RvGLife @ Internet (2014, and ongoing)

RvGLife, an Artificial Life web-art artwork by Rolf van Gelder

About RvGLife

All the ‘facts’ below are arbitrary… I just made them up for sake of the artwork!
After reading the text below you should be able to understand what’s happening in the artwork above. For questions and / or comments you always can send me an email.

Colors:
Every “gender + sexual orientation” combination has its own color.
The colors fade with age.

Color legend:

human_hf Hetero Female
human_gf Gay Female
human_bf Bi-sexual Female
human_hm Hetero Male
human_gm Gay Male
human_bm Bi-sexual Male
human_child Baby / Child (0-12 years old; at the age of 12 it decides what it’s sexual orientation is and changes color according to that)

Showing data (toggle on/off with the ‘d’ key on the keyboard):

human_data
#38: Current ID of the creature
HM: Hetero Male
13: Current Age (in years)
48: Dying Age (in years)

Creatures age range:
0-99 years old

Life expectancy distribution:
6%: 0-39 years old
88%: 40-79 years old
6%: 80-99 years old

Gender distribution:
50-50%

Sexual orientation distribution:
93%: hetero
5%: gay
2%: bisexual

Matching rules:

  • Creature must be older than 15 years
  • Creature must be younger than 80 years
  • Maximal age difference: 20 years
  • Gender and sexual orientation:
    • Hetero females match with: hetero males and bisexual males
    • Gay females match with: gay females and bisexual females
    • Bisexual females match with: gay females, bisexual females, hetero males and bisexual males
    • Hetero males match with: hetero females and bisexual females
    • Gay males match with: gay males and bisexual males
    • Bisexual males match with: gay males, bisexual males, hetero females and bisexual females
  • Creatures are always looking for the nearest suitable match

Offspring:
Matched couples of different genders can reproduce, based on a certain probability.
This simulation is based on natural child birth which means gay couples cannot have babies.
(Don’t get me wrong: I think gay couples are totally able to raise kids!!!)

Fertility ages:

  • Males: 20-70 years old
  • Females: 18-50 years old

Divorces:
10% of the couples ‘might’ get a divorce, based on a certain probability.
Every creature can get divorced only once (in the current setting)

Speed:
Younger creatures move faster than older ones…

Keys (first click on the animation to give it focus!):
d‘: show data (=some properties) of the creatures
g‘: create a new generation

Date

July 2014 (and ongoing)

Location

The Internet

Read more about this artwork…