Artificial Life Simulator, to manage, run and visualise simulations of artificial life forms on 2D maps. The horizontal and vertical dimensions of the 2D map should be user-defined parameters. A life form should be able to move, sense the environment (sight, smell, etc.), find and eat food to increase its energy/stamina level. Life forms may prefer some type of food over others (e.g., carnivores vs herbivores). Some life forms may have a complex behaviour and organise themselves in social groups. When the life form performs an action (moving, sensing) its energy/stamina level is decreased. The environment can contain life forms, food entities containing some amount of calories or poison. Complex food entities may be able to provide a continuous source of food (e.g.. grass, plant, fruit trees, etc.). The environment contains obstacles (such as rocks, trees, etc.). Some objects in the environment may be changed by the life forms (such nests, dens, etc.) and use for protections. Life forms and other entities should be shown on the map by means of icons or images. Each student may determine the richness and complexity of the simulation and use some creativity.
Graphical User Interface: A Graphical User Interface (GUI) based on JavaFX must be provided. You can use the Java console (stdin/stdout) only for displaying debugging information. The GUI has menus with menu items and a toolbar with buttons to control the simulation (e.g., start, pause, reset, etc.). GUI based on GUI builder tools is not be accepted: the GUI must be hand-coded by using the JavaFX API directly.
Configurations File: The application allows the user to save and load simulation configurations from files. A configuration is defined as the set of parameters required to set up and start a simulation. The application should also remember the last configuration file used when the application is restarted and should automatically load the last configuration when started.
Application Menu: The application should be organized in 5 menus as shown in Figure 1. A different structure of the menu items is acceptable as long as they provide an equivalent set of features.
You can make design choices about what the menu items, as long as you describe these choices in the design section of the report.
Inheritance: the code should make use of either an abstract class or an interface. Generics must be used throughout the code.
Animation: In the lecture of week 8 java animations were discussed. You can use this method, or any other you prefer as long as you use JavaFX, to achieve the animation.
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