We've just released Simpocalypse 2.1 today. This is another feature release,
containing some exciting new functionality we wanted to get into your hands as
quickly as possible, as well as the usual collection of quiet bugfixes. The
highlights, below the fold:
We've just released version 1.2.0 of the Simpocalypse application today. Besides many bugfixes, this version comes with some important improvements:
There are now two modes for changing the simulation's parameters. Simple mode has fewer parameters and longer explanations for them, so it's easier to get started right away. Complete mode lets you change every parameter in the simulation, for maximum control, and shows the raw probability numbers behind them, for more advanced students.
It's now possible to save and restore the parameters that control the population, movement rules, and vaccines, along with the disease.
Simpocalypse has always supported saving the simulation's history as a SQLite database file for futher analysis. SQLite databases allow for all kinds of advanced manipulation of the data, but they require special tools to open, and some knowledge of how SQL databases work. 1.2.0 adds support for saving the history in CSV format, which can be opened with most spreadsheet programs, for more basic data analysis.
The user interface layout has been revised to make it, hopefully, a little bit easier to figure out.
We've been able to test Simpocalypse on a slightly wider range of different Macs, and we are now pretty confident that it will start on any PowerPC Mac that can run Mac OS X 10.5, and any Intel Mac manufactured to date, although many of the older ones will have trouble running the simulation with large populations or short cycle times.
There are still plenty of new features we want to add, and probably more bugs left to squish. Check back for more updates.
You can now create basic vaccines, with control over the vaccination rate and the effectiveness of the vaccine itself, and introduce the vaccine at any point before or during a simulation.
It is now possible to save and restore diseases: snapshots of the parameters that control the disease's properties. The files this creates are small, simple plain text files that can easily be shared via email attachments or other means.
Several of the parameter sliders have a wider range, and are a little easier to use, thanks to using a logarithmic scale instead of a linear one.
The UI layout has been further improved, especially on Macs and for smaller screens.
Many other miscellaneous bugs have been fixed.
We're still hard at work adding new functionality to the simulation and looking for bugs to squash. Check back here for further updates!