SimLife 2 (2021)
In 2021, in order to restart the brand Maxis after the failure of
Simcity (2013), Electronic Arts announced that some of the simulation games (or "software toys") would be remade, more precise, more accurate and deeper thanks to the better performance of the current computers.
SimLife (manual available
here) was thought to be a good test, because genetics and trophic levels was relatively straighforward and easier to simulate than other natural cycles such as Earth's.
In addition to the animal and the vegetal realms, SimLife 2 also includes mushrooms, along with insects (arachnids are folded into insects, for simplicity), which have been ranked as a separate category under animals, and microorganisms, or monocellular beings, both vegetal and animal, to better simulate how diverse is earthly life and allow the player to directly interviene on the beings constituting the plankton of the seas. The inclusion of small beings has been enabled by simulating groups instead of individuals, so that, for exemple, a population of plankton of the same species residing in the same single piece of water will be treated as an individual, with a count of members.
Additionally, alternative feeding behaviour such as necrophagy have been introduced, in order to provide more diversity.
Morever, robotic life will also be introduced, complete with rules about energy sources and auto-replication, among others, with nods to
Orion's Arm.
But the biggest revolution was the inclusion of ethology, or the behaviour of animals, in order to provide a deeper simulation. In addition to predation,
SimLife 2 simulate other
interactions : pollinisation will fecund flower-based plants, finally giving a reason why they would produce nectar; likewide, different modes of seed dispersion will be introduced, such as through consumption by animals, winds or waters. Several modes of mutualism will be implemented: we could simulate a plant which evolved so as to produce fruits bearing its seed, which will be eaten by an animal to be spread around. Some organisms will also be able to act as parasites, or even as infectuous agents, to simulate epizooties and others.
Social behaviour has been made deeper: while the original game only cared about food sharing, the new version will also track behaviour related to mating, child-raising and collective defense, along with conflict management. Microorganisms, and especially insects, will have much more complexity, including caste systems.
Shelter building will also be included, to simulate things such as birds' nests and anthill: the player will be able to select if an animal species will build shelters and, according of how social are the individuals, these shelters will be individual or collective. The materials will also be able to be selected, such as wood, earth and wax.
Of course, this more complex ethology will have new mechanisms of transmission: while some of these will definitively end in the genome, others will be part of a "memetic" system, drawn from the ideas of Richard Dawkins.
Both older players interested by a more complex simulation, biology fans and younger players fan of scientific simulation bought this game, enough that Maxis announced the release of other remakes such as
SimEarth 2 (with comments from Miss Greta Thurnberg) and newer games such as
SimReactors (simulating nuclear reactors).
EDIT: Added parts about additional feeding behaviour and robotic life. How could I forgotten about this, given that it was present as an Easter Egg in
SimEarth?