option to toggle energy consumption (creatures can die when they run out of energy; users can feed them to prevent this) "playground" room: added an option to toggle the visibility of the neural network window "evolution" room: added an option for only-brain mutations (to preserve body design in evolution) the water level setting is no longer shared between the "playground" room and the "evolution" room, as this may have caused confusion for some users more complete help messages in each room improvements in the UI f9: the colors of the sticks now match the colors of letters for genes, making it easier to connect genes with their phenotypic expressions improvements in the UI Android: sharing screenshots available Android: sharing a genotype as a *.gen file instead of a plain text string Android: the app can open *.gen files and import selected genotypes Android: support for cursor keys/pad navigation in UI Android: resolved the missing background image and the "pink water" visual glitch on specific devices improvements in the UI scale all ground forces by Part mass to remove the gravity versus ground reaction inconsistency for Parts of different masses (i.e., having a different number of attached Joints). As a result, heavier Parts of a flat structure resting on the ground are no longer lower below zero the center of gravity (COG), which is used to calculate the "velocity" criterion and whose vertical coordinate is used as the "vertpos" criterion, is now calculated as the average of Part coordinates weighted by their mass. Previously, masses (which are proportional to the number of attached Joints) were ignored and the average was not weighted f9: less diversifying, more distance-preserving (DPX) crossover (children now have a similar length to parents). Additionally, avoids cutpoints that would cause a simple swap of complete parent genotypes improved "demo mode": no longer stops refreshing the world view entirely during the "pure simulation period", just decreases refresh rate significantly using standard mechanisms, and thus is handled in a standard way and less confusing to user fixed saving dissimilarity matrix header comment improvements in the UI properly scale the width of sticks improvements in the UI throttle FPS in the genotype viewer mode a graphical user interface ("Artificial Life") released for mobile devices, also works on desktop Framsticks is available as a library, Python bindings and modules are also provided no more default.sim file loaded at startup; for each experiment definition, its parameter values are reset to defaults when the experiment definition is set all genotypes in the official *.gen files now come from FEC and have warnings fixed FEC has a 3D preview of genotypes basic functionality of Creature Editor moved Foraminifera genotypes from other.gen to foraminifera.gen default OpenGL visualization style shows r,g,b colors of Parts and Joints (previously, only green was used proportionally to assimilation ability) fixed OpenGL shadows on some less capable graphics cards fixed OpenGL lighting (would occasionally change location when removing creatures) energy transfers are visualized as lines or moving particles movement, frictional drag and pressure against ground are visualized as "dust" Creature objects can now be partially serialized (information like Creature's location and basic properties can be saved and restored, see CreatureSnapshot) fixed displaying the 3D orientation of muscles detection of duplicate property definitions (expdefs, neurons, shows, styles) Simulator.usercode can be imported/loaded from .sim and .expt files a number of additional "info" fields introduced in Genotype for consistency with FEC separated f0 and f0s genetic formats (for ball-and-stick models and for solid shape models) introduced dedicated muscles and receptors for solid shape models introduced the new fn genetic encoding for general numerical optimization introduced the new fS genetic encoding for solid 3D shapes added three new/reimplemented encodings: fH (which is updated f2), fB (which is updated f3) and fL (which is updated f8) when building a Model, "checkpoints" (stages of development) can be indicated and visualized, and this is implemented for f1, f4, f9, fF, fH, fB, fL, fS f1 and f4: calculating angles and rotations is now more precise f1 and f4: unified handling of "modifier genes" f1 and f4: "excluded modifiers" mutation parameter changed to "allowed modifiers", which also supports an extended syntax to optionally adjust the probabilty of each modifier separately f1 and f4: no longer sort modifier characters and cancel out antagonistic modifiers; simplifying modifier sequences is now much less intrusive to allow for 2^N distinct values of properties instead of only 2*N that resulted from earlier forced ordering f1: Cc and Qq modifiers work more consistently (they affect the following 'X' stick without skipping one stick) - old genotypes with CcQq will produce different phenotypes f1: fixed asymmetry in proportional crossover (the order of parents (first,second) was relevant) f1: when adding a neuron during mutation, if this neuron provides output, it gets connected to a random existing neuron that wants input f1: an insertion and a deletion of each type now have equal probability no matter how many possible insertions and deletions there are in a mutated genotype f4: numerous improvements and minor changes in syntax, so some old genotypes may become invalid or produce different phenotypes f4: added support for new API for neuron types f0, f0s, f1, and f4: color mutations have by default a very small (non-zero) probability, which also causes all body elements newly created by mutation to get a random color immediately on creation genetic converters may have official settings that influence the conversion procedure (in GUI: sub-branches in Parameters->Genetics->Converters) calculating geometric properties of a Model (volume, surface area, sizes and orientation) now supports genotypes that produce ball-and-stick Models added another, improved way of calculating the similarity measure; details here added the choice of the similarity method to use (new: flexible criteria order, optimal matching vs. classic: vertex degree order, greedy matching) Genotype.simi (used in diversity control and niching) is now avg(dissimilarity), not avg(1+dissimilarity) introduced a new useful script: find best genotype on average Simulator.usercode can now override any expdef function, not just events introduced 4 configurable VM timeouts (stopping or just warning, due to exceeded time or the number of VM operations) - Simulator.vm... introduced Simulator.stop_on: a running simulation will be stopped when a message is emitted with at least the selected level of severity the order of collisions between pairs of Creatures is now by default randomized in each simulation step, which may prevent unfair biases in some experiments ODE simulation 0.11 updated to 0.14 which includes this fix that caused