The main attraction
A simple set of rules can create extremely complex outputs. A single termite is thought to be incapable of envisioning the entirety of a termite mound. In this way, we as humans can generate complex systems by iterating through a simple set of rules. A magnificent example of this type of iteration, is the Lorenz Attractor.
What is the Lorenz Attractor? The Lorenz Attractor is the name given to a set of equations which yield delightfully complex and chaotic results when given even slightly differing inputs.
To put it in a much more dazzling way, this is a Lorenz Attractor:
Here is another with only slightly different starting conditions:
Lorenz Attractors approximately describe the way in which a shallow layer of uniform liquid is heated by convection. But they can also be used to model other systems in a heuristically valid manner. For example A truncated portion of the system could be used to model flow of fluids in a vortex, such as is found in weather systems. This potential usage is what drew me to the Lorenz Attractor as a target for simulation.
Potentially, with the correct conditions, the map can be given ‘wind’ so to speak, which would guide clouds and potentially allow for wind carried plant seeds. This wind would take the form of an approximation of the vector which the underlying Lorenz Attractor bestows upon a location at the beginning of the world, perhaps with the attractors updating with slightly different conditions every season.
Given a Lorenz system as the underlying driver of storms in the above system, a more accurate (or at least convincing) model can be achieved.
