https://github.com/daedalus/syntropy
Turing-complete artificial life simulation with GenomeVM — organisms evolve VM programs in a shared 2D ecosystem
https://github.com/daedalus/syntropy
artificial-life cellular-automata evolution genetic-algorithm open-ended-evolution simulation turing-complete
Last synced: 22 days ago
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Turing-complete artificial life simulation with GenomeVM — organisms evolve VM programs in a shared 2D ecosystem
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/daedalus/syntropy
- Owner: daedalus
- Created: 2026-05-28T19:25:09.000Z (28 days ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2026-05-28T20:59:53.000Z (28 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-05-28T22:19:09.511Z (28 days ago)
- Topics: artificial-life, cellular-automata, evolution, genetic-algorithm, open-ended-evolution, simulation, turing-complete
- Language: Python
- Size: 430 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
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README
# syntropy — self-evolving ecosystem in your terminal
Digital organisms run Turing-complete VM programs (46 opcodes) on a shared 2D grid.
No fitness function. No selection pressure. No objective. Evolution emerges bottom-up.
## Run
```bash
python3 syntropy.py
```
Ctrl+C to stop. Extinction summary on exit.
### Options
| Flag | Default | Description |
|------|---------|-------------|
| `--seed N` | time | Random seed |
| `--width N` | 72 | Grid width |
| `--height N` | 26 | Grid height |
| `--tick-rate N` | 0.06 | Seconds per tick |
| `--volume N` | 0.3 | Sound volume 0–1 |
| `--no-sound` | — | Disable audio |
| `--max-energy N` | 200 | System-wide energy cap |
| `--max-movement-speed N` | 0 | Max moves/tick/org (0=unlimited) |
| `--continuous` | — | Auto-restart on extinction |
| `--log FILE` | extinction.json | Extinction log path |
## Architecture
### GenomeVM — 46 opcodes
Programs are lists of bytes grouped in 3-byte instructions: `[opcode, a1, a2]`.
Execution is async per organism per tick. Energy = gas (budget up to `min(energy×0.4, 8.0)`).
| Cat | Opcodes |
|-----|---------|
| Flow | NOP, JMP, JZ, JG, JL, JNE, CALL, RET, HALT |
| Math | MOV, ADD, SUB, MUL, DIV, MIN, MAX, ABS, NEG, MOD, SQRT, EXP |
| Stack | PUSH, POP, DUP, DROP, SWAP, OVER, PICK, DEPTH |
| Bit | AND, OR, XOR, NOT, SHL, SHR, BIT |
| Compare | CMP |
| Random | RAND |
| Reg | IND, GEN, PC, SETPC, TICK |
| I/O | SENSE, ACT |
| Energy | ENERGY |
| Memory | MLOAD, MSTORE (16-slot persistent per-organism), GLOAD, GSTORE (64-slot shared world memory) |
### Sensors (25)
Position, resources (food distance/direction), temperature, pressure, moisture, daylight,
organisms (density, distance, direction), population, predator/prey/kin proximity,
disease, season, terrain, traces, signals, symbol channel (symbol_id, symbol_val).
### Actions (13)
Move N/S/E/W, toward food, away from organisms, EAT, ATTACK, REPRODUCE, REST, SOUND, EMIT, SYMEMIT.
### Weight system
All organisms start at `weight=1.0`. Movement cost = `0.02 × speed × weight × dissipation`
(speed = number of moves this tick, creating inertia). Each move burns `0.01 × speed` weight.
Eating food adds weight; eating other organisms transfers their mass (requires heavier attacker).
Weight = 0 → wasting death.
### Dual-bank DNA
Two genome banks per organism: `genome_a` (expressed) and `genome_b` (silent backup).
Active bank selected at birth. Gene conversion (2%/tick) copies a random byte from inactive to active,
providing automatic repair without explicit opcodes. Each bank mutates independently during reproduction.
### Traces & signals
Organisms deposit pheromones (trace=0.5/tick, decay ×0.95) detectable via TRACE sensor (radius 3).
EMIT action broadcasts a register value to nearby cells; SIGNAL sensor reads the buffer.
SYMEMIT broadcasts a typed `(symbol_id, value)` pair; SYMBOL_ID and SYMBOL_VAL sensors read the
dominant symbol at the organism's cell. Enables typed coordination and proto-language.
Enables communication, coordination, and memory sharing.
### Memory systems
**Per-organism persistent memory** (16 float slots, opcodes MLOAD/MSTORE): survives across ticks
for the lifetime of the organism. Allows learned state, counters, and context that persists.
**World shared memory** (64 float slots, opcodes GLOAD/GSTORE): a single global blackboard all
organisms can read and write. Decays slowly (×0.998/tick). Organisms that evolve to coordinate
through specific slots gain collective knowledge that outlives any individual.
**Cultural transmission**: on reproduction the parent's 16-slot memory is copied (with small
Gaussian noise) into the child, creating a non-genetic inheritance channel that complements
genome mutation. Learned behaviours can propagate across generations without being encoded in DNA.
### Per-organism audio
3-band sound (bass/mid/treble) driven by SENSE→ACT SOUND. Environmental ambient audio
(pressure→bass, moisture→bass, temperature→mid, daylight→treble, season→sub-bass).
Async mixer with persistent `aplay` process and sample-accurate phase tracking.
### Economy
- INITIAL_RESOURCES=60, RESOURCE_REGEN=3, REPRODUCTION_THRESHOLD=6.0
- Summer upkeep 0.06/tick, winter 0.12/tick
- System-wide energy cap (default 200): total organism energy+fat scaled proportionally when exceeded
- Energy dissipation above 5.0: `1.0 + max(0, energy-5.0) × 0.15` — anti-hoarding pressure
- Per-opcode instruction costs: NOP=0.002 to DIV/RAND/SENSE=0.016; SENSE/ACT add variable cost from a1
### Ecology
- Non-toroidal world (edges clamp) — edge ecology
- Day/night cycle with horizontal bar visualization
- Seasons (summer/winter) affect temperature and upkeep
- Temperature gradient: latitude + season ± diurnal cosine
- Disease, immunity, territory, nests, fossils
- Horizontal gene transfer, spontaneous mutation, fighting overlap
- Weak auto-eat (30%+age bonus) and auto-reproduce (10% at 2× threshold) for bootstrap
## Visualization
| Glyph | Meaning |
|-------|---------|
| `·` | Food resource |
| `⬟` | Organism (varies by hue/energy) |
| `▲●★◆◉■⬢✦✧◈` | Species glyphs |
| `✿` | Corpse / special resource |
| `═══` | Top/bottom bars with day/night coloring |
Status line: Pop, avg energy, avg weight, generation, avg age, species count,
Shannon diversity, fossils, resources, season, tick, total system energy.
## Requirements
Python 3.10+. No external dependencies.