Technology Demo - Flower breeding
The Gardens of Kyresoo is intended for the most part
to be a simple and relaxing pastime of planting and arranging
digital flowers. Underlying that is a complex technology for growing
digital flowers. These digital plants are technically quite novel.
Previous methods for growing digital plants use procedural methods
that describe how to build the plant from common elements. "Place a
stalk here, place a leaf there, generate a flower in this position
etc.". The "blueprint" method.
In contrast, Kyresoo flowers grow from the division of
individual cells. Each cell operates independently according to the
instructions embedded in its genetic code. Cell size, shape, color,
interaction with neighboring cells and the environment, all are
controlled by expressed proteins. Which are in turn controlled by
regulator proteins. The resulting shape of the plant is purely an
"emergent" property of the behavior of individual cells. There is no
central "blueprint". As far as I know, no other digital simulation
has captured this important property of multi-cellular life.
This Tech Demo provides a complex toolset that lets
you breed, mutate and genetically engineer Kyresoo flowers. Be aware
that Kyresoo is by design an alien world. Time flows differently
there. Its inhabitants value a formal and unhurried pace, in
contrast to our everyday world. Amongst other things, your gardening
tools follow a rhythm of their own, each tool acting at its own
moment in a complex dance. So relax, and follow the Beat that times
the dance of life in Kyresoo.
Some ways in which Kyresoo Plants are like earthbound
plants
- Cellular: Plants are made up of
individual cells. Not parts like "stalk", "branch", "leaf".
- Genetic: Each cell contains a single
chromosome with up to 32 active genes..
- Proteins: Each gene controls the expressions
of a protein. Protein expression controls the size, shape, color
etc of a cell. And some proteins pass to neighboring cells to
affect their growth..
- Regulation: The rate of protein expression is
regulated by other proteins, or even by the protein being
expressed. Interconnected regulation cycles lead to complex cell
behaviors..
- Environment: Changes in the cell environment
can cause the expression of new proteins, which lead the cell
to respond to environmental change..
- Budding: Plant development usually takes
place at the growing tip. First by the proliferation of many small
cells, then their growth to full size.
Some ways in which Kyresoo Plants are different
- Triangular cells: Cells in Kyresoo are rigid
and triangular. They grow only in a two dimensional sheet. Cells
may overlap however.
- Few Cells: Each plant only contains a few
dozen cells (max 60). Even with this limit, Kyresoo has a
surprisingly large variety of plants..
- Time: When you enter the world of Kyresoo,
you take on the life of one of the "Stewards of Kyresoo". These
tiny energy beings have a major advantage over humans when it
comes to gardening. They can travel in time. When viewing a tray
of flowers, you can see a whole years growth in just a few
minutes. Then jump back to the start of the year, and watch the
process with a different set of flowers. Much of the art of
gardening in Kyresoo revolves around this ongoing dance of growth
rather than a static display..
- The Beat: The Beat is one of several formal
elements to gardening in Kyresoo. Events, such as replanting a
flower tray or mutating a seed, take place at their own proper
moment. Your instructions prime a tool for action, but the action
happens at its own proper moment. Kyresoo is not a land of hasty
people..
- Pedigree Log: Each seed contains a log of its
own history. Of who did what to create it and when. Kyresoo is a
land in which creators are expected to freely share their
creations. But it is also a place where the contribution of every
hand in the creation of a flower is
acknowledged.
Sorry, the Tech Demo is no longer available
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