Vegetable

Overview:

Vegetable is one of the core parts of the ecosystem, in that it provides food for many of the higher organisms.

Food:

This cute plant is the bottom of the food chain. It lives in water and consumes server resources for the mere fact that is rezzed. What it gives in return is EWG leaf food (std1) from an energy reserve that is full at birth and gradually gets consumed during its life.

Longevity:

Energy consumption is based on sim lag, so the more laggy the sim is, the quicker the creature will die. This should offer a balance between server load and number of creatures living at that moment.

Reproduction:

Reproduction is autonomous and asexual. Every tot. minutes the Vegetable checks for existence of nearby mates within a specified radius; if a mate is found, the Vegetable has a chance to spawn one or more offspring. The number of offspring is random and has a max cap defined.

When a Vegetable reproduces, it emits a burst of light 'particles' which occur in the same colour as the body colour of the Vegetable.

The time between every reproduction event and radius in which to look for a partner are determined from creature heritage.

Vegetables are very sensitive to sim lag, in fact, lag doesn't only affect their lifespan, but is also crucial for reproduction.

If the average lag observed during Vegetable's life is higher than a defined threshold, it won't be able to reproduce until optimal lag conditions are met again. This avoids further stressing the server if it's already under pressure. If bad lag conditions last for long, Vegetable extinction could be faced.

The partner radius is also used to avoid overcrowding of organisms. No more than a defined number of Vegetables can live in the same space.

Evolutionary theory aspects:

Every Vegetable passes its own values on to its offspring, but with a random error. This allows for species diversification to some extent. This is visually expressed in the colour that the Vegetable is found in. Their colour is one of the genetic factors that is subject to change and being passed on to the next generation of Vegetables. This is an example of Descent with Modification, part of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection.

Development history:--

Vegetable has been developed over time, at the various sims it has lived at. Recently, it has been found at Neuraxia, EDGE of Life, HH, Spencer Museum of Art.

Future developments:--

Vegetable will continue to develop in tandem with the Artificial Life ecosystems that is forms the basic aquatic food for.

Venus and Davide with lots of vegetables

Venus surrounded by vegetables

Credits:

Body designed by: Davide Byron

Behaviours devised by: Davide Byron

Scripting designed/coded by: Davide Byron

Testing carried out by: Davide Byron, Venus Jervil, Mealea Ying

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