IDAT - 204 - "Digital Organism"

Introduction

Our digital organism, "Russell", is going to be developed in Adobe Flash. The intention is to make an organism which mimics the behaviour of a pet Rabbit, living in a cage. The user will be able to manipulate "Russell" Our digital organism, "Russell", is going to be developed in Adobe Flash. The intention is to make an organism which mimics the behaviour of a pet Rabbit, living in a cage. The user will be able to manipulate the space "Russell" lives in.

Research

Domestic Rabbits
After doing various research on rabbits we found out the following;
Life expectancy : Depending on the breed, domestic rabbits can live from 5-12 years and require commitment.
Diet : Rabbits are herbivores and their diet consists of the following;Rabbit mix/pellets, hay (fibre vital for digestion), fresh fruit and vegetables such as carrots,cabbage, celery etc. and also plants/flowers. They have to eat these things daily in order to maintain their health.
Cage/Hutch : The rabbit will need a home which will be 4 times the rabbits length

The Content
Russell's environment - A square garden with various different areas to it

Areas of garden - hutch (sleep), Eating area (a bowl?), Water area (Bowl?), Play area

Lifespan of the rabbit - 1 hour = 1 year of its life which means it can live up to 12 hours

Needs bars - These are bars which show the rabbit's basic needs and whether or not they are being fulfilled. If the needs are not met, then the baron that particular need will decrease with time. The basic needs will be;food, water, sleep, (to take care of its environment), stimulate it and it's overall health. If you don't fulfill Russell's needs he will eventually die. e.g. if it isn't fed then food/hunger bar will decrease which will also affect stimulation bar because it will be less active.

Design layout
Top-down perspective view of the rabbit similar to computer games such as "Grand Theft Auto" and "Mirco Machines" (see below) we will keep the environment static whilst the rabbit moves around it which is different to the afore mentioned games. The rabbit gets to the edge of its environment it automatically changes direction which will be random. The reason we chose it to be random is so it does not end up, stuck in a loop.




There will also be a menu on the side out of the rabbits environment which will give the user options to fulfill the rabbit's needs e.g.selecting different types of food which will in turn affect the rabbits needs bar, giving the rabbit unsuitable food will decrease the "hunger" bar.Also a bar along the bottom (also out of the rabbit's environment) which will display each needs bar, similar to the game "The Sims" created by Maxis (see below). We will also make sure that the hutch is an accurate size in relation to the rabbit which should be 4 times the rabbit's length. The hutch will have to be closed off so we will have to code the application so that it sets barriers so the rabbit is not walking through one end of the cage and coming out of the other. It will have an enter/exit point.




Our plan so far is to use the information above to create a life form which the user can interact with, however, we could develop it further if we meet the targets we set ourselves. The reason being so that we do not underestimate our work load in the time set for us to complete the project.


Extensions
We could have an area of the garden which is harmful to the rabbit if it enters it such as nettles etc. and we could train it to avoid these certain areas.
Also we could teach the rabbit to use a litter tray which could be any part of the garden, if the rabbit fails to use it, it's health bar will decrease.



Bibliography

Pet Website. "Pet Website - Rabbits". Web http://www.petwebsite.com/rabbits/prepare_rabbit_cage.htm (12 Oct 2009)

Downing, Elisabeth. Keeping Rabbits. London: Peltem, 1977. Print.

Dungeon Master. "Micro Machines 2 - Turbo Tournament." Web. http://www.software-dungeon.co.uk/images/3932_micro-machines-2-3.png (12 Oct 2009)

Stephan Albrecht. "Online Portfolio." http://www.s-albrecht.com/wordpress/wp-content/demo_thesims1.jpg (12 Oct 2009)

Amazon.com "Askville" http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/askville/4048118_9237020_mywrite/cute_rabbit.jpg (12 Oct 2009)