Flash version?
Tim Hutton
I've been exploring Flash as a possible alternative platform for OB
(and also for my curiosity). It's very simple to program in. Here's a
moving sketch of what OB might look like:
http://ob-flash.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/index.html
Let me know if it doesn't work for you. (With the java version there
were problems with JRE version numbers and permissions, so I'm hoping
that flash is easier because it is much more popular.)
You can browse the source here:
http://code.google.com/p/ob-flash/source/browse/trunk
It's just an XML file for the layout (ob_flash.mxml) and three
actionscript files (.as) for the moving things. And it compiles with
open source tools - see the README.txt.
I'm thinking of OB 2.0 at some point.... It would be nice to have a
larger world, and to be able to explore evolution of the replicating
molecules.
Thoughts?
Tim
P.S. The OB paper *still* hasn't appeared. Maybe it will be in the next issue.
Bertrand Dechoux
It has been a long time since my last post and since my last change to
the Java version too. As I am quite busy right now, I am not planning
to work on any version of Organic Builder soon. I like the flash
version, especially the fact that you can change the universe
(continuous/discrete coordinates).
I have been exploring what other option we might have to build organic
builder. The aim would be to provide everybody an easy to install/use
version. User interactions (such as a chat system or concurrent rules
witting) would be an extra.
It leaded me to Darkstar/JMonkey (Java server/client), Croquet (P2P
Smalltalk) but there are a lots of other options, indeed. In any case,
they sadly don't seem very relevant to our issue : we would spend to
much time trying to implement something that wouldn't be that useful
for the user.
The last option I have spotted is metaplace. The site/service/software
is still in closed alpha but it might be a very good option. I am
waiting for the release of more information about this one.
Before writing another implementation, I will write the specifications
of Organic Builder. I would also like to evaluate what kind of
technique could be used to either generate rules or verify them, but
that's a pretty huge scientific topic. Thoughts about 'OB 2.0' are
indeed welcomed.
Bertrand.