PLife

A particle life simulation written in C. Particle Life explores the concept of emergence, where complex structures arise from simple rules.

Setting up Conan

If you wish to modify the particle simulation code itself (src/main.c), you must set up your Conan environment or link dependencies manually. Conan is a package manager for C/C++ and is used in this project to resolve the SDL2 and ZLIB dependencies. Please refer to the official documentation.

Usage

cd build
./plife simulation.txt

Using runner.py

The runner.py script automates the creation of simulation.txt with customizable attributes and runs the PLife simulation.

Basic Usage

python3 runner.py -s SIZE -n NUMBER

• -s SIZE: Number of particle types (required).
• -n NUMBER: Number of particles per type (required).

Example:

python3 runner.py -s 5 -n 100

Optional Flags

• -a, --assortativity: high or low.
• -d, --degree: Degree distribution (integer).
• -c, --clustering: Clustering coefficient (0 to 1).
• -k, --skew-symmetry: high, medium, or low.
• -r, --reciprocity: Reciprocity level (0 to 1).
• -p, --sparsity: Proportion of possible edges (0 to 1).

Examples

High Assortativity

python3 runner.py -s 5 -n 100 -a high

Specifying Sparsity

python3 runner.py -s 5 -n 100 -p 0.2

Applying Skew Symmetry and Reciprocity

python3 runner.py -s 5 -n 100 -k high -r 0.7

Notes on Combining Attributes

• Sparsity and Degree Distribution: If both are specified, degree distribution takes precedence.
• Reciprocity and Skew Symmetry: Reciprocity is applied after skew symmetry and can override it.

Notes

• Modify build/simulation.txt to manually adjust particles, the attraction matrix, or epochs.
• The simulation.txt file can be renamed; specify the correct filename when running the simulation. However, runner.py uses build/simulation.txt.