Last Modified: $Date: 2002/02/16 18:26:23 $ by $Author: ferret $

# Basic Tutorial-Create/Start a Simulation

> This small tutorial will show you how to configure and lauch a simulation.

> ## Step one

> > First, we need to create some foods.
> > Foods are eaten by worms, they are the only way for them to earn energy.

> > Click on the Editor menu and select the Foods Editor, a new window will popup.

> > Click on the picture for more information
> > Now, we will add some food, click on the Create () button. This will popup a new Window :
> > Select a letter in the left of the window, this letter will be the name of your food, then select a color. Finaly gives it an energetic value.
> > This value will represent the amount of energy that a worm will win when it will eat this kind of food. This value can be positiv or negativ. Of course a negativ value will make the worm's energy goes down.
> > Click the Ok button when your food is complet.
> > You can create a lots of food, but keep in mind that the more types there will be the slower the simulation will go.
> > Two types of food is a good start, so for this tutorial create a food 'A' with a value of 15 and a food 'B' with a value of 50.

> ## Step Two

> > Now, we need to create a life room. This life room will contain worms, foods, walls.
> > Click on the Editor menu and select the Maps Editor, a new window will popup.
> > Click on the picture for more information
> > Click on the Create () button. This will popup a new Window :
> > This window will let you select the size of your life room. Size is an important factor in your experiment, if you put 100 worms in a 50x50 life room the result won't be the same as 100 worms in a 300x300 life room.
> > Warning: if you create a two big life room, a not enought memory popup my warn you. If it does, select a smaller life room or change the size of one pixel in the GUI preferences.
> > Click on the Ok button after choosing the size of your life room.
> > You will now see a clean (means empty) life room in your Editor window. You can place foods or walls on this life room by using the right and left button of your mouse.
> > Click on the Ok button when you are satisfied of your life room.
> > At this point, you can still edit your food map (color/value).
> > You should not (even if it is not forbidden) delete or edit the name of your foods if you have placed one of them on your life room. You can add and/or remove safely all foods that are not used in your life room.
> > For this tutorial, create an empty life room of 100x100.

> ## Step Three

> > Before starting a simulation, we need to create worms. They will live, die, eat, mutate in the life room you've created.
> > Click on the Editor menu and select the Worms Editor, a new window will popup.
> > You can create worm one by one by using the Create () button, or use the () button, and create lots of worm.
> > You can edit a worm if you want, give it a name, change its color, change its DNA, as you want.
> > In most case you don't have to edit worms, since they are created randomly.
> > When you created a worm, it is automaticaly put on the life room, if you go back on life room edition you will see your worm. In the same way, when you delete a worm it is removed from the life room.
> > At this point, you can still edit the life room, but you should not rename or delete a food. You can also change the color or value of a food.
> > For this tutorial, create 50 worms.

> ## Step Four

> > Your ready for a simulation now, just before starting it, you can edit/check the preferences.
> > For this tutorial do not change the default preferences (load them if needed).

> ## Step Five

> > This is it, click on the start button () and look at your worms moving.
> > During a simulation you should not try to use editors.
> > Changes to the simulation preferences will only be valid if you stop and restart your simulation. This is not true for GUI options.
> > You can use the GraphViewer during the simulation, and use the redraw button in order to see what's happening inside your worms.
> > After a few minutes (see the remaining time status) simulation will stop.
> > You can go back to the worm editor and see how does your worms looks like, edit them and see if their DNA is good or bad, you can also edit the simulation-end xml file using notepad or vi.
> > If you selected to log information during the simulation you can use the GrapEditor in order to see what happen in detail.