Tips & Recipes

Parameter combinations and workflow tips for Generator, Stencil, and Masked.

General Tips

Performance

• