Recombination - Bringing Sex To The Garden

I've spent the past few days working on a new plant genome. To date, I've added a new stem-drawing algorithm and made individual genes more stable. I've also enlarged a plant's overall growing space.

Today I created an interface to experiment with recombination. Up until now, all plant reproduction has been asexual. Each plant simply copies itself to create a new plant. Copy errors occur, which create variations, but ultimately, offspring are just slightly different versions of their parents. Today I experimented with crossing two different plants.

In the image below, two plants were crossed to produce a third:

Of course, the parents must have somewhat similar genes, or, when crossed, the structural changes are too drastic and the offspring look nothing like either parent. In some cases, crossing dissimilar parents results in a plant genome that doesn't draw anything at all, just like if you were to cross an orange tree with a cactus. There's a reason species design their reproductive organs such that only members of similar species can mate.

(This brings up interface design questions. Before, a visitor could click a plant and move on. For recombination, two plants must be selected. And, if the visitor tries to cross two very different plants, the result may not be all that compelling.)