occasional crashes of the T receptor in Windows apps introduced ODE linear (present earlier but implemented in a different way) and angular (new) damping ODE simulation uses double precision in Linux, just like it always used in Windows Parts do not have "mass" property anymore (use "density" to adjust mass) user scripts can now have separate main() and main_args() functions, with only main() (no arguments variant) visible in GUI as a button underwater placement improved (for negative "Initial elevation" parameter values) standard-eval.expdef more flexible: evaluation plans support evaluating many genotypes with many simulator settings and many performance criteria; outputs results in JSON format fixed accessing neuron properties when private properties were not defined as the last ones fixed heighfield intersection calculation used by the touch (T) receptor strict parsing of genotype format prefix genetic format IDs can be longer than one character (such as "0s") more strict parsing of property definitions and, in general, objects loaded from files in CLI (and server), an input line ended with a backslash can be continued in the next line fixed double citation problem in CLI (and server) many other fixes and improvements improved FPS control - reacts instantly to changes improved performance of Genotype and Creature lists Model (in the Body and Brain window) is no longer recreated/reassigned (and so neural probes are no longer lost) when other Genotypes/Creatures are deleted/die added a new option in menu: "Import selected..." for importing selected data from files saved by Framsticks separately displays numbers of unread messages, errors, warnings fixed strange behavior of manipulator when using ODE simulation and grabbing a creature under water fixed incorrect genotype-phenotype mapping in genotype edit window for multi-line genotypes (like f0) fixed genealogical trees not following parameters set by user and always using defaults introduced a new const keyword for defining constants introduced the conditional operator (a?b:c) accessing a non-global variable that was declared outside of a function causes a compilation error accessing nonexistent dictionary keys is now an ERROR protected against duplicate function definitions Genotype.data and Creature.data are general-use dictionaries; user1/2/3 fields become deprecated dictionaries can be accessed using the -> syntax: object->name equals object["name"] equals object.get("name") FunctionReference now documented and available (earlier called JumpTarget) added Vector.clone() and Dictionary.clone() added Dictionary.hasKey() added Math.tan() added String.toJSON() and String.trim() TrackingCam.cam_world makes camera behavior consistent in all Framsticks apps changing values of TrackingCam fields: cam_dir or cam_h triggers camera update removed three "energy balance" fields (energy_p, energy_m, energy_b) from the Creature object. The energy field is now modified directly new Creature.transferEnergyTo() function new Creature.num field with behavior analogous to Genotype.num new GenMan.toLaTeX() function to print genotypes in the LaTeX format, preserving colors and styles some objects and fields renamed, including Fields→NeuroProperties, ExpParams→ExpProperties, ShowParams→ShowProperties, VisParams→VisProperties, and prop:→property: fields center_xyz,pos_xyz,size_xyz and moveAbs() are now deprecated and replaced by Creature.bboxLow/High/Center/Size/centerOfGravity and moveBboxLow()/moveBboxCenter() new scripts/standard_exploadsave.inc script file contains useful, general functions to save and restore simulator state fixed incorrect stack allocation in some cases of &&, ||, and for(x in null) && and || operators always return one of the input expressions (previously the result was in some cases simplified to 0 or 1) Vector and Dictionary iteration is possible: for(x in vect), for(x in dict), for(x in dict.keys) improved classdoc formatting and layout internal string implementation more efficient in multi-threaded computation fixed parsing of some very specific f0 genotypes added an experiment definition that simulates Foraminifera reproduction invalid user scripts are not added to UserScripts prints (more) warnings when unexpected contents is encountered while loading files 5 new fields are saved in *.gen files for each genotype: number of parts/joints/neurons/connections and is_valid many other fixes and improvements fixed crashes when opening the "Spy" window or the "Body & Brain" window for a Creature properties of genotypes displayed on the gene pool lists are now properly updated no more huge delays when removing creatures from large populations fixed rare crashes on exit a few functions and fields have been renamed; old versions issue a "deprecated" warning message improvements and new features in reproduction.expdef, imagesaver.show, and others numparts, numjoints, numneurons, numconnections in Genotype are now integer, not floating point characters with codes higher than 127 are no longer ignored on Linux and OS X, uses colors in output (can be disabled) on Windows, properly displays UTF8-encoded characters fixed the ?? command in the command-line interface command-line interface can be used to generate POV-Ray frames for 3D rendering; see cliutils.ini morphological similarity measure is now able to determine a geometric component fixed very rare non-deterministic crashes when closing the "Edit Genotype" window slightly changed info/warning/error message formatting fixed povray-export, image-export and scene-export directory settings many other fixes and improvements improved information about location of errors ("stack" with function calls and line numbers in files) unified and improved comparison operators (no more "first type wins") parentheses in typeof() are now mandatory added built-in conversion functions: int(), float(), string() typeof() returns plain names of core types instead of numeric constants introduced short-circuit evaluation of && and || fixed switch/case fall through. Previously, each case not ending with break jumped to default: when present case labels do not have to be constant new math operator semantics: extended mixed int/float to float, forbidden number+notnumber support for multi-threading; a few experiments have multi-threaded versions 32-bit Mersenne twister used as a random number generator files with genotypes, settings, scripts, 3D objects, etc., are now in the data subdirectory genetic f0 support for Part shapes other than a ball: cuboids, cylinders and ellipsoids; examples added to theater in the genotype viewer (-g) mode fixed enforcing states of channeled neuron outputs when a genetic operation fails, more details are provided in the Geno's info field about reasons of failure invalid genotypes resulting from f1 crossing over have a chance to be corrected correction procedure for f1 genotypes properly handles whitespaces in the list of neuron inputs, and can correct more invalid cases: ,, and ,] Added geometric