The Applets:
- Flocking - autonomous agents each working to get as close to the center of their group
- Flocking with Sheep Dog - same as above, but with a repellent constraint added in
- Orbits - orbiting bodies sim
- Termites - emergent behaviour sim, that needs some work
- Sparkler - just something nice to look at
- Ant Colony - a sim of an ant colony.
- Fireworks - some neat fireworks using lots of otherwise useless trig less in
- Neural Ants - training ants to find their way home using neural nets and genetic algorithms
- Curling - the game of sweeping your rocks
All these applets require Java 1.4 plugin to be installed in your browser. If you can't see a wave scrolling above, then your browser likely doesn't support the correct version of Java and you'll have to install the plugin. You can go here and click on "Download Windows J2SE JRE" (assuming you are running windows) and the install the file that you download. Let me know if you need some help.
Note: Java 1.4 is not supported in Firefox on OS X, so in that case you are out of luck. Being a new Mac user, I'm a little disappointed, but the issue is being addressed. Safari seems to work though.
BTW, at some point I plan to release the source for these, but I need to clean up the code so as not to embarrass myself. If you really want the source now, I can give it to you. Just ask.
I'd like to acknowledge the contribution of Ryan over at rookscape.com. Many ideas and algorithms were lifted (with permission) from his website and brain. I did have to learn how to read VB so it wasn't exactly a day at the beach. :) Ryan also managed to remind me of a lot of trig that I had so wisely chosen to forget since high school. Thanks a lot Ryan.