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Prior Work
A-Life
Our exploration of the works which influence Leafcutters begins with Artificial Life.
Established by Christopher Langton as a subfield of Artificial Intelligence in the 1980s, Artificial
Life, or A-Life, explores concepts of life by seeking to create artificial organisms which are not
only lifelike, but truly alive. A-Life builds on von Neumann’s and Conway’s previous work with
cellular automata.1 As Langton writes, “A-life complements the analytic approach of traditional
biology with a synthetic approach: rather than studying biological phenomena by taking living
organisms apart to see how they work, we attempt to put together systems that behave like living
organisms.” 2 In the introduction to his book Principals of Biochemistry, A.L. Lehniger writes,
“The molecules of which living organisms are composed conform to all the familiar laws of
chemistry, but they also interact with each other in accordance with another set of principles,
which we shall refer to collectively as the molecular logic of the living state.” 3 Langton’s seminal
work of Artificial Life sets out to “explore the possibility of implementing the 'molecular logic of
the living state' in an artificial biochemistry, based on interactions between artificial molecules.” 4
Langton traces the historical roots of A-Life from sculpture and automata, the ongoing desire and
attempt to create life. Langton’s theoretical basis of A-Life uses the concepts of genotype: the
rules which govern the actions of an organism, and phenotype: the collective effect of the
genotype, seen in either the singular organism, or a collective of such organisms. Langdon states
2
1 Langton, Christopher G. "Studying artificial life with cellular automata.” Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena. 22.1-3
(1986): 120-149. Print.
2 Langton, Christopher G. "Artificial Life." SFI Studies in the Sciences of Complexity. (1988): Print.
3 Lehninger, Albert L. Principles of Biochemistry. 1st ed. New York: Worth, 1982. Print.
4 Langton, “Studying artificial life with cellular automata,” 120.
Object Description
| Title | Leafcutters: life simulation gameplay designed to evoke engagement with real-world subject matter |
| Author | Graner, William B. |
| Author email | granerw@gmail.com; bill@bgraner.com |
| Degree | Master of Fine Arts |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Interactive Media |
| School | School of Cinematic Arts |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-05-05 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-05 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Gibson, Jeremy |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Fullerton, Tracy Anderson, Steven F. |
| Abstract | Leafcutters is a life simulation game about leafcutting ants which is designed to evoke engagement with real world subject matter. In this game, players shape the behaviors of a colony of ants in order to establish complex behaviors such as foraging and fungus farming. The game system in Leafcutters is adapted from existing biological research on ants, with an emphasis on the accurate adaptation of a natural system into a game system. This project draws on previous works in artificial life, life simulation games, swarm games, virtual pets, and virtual ants. Leafcutters is a work of expressive AI, an evocative knowledge object, and an educational game. |
| Keyword | simulation game; evocative knowledge object; educational game; video game |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3919 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Graner, William B. |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Graner-4578 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume40/etd-Graner-4578.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 7 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | Prior Work A-Life Our exploration of the works which influence Leafcutters begins with Artificial Life. Established by Christopher Langton as a subfield of Artificial Intelligence in the 1980s, Artificial Life, or A-Life, explores concepts of life by seeking to create artificial organisms which are not only lifelike, but truly alive. A-Life builds on von Neumann’s and Conway’s previous work with cellular automata.1 As Langton writes, “A-life complements the analytic approach of traditional biology with a synthetic approach: rather than studying biological phenomena by taking living organisms apart to see how they work, we attempt to put together systems that behave like living organisms.” 2 In the introduction to his book Principals of Biochemistry, A.L. Lehniger writes, “The molecules of which living organisms are composed conform to all the familiar laws of chemistry, but they also interact with each other in accordance with another set of principles, which we shall refer to collectively as the molecular logic of the living state.” 3 Langton’s seminal work of Artificial Life sets out to “explore the possibility of implementing the 'molecular logic of the living state' in an artificial biochemistry, based on interactions between artificial molecules.” 4 Langton traces the historical roots of A-Life from sculpture and automata, the ongoing desire and attempt to create life. Langton’s theoretical basis of A-Life uses the concepts of genotype: the rules which govern the actions of an organism, and phenotype: the collective effect of the genotype, seen in either the singular organism, or a collective of such organisms. Langdon states 2 1 Langton, Christopher G. "Studying artificial life with cellular automata.” Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena. 22.1-3 (1986): 120-149. Print. 2 Langton, Christopher G. "Artificial Life." SFI Studies in the Sciences of Complexity. (1988): Print. 3 Lehninger, Albert L. Principles of Biochemistry. 1st ed. New York: Worth, 1982. Print. 4 Langton, “Studying artificial life with cellular automata,” 120. |
