Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
McAfee Secure sites help keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams
Chris Higgins
Seed: Fun With Flowers
by Chris Higgins - August 1, 2008 - 11:11 AM

Seed is a simple, open-ended game in which you plant virtual flowers, cross-breed them, and create new varieties. Here’s a screenshot after a minute or two of playing:

Seed - screenshot

It gets interesting when users share the “DNA” (not really DNA, but simplified computer code…) for their flowers. In the comments below the game, many users have posted DNA for their creations, and those are good starting points. To use someone else’s DNA, copy the DNA to your clipboard, click “show DNA” in the Seed game, then paste in the DNA and click “seed this.” (To get your own DNA, drag a flower to the “drag plant here” area and click “show DNA.”)

There’s also an “evolv-o-matic” button which mutates and cross-breeds your flowers automatically — leave it running in the background and come back later to see what’s happened! Give it a shot if you have a free moment.

I enjoy Seed because it’s so open-ended — you can play around with different flower combinations and watch what happens. It’s certainly nothing like real evolution or even plant cross-breeding, but it’s still an interesting toy. There are some downsides to this game, as well — on my Mac, it routinely paused for long periods (thirty seconds) and I thought the browser had crashed. Because of this, I recommend running it in its own browser (one in which you’re not doing important work). On Windows it worked fine for me, so maybe it’s just a Mac thing.

Did you make a great flower? Share its “DNA” in the comments!

« Previous Post   -   Next Post »
Comments (22)

  1. 86.9, 0×115844, 1, 9, 22.5, 0.4, 1.8, 1.4, 35.1, 46.2, 1.3, 2, 0.2, 0.0, 0.3, 0.3, 2.9, -0.1, 0.1, -0.4, 0xc1a65f, 0xffffff, 51.0, 9.2, 6, 7, 9.6, 20.4
    What a great game!

    posted by mc112358 on 8-1-2008 at 12:41 pm

  2. My favorites are:
    66.9, 0×467364, 5, 7, 31.7, 0.4, 1.4, 1.3, 32.3, 73.4, 0.5, 4, 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.0, 1.1, -0.0, 0.3, -0.3, 0xce929e, 0xf098b1, 5.1, 8.4, 9, 11, 0.6, 0.8

    and

    66.9, 0×467364, 5, 7, 31.7, 0.4, 1.4, 1.5, 32.3, 73.4, 0.5, 4, 0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.0, 1.1, -0.0, 0.3, -0.3, 0xce929e, 0xf098b1, 5.1, 8.4, 9, 11, 0.6, 0.8

    posted by Shawna on 8-1-2008 at 1:12 pm

  3. Hope you have a fast graphics card…
    78.4, 0xd7272, 37, 101, 40.5, 1.0, 1.0, 1.5, 22.7, 19.9, 1.6, 4, 0.1, 0.1, 0.0, 0.2, 1.4, 0.0, 0.1, -1.0, 0×7971fb, 0xe2b6d3, 5.4, 10.3, 63, 9, 2.0, 0.2

    posted by mc112358 on 8-1-2008 at 1:22 pm

  4. 97.4, 0×4aaf65, 1, 3, 21.1, 0.9, 2.7, 1.2, 7.0, 52.1, 1.5, 2, 0.1, 0.0, 0.1, 0.0, 1.2, -0.0, 0.2, -0.2, 0xb1771f, 0×5cd34b, 6.1, 14.8, 14, 26, 1.1, 1.0

    This is highly addictive. Thanks for ruining my already-questionable work ethic. Sheesh.

    posted by adrienne on 8-1-2008 at 1:39 pm

  5. 12.5, 0×414001, 7, 3, 40.0, 0.3, 1.0, 1.3, 40.0, 90.0, 0.0, 4, 0.1, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, -0.1, 0.7, 0.4, 0xff68d3, 0xdeff00, 5.0, 4.5, 6, 5, 0.1, 1.2

    posted by adrienne on 8-1-2008 at 2:07 pm

  6. No problem playing this game one my Mac Mini. Great fun! I’m not sure I completely “get” what it is I’m doing but I like it. Thanks!

    posted by redbeki on 8-1-2008 at 2:33 pm

  7. 41.9, 0×435643, 5, 4, 36.3, 0.5, 1.6, 1.1, 41.3, 83.8, 0.7, 3, 0.0, 0.2, 0.0, 0.1, 1.3, -0.1, 0.5, 0.2, 0×6a5359, 0xf9a9a8, 6.0, 6.9, 9, 13, 0.5, 0.7

    Wow! This is more fun than I thought it would be.

    posted by Heather Dawn on 8-1-2008 at 3:01 pm

  8. At least three of the DNA sequences from above gave me a blue-stemmed blue rectangle. Was that on purpose or is there a problem with copy-paste?

    posted by JohnB on 8-1-2008 at 3:40 pm

  9. P.S. You can also adjust the values in the DNA strand by hand. There are 28 different parameters. I played with a few to find out what they do (some of these are guesses):

    1 – flower height
    2 – stem color
    3 – number of flowers on each plant
    4 – ?
    5 – ?
    6 – ?
    7 – stem thickness
    8 – ?
    9 – ?
    10 – ?
    11 – size of center (stigma?)
    12 – number of petal layers per flower
    13 – petal distortion?
    14 – changes in petal color
    15 – changes in petal color (higher=lighter?)
    16 – changes in petal color (higher=darker?)
    17 – petal outline width
    18 – ?
    19 – ?
    20 – petal outline brightness
    21 – color of stigma
    22 – petal color
    23 – ?
    24 – petal size
    25 – ?
    26 – number of petals per flower
    27 – ?
    28 – shape of petals

    posted by JohnB on 8-1-2008 at 3:48 pm

  10. I made some kinda cool ones and then just let it go for about 1 1/2 while I wasn’t at the computer. It came up with this: 100.0, 0×5f5f9f, 10, 10, 50.0, 0.9, 1.0, 1.4, 10.6, 67.5, 0.7, 3, 0.2, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 2.7, -0.1, 0.0, -0.2, 0×9c2fb7, 0×42096d, 6.1, 11.9, 5, 4, 0.7, 0.9