properties of a Model (volume, surface area, sizes and orientation) updated open source, including genetic converters and operators: the 3D turtle f9 encoding and a new Foraminifera fF encoding The name of the Sf (Smell food) neuron changed to S1 (Smell population #1) and introduced neuron S0 (Smell population #0). See smell_0.neuro and smell_1.neuro sources are now 32-bit and 64-bit compatible; linux and macos binaries are 64-bit ParamInterface::load() warns on unknown fields while loading files hundreds of other fixes and improvements in wireframe display mode, Parts and Joints are shown as simple meshes, not just points and lines the GUI no longer shows the total number of simulation steps. Instead, it shows "checkpoint data" for each thread, which, in case of the "standard" experiment, is the number of creature evaluations. Checkpoints may be defined in a different way in other experiment definitions, and may publish other kinds of data hover mouse over the status line in the top right corner to see a summary of status fields for each simulator (thread) updated toolbar icons and status labels GUI and Theater are now high-DPI aware "Body & brain" windows display "genotype"/"creature" text in their captions to reduce confusion on what they show fixed file extension associations (.gen, .sim, .expt) in the genotype edit window, the genotype is shown in bigger font when it is short fixed displaying crossing over operations in the phylogenetic analysis window added support for Unicode international characters updated exporting world and creatures to POV-Ray new functions make old-style functions that used static gene pool/population/genotype/creature indexes obsolete new syntax for loops: for(elem in container) enumerates all elements of Vectors, GenePools, Populations, and other relevant objects var can be used inside the first for expression: for(var i=0;i<10;i++) ... the three expressions inside the for loop are now optional and can be empty like in C/C++/Java: for(var i=1;(++i)<10;) ... multiline strings can be embedded in source code using three quotation marks or three apostrohpes serialization of Vector, Dictionary, and a few other classes support for multi-threading (multiple Simulator objects can be created); see prime-mt.expdef for an example Vector has a sort() function with an optional custom comparator added Math.randomize() added String.diff() better handling of floating point division by zero and overflow scripts calling undefined functions or field names will now compile without errors, but will fail at runtime global variables can no longer be accessed outside of their own script module. Use functions or other global objects (ExpParams, ExpState) if you need to pass data between modules; see scripts/dance.show for examples improved runtime error messages to provide more detailed error location "if" statements: testing for a condition using a likely misplaced "=" (instead of "==") triggers a warning new, simpler syntax for changing Vector and Dictionary elements: object[index]=value; which is equivalent to object.set(index,value); new Dictionary initializer expression: {"key":value, "key2":value2, ...} Vector objects can be spliced using + and += operators, as in [1,2,3]+["end"] Vectors and strings can be multiplicated using * and *= operators, as in [1,2]*5 or "abc"*2 String.format() function accepts multiple values, % operator works as a shortcut to String.format() fixed Math.time returning wrong time offset in Windows the colmask field changed into two fields: selfmask and othermask Simulator.expdef can be changed at runtime by setting a field or net-loading an experiment file, so starting the CLI/server with initial experiment definition ("ex expdefname") is no longer required console window has an animated caption that provides information about the simulation fixed a bug that disallowed changing a visual style in the genotype viewer mode (see -help option) muscles encoded in a "new" way in f1 genotypes now behave as in "old" f1 (this concerns their default "power" and "range" properties) warnings are displayed when properties are assigned values out of allowed range minor improvement in the "add neuron" mutation in f1 (only affects the "N" neuron) added options to control determinism in ODE simulation a number of other improvements the "Mutate" button in the Genotype window works again continuous rotate works in the OpenGL body view (just like in the wireframe view) fixed an extremely rare problem with the "FPS" choice listbox floating point notation with positive exponent now handles the "+" sign (you can write 1e5 or 1e+5) fixed break and continue that would not work in nested loops in some situations fixed Genotype.mutate() that did not work (regression caused by this change) fixed a bug in the Genotype-to-Model relationship the behavior of String.split and String.split2 is now consistent with the documentation three neurons with specific short names (*, |, @) can be accessed as neuadd_Constant, neuadd_Bend_muscle, and neuadd_Rotation_muscle constants in scripts have much higher precision when used in calculations files can be saved in subdirectories of the scripts_output directory goto no longer supported; it was dangerous in some cases added deepVectorCopy.script in the scripts_sample directory - an example code of vector "deep copy" fixed parsing "\\" extensions, fixes and improvements in the networking protocol fixed order of neural inputs in the f1 genetic encoding fixed a rare hang-up in the "Inverse-proportionally to fitness" deletion method mutated connection weights are unlimited (previously the range was -10..10) [source] another approach to allowed ranges of mutated values (was: absorb, now: reflect) [source] added new script: neuro_inspection.script, useful for analyses of selected neural states and NN dynamics in a creature added new script: regular_shapes.script, generates sample shapes: truss, sponge, tower, grids and meshes the Delay and Threshold neurons now accept any number of inputs fixed extremely rare 'invalid write access' exception when a neural probe window was closed in NN diagrams, non-default values of neural properties are displayed in tooltips improved layout of NN diagrams higher resolution panoramas in OpenGL views Pulse neuron (impulse generator that supports randomness) added in the scripts_sample subdirectory most neurons have dedicated symbols now (added symbols for Delay, Threshold and others) new option to add Gaussian random noise to neural outputs in settings files, GenotypeGroup and CreaturesGroup are now changed to GenePool and Population 'boids.expdef' and the corresponding theater show now feature obstacle avoidance a number of other improvements Signals view settings are now accessible from the context menu in the World window fixed exporting to POV-Ray: it would crash when the "robot arm" was in use when seeding population, names of genetic encodings are displayed the FPS set in the "Artificial world" window is adjusted more