I'm building a small 2D evolution sim in Python pygame + numpy.Three factions of creatures with 15 numeric genes plus a few recessive ones, a small neural net per creature, mutation and sexual reproduction within each faction.

Rounds are short about 5 minutesand every round restarts from the same founders.

I measured which genes survive over 120 rounds and 50k births. The effects are small, and a control gene with no effect sometimes looked selected too, so I'm treating most of it as noise. Longer worlds mostly collapse into extinction through boom and bust cycles.

What would you change first to make selection actually visible? Gene trade-offs, a longer-lived world, carrying genomes between rounds, something else?

https://www.twitch.tv/edenevolutionwars