World of Wator

World of Wator is a fun screensaver that shows off how predators and prey interact on a made-up planet called WaTor (Water Torus). The cool thing about WaTor is that it's completely covered in water and is home to two main species: fish and sharks. These fish have endless plankton to munch on, and both the sharks and fish follow some pretty strict rules.

How the Simulation Works

This simulation gives us a peek into a simple ecosystem where both fish and sharks are trying to survive. It's like watching nature in action! Each time step, a fish moves randomly to one of the four neighboring spots if it's free. Fish have something called "breed time." Once they hit this breed time, they can give birth to a new fish in an empty neighboring spot. If there's no space available, nothing happens! When this happens, both the parent fish and the baby start their breed time all over again.

The Life of Sharks

Now let's talk about sharks. They also move randomly but can go to spots that are either empty or filled with fish. Every round, they lose energy—kind of like how we get tired after running around! If they land on a spot with a fish, they eat it and gain energy back. But if their energy dips below zero? Well, that means the shark doesn't make it!

Sharks Creating Offspring

If a shark's energy goes above a certain level, it gets to have baby sharks in an empty neighboring spot. The energy gets split evenly between the parent shark and its new offspring.

If you're curious about trying out World of Wator, you'll definitely enjoy seeing how these species interact with each other!