If anyone is interested in seeing v3 of my PhD dissertation prospectus, take a look.
I just got some comments back from my advisor, Professor Michael Dyer, and he said "Michael, congratulations, it's looking pretty good." which is great, considering that I worked all summer on it. (Yes, it's only 8 pages, but its the idea and design behind the document that makes it hard to write.)
There will be at least one more version before he approves the prospectus and I form my dissertation committee, but I'm well on my way.
Have you thought about adding a random effect to remove animats from member tribes rather than relying on some sort of programmed removal? Granted, unless this effect is small (and it should be) it might overshadow your desired study of language effects.
That should be an interesting dissertation.
Removing in what sense? Removal from the world entirely, or removal from a tribe?
As in death of a member of the population, so removal entirely. I infer from reading the proposal that animats will age and that "younger" animats will be introduced while older ones will die off. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this scenario or I'm guessing the entire time period of the scenario incorrectly.
I don't think any animats will die off by aging. They may be killable, but maybe not even that. Combat may simply be reflected by reducing the energy pool of the tribe.
Can't get too abstract though, or else the simulation is for nothing. I just haven't decided all the details yet.