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I developed this map to keep infant populations of organisms contained, keeping the probability of wandering down by forcing them to exit through tunnels three squares long. Only about 1 in 64 organisms sitting at one end of such a tunnel will successfully traverse it at random. Since the only edible objects on the map are other organisms, containing the organisms helps them feed, maintaining the population, while allowing an escape releases a trickle of organisms from the constant consumption in their densely populated birth region into an otherwise empty desert. The area that looks like a tire tread is a device for eliminating straight-line traversal without impeding wandering organisms. Just an experiment! I started by placing a single organism with a three instruction program and 4800 units of biomass (enough to brood 240 50-unit offspring) in each of three regions of the map.
Notice how much lower the density of organisms in the bottom half of Rectangle is. Organisms shown on black squares are dead.
By this frame, a moving organism has developed in the lower density region of Rectangle, where motility aids in encountering food. In fact, the more the better - most of these moving organisms move several steps at a time. They have swept through region, and made inroads into the established fixed organisms' territory. Both moving and fixed organisms are showing "D" and "E" markings, although the majority of moving organisms show "D". One of the moving organisms has slipped into the tunnel leading out of Rectangle.
In this frame, the fixed organisms are all showing "C" markings, while the moving organisms are almost exclusively "D." This is natural divergence, thrown into sharp relief by the conflict, as many organisms on each "side" are gobbled up, giving more reproductive potential to a smaller set of survivors. All of the descendants of the "D" organism that escaped Rectangle have died. A few of the "D" organisms have mutated their markings to "E" - coincidentally the original marking of the parent organism "EVE.ORG."
Superficially, "E" organisms have replaced the "D" organisms, but their program listings are very similar; they move several times in a row, causing them to leap right past the "front line" and into the territory of the fixed organisms, whose markings have mutated down to "B". This charging movement is the fatal flaw of the "E" organisms as we will see.
The fixed "B" organisms are very good defensively because they're constantly attacking anything adjacent to them. Here, they've absorbed all of the incoming "E" organisms. Other moving "E" organisms have slipped through the tunnel out of Rectangle, further reducing the number of "E"s. I'd say they were draft-dodging, but these organisms are so primitive they don't even know they're fighting. If you notice, there are a few mutated "B" organisms that are motile at the North end of Rectangle.
Now the moving organisms of Rectangle have all been eaten or died. Their corpses lie in a radiative pattern outside the tunnel, but they will become food for future escapees, helping them bridge the gap from one populated region to another.
Once again, the fixed organisms have produced moving offspring. These are more conservative than the charging "E" movers, moving only a single step at a time in small circles. They have a slight advantage over their fixed parents because they can collect food from several nearby grid squares rather than only adjacent squares. They are an improvement over the "E" movers because they don't jump beyond the border with the fixed organisms to certain death.
The new movers progress into the territory of the fixed organisms without cutting themselves off from the rest of the movers.
Motility succeeds in Rectangle!
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