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Getting started

ALIEN (Artificial LIfe ENvironment) is an artificial life simulator built on a GPU-accelerated 2D particle engine for soft bodies and fluids. Every object in a simulated world is composed of particles. They can be bonded into solid structures, flow as liquids or act as cells with specialized functions such as sensors, muscles and constructors, each controlled by a small neural network. Networks of such cells form creatures that perceive their environment, move, feed, compete and build offspring according to their genome. With mutations enabled, populations evolve and entire ecosystems emerge. The engine runs entirely on the graphics card and simulates worlds with millions of particles in real time.

Cells are particles with a neural network, genes and a function. Cells form creatures, and creatures form populations that evolve.

This documentation is organized in three parts. Start here covers the first steps, the user interface and the control of ALIEN by AI agents. Explore introduces the central concepts step by step, from the physics sandbox to creature design, evolution and generative art. Reference documents every cell type, the genome format, the neural networks, all simulation parameters and the controls in detail. The search field above the table of contents finds any term across all chapters.

Tip: Press F1 to open or close this documentation.

What you can do with ALIEN

ALIEN serves three main purposes:

  • Evolution simulations. Seed a world with self-replicating creatures, switch on mutations and watch how populations adapt, compete and form ecosystems. ALIEN is used to study how complexity arises from simple building blocks. See Evolution experiments.
  • Sandbox game. Draw rocks, pour liquids, build machines and creatures, then smash them with the mouse. The physics engine reacts instantly while the simulation is running. See Sandbox and editing.
  • Generative art. Evolution and physics produce endless forms. With colors, glow, force fields and painted backgrounds, ALIEN becomes a tool for living, moving artworks. See Generative art.

Let an AI agent do the work. ALIEN contains a built-in MCP server. Connect an AI agent to it and simply describe what you want, for example "Build a coral reef with swimming creatures" or "Find out why my population dies out". The agent can create worlds, design genomes, change parameters and take screenshots for you. See AI agents for the setup and many example prompts.

Your first five minutes

ALIEN starts with a simulation already loaded. Try the following steps right away:

  1. Run and pause. Press Space to start the simulation and press it again to pause it. The menu Simulation offers the same commands.
  2. Look around. Turn the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Hold the middle mouse button and drag to move the view. You can also hold the left mouse button to zoom in continuously and the right mouse button to zoom out.
  3. Watch closely. Zoom in until you see single cells. Creatures consist of connected cells. Press Alt+O to switch on the cell info overlay, which labels each cell with its type when you are close enough.
  4. Open another world. Press Alt+B to open the Browser. The tab Simulations lists the simulations of the ALIEN project under Featured and those shared by other users under Community. Double-click a simulation to download and open it.
  5. Touch the world. Press Alt+E or click the round button in the lower left corner to enter the edit mode. While the simulation runs, choose the tool Apply forces in the tool bar next to the button and drag across the world to push everything around.

Note: Large simulations need a powerful graphics card. If a world runs slowly, choose a smaller one in the browser. The number of time steps per second is shown in the window Temporal control (Alt+1).

Where to go next

Choose the path that matches your interest:

If you want to... Read
understand the windows and controls The user interface
control ALIEN with an AI agent AI agents
draw, build and play with physics Sandbox and editing
learn what cells and creatures are How life works
design a creature yourself Your first creature
run your own evolution experiment Evolution experiments
create beautiful pictures and scenes Generative art

If you get stuck, have a look at Troubleshooting or ask the community on the ALIEN Discord server. Many videos about ALIEN can be found on the YouTube channel.