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Squares VI - Infection Sandox

Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 12:17 am
by bwisialo
Description: Squares VI has a substrate and species that are very similar to Squares III and IV. This challenge is partly a challenge and partly a sandbox for learning about and playing with Virocytes ;)

I had several ideas in mind in making this challenge.

1: showing that infection can be used to turn one kind of species into another
2: showing that it can be used to remove Devorocytes from an enemy species
3: the challenge should (hopefully) be educational about Virocytes
4: the challenge should (hopefully) be relatively easy if you have a species that completes Infection II / III ... trate?dl=0

Objective (Easy to Very Difficult): Create a virus that transforms the Devorcyte-Phagocyte species into Virocyte-spitting swimmers. The substrate does not need to be left with 0 cells at the end. (The challenge will be Very Difficult if you don't have a solution to Infection II / III)

Max cell inserted: 10

Cell Types Allowed: All

How / why your virus works, or doesn't (Hints, Tips, Spoilers)

One of the best things you can do to see how your virus is affecting another species is this: Place some of your Virocytes on top of a cell from the other species. Select that cell, hit Observe, and very quickly hit Freeze. "Load from microscope" in the Genome tab, then check the different modes of that cells' genome. Sometimes the cell won't get infected, but when it does, you can see if your virus having the effect you want or if something is going wrong. ;)

Here is the genome of the enemy species:
mode 2: Phagocyte - splits into 3, 2
mode 3: Devorocyte - splits into 2, 4
mode 4: Phagocyte - splits into 4, 2

Your Virocyte-spitting swimmer can have its Phagocyte, Virocyte, and Flagellocyte in any order you choose in modes 2, 3, 4. And, the Virocyte can copy from any mode to the same mode in order to complete the challenge - but keep reading to see a significant difference between two possible solutions. Also, your virus must use modes 2, 3, 4. For example, a virus that is modes 1, 2, 3 will not work. Why? See below for that topic as well.

Solution strategy 1: For example, you can use a virus like this:
mode 2: Virocyte - splits into 3, 4 with adhesion - copies from 3 to 3
mode 3: Phagocyte - splits into 2, 3 (without adhesion)
mode 4: Flagellocyte

When your Virocyte infects any enemy cell, that cells' genome will become identical to yours in modes 2, 3, 4. This happens regardless of the fact that the enemy species has different parent-child relationships than the virus: its 3 will become your 3; its 2 is your 2; and its 3 splits into 2, 3, etc.. Your entire genome for 2, 3, 4 is transferred over because the mode 3 Phagocyte contains the information about all three cells in your genome: because mode 3 splits into 2, 3, and mode 2 splits into 3, 4.

Solution strategy 2: However, let’s suppose the mode 4 Flagellocyte is left at the default setting of children 4, 4, and your virus copies from 4 to 4. Your virus can infect any enemy cell and make mode 4 of that cell a Flagellocyte. However, only part of your genome will transfer over: the mode 4 Flagellocyte. This is because the mode 4 Flagellocyte has children 4, 4: this cell is not able to “tell” the enemy cell what your modes 2 and 3 are. That is, since your mode 4 Flagellcoyte has children 4 and 4, this cell does not contain any information about cells 2 and 3. Your species can still complete the challenge (if your swimmers are strong enough), but it will complete the challenge in a different way: by handicapping the enemy species. When the infected enemy cells spit out a mode 4 cell, they will be spitting out your Flagellocyte, limiting the enemy species’ ability to reproduce. Try this, then take a look at an infected cells' genome. ;)

That sort of strategy can be useful if you want to handicap another species, if you only want one mode of your virus to be transferred over to the other species, or if you want the other species to keep part of its genome. In "Gene Therapy," you want the swimmers on the substrate to keep their Flagellocytes, because you don't have access to Flagellocytes. What you have to do in "Gene Therapy" is transfer your genome into the swimmers without transferring anything into mode 3 - the Flagellocyte.

Back to the example. Your entire genome will transfer over if you change the children of the mode 4 Flagellocyte to 2, 3. Even though your Flagellocyte never actually splits, it now contains information about what modes 2 and 3 are. Try this next bit of strategy for yourself! ;) Make the mode 4 Flagellocyte have children 5, 3, and make mode 5 a Glueocyte (with the Flagellocyte at the default split mass and never actually splitting). Now, when an infected mode 4 enemy cell first splits, it will split into your mode 5 Glueocyte and mode 3 Phagocyte. This sort of strategy for using additional modes of your virus creates many, many possibilities whenever you are trying to infect another species. ;)

Why won’t a virus with modes 1, 2, 3 work?

