The Nuclear Life Simulator - Java v2.0

Complete rewrite and overhaul of the original Processing-based evolutionary artificial life simulator by Christopher J Boardman.

Features (Overhauled)

• Pure Java 21 — no Processing, no external JARs required. Uses only the JDK (Swing + Java Sound).
• Neural Network Brains — 6-6-4 MLP with tanh + sigmoid. Weights are heritable, recombined on sexual reproduction, and mutated. Radiation increases mutation pressure.
• Environmental Pressures — Oxygen, CO2, Sulfur Dioxide + global Radiation dynamically affect organism energy drain and survival. Organisms evolve tolerance traits.
• Hard Population Cap — 280 max. Weakest individuals are culled when exceeded.
• Generation Tracking — Max generation displayed. Offspring inherit + mutate from parents (asexual budding or sexual).
• Mutation Pools — Radioactive zones that accelerate mutation for organisms inside them.
• Poop & Nutrient Cycle — Eating produces poop that slowly decays and emits SO2.
• Full Camera — Drag to pan the 4000x4000 world, mouse wheel to zoom (0.28x–4.2x).
• Creature Selection — Click organisms to inspect their generation, energy, and evolved tolerances.
• Multiple UI States — Main menu, world parameter sliders + presets (Balanced / Radioactive / Lush / Toxic Wastes), loading, simulation, description, credits, settings.
• "Empty World" Start — Special preset with zero initial population in a harsh environment (evolution from nothing is hard but possible via the pools).
• Audio — 4 original tracks with seamless looping and master volume control.
• Settings — Volume, quick window size presets, maximized toggle, keybindings help.
• Keyboard & Mouse Controls (see in-game or Settings):
  • Drag: pan
  • Wheel: zoom
  • Click: select creature
  • SPACE: pause/resume
  • R: restart
  • N: next track
  • +/-: speed
  • ESC: back to menu

Requirements

• Java 21+ (Temurin / Adoptium recommended). The project was developed with Eclipse Temurin 21.

How to Build & Run (Windows)

Option 1: Using the provided helper (recommended)

1. Double-click run.bat (create it if you deleted it — see below).

Option 2: Manual

Open PowerShell or CMD in this folder:

javac NuclearLifeSimulator.java
java NuclearLifeSimulator

On first run it may take a second to compile.

Creating run.bat (if missing)

@echo off
echo Compiling The Nuclear Life Simulator...
javac NuclearLifeSimulator.java
if errorlevel 1 (
  echo Compilation failed.
  pause
  exit /b 1
)
echo Running...
java NuclearLifeSimulator
pause

Controls in Simulation

• Mouse drag = pan camera
• Mouse wheel = zoom
• Left click on creature = select + show stats
• SPACE = pause/resume
• R = restart
• N = next music track
• • / - = change simulation speed
• ESC = return to main menu

Known Original Issues Addressed

• Generation counter now works and is the max generation reached.
• Simulation controls and stats only appear during simulation.
• Empty world preset available directly from main menu.
• Reproduction has hard cap + improved sexual/asexual logic + cooldown feel via desire accumulator.
• Neural nets are fully heritable (copied + recombined + mutated) and evolve under environmental selection.
• Settings screen with volume, resolution helpers, and key map.
• Version is prominently displayed.
• Buttons are standard Swing (reliable click targets).

Project Structure

The-Nuclear-Life-Simulator-Java/
├── NuclearLifeSimulator.java   # Everything (monolithic for easy single-file compile/run)
├── audio/
│   ├── track1.wav
│   ├── track2.wav
│   ├── track3.wav
│   ├── track4.wav
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
└── .gitignore

All source is in a single .java for trivial build while still being cleanly organized with inner classes.

License

Original and this rewrite are released into the public domain under the Unlicense (see LICENSE file).

Credits

• Original concept, design, Processing prototype, and music direction: Christopher J Boardman
• Music: Jake Rae & Christopher J Boardman
• Java 2026 rewrite & evolution mechanics overhaul: Grok (xAI) with user direction

Enjoy watching life claw its way back from the ashes.

UI Refresh (2026 overhaul)

• Fixed: fonts now visible on buttons (explicit dark bg + borders + hover + UIManager overrides for L&F).
• Redone layouts: top toolbar (stats+controls), east side inspector (selected + env), bottom live graphs area.
• Added population graphs etc: live scrolling time-series for Pop/Gen (top chart) and O2/CO2/SO2/Rad (bottom). Custom 2D, throttled history (no extra deps). Clears on restart. Helps see evolution and pressures.

Run via EXE on Desktop or run.bat here for dev.