    I thought it was cool.

    posted by Fruppi on 8-1-2008 at 7:21 pm

  11. I think the plain blue rectangle is Seed’s way of going “Whuh?” You can still cross-breed those rectangles with other flowers but the flowers will be all boxy and stumpy.

    posted by Rachel on 8-1-2008 at 8:26 pm

  12. 60.0, 0×537964, 8, 8, 46.9, 0.8, 1.6, 1.3, 22.6, 79.8, 0.8, 4, 0.3, 0.1, 0.0, 0.0, 2.5, 0.0, 0.4, 0.1, 0×916e5f, 0×764245, 7.3, 16.0, 8, 9, 1.3, 1.4

    37.7, 0×5a7b68, 7, 7, 44.2, 0.6, 1.5, 1.2, 39.7, 83.0, 0.7, 4, 0.2, 0.2, 0.0, 0.1, 2.5, 0.1, 0.6, 0.5, 0×666339, 0×8f6769, 7.8, 12.9, 7, 7, 1.1, 1.1
    This is a fun one:
    14.3, 0×1f5340, 8, 6, 42.8, 0.3, 1.4, 1.2, 41.1, 76.5, 0.2, 4, 0.1, 0.1, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, -0.1, 0.7, 0.2, 0xec74cc, 0xd8e92e, 6.6, 5.8, 7, 8, 0.4, 1.0

    posted by Paula on 8-1-2008 at 10:42 pm

  13. I think I’ve realized why all these codes come up as the blue rectangle. Copying and pasting the DNA from here makes some of the x’s disappear, so just replace all the x’s once it’s in the DNA box. :D

    posted by Paula on 8-1-2008 at 10:51 pm

  14. 92.5, 0×94ce98, 5, 10, 25.0, 0.1, 1.1, 1.4, 39.8, 62.0, 0.9, 3, 0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.0, 1.4, -0.1, -0.1, -0.1, 0×7cad82, 0xeec3ee, 6.3, 12.2, 7, 8, 0.3, 1.0

    so pretty!

    posted by Meg on 8-1-2008 at 11:37 pm

  15. and also: my sister is using some of the color combinations to pick a color scheme for her bedroom… nice!

    posted by Meg on 8-1-2008 at 11:42 pm

  16. I love this one- tall with 3 big blooms per stem, each with 4 layers blending from yellow to blue.

    96.3, 0×795924, 3, 13, 60.0, 0.5, 1.1, 1.1, 32.1, 80.7, 0.1, 4, 0.0, 0.0, 0.1, 0.0, 3.1, -0.2, 0.3, -0.1, 0xebf551, 0×5aa0a1, 8.5, 25.0, 3, 13, 0.6, 0.4

    posted by Val on 8-2-2008 at 1:32 am

  17. OK, I’m hooked.

    99.7, 0×6600, 10, 8, 39.5, 0.0, 1.6, 1.3, 48.2, 26.6, 0.2, 1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.1, 2.2, 0.1, -0.1, 0.1, 0×9a541e, 0×141910, 8.7, 1.6, 2, 2, 0.1, 0.1

    posted by Ed on 8-2-2008 at 11:34 am

  18. Here are some cool ones that I made using a couple of the ones above.
    98.2, 0×3c2c91, 12, 7, 40.0, 0.8, 1.1, 1.1, 16.1, 40.4, 0.6, 2, 0.0, 0.0, 0.1, 0.0, 2.0, -0.1, 0.1, -0.1, 0×757aa8, 0×2d50d0, 6.8, 14.1, 4, 9, 0.3, 0.2

    92.5, 0×26426a, 7, 8, 31.3, 0.6, 1.4, 1.2, 25.6, 47.1, 1.1, 2, 0.1, 0.0, 0.2, 0.1, 2.5, -0.1, 0.1, -0.2, 0×9b9083, 0×96a7e7, 10.9, 11.6, 5, 8, 1.1, 1.1

    posted by Scott on 8-2-2008 at 1:16 pm

  19. switching colors around works, too. I made one with a pink stem and dark green leaves.

    posted by Stephen on 8-2-2008 at 1:47 pm

  20. THIS ONE OWNZ

    51.7, 0×547541, 67, 4, 60.0, 0.6, 4.0, 1.2, 27.5, 80.8, 0.7, 4, 0.6, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 1.1, -0.2, 0.4, -0.1, 0×487181, 0xf7992, 5.3, 9.0, 10, 76, 0.7, 0.9

    posted by JAAP on 12-23-2008 at 4:52 am

  21. 99.9, 0×721a4, 9, 9, 90.9, 9.9, 9.9, 9.9, 99.99, 90.9, 9.9, 9, 9.9, 9.9, 9.9, 9.9, 9.9, 9.9, 9.9, -0.3, 0xce929e, 0xf098b1, 9.9, 9.9, 9, 90, 9.9, 9.9

    posted by Chad on 4-7-2009 at 7:18 pm

  22. 52.9, 0×324962, 6, 4, 31.5, 0.6, 1.4, 1.1, 37.5, 61.1, 0.7, 4, 0.1, 0.1, 0.0, 0.1, 1.3, -0.0, 0.4, -0.3, 0×6c598b, 0xad6fa7, 5.4, 7.2, 9, 11, 0.6, 1.0

    I thought this was kinda cool!

    posted by Rosii on 2-15-2010 at 3:51 pm

Comment

commenting policy