accurately no longer displays unnecessary warning when a neuron is selected in *.script files (a.k.a. macros), function main() should be used as an entry point. Free (outside of functions) code should be avoided to ensure compatibility with Framclipse new UserScripts class allows to call any of the *.script macros new classes: CreatureSettings and NeuronsSimEnabled it is now possible to iterate all Dictionary keys and/or values. This feature was previously documented but not implemented three new ways of accessing NeuroClass: NeuroClassLibrary.getClass(name), Neuro.classObject, NeuroDef.classObject onKill() event names changed to onDied() checking the genotype for errors in Geno and Genotype objects is now more consistent occasionally, memory addresses of some variables were incorrectly displayed as 00000000 (it was rare and harmless) improved detection of some types of errors in scripts standard_loadsave.inc now much more versatile, can handle any number of gene pools and populations users can now easily create custom icons for script neurons added another simulation engine - ODE - for accurate mechanical simulation physical simulation can be disabled/enabled on a per-object basis (Population.bodysim and Creature.bodysim) simple single-Part agents are now easier to handle using enhanced script Creature object: moveLocal and rotateLocal (manage agent movement in its local coordinates), and drive and localDrive (enforce constant speed bypassing physical simulation). Creature.orient, Creature.localToWorld, Creature.worldToLocal are available for more sophisticated uses touch receptor (T) can now act as a proximity sensor in the Block world environment (previously it only handled the flat world). The detection range is adjustable. The change only affects the proximity aspect, touch detection works regardless of the environment. Custom sensors similar to T can be created using the enhanced WorldMap.intersect function (now it also returns the intersection distance) self-collisions (within a creature body) can occur when using the ODE simulation engine. If enabled, creatures with self-colliding genotypes are not born, and others will have their sticks collide during lifespan substantial extensions in the 'standard.expdef' - new options include multiple evaluation, logs with average and best fitness, stagnation detection with automatic stopping and saving best genotypes added 'boids.expdef', a classic simulation of 3D flocking behavior added 'learn_food.expdef', an experiment definition that illustrates lifetime knowledge sharing and its influence on finding resources and exploration/exploitation of the environment added 'framsbots.expdef' added brainSimplifier.script (a macro that removes all neurons that do not influence effectors in brains) added new genotypes (models3d.gen file) converted from existing 3D objects added 'Extended mutation info' parameter in Genetics: allows to store information about used mutation method (method ID or name) for each mutated genotype fixed standard placement: creatures were shifted new OpenGL style, spooksticks new OpenGL style, standard-stress: shows stress on joints in MechaStick in the 'standard' OpenGL style, creature names can be displayed near creatures ("Show names" option) in the 'whitevoid' OpenGL style, options added to hide neurons, to adjust stick width and to show a plane of body symmetry added Body disturbance and Initial movement parameters that can add random noise to creatures built (see Simulation parameters. Creature: Imperfection) added Minimal joint length and Maximal joint length parameters (see Simulation parameters. Creature: Body constraints) advanced mechanical simulation parameters added at World: ODE Parameters in ODE, sticks can be boxes, not only cylinders added countermeasures against "never steady" creatures: "Kill if no stabilization after" option and adjustable distance threshold in population settings validation of f0 genetic encoding can fix too long joints fixed genetic f0-->f0 conversion (last line of the source genotype was lost) fixed revroulette method (influences Delete genotypes:Inverse-proportionally to fitness). Results were bogus in some situations and the program could hang up adjustable neural network simulation speed (number of NN simulation steps per one mechanical simulation step) separate "sampling period" setting for the stabilization phase items found in the class browser search are now sorted alphabetically high resolution timers used in all applications lots of other improvements and fixes the manipulator in the wireframe view is drawn as a well-known "robot hand" again better visualization of food items ("balls") and single-Part creatures (/*0*/p:) that were previously invisible you can save all vector images (NN schema view, body view) as a vector SVG file in the "Simulation Parameters" window, settings for similarity and neurons are moved to a new "Creature" group fixed centering of all windows so that Windows task bar location and size is considered fixed size of the tiny "up/down" controls in all parameter windows (could be too large if a specific font size was selected in Windows) errors in f0 genotypes are no longer reported multiple times handles any number of groups (gene pools, populations) properly supports deleting any group (earlier: only the last group) fixed crash when using manipulator and exporting frames to POV-Ray new POV-Ray graphics style: 'ghost' improved the 'autumn' POV-Ray graphics style improved the 'wookie' POV-Ray graphics style updated and added sample files to the distribution povray\ subdirectory fixed POV-Ray export: joints (sticks) of specific orientation would disappear for some creatures Signal object facilitates inter-creature communication. Can be used in NN control (see the fireflies.show and custom neurons: light.neuro and seelight.neuro) and in more sophisticated scripting (boids.expdef) new classes for simplified 3D manipulation: XYZ (3D vector) and Orient (3D orientation matrix), see boids.expdef for a sample code reference operator (&) enables passing variables "by reference". See Ref object for a sample code onMouseClick/Move/Unclick handlers in the .show and .expdef scripts. See playwithfood.show for a sample code and explanation. fixed a bug in small constant numbers - e.g. Simulator.print(0.000003) would output 3 new: estimation of bilateral symmetry of Models and Creatures - see the Symmetry class and calcSymmetry.script in the scripts subdirectory) new class: Shapes, to define objects appearance in the "wireframe" view (see also springSticks.script in the scripts subdirectory) new sample script that prints coordinates of Parts for all creatures (see the printCoords.script in the scripts subdirectory) fixed bug in Neuro.neuroproperties for custom neurons (the most recently created instance of the neuron object could only be accessed) added Simulator.eval(src) function which evaluates in runtime simple FramScript source code added toString fields in Vector and