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[InfiniVide]

hmm, maybe we should get an actual list with links for this.

speaking of which... you guys suck genepool is taking up my DF time now.

The nice thing is that you really can just let it run while you do other things

[Muz]

MiniTroopers

Ok that was kind of a dirty trick, but it's a good game when you figure it out. We've got a 154 page thread dedicated to it, with various tips and tricks

[Intrinsic]

I love just sitting back and watching AI work in various games, 1st one i really recall doing it in was The Settlers, watching the enemy AI's battle it out and build.
Recently if you want near zero hands on i run OpenTTD and watch the various companies go about building up their business. What you'll need todo is invest(buy shares) your starting cash in one of the AI ones and then using the profits from that to pay your own costs off once a year.

Surprised no one has mentioned Framsticks either, i've been using this for like 15 years now starting back on my Amiga. It's an evolutionary DNA simulator thingy, it's pretty complex if you want to start writing your own DNA for your creatures, but you can just let it run and see how your random genomes evolve. It's used a lot in colleges etc for training and learning.
At it's most basic level you just create a bunch of random creatures and watch them fight for survival/breeding etc and mutating and the cycle repeats as in life, survival of the fittest.

http://www.framsticks.com/

Edit: One thing i've always searched for is a decent Ant colony simulator, Ants are pretty amazing but seemingly hard to model well.

[Criptfeind]

Breaking the Tower is one of Notchs earlier games. It is very indirect, you place buildings and people live autotominously on your island. I find it hard to close my browser once I start it up.

http://www.mojang.com/notch/ld12/breaking/

Is there anyway to win that?

[kaenneth]

There was a virtual aquarium 'game' called 'El Fish' which would spend forever pre-rendering graphics for genetically evolved fish for your fishtank.

Sadly, the game starts with a CPU speed test; since and most modern PC's complete the test task in under 1 minute, giving Zero; and the game then divides something by that Zero...

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El-Fish

[dood_]

Behold, my retarded little bacteria;

He laughs in the face of both competition, mass extinction, and even bi lateral symmetry.

Over the past few days I've let Genepool run in the background, and although this guys colour changes, the body shape hasn't. Well, when I up the food it grows fingers (better turning, slower over all though), and when I lower the food to bare minimum it becomes much sleeker, but you get the idea.

Its name is Motiebot.

[Intrinsic]

There was a virtual aquarium 'game' called 'El Fish' which would spend forever pre-rendering graphics for genetically evolved fish for your fishtank.

Sadly, the game starts with a CPU speed test; since and most modern PC's complete the test task in under 1 minute, giving Zero; and the game then divides something by that Zero...

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El-Fish

Looks quite funky, maybe even familiar, have you tried running it in DosBox?

[RedKing]

Mars Base Simulation Project.

Java-based colony simulator type thing. There are ridiculous levels of detail you drill down into, and while you can make some orders, for the most part it'll function on its own.

[Kogut]

Recently if you want near zero hands on i run OpenTTD and watch the various companies go about building up their business.

What you think about AI called AIAI?

[jc6036]

Posting to follow this thread.

I can't really think of anything offhand, but there is a spectator option in nearly every multiplayer FPS game, if that's your kind of thing.

[InfiniVide]

SimEarth, at least once the planet is sufficiently stable life sustaining.

I had that on my previous computer...wish I could get it working on Vista.

[Techoids]

It takes a bit of work, but SimEarth can be run through DOSBox.

I found this guide to be the most informative and helpful, especially to those new to the program: http://www.glennsguides.com/2009/05/simearth-living-planet-dos-pc-game-free.html
Everything you'll need to run the game should be there.

[Gamerlord]

ptw

[ebarstad]

It's a bit of a stretch and you need to put a little bit of time into setting it up, but if you have Arma 2 and the UPSMON Urban Patrol Script, you can quickly put together a scenario in the editor where opposing forces will randomly patrol an area (say a city) until they spot each other and engage in combat. It's pretty fascinating to see how the AI reacts to enemies and how it uses cover, smoke, and flanking to try and defeat the other side. You don't even have to take part in the battle; you just have to set up a free-floating camera so that you can watch the action.

[Solifuge]

I'd highly suggest the Creatures Series. The games simulate a sort of Artificial Life, with the player breeding, observing, and interacting in a godlike fashion with a breed of critters called Norns, which share a world (or organic spaceship) with other creatures both friendly and hostile. The graphics can be a bit crude (more so in the older games) but the games are deep and complex, and though interaction with the world is encouraged, they definitely fit the bill for "Sit and Watch" games.

The series was designed half to be a sort of sandbox game, and half as an experiment in the complex modelling of genetics, biology, and ecology. You can teach them the basics of language (such that they can communicate with you and each other to the best of their ability), breed them for certain traits, or let them run amok on their world and watch them struggle, grow, breed, and die. It's really a gem of a game, and the simple premise belies something really complex and rewarding. It's got a level of complexity not unlike Dwarf Fortress, with the game modeling organs and biological systems, genetics, toxins and hormones, intelligence, learning, emotion, and more. It's definitely a unique title, and worth trying... especially since it's available for only $5.99 from GOG.com.



I love the art style of the first game... the world is stitched together from photographs and the occasional sprite, and feels kinda like an assemblage sculpture... which fits the setting, being that it's a ramshackle artificial ringworld created and then abandoned by a race of absent-minded scientists. The second is prettier, but rushed (apparently the Norn's brains are buggy unless patched; Norns can turn into vegetables due to an excess of reward chemicals rewarding them for their every action, preventing them from learning). The third is definitely the most polished, and though the world (an organic spaceship) is smaller and takes little time to fully explore, it makes up for it with a wealth of complex new gameplay, and far improved biological modelling.

Links:
A fairly decent Video Introduction to the series.
Creatures 1 and 2, via GOG.com
Creatures 3 with expansions, via GOG.com