Ant Colony Emergence

Initial worker count. More ants means denser pheromone coverage and faster trail formation — but also more competition for food and greater sensitivity to enemy raids.

Angular noise in ant movement. Too low: ants lock onto a single trail, can't adapt when food depletes. Too high: pure random walk, no trails form. The sweet spot lets trails emerge while staying adaptive.

How fast pheromone fades (negative feedback). Low: old trails persist long after food is gone — the colony stays locked in. High: trails vanish before reinforcement can occur. Evaporation is what keeps the system adaptive rather than frozen.

Pheromone deposited per step by returning ants (positive feedback). High: highways form quickly and are very obvious — but can overcommit to a single route. Low: trails are subtle, requiring many successful trips before they influence other foragers.

How often the queen produces new workers (costs 1 food each). This creates a negative feedback loop: colony grows → food depletes faster → fewer births → colony self-limits. The colony size self-regulates around the food supply.

How long workers live before dying of old age. Lower values create faster colony turnover and more corpses; higher values let individuals persist longer.

How often enemy scouts appear at the colony perimeter. Enemies walk toward the queen. Workers nearby will break from foraging to fight locally — no alarm signal, just proximity. High pressure forces the colony to trade foragers for defenders.

How often a giant boot descends from the sky. A growing shadow marks the impact zone — any ant or enemy still under the sole when it lands is squished flat. Ants can't look up; even the queen isn't safe.

Seconds between new food sources appearing. A new source spawns on this timer regardless of whether existing sources are depleted. Depleted sources also self-respawn after this same interval.

Maximum radius of the toxic decomposition cloud at peak. Larger clouds cover more area and endanger more ants — but also draw workers to the source for faster cleanup.

Seconds for a decomposing body to reach full cloud size. Shorter means clouds swell quickly and then fade; longer creates a slow, creeping hazard.

Damage multiplier for bacteria clouds. Higher values make decomposition a serious threat; lower values make clouds mostly cosmetic.

Number of rock obstacles per 100% field area. Takes effect on reset.