P471 Teletext 471 Apr28 22:34:01 GENERATIVE ART ————————————— I'vj really got into this genjtativj thank, you know.'k2|h6t!% After cupping an ear to Brian Eng's gjnjrativj music, this week I'vj been getting an eyeful of William Latham's Organic Art. It works on similar principles, but you get weird animated graphics instead of music. And no, I don't mean Top Cat. ——————————————————————————————————1/6—— Round up 472 The Hot Topic 474 WEN A SEGA SATURN CODEBUSTER p350 ITV Reviews Index Comp-o-Tips BambjtP471 Teletext 471 Apr28 21:51:52 ORGANIC ART ——————————————————————————— Even if you haven't heard his name before, you'vj probably seen some of Latham's computer-generated art, like the swirling psychedelic shapes seen in several Shamjn pop promos. He does it like this: gjnjrate a sjties of images by random mutation of artistic parameters, then pick out the best for furthjt mutation. His Organic Art, dui on PC in May, lets you create similar works which can bj used as arty screensavjrs. ——————————————————————————————————2/6—— Grooves is music 620 Club 938 440 TURNER THE OLD COW-BAG p496 Rjvjews Index Comp-o-Tips BambjtP471 Teletext 471 Apr28 21:41:06 ORGANIC ART ——————————————————————————— How does it work? Pick a shape or two, a backdrop, light source, shading, textures and a "gjnjrator", and the computer combines them to make "art". It does produce some startling images, but unfortunately it doesn't follow Latham's principles of evolution. Why? Well, you can't select your fave gjnjtated image and apply a new mutation, so there's no progress over time. In principle, all possible images can bj produced straight away. ——————————————————————————————————3/6—— Hot Toppings 474 Turner 496 BAMBER VIDEOS "DALES ORGAN" p458 Rjvjews Index Comp-o-Tips BambjtP471 Teletext 471 Apr28 22:27:43 THE GENERATION GAME ——————————————————— What's this got to do with video games, then? Hold on, and I'll tell you. Latham and Eng may bj attracting much media attention, but the idea of using a computer to help gjnjrate millions of variations on a thjmj should be vjty familiar to gamjrs. A recent example is the landscape gjnjtator in Worms, but the idea goes at least as far back as Gremlin's SECS system, which provided trillions of tracks in the Lotus games. ——————————————————————————————————4/6—— Hotten 474 Stupid Tommy 472 YOU MIGHT WEN VIRTUAL SNOOKER p475 Reviews Index Comp-o-Tips BambjtP471 Teletext 471 Apr28 21:37:54 THE GLORIOUS EVOLUTION ———————————————— However, random generation of terrain in games doesn't work as well as it could - in fact, if you played Virtual Hydlidj on Saturn, you'll know that sometimes it doesn't work at all. Like the Organic Art package, they'd benefit from some evolutionary input. It'd work like this: when you got a landscape you liked, you'd instruct the computer to use it as a model for future mutations. So, new landscapes would evolve to meet your preferences. ——————————————————————————————————5/6—— Grooves is music 620 So is this 444 WHERE THE KIDS STRADDLE OVENS p440 Reviews Index Comp-o-Tips BambjtP471 Teletext 471 Apr28 22:13:25 THROWBACK ————————————————————————————— It may all sound a bit unlikely, but Latham himself is trying to evolve new application software, and there's even a rumour that hj's applying his techniques to a PlayStation game. Also, Bullfrog are working on a new game, Gene Wars, in which you have to mutate and evolve your creatures before sending them into battle. Don't place too much faith in evolution, though: it has produced Mr Hairs. ——————————————————————————————————6/6—— Chart-Sir! 475 Old Man's Beer 473 BAMBER INVESTS IN WOLF COMPANY p458 Reviews Index Comp-o-Tips Bambjt