What the demos do

The interactive demos are small playgrounds where a genetic algorithm evolves something in front of you. You do not need an account to run them. Pick one, click Start, and watch the population improve generation after generation.

Every demo has the same shape:

• A canvas in the middle of the page where the current population is animated.
• A heads-up overlay on the canvas showing the current generation, how many individuals are still alive, the leader's score, and the best score ever reached this session.
• A row of small cards under the canvas. Each card is the best individual of one generation, kept as a snapshot so you can scroll back and see how things looked five or twenty generations ago.
• A Start / Pause button, a Reset button that picks a new world and clears the run, and a Settings dialog where you can tune the genetic-algorithm knobs (mutation, elites, tournament size, generation cap).
• A Speed dropdown. Setting it to 4× or 8× makes generations finish sooner without changing what the algorithm does.

Where the work runs¶

The browser handles the animation and the simulation. The genetic algorithm itself, the part that selects parents, recombines them, mutates them, and keeps the elites, runs on Vilvik's servers. Each generation, the browser ships a fitness vector back to the server and the server returns the next batch of individuals. The split keeps the math identical to the real Vilvik runs and lets the page stay responsive.

Reproducing a run¶

Each demo has a seed shown under the canvas. Loading the page with ?seed=N in the URL replays the same world. The genetic algorithm itself is still seeded by the server, so a given seed plus the same settings yields the same population. Useful for sharing a particularly funny generation with a colleague.

What unlocks¶

Signed-in users earn an achievement the first time a demo produces a clearly successful individual. The criterion is demo-specific (for example, a walker that crosses one hundred meters of rough terrain). The page does not tell you when the badge fires; check Your account, then Achievements to see it.

The demos¶

The catalog keeps growing. It spans evolving walkers, rocket landers, and orbital missions, alongside live game-playing agents that learn Flappy Bird, Snake, a Self-Driving Car, a Dino Runner, and Breakout. Open the live catalog above to see what is available right now and to follow the link straight to each demo.