| name | research |
| description | Run structured research experiments for Sunaba creature evolution. Use for creating experiments, investigating problems, making code changes, running training, and tracking progress across physics, morphology, neural, chemistry, and integration work. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Grep, Glob, Write, Edit, Bash(cargo run:*), Bash(just:*), Bash(time:*), Bash(RUST_LOG=*:*), Bash(cargo test:*), Bash(cargo build:*) |
Research Experiments Skill
Systematic research for Sunaba creature evolution across all systems.
Research Areas
| Area | What Changes | How to Test |
|---|---|---|
| Physics | Gravity, damping, friction, thrust, joints | Training runs, observe behavior |
| Morphology | Body generation, part sizes, joint limits | Training runs, visual inspection |
| Neural | Network architecture, sensors, inputs | Training runs, behavior analysis |
| Chemistry | Reactions, materials, world generation | Manual testing, emergent behavior |
| Integration | How systems work together | In-game testing with creatures |
Commands
/research [<goal>]
Create new experiments or suggest experiments based on current progress.
Auto-detect mode:
- With
<goal>argument: Create experiment from goal description - Without arguments: Suggest 2-5 experiments based on PLAN.md and PROGRESS.md
What I'll do (create mode - with goal):
- Parse the goal (often from PLAN.md or user request)
- Determine research area and appropriate template
- Generate descriptive experiment name
- Create
experiments/YYYY-MM-DD-<name>.md(not inside .claude/skills, at the top level!) - Add entry to
experiments/PROGRESS.md
What I'll do (suggest mode - no arguments):
- Read
PLAN.mdfor current phase goals - Read
experiments/PROGRESS.mdfor completed work - Analyze what hasn't been tried yet
- Propose 2-5 experiments with:
- Goal and hypothesis
- Research area (physics/morphology/neural/etc.)
- What we expect to learn
- Estimated effort
- Ask which ones to create
Examples:
/research # Suggest mode
/research "creatures should move >100px consistently" # Create mode
/research "investigate why creatures don't use their legs"
/research "test higher joint angular velocity"
/research status
Show overview of all experiments.
What I'll do:
- Read
experiments/PROGRESS.md - List experiments by status
- Show iteration chains
- Highlight current phase goals from PLAN.md
Templates
Choose based on experiment type:
| Template | Use When |
|---|---|
code-change.md |
Modifying game systems (physics, chemistry, morphology, neural) |
training-run.md |
Running training to test changes or establish baseline |
investigation.md |
Understanding a problem before trying fixes |
iteration.md |
Building on previous experiment results |
Workflow
Investigation Flow
/research "understand why X happens"- Read code, run tests, observe behavior
- Document findings in experiment file
- Propose fixes as new experiments
Code Change Flow
/research "try changing X to improve Y"- Make code changes
- Run training or manual tests
- Document results
- Keep or revert changes
Training Flow
- Make code changes (or use current state)
/research "establish baseline for X"- Run
just train-quickor full training - Analyze results manually
- Create iteration with
/research
Reference
Training Commands
just train-quick # Fast validation (~1 min), outputs to training_output/
time just train-quick # With timing
# Custom scenario/parameters (still uses training_output/)
just train scenario="locomotion" generations="100" population="50"
Scenarios
locomotion, simple, foraging, survival, balanced, parcour
Key Files
| Area | Key Files |
|---|---|
| Physics | creature.rs, physics.rs, morphology.rs |
| Morphology | morphology.rs, genome.rs |
| Neural | neural.rs, sensors.rs |
| Training | headless/training_env.rs, headless/scenario.rs |
| Fitness | headless/fitness.rs |