Post by holomanga on Mar 22, 2016 22:51:20 GMT
Just for fun, I decided to think about how a possible prokaryote stage would play out.
Prokaryote Stage
The Prokaryote Stage precedes the Microbe Stage, and has the player control a prokaryotic organism composed of multiple macromolecular complexes. It ends when, at some point on the macromolecular complex tree, phagocytosis becomes available.
Editor
In the editor, there are three categories of macromolecular complex:
• External – Placed on the outside of the membrane
• Membrane – Placed across the membrane
• Internal – Placed within the membrane
The cell wall can also be modified, by scrolling to increase or decrease its thickness.
External
External macromolecular complexes perform a specific function – movement, secretion, or attachment.
Movement macromolecular complexes include flagellae and archaellae. Secretion macromolecular complexes secrete various agents and compounds. Attachment macromolecular complexes include pili and fimbriae, and allow the cell to attach to surfaces or other cells.
Membrane
Membrane macromolecular complexes are enzymes, and perform reactions. Each specific macromolecular complex on the membrane performs a single reaction, and may require the presence of additional energy (in the form of light or heat) in order to work.
Internal
All prokaryote cells contain a nucleoid. This macromolecular complex has a minimum size based on the complexity of the cell; each macromolecular complex has a built-in complexity, as well as a complexity increase depending on the number of types of macromolecular complexes in the cell.
Plasmids can also be placed, which perform the same function as the nucleoid as well as increasing the rate of evolution of the prokaryote (more mutation points in the editor).
The final type of internal macromolecular complex is a microcompartment, which stores a specific type of compound.
Cell Wall
The cell wall begins made of peptidoglycan, which requires a mixture of amino acids and glucose to replicate. Later in the prokaryote stage, it can be specialised into a polysaccharide cell wall (requiring mainly glucose), or a glycoprotein cell wall (requiring mainly amino acids).
Macromolecular Complex Tree
Macromolecular complexes are placed on a macromolecular complex web, which is a hexagonal grid in which each tile contains a macromolecular complex. Tiles can be unlocked for mutation points if they have an unlocked neighbour; the cost increases with the number of neighbours unlocked.
Each macromolecular complex on the web is randomly generated based upon its neighbours. They have the greatest chance of neighbouring other macromolecular complexes of the same type. Additionally, three types of external macromolecular complex (movement, secretion and attachment) have a high chance of neighbouring each other. There is still a small chance that a macromolecular complex will neighbour a totally different type.
All macromolecular complexes can vary in size and preferred environmental conditions (temperature and pH); additionally, some types have different properties.
Movement
• Force
Membrane
• Reactants
• Product – This is chemically balanced with the reactants, with the exception that an unlimited amount of hydrogen is implicitly available.
• Reaction Rate
• Energy Requirements – If this is positive, the macromolecular complex will need to gain energy from light or heat
Microcompartment
• Compound stored
Prokaryote Stage
The Prokaryote Stage precedes the Microbe Stage, and has the player control a prokaryotic organism composed of multiple macromolecular complexes. It ends when, at some point on the macromolecular complex tree, phagocytosis becomes available.
Editor
In the editor, there are three categories of macromolecular complex:
• External – Placed on the outside of the membrane
• Membrane – Placed across the membrane
• Internal – Placed within the membrane
The cell wall can also be modified, by scrolling to increase or decrease its thickness.
External
External macromolecular complexes perform a specific function – movement, secretion, or attachment.
Movement macromolecular complexes include flagellae and archaellae. Secretion macromolecular complexes secrete various agents and compounds. Attachment macromolecular complexes include pili and fimbriae, and allow the cell to attach to surfaces or other cells.
Membrane
Membrane macromolecular complexes are enzymes, and perform reactions. Each specific macromolecular complex on the membrane performs a single reaction, and may require the presence of additional energy (in the form of light or heat) in order to work.
Internal
All prokaryote cells contain a nucleoid. This macromolecular complex has a minimum size based on the complexity of the cell; each macromolecular complex has a built-in complexity, as well as a complexity increase depending on the number of types of macromolecular complexes in the cell.
Plasmids can also be placed, which perform the same function as the nucleoid as well as increasing the rate of evolution of the prokaryote (more mutation points in the editor).
The final type of internal macromolecular complex is a microcompartment, which stores a specific type of compound.
Cell Wall
The cell wall begins made of peptidoglycan, which requires a mixture of amino acids and glucose to replicate. Later in the prokaryote stage, it can be specialised into a polysaccharide cell wall (requiring mainly glucose), or a glycoprotein cell wall (requiring mainly amino acids).
Macromolecular Complex Tree
Macromolecular complexes are placed on a macromolecular complex web, which is a hexagonal grid in which each tile contains a macromolecular complex. Tiles can be unlocked for mutation points if they have an unlocked neighbour; the cost increases with the number of neighbours unlocked.
Each macromolecular complex on the web is randomly generated based upon its neighbours. They have the greatest chance of neighbouring other macromolecular complexes of the same type. Additionally, three types of external macromolecular complex (movement, secretion and attachment) have a high chance of neighbouring each other. There is still a small chance that a macromolecular complex will neighbour a totally different type.
All macromolecular complexes can vary in size and preferred environmental conditions (temperature and pH); additionally, some types have different properties.
Movement
• Force
Membrane
• Reactants
• Product – This is chemically balanced with the reactants, with the exception that an unlimited amount of hydrogen is implicitly available.
• Reaction Rate
• Energy Requirements – If this is positive, the macromolecular complex will need to gain energy from light or heat
Microcompartment
• Compound stored