Cell Layers
Cell layers are one half of the simulation. Representing quantities of stuff in the world, Agents typically must directly interact with this and in fact cannot survive if they don't.
Represented by a grid, each cell tracks important info for the agents in the form of a variable between 0 and 1.
Reality
This shows as much information from every cell layer simultaneously as possible. This is the preferred way to play and observe the world, and is the only layer which does not give hover-over popups for the cells.
Elevation
Indicating the terrain height. 0= Water, 0.5= Beach, 0.6= Plains, 1.0= Mountain. Agents with certain Lung values need their respective terrain to survive.
Plant Food
This value shows the amount of plant life on the cell. Non-low values can spread to other nearby cells, but it slowly decays in value. Typically self-sustaining from World Init. Also grows slightly from hazard, allowing higher food amounts in the presence of "fertilizer". It's imagined as grass and shouldn't fluctuate badly with population booms or busts.
Meat Food
This value represents meat dropped by recently dead-ed Agents (both killed and passed away). Agents injured recently by another agent drop more meat than those who die of natural causes, and less than 1-day-old babies drop hardly any meat. Is otherwise very rewarding to consume. Agent bodies also stick around on the world after death so that others can see where meat might be.
Fruit Food
Value that randomly populates on valid plant cells. It constantly decays and is not strictly self-sustaining as it requires plant cells to spawn. Gives a better yield of food than Plant does, but less than Meat.
Hazard/Waste
Agents produce Waste, and it accumulates here, causing damage in a proportional manner to the value present. It slowly decays. It also randomly spawns "Lightning"; max-value hazards which "despawn" after a time (returning the value of the cell back to roughly the same value).
Temperature
This layer displays where heat is concentrated - near the equator - and where it's spare -near the Pole (yes, singular). Temperature ranges from 0 (Arctic) to 100 (Hadean), but all temps may not be present at a given time due to climate, which can be shifted toward one extreme or another, and changes over time. Agents have a Temperature Preference value in the same range, and if they are not located in a region that matches their preference, they take damage. Note: the Temperature layer is only a visual assistant and does not have any physical processing like the other layers.
Climate, a new feature introduced in version 0.07, allows the temperature range to not only change, but to grow or shrink. Agents are challenged to survive in a world where their preferred temperature may swing away from their habitat, or worse, out of existence!
Light
This layer directly effects Agent Eyesight, and any Agent inside a cell with light= 0 cannot see (backwards from reality, I know, but it's to help simulation speed) unless Moonlight is turned on. The Day counter also matches with this cycle, so 1 day means 1 complete "sunset", "sunrise", and "sunset" again for any given point on the world.
