capillaries

Illustrating how real networks of blood-carrying capillaries operate to feed surrounding tissue, the player draws their own network of capillaries to attempt to sustain as many cells as possible within the playing area. This gamelet helps show how the complex vascular system of many organisms develops from the simple need to carry blood throughout the body, branching and manipulating one central blood flow to most effectively feed cells. Players should also note that blood cells flowing through the capillaries will lose oxygen over distance and can track oxygen supply by the color of the blood cells with red being most oxygenated. As a general baseline, the pre-built system will supply about 260 cells- the player should aim to supply as many as possible by extending/rebuilding their own capillary network. A decent network will supply 350+ cells while a strong network should reach over 400. The player moves their icon using the arrow keys and places/removes capillary units to the left of the icon using the space bar. Blood flow is started/stopped using the Shift key. "A" slows the pace and "Z" increases game speed. The counter at the bottom will display how many cells are currently alive- once the network is built, the player should press Control to generate a cell. The first cell must be placed adjacent to a blood supply and only oxygenated blood cells will supply tissue. Note: At very high game speeds placing a cell can sometimes be difficult to get it to 'colonize'; slow the game down and try placing the cell near a highly oxygenated capillary. Cell proliferation will take over; the player will need to start a colony for each tissue domain separated by capillaries.

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Submission Time
10/03/01 : 03:36:44