The Artificial Life Ecosystem Simulator is a Java program that attempts to model simple life forms. Very simple software agents interact with each other and an environment. In the current system, there are three creature models, carnivores, herbivores, and plants. Carnivores are capable of detecting and eating herbivores, herbivores detect and eat plants, and plants just drift. All three species have a lifespan, during which they may divide several times to create new creatures.
In the current A.L.E.S. system, there is no variation between two plants, all plants are exactly the same. So to add a new behavior to the system, the programmer has to create new classes. Without variation, the simulation is completely flat, no new behavior can appear and the system as a whole cannot adapt. So if the environment is altered in some way to be hostile to a certain species, that species will simply go extinct.
The current A.L.E.S. system is not a true artificial life or artificial intelligence system. It is, however, a promising framework on which to build both.