Dictionary. You will see contents of these arrays when converting them to string added Neuro.def, Neuro.joint, Neuro.part, MechJoint.part1, MechJoint.part2 fields (references to NeuroDef, MechJoint, MechPart) added MechPart.vz added Creature.index added LiveLibrary.findCreatureAt(point,vector) added GenMan.getSimplest(format), returns the simplest Geno for a given genetic encoding added Simulator.beep(), Simulator.sleep(millis), Simulator.sound(Hz,millis) new, more comprehensible collision masks (see Population.selfmask and Population.othermask) collision masks can be changed during simulation new on[GroupName]CrCollision event (called only once per creatures pair) - can be used instead of the old event (called for each pair of colliding sticks) to improve performance added "neurons:" field in .expdef script files. This field specifies neurons to be loaded together with the experiment definition. This feature can be used for developing neurons relying on a specific experiment definition. The default value for the "neurons:" field (assumed when the field is not specified in expdef) is "std,*.neuro", which loads all standard neurons and all custom neurons from *.neuro files (as did all previous versions of Framsticks). default values defined in expdef's properties (prop:...) and state variables (state:...) are no longer ignored estimating (dis)similarity of Models moved from the GenMan class to the new Similarity class added new formats for time (%t and %T) in class String. String.format("%t",Math.time) returns current time formatted like "Sun Apr 29 19:22:02 2007", while "%T" gives "2007-04-29 19:22:02" added functions: Math.atan2(y,x), Math.pow(a,b), Math.min(x,y), Math.max(x,y) and Math.sign(value) LiveLibrary, GenotypeLibrary, CreaturesGroup, GenotypeGroup have been renamed to Populations, GenePools, Population, and GenePool. Many other functions have also been renamed for consistency. See the 'rename.sh' script in the scripts_sample subdirectory if you need detailed information. new menu and window system - no longer based on a context menu 'Demo mode' - switch between shows at predefined intervals (usage: theater "ShowManager.switchmode=2;", see switchmode, switchtime, switchshows in the ShowManager class) Framsticks Viewer is now included in the Framsticks Theater (see the -g switch). There is no separate "viewer" application double right mouse click and shift+right mouse click can be used to access additional user actions new, automatic control of simulation speed added 'boids.show', a classic simulation of 3D flocking behavior added 'fireflies.show', a simple example of inter-creature communication using custom neurons added 'learn_food.show', a show that illustrates lifetime knowledge sharing and its influence on finding resources and exploration/exploitation of the environment added 'framsbots.show' added beat (sound) to the 'dance.show' Framsticks Server is no longer a separate application. The CLI (Command-line Interface) can act as a server, see the -n option added hierarchical and combined queries with the "+" sign, like
get /simulator({expdef,running},/populations/groups/+/creatures/+({name,energy},/(parts{x,y,z},joints{p1,p2}))) introduced version 4 of the server protocol and a new "request_id" command no longer breaks large data chunks on Windows other improvements and fixes New server, CMS-based site and forum New movie: autumn style and rigid body simulation gravity can be adjusted (World parameters) new option to prevent building a creature if its genotype is not entirely correct (Error reporting/Fail on warnings) in all experiment definitions, new option to control initial orientation of newborn creatures three new OpenGL styles (football, space and laboratory) fixed an old problem with 3D objects disappearing occasionally in the OpenGL view fixed (for compatibility) the neuroanalysis.expdef fixed rare problem in neuroanalysis.expdef: square_root(small_negative_number) fixed behavior of experiment definitions loaded one after another added the "mazes" experiment definition to evaluate (and evolve) creatures moving between two specified points in a maze added the "evolution demo" experiment definition that visually shows the mechanisms of evolution (selection, mutation, crossing over, fitness, optimization) added the "text writer" experiment definition (as well as the fonts.gen file) to display moving texts built of letter-like creatures defined default values for the most important simulator parameters the simulator is now reset to its default state before changing or reloading experiment definitions and before loading experiments. A parameter in the Files section can be used to restore the old behavior. The simulator can also be reset to default on demand (from the GUI or script) OpenGL standard.style sets brightness of creatures according to their energy level OpenGL matrix.style assigns random colors to food pieces (depicted as computers) fixed occasional "Invalid FP operation" bug when displaying creature models in OpenGL fixed 'f0' mutation bug for "change part position" operation (it returned only -1..1 absolute coordinates) fixed 'f0' rare mutation bug which caused an invalid memory access when the Joint was deleted from the Part-Joint-Part genotype fixed 'f0' rare bug which might cause an invalid memory access when removing a neural connection fixed 'f1' mutation parameters (probabilities for neural weights and neural properties were mixed) neurons can now provide 2D drawings to illustrate how they work. This new 2D probe accompanies the standard signal-versus-time probe forced (from genotype) initialization of neural state 's' for N and Nu neurons is now immediate (previously, the state has been initialized only after the neuron started working) fixed bug in the Delay neuron (scripts/delay.neuro file) fixed bugs in the experimental VEye neuron, and enhanced its capabilities added an experimental visual-motor cortex ("VMotor") neuron for VEye new, general-purpose "i" property in neural connection (available in f0) mutation in 'f0' can respect the "delete inhibit" and "modify inhibit" tags in neural connections command-line simulator fixed so that it stops when the experiment is finished (as in neuroanalysis.expdef and standard-eval.expdef) performance sampling period is now strictly obeyed (previously, sampling periods could be shorter when the performance calculation was suspended and re-enabled during simulation) random heightfield map now uses the whole available area (previously, it was clipped) sample elevation maps added: heightfield_Europe.sim, heightfield_NAmerica.sim, heightfield_Moon.sim new genotypes available in the *.gen files this file (history) is now an XML file type definition syntax for properties slightly changed: "type[subtype] min max default ~enum~..." instead of "type min max [subtype] ~enum~..." internal windows (used by probes and charts) can no longer get lost outside of the visible area when the parent window shrinks other improvements and fixes nested functions are reported as errors variable scope for declarations inside if/else/for/while is properly limited, which helps in detecting bugs like this: if (1) var x; x=3; (undefined variable 'x') Simulator.load now resets the simulator state to default Simulator.import does not switch the experiment definition unless the new flag (64) is used Simulator.save and Simulator.export can be used in any context in the script, but are restricted to the "scripts_output" directory Simulator.import's "flag" argument is now optional Creature and Genotype event functions are no longer required to preserve values of LiveLibrary.creature and GenotypeLibrary.genotype; they are maintained automatically fixed bug in object.