Hi there!

Been working on this program using simple a-life to send osc messages from processing - have two specific problems I have been stuck with for a week now and can't figure out.

I'm using an object class to represent an ellipse that moves around the screen occasionally sending an osc message and sending a different message when it collides with another ellipse.

Prob no#1:
When I spawn more than 1 ellipse the new ellipse steals the colour from the original ellipse - it replaces it when it is gone.  I figured it might be something to do with private variables not being private but it seems to only swap with the first ellipse - the rest are OK.

Prob no#2:
Collision detection seems to be off - am not too sure about how nested "for" loops work in the draw method but it seems to be registering a spawning (i.e. a collision) at both correct and incorrect instances.

code is below - any help is super appreciated!
][oyd

import osc.*;
import oscP5.*;

/*
* Sound Creatures test code
* by Lloyd Barrett
* 2005
*/

int channel = 5; //population setting fixed at this stage
Life[] bugs = new Life[channel];
int drawCounter;
OscP5 oscP5;
int receiveAtPort;
int sendToPort;
String host;
String oscP5event;

void setup() {
 size(300, 300);
 framerate(10);
 initOsc();
}

void initOsc() {
 receiveAtPort = 12000;
 sendToPort = 57120;
 host = "127.0.0.1";
 oscP5event = "oscEvent";

 oscP5 = new OscP5( this, host, sendToPort, receiveAtPort, oscP5event);
}

void oscEvent(OscIn oscIn) {
 println("received ...");
}

void draw()
{
 background(0);
 //if the bugs are active then update their position and draw them
 for(int i=0; i<bugs.length; i++) {
   if(bugs[i] != null) {
     bugs[i].update();
     if (drawCounter > 100) {
       bugs[i].sendOSCmsg();
       //println("sent");
       drawCounter = 0;
     }
     for(int n = i + 1; n<bugs.length; n++) {
       if (bugs[n] != null) {
         if ((bugs[i].xPos == bugs[n].xPos) || (bugs[i].yPos == bugs[n].yPos)){
           bugs[i].spawn();
           bugs[n].spawn();
           println("spawning " + n + " & " + i);
         }
       }
     }
     //i++;

   }
   drawCounter++;
 }
}

void keyPressed()
{
 //turns the bugs on and off if specific keys are pressed
 if (keyPressed) {
   if(key == 'q') {
     if ( bugs[0] == null) {
       bugs[0] = new Life(0);
     } else {
       bugs[0] = null;
     }
   }
   if(key == 'w') {
     if ( bugs[1] == null) {
       bugs[1] = new Life(1);
     } else {
       bugs[1] = null;
     }
   }
   if(key == 'e') {
     if ( bugs[2] == null) {
       bugs[2] = new Life(2);
     } else {
       bugs[2] = null;
     }
   }
   if(key == 'r') {
     if ( bugs[3] == null) {
       bugs[3] = new Life(3);
     } else {
       bugs[3] = null;
     }
   }
   if(key == 't') {
     if ( bugs[4] == null) {
       bugs[4] = new Life(4);
     } else {
       bugs[4] = null;
     }
   }
 }
}

//========================================================

class Life {
 private int r1a, r1b;
 private float clrB = (random(225) + 25);
 private float clrG = (random(225) + 25);
 private float clrR = (random(225) + 525);
 private int xPos = (int)(random(400));
 private int yPos = (int)(random(400));
 private boolean active = true;
 private int randAmt = 4;
 private int id;

 public Life(int id) {
   this.id = id;
 }

 //is the bug active or not?
 void setActive(boolean val) {
   active = val;
 }

 //updates the position
 void update() {
   r1a = (int)random(randAmt*2) - randAmt;
   r1b = (int)random(randAmt*2) - randAmt;
   xPos = xPos - r1a;
   yPos = yPos - r1b;
   if (xPos < 0) {
     xPos = height;
   }

   if(xPos > height) {
     xPos = 0;
   }

   if (yPos  < 0) {
     yPos = width;
   }

   if(yPos > width) {
     yPos = 0;
   }

   this.draw();
 }

 //draws the bug

 void draw() {
   ellipse(xPos, yPos, 20, 20);
   fill(clrR, clrG, clrB, 200);
 }

 //sends OSCmsg based on random 10% variance
 void sendOSCmsg() {
   int callVariance = (int)(random(100));
   if (callVariance < 50) {
     OscMessage oscMsg = oscP5.newMsg("/");
     oscMsg.add(this.id);
     oscMsg.add(this.xPos);
     oscMsg.add(this.yPos);
     oscP5.sendMsg(oscMsg);
     println("OSC sent on channel " + this.id);
   }
 }
 //not spawning yet
 void spawn() {
   //println("spawning " + this.id);
   sendOSCmsg();
 }
}