Let’s say your virus is this:
mode 1: Virocyte - splits into 2, 3 with adhesion - copies from 1 to 2
mode 2: Phagocyte - splits into 1, 2 (without adhesion)
mode 3: Flagellocyte

It might seem like you should be able to copy from 1 to 2 and transfer your genome to modes 2, 3, 4 in the enemy’s genome. In a sense, that’s exactly what happens, but your virus won’t reproduce itself – it produces something entirely different.

Your modes 1, 2, 3 become modes 2, 3, 4 in the infected species, including the child mode values. Your mode 1 Virocyte splits into modes 2, 3 with adhesion. The enemy’s mode 2 cell is likewise a Virocyte that splits into 2, 3 with adhesion. But this means that, in the enemy’s infected genome, the mode 2 Virocyte splits into mode 2 (itself) and mode 3 (your Phagocyte) with adhesion. The infected species won’t produce your swimmers.

Further, your Phagocyte splits into 1, 2. In the infected species genome, your Phagocyte splits into modes 1, 2 of the infected species’ genome. In the infected species, mode 2 is your Virocyte, but mode 1 of its genome is still the exact same cell as it was before the infection. Your virus doesn’t transfer anything over to mode 1 of the infected species. In the species on the Squares VI substrate, mode 1 is a Devorocyte. As a result, the infected species now produces a Devorocyte that it didn’t produce before the infection!

When you see a virus produce unexpected cells, this sort of mode mismatch is probably what’s happening. If you see unexpected cells, select the cell and then “Load from microscrope” in the genome editor. Check the different modes of the cells’ genome to try to figure out what the virus is transferring over and what has gone wrong.

Hopefully all this will be helpful for understanding and using Virocytes. ;) Try things out on the substrate.

Re: Squares V - Transformation (Easy - Moderate)

Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 12:28 am
by CandyYAHFT
this means, I have to infect all, but not necesarily kill them?

Re: Squares V - Transformation (Easy - Moderate)

Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 12:40 am
by bwisialo
Infect them all, though some will die from starvation. ;) The challenge is complete when there are no cells remaining from the original species, having been transformed into your Virocyte-spitting swimmer.

Re: Squares VI - Transformation I

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 12:45 am
by bwisialo
I updated this challenge to eliminate some previous problems and to make it helpful (hopefully) for understanding Virocytes. The helpful part is primarily in the explanatory passage below the substrate, but it's also helpful to use the substrate to play around with Virocytes. ;)

Re: Squares VI - Infection Sandox

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:35 am
by bwisialo
I updated the passage to explain why a virus that uses different modes won't work. Because there have been lots of times when I thought my virus would transfer my genome into the victim, but what I had actually done was mis-match the modes, and I didn't knowing what was happening or why. This is by far the most common mistake I've made when trying to infect another species, especially when I was a beginner ;) I also updated the strategic points a bit.

Re: Squares VI - Infection Sandox

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 5:35 pm
by Alast
Really great educational challenge. I've just read your hints up to which modes to use and was able to clear it in my first try. Actually I found it more effective to infect (infective?) one of your Phagos instead of the Devoro.

Now I've read the rest of the lesson and found it very useful to understand Virocytes a little better and practice more effectively with them :-)

Maybe I need to do something similar with Glueocytes? ;-)

Re: Squares VI - Infection Sandox

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 6:54 pm
by bwisialo
Yep, I think Virocytes don't infect Devorocytes as well as they infect Phagocytes, which makes sense. They also might not infect Virocytes as well as they infect Phagocytes. I haven't tracked that closely enough to be able to determine that.

You could do something like the example of have a Flagellocyte that has a Glueocyte child. Or maybe that is what you were referring to. You can try it in Infection II and V. You could also try it in in your Balance of Life solution.

Re: Squares VI - Infection Sandox

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:31 pm
by Alast
I think in your challenge the reason is way more profane. The Devorocytes pretty much split again right away. That reduces the time of the infectability of your species significantly. The Phagocytes stay much longer making them the prime target for infection.

Re: Squares VI - Infection Sandox

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:42 pm
by bwisialo
Profane how?

Re: Squares VI - Infection Sandox

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:48 pm
by Alast
Well, different chances for different cell types to be infected by a virocyte would be a rather complicated reason for your genome better being infected on one of the Phagocytes. It would be something that's applicable every time. But simply the time a cell stays in its current state is a more simple reason. Therefore profane, nothing special about it :)