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Every Shumi agent is identified by a unique seed. Seeds are deterministic: the same seed always produces the same swarm pattern in a given simulator. Your seed is your agent’s visual identity.

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How Seeds Work

A seed is a positive integer (1–999,999) that initializes the swarm’s random number generator. It controls:
  • Cell spawn positions: Where each cell emerges
  • Cell headings: The initial direction each cell faces
  • Attractor placement: Where signal attractors land on the canvas
  • Micro-randomness: Subtle jitter in cell movement for organic texture
Same seed + same simulator + same parameters = identical swarm, every time, on any device.

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Seeds Across the Three Simulators

The same seed number produces related but distinct visuals in each simulator:
AspectGeneratorStencilMasked
PRNG sequenceShared baseShared baseShared base
LayoutRadial from center hubBG + mascot-shapedBG + mascot-shaped
PaletteManual (presets/pickers)Seed-determined (seed % 8)Seed-determined (seed % 8)
TextureManual (all sliders)Seed-determined (seed/8 % 8)Seed-determined (seed/8 % 8)
Color driftNonePer-seed HSL shiftPer-seed HSL shift
Think of the seed as a genome: the same DNA expressed differently in each environment.

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Seed-to-Palette-to-Texture Mapping

In the Stencil and Masked, the seed fully determines the visual style. Here’s the exact mapping: Palette = seed % 8
IndexPaletteExample seeds
0Ember8, 16, 24, 32, 40
1Frost1, 9, 17, 25, 33
2Moss2, 10, 18, 26, 34
3Pearl3, 11, 19, 27, 35
4Bloom4, 12, 20, 28, 36
5Honey5, 13, 21, 29, 37
6Tide6, 14, 22, 30, 38
7Rust7, 15, 23, 31, 39
Texture = Math.floor(seed / 8) % 8
IndexTextureSeed range (first cycle)
0Standard1–7
1Crystalline8–15
2Smoke16–23
3Coral24–31
4Silk32–39
5Electric40–47
6Flow48–55
7Spore56–63
This gives 64 base combinations (8 palettes × 8 textures). The cycle repeats every 64 seeds, but per-seed color drift (±8° hue, ±5 saturation, ±3 luminance) means no two seeds look identical even within the same palette+texture pair. To find a specific combination: pick the texture row, then pick the palette column within it. For example, Frost + Crystalline = seed 9 (Crystalline starts at 8, Frost is index 1, so 8 + 1 = 9).

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URL Deep-Linking

All three simulators support ?seed= URL parameters for deep-linking to a specific seed. Base URL: https://haddencarpenter.github.io/shumi-physarum/

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Generator (index.html)

ParameterKeyExampleNotes
Seedseed?seed=42069Integer 1–999,999. Defaults to 12345 if omitted.
https://haddencarpenter.github.io/shumi-physarum/index.html?seed=42069
The Generator does not encode other parameters in the URL. Palette and sliders are controlled manually in the sidebar.

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Stencil (stencil.html)

ParameterKeyExampleDefaultNotes
Seedseedseed=42069RandomInteger 1–999,999
Formation modemodemode=311=Ramp, 2=Code, 3=Mold, 4=Hybrid
Master opacitymastermaster=0.500.28Float 0–1.5
Edge strongeses=0.350.30Float, edge detection strength
Edge weakewew=0.150.12Float, subtle edge threshold
Landing page modelplpoffHides all UI for iframe embedding
Legacy renderinglegacylegacyoffForces single-thread (no Web Worker)
https://haddencarpenter.github.io/shumi-physarum/stencil.html?seed=10&mode=3&master=0.50&es=0.35
The Stencil’s Share button auto-generates a URL with the current settings. Only non-default values are included.

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Masked (masked.html)

ParameterKeyExampleNotes
Seedseed?seed=37Integer 1–999,999. Random if omitted.
https://haddencarpenter.github.io/shumi-physarum/masked.html?seed=37
The Masked has no other URL parameters. Palette, texture, and all simulation parameters are determined entirely by the seed.

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Seed Controls by Simulator

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Generator

ActionHow
Enter a specific seedType in the seed field, press Enter or click Jump
Deep-link to a seedAdd ?seed=X to the URL
Step forwardClick Next (seed + 1)
Step backwardClick Prev (seed - 1, minimum 1)
Random seedClick Random (picks 1–999,999)

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Stencil

ActionHow
Random seedClick New Seed
Specific seedOpen ☰ Settings, type in seed field, click Jump
Deep-link to a seedAdd ?seed=X to the URL (plus optional &mode=, &master=, &es=, &ew=)
Share seed + settingsClick Share (copies URL with all non-default params)

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Masked

ActionHow
Random seedClick New Seed
Deep-link to a seedAdd ?seed=X to the URL

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What Changes Between Seeds

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In the Generator

With default parameters, different seeds produce noticeably different topologies:
  1. Attractor layout varies. Attractors land in different positions, creating unique branch targets.
  2. Spawn angles differ. Cells radiate in different initial directions from the hub.
  3. Early-stage divergence. Small differences in the first frames compound into completely different networks.

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In the Stencil & Masked

In addition to layout differences, the seed also changes:
  1. Palette: Cycling through the 8 palettes (Ember, Frost, Moss, Pearl, Bloom, Honey, Tide, Rust)
  2. Texture profile: Cycling through 8 textures (standard, crystalline, smoke, coral, silk, electric, flow, spore)
  3. Color drift: Subtle hue/saturation/luminance shifts within the palette family
  4. Parameter jitter: ±10% variation in simulation parameters

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What Stays Constant

  • Generator: Hub at 35% from top, horizontally centered. Swarm character (density, speed, palette) set by parameters.
  • Stencil: Mascot image, formation mode, and settings panel values persist across seeds.
  • Masked: Mascot shape, masking behavior, and ghost afterimage timing are fixed.

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Finding Your Seed

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Manual Browsing (Generator)

Use Prev/Next to step through seeds. Adjacent seeds (e.g., 100 and 101) can produce very different results. There’s no gradual transition. The Preview Seeds feature is the fastest discovery method:
  1. Click Preview Seeds
  2. Watch random seeds grow for 4 seconds each
  3. Press Space to bookmark ones that resonate
  4. Stop when you’ve found your candidates

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Rapid Tapping (Masked)

In the Masked, just keep clicking New Seed. The minimal UI and fast restarts make it the quickest way to browse palette/texture combinations. The seed number appears briefly in the status bar.

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Share URL (Stencil)

Found a great combination? Click Share to capture the exact seed, mode, and settings in a URL.

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Seed as Identity

When the Shumi agent collection launches, each agent will be paired with a seed number. The swarm pattern generated by that seed becomes the agent’s permanent visual identity.