[expression]=expression; fixed usage of (object_expression) instead of (object_expression!=null) - which also fixes the Sf neuron fixed bug in expression.member+=..., expression.member*=... etc. added Neuro.neuroproperties which provides access to custom neuron fields in Creatures scripting neurons have their default public fields set according to their extended "prop: type" value new Model.numconnections field (analogous to Genotype.nncon) neuron connection information and weights can be retrieved from NeuroDef objects (i.e. from the Model), see NeuroDef.getInput... methods MechPart orientation available for scripting String.split returns null for the null argument scientific notation (1e23) is now supported in scripts and string-to-number conversions hexadecimal notation (0x...) is recognized during string->integer conversion, as in x=1+"0xA" Creature.rotate(rx,ry,rz) function added Creature.buildproblems field added "style" object renamed to "VisualStyle" new *_model_update functions for *.style files new field, VisualModel.color, can be used to paint the whole model new fields: VisualModel.style, VisualModel.args, VisualModel.getArg can be used in *.style scripts new field, VertexBuilder.twosided, to create two-sided polygons easier than with Material.disable(GL.CULL_FACE) new functions in the Math object new "creaturescircle.script" macro, which arranges living creatures in a circle, and puts the tallest in the middle fixed problems with @include used in visual style subdirectories fix: in script-defined neuron files, public and private fields can be declared in any order added an option to reduce the number of genotypes by identifying the best subset of representatives the Body & Brain animations are no longer stopped when the simulation is running but stopped by some modal window fixed occasional "Division by 0" bug when displaying hints for neurons in big neural networks Each "Export current scene" for POV-Ray regenerates the world.inc file added the 'povray' subdirectory with sample *.pov files and various rendering styles (standard, robot, planet, matrix, etc.) new POV-Ray rendering styles: autumn (chestnuts and matches) and wookie (from Star Wars) a message is displayed when trying to probe a non-living neuron (genotype-based instead of creature-based) the 'scripts_output' subdirectory is automatically created during installation added new "evolution demonstration" and "text writer" shows the simulator state is reset to default before a new show is loaded the new DynaChart2D class is available (for X/Y charts). See the reproduction.show for an example all show definitions have been adjusted to use the new and safe Simulator.import instead of Simulator.load the "Quit" menu item is automatically added if a show doesn't supply its own "quit" property added the official Framsticks tutorial added summary of all experiment definitions and their settings enhanced FramScript classes documentation FramScript syntax highlighting configurations available for some editors FramScript beautifier available muscles obey forced (neuroprobe) stimulation OpenGL height field ground is now rendered properly (was shifted by one unit) in 'standard.expdef', superfluous creatures/food items are removed following the population capacity value that has been set added 'standard-eval.expdef', an experiment definition which accurately evaluates all loaded genotypes one by one charts can be drawn in the 'reproduction.expdef' (added Simulator.checkpoint() call) mutation in f0 can respect the new "delete inhibit" and "modify inhibit" tags which can be set individually for each Part, Joint and Neuro crossing over in f0 preserves bodies when parent bodies are identical camera rotation using mouse click fixed (would sometimes ignore mouse control) "NN random initialization" parameter now really influences the initialization added an experimental vector eye ("VEye") receptor world size limit increased to 1000 units other improvements and fixes operators ++, --, +=, -=, *=, etc. work in all cases: with variables, object members and globals more detailed runtime error reporting (null objects, field/function mistakes) Vector.clear() and Dictionary.clear() bugs fixed Dictionary.find(), Vector.find(), Vector.avg() and Vector.stdev() added division by zero errors are handled by the Framsticks Virtual Machine now renamed "cam" to "TrackingCam" (only affects the *.show files) Simulator.autosave() name changed to Simulator.checkpoint() - used for performance sampling for charts, and for autosave matrix.style rewritten using FramScript (FVM assembler was earlier used) fixed a bug when using manipulator intensively, which would sometimes cause an exception teleportation is blocked while using manipulator on a creature fixed a problem of retaining old show settings when a new show is selected fixed a problem of disappearing "Visual style" submenu more OpenGL visual styles manipulator can be used to grab creatures added the "dance", "race" and "touch of life" shows "presentation" show instead of "walking" and "swimming" shows "F" key can be used to display/hide the current frames per second rate show improvements attributes and functions are sorted alphabetically 'creation placement' option added in "standard.expdef" (possible values are 'Random' and 'Central') "standard-tricks.expdef" file added as an example of advanced fitness customizations and forced creature movement "standard-log.expdef": similarity reports and gene pool dump added "standard-maze.expdef" file added as a sample of simple maze experiment all *.gen files with genotypes are based on the Framsticks Experimentation Center checkout connection weight for muscles is now effective, which may affect compatibility of some genotypes muscle input signal is now reduced to the [-1,+1] interval (affects only rare input neurons with weight>1.0) Genotype's "Copies" changed to "Instances" (better name) statistics averages take into account the number of genotype instances now OpenGL 3D large worlds are no longer clipped OpenGL ground plane is rendered lower so that creatures are more visible in OpenGL styles with dedicated subdirectories, the style file name must be "this.style" improved generic mutation procedure for integer and floating point properties fixed a bug in mutation of integer neuron properties (which caused "Invalid FP operation" message) f0 mutation will not add parallel neuron connections now f1 proportional crossover redesigned: preserves the number of parent neurons in children f4 mutation probabilities are now more clear and user-friendly new, general-purpose "i" property in Part, Joint and Neuro objects (available in f0 and scripting) "M"-type map allows for more flexible world heights definition bug fixed (genetic operations referring to the scripting neurons) Vstyle can be changed after the creature is built (but before it is displayed) #include "filename" can be used in any framsticks format files (gen, sim, expt, expdef, etc.) genotype user1/2/3 fields are no longer skipped when reading files NN layout function improved Class Browser provides more detailed information about functions and object fields beautified all FramScript source files other improvements and fixes @include "filename" available new operators: % (modulo), << (shift left), >> (shift right) do...while loop available fixed the "return inside switch" bug (object_expression) can be used instead of (object_expression!=null) ClassName.* notation introduced for static object references added function references ("call" and "function" operators) pointers to functions available access to Simulator.time added neuron definitions can be reloaded files can appear immediately, without closing the File object (File.createDirect/appendDirect/flush) numerous extensions of classes (Creature, Geno, Model, File, String, and many others) File.createDirect(...) allows to save directly to a file within the "scripts_output" subdirectory advanced random generators available in the Math object Dictionary object fixed functions can have multiple names ("function a,b,c()") UserEvents are now in FramScript - no VM assembler (see scripts/standard_events.inc) senseCreaturesProperty can be used for Vectors (eg. "user1[7]") Genotype 'user' field values handled properly when operating on Genotype new "onUpdate" events (analogous to onKill and onBorn events) better protection against some programming errors improved program behavior when it is invoked from another directory performances of individuals are now refreshed for all populations performances of individuals can be sorted the number of genotype instances is now reported in the caption of the gene pools window when resizing columns, all groups (gene pools/populations) are affected now added the "Console" window for entering FramScript commands directly keyboard shortcuts can now be used to show/hide windows simulator statistics charts added simulation speed can be limited by the frames-per-second setting in the World window added "Save" button for "memory files" generated by Framsticks in runtime performance charts can be cleared selecting individual Parts is now supported in Body&Brain windows, and mapping to corresponding genes is handled more command-line arguments, including many visual style options first official release! numerous updates introduced argument names and types for procedure calls numerous updates new "blocks-style" movie the Messages window is cleared every 500 messages fixed exporting of the World window OpenGL images when any of the world scene exports is enabled, "[exporting]" appears in the title bar improved f0 crossing over for f0 genotypes with relative ("delta") joints f0 crossing over now tries to repair offspring with exceeded maximal joint length beautified all genotypes in .gen files added "Validate" GUI command for genotypes (forces genotype validation; should not be generally needed) mouse wheel and middle-button drag control zoom in FramsView Ctrl-C and Ctrl-Break are handled in scripts (onBreak) and command-line ("simulate until interrupt") fixed the \" problem in the FramScript compiler improved handling of global variables in FramScript added unary minus operator in FramScript added String.format function in FramScript (works like sprintf()) fixed bug in Math.time under MS Windows (was going in reverse direction) fixed "save file" ("sa") bug in command-line new version of Framsticks Experimentation Center (FEC) site available Framsticks_Manual.pdf available, containing the most important HTML reference pages new movie available on the web site (fuzzy control) web site and documentation updates many other improvements fixed displaying "user fields" in genotypes ChMux (channel multiplexer) neuron fix ChMux_Test source added as an example ("chmux.neuro" file) neural network drawing can be configured in Body windows (none/neurons only/full) "standard-log.expdef" file added as an example (logs all genetic operations) fixed different green OpenGL textures for different stick assimilation levels added toHTMLshort action in GenMan (returns a shortened genotype as colored HTML) added more detailed descriptions for neurons other improvements and fixes fixed syntax problem with unknown ID while rendering some *.pov files fixed invalid memory access when enabling POV-Ray export fixed "matrix" OpenGL style added FramScript documentation (contexts, classes, ...) "arena" and "matrix" OpenGL style source files translated from FVM assembler to FramScript improved refreshing gene pool data in some cases other improvements and fixes improved handling of minimum/maximum/default values for properties neuron state computation protected against huge values (>10^10) fixed problems with GUI list sorting (which might have caused program instability) new, better algorithm for estimating similarity; old method also improved improved "Compare/Cluster" window added option to save dissimilarity matrix in a text file fixed bug in generational.expdef (regarding default fitness formula) added reproduction.expdef, a simple spontaneous evolution demo experiment shadows under apples in OpenGL view are properly cast added toHTML action in GenMan, which prints a HTML-colored genotype optimized f4 genetic operations added quiet mode (-Q) in command-line added switch statement (switch/case/default keywords) in FramScript added vectors (arrays) and [] operator in FramScript rewritten 3dobj\*.style files from FVM assembler to FramScript added "Smell food" neuron (Sf) and "Noisy" neuron (Nn) - defined in scripts\*.neuro files "Water detector" and "Energy level" neurons are no longer experimental added "cliutils.ini" file for command-line frams. It provides samples of frams batch usage other improvements and bug fixes (fitness/similarity, "Threshold" neuron) neural network drawing can be configured in World windows (none/neurons only/full) updated similarity measure improved stability in water of sticks with high volume Part's volume (vol) property replaced by density (dn) fixed "Invalid FP operation" for Sinus and Water neurons updated 'standard.expdef' (caused program hang-up when removing worst genotypes) optimized drawing of UPGMA clustering line comments in command-line interface can now be written //like this fixed autosave bug fixed problem with exceeding gene pool capacity in some situations standard experiment definition: added "creation height" parameter standard experiment definition: added "food's genotype" parameter optimized normalization of performance values energy income and energy balance values support ingesting energy balls added two methods: Math.seed and Math.time better discrimination between sources in FVM assembler and FramScript number of parameters is checked in FVM calls fixed problem with refreshing Groups window when groups are removed Performance Charts: only reasonable properties can be selected and visualised command line interface: improved command-line parameters other improvements POV-Ray export feature added OpenGL image export feature added high-level programming language (FramScript) translator for FVM (Framsticks Virtual Machine) class browser to browse available FVM classes, functions, variables, etc. new experiment definitions: generational.expdef and neuroanalysis.expdef added "Aging time" parameter responsible for increasing idle metabolism energy balance considers assimilation, muscle static work, and muscle dynamic work change in standard.expdef: 'idle metabolism' parameter concerns single step (no longer 100 steps) 'data' subdirectory renamed to 'scripts'; 'data\*' no longer used genetic operators (mutation, crossover) for f0 genotype format minor change in f0 genotype format: names of some properties must be explicitly specified improvements and changes in f1 format support for any (new) neurons in f1, as well as their properties old-style f1 genotypes still recognized rewritten f1 genetic operators: better properties, better validation and checking f0 and f1 mutation uses the same procedures and has the same characteristics now improvements in syntax highlighting of f0 and f1 genotypes improvements in reporting and showing error position in genotypes f4 developmental encoding converter to f0 updated to follow new GDK standards (no more neuroitems, etc.) no more old GDK standard (neuroitems) in all Framsticks code GenMan behavior improved (checking, validating, mutating, crossing over) to follow new Geno_fx standards multiple genetic operators allowed for single genetic format (one of them must be active) better information about genetic operations count: valid, validated, invalid, failed generation counter added for each genotype support for multichannel neuron outputs many new neuron types added turning on/off simulation of particular neurons turning on/off mutation add of particular neurons (concerns f0 and f1 formats) removed display of normalized criteria and similarity values for genotypes improved performance when dealing with large gene pools: normalization and similarity computed on demand fix: neural probe did not appear instantly under some conditions water level is visible in world view "Build problems", if present, can be reviewed in Body&Brain windows' context menus better interface for multiple gene pools and populations drag and drop possible between gene pools and between populations added "Unsort" action in gene pools, and nicer sort column icons creatures' icons in populations lists depict their actual look (no longer size only) user actions are disabled when they are impossible to perform added "Mutate" action in genotype edit window "Flatten" option to improve exported scene files added error reporting level setting (details, summary, ignore) support for files generated by Framsticks on-the-fly (like neurons report) textures can be disabled now (simplifies OpenGL rendering) smooth shading can be disabled now (simplifies OpenGL rendering) other improvements and fixes, not visible but important rewritten and re-organized source. Only major changes mentioned below: added scripting assembler language and Framsticks Virtual Machine (FVM) experiment definitions and system behavior are now script-controlled! Most of v1.xx behaviors are now defined by a script file (standard experiment definition) OpenGL visualization is script-controlled! support for genotype grouping (in gene pools) and simulated objects grouping (in populations) f0 format announced; physical simulation engine uses f0 now GDK released which allows users/developers to cooperate with Framsticks genetics engine added phylogenetic analysis feature added similarity estimation/UPGMA clustering tree feature added trace of all genetic operations added genetics statistics added initial population seed added better control over all genetic format operators a few improvements in f1 genetic operators f1 only incompatibility: minor change (fix) in interpretation of 'L' modifier S (smell) receptor neural weight is no longer ignored improved and extended f4 developmental genetic format removed limitation of genotype length to 10000 characters fixed bug in sigma-truncation and linear scaling 'waiting4stabilization' period is now separated from performance measurement period measurement periods are now independent for each living individual "experiment state" support added: *.expt files contain state (snapshot) of experiment process all functions use 32-bit random number generator now simulation steps counter is now 64-bit fixed exception caused by very small performance values removed exception when running Framsticks.exe with no registry write rights added drag & drop of genotypes to individuals list and artificial world window added copy vector graphics (metafile) to clipboard for all applicable windows fixed interface bug "Division by zero" when setting update rate to "Ever" new engine for management of structural graphical objects employed visualization colors/look and user control are now platform-independent all simple views can be rotated - added 3D projection support optimized OpenGL texturing added structure view in OpenGL in NN view, connections' colors correspond to output signals, and inputs' colors correspond to weighted signals improved NN view, more options available improved camera support for multiple body&brain windows, as well as multiple world ("spy") windows support for many script events (world windows: shift + right mouse button) much improved body and brain windows; mutual connections between body and brain are visualized (selection) genotype window shows genes responsible for selected phenes (fragments of body and brain) much faster syntax highlighting (coloring genes) added 'hint' messages (little helpful infos) for many displayed objects sketch animation oscillates when the simulation is paused due to some reason layout now adjusts to work area size (observes taskbar location) added drag&drop of *.gen, *.sim, and *.expt files to the main window list windows are smarter improved generic parameters window added support for color selection and actions (buttons) colors for simple views can be adjusted added "unseen messages" count much nicer OpenGL visualization scene export in a range of file formats overall aesthetic improvements updated program documentation in English and Polish added program documentation in French