Ant Colony Simulator

Ant Colony Simulator is an interactive simulation that presents the behavior and development of an ant colony in a dynamic environment. The simulation is based on realistic mechanics inspired by behaviors observed in nature, allowing players to observe how simple rules at the individual level lead to complex collective behavior across the entire colony.

The simulation features two ant castes: workers and soldiers, each fulfilling clearly defined roles within the nest.

Workers

• Worker ants age over time, and their behavior changes depending on their age.
• Younger workers respond to trail pheromones and follow them in search of food. Once food is found, they collect it, reinforce the existing pheromone trail, and return to the nest.
• Older workers primarily patrol the surrounding area and independently search for new food sources. Upon discovering food, they leave a trail pheromone that guides other ants from the food source back to the nest.

Soldiers

• The sole task of soldier ants is the defense of the nest. They do not search for food and do not react to trail pheromones. Their behavior is limited to defensive actions and responding to threats.
• Soldiers are responsible for:
    – detecting foreign ants near the nest
    – initiating and engaging in combat with enemy ants
    – responding to alarm pheromones released by ants of the same type (the same faction)
    – releasing alarm pheromones during combat

Available Maps
• The game includes two maps, differing in the number of nests and the range of observable mechanics.

Single-Nest Map
• This map contains a single nest, which means no combat occurs between ants. It allows players to focus on observing colony development and core simulation mechanics. On this map, you can observe:
    – colony growth based on the amount of collected food
    – changes in ant behavior as they age
    – food searching by patrolling ants
    – transportation of food to the nest by foraging ants
    – ants responding to trail pheromones
    – reinforcement of trail pheromones after food is discovered
    – gradual pheromone decay after a food source is depleted
    – formation of the shortest paths between food sources and the nest
    – ant death as a result of aging

Two-Nest Map
• This map features two independent nests. In addition to all mechanics present on the single-nest map, it allows players to observe interactions between competing colonies. On this map, you can additionally observe:
    – combat between ants belonging to different nests
    – ants responding to alarm pheromones
    – alarm pheromones being released during combat

The simulation presents ant collective behavior in a realistic manner, demonstrating how interactions between individual units lead to the emergence of advanced structures, communication paths, and defensive strategies across the entire colony.

How to Play
• After launching the game, the Settings menu will appear. Here you can adjust basic graphical settings and select the map on which you want to run the simulation — either with one or two ant nests.
Pressing the Play button will start the map selected in the Settings menu.
• Once the simulation begins, a nest statistics panel will appear on the left side of the screen. In this panel, you can also choose which types of pheromones left by the ants should be visible on the map.
• During the simulation, you can pause it by clicking the Stop icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen, and resume it by clicking the Play icon. While the simulation is paused, camera movement is disabled.
Clicking the gear icon opens a quick-access menu where you can:
    – enable or disable the nest statistics panel
    – resume the simulation
    – adjust the simulation playback speed
• During the simulation, you can move the camera view by holding the left mouse button (LMB) and dragging the mouse.