Basic Usage

To start a simulation project, create a new directory to house all custom scripts, including a configuration file config.yml. In this config file, you specify species parameters, including starting population, max age, and action methods. Some action methods are built-in (for movement, eating, drinking, and reproduction), but you may use custom methods defined in external Python scripts, which are imported at runtime by Blossom via linked_modules.

World parameters are also specified in the config file, including dimensions and the distribution of water and food. You may also set limits on the number of timesteps and organisms, in order to control the simulation in case of runaway populations.

With your project directory set up, you may run the simulation using the included command-line interface (CLI):

blossom run

Note that for reproducibility, you can set the random seed either in the config file or at the CLI. For additional options, run blossom run -h.

Dashboard

Blossom provides a dashboard that runs in your local browser, tracking the progress of your population runs.

Initiate the dashboard, run

blossom dashboard TRACK_DIR [-p PORT]

where TRACK_DIR is the simulation project directory. You can then view the dashboard at localhost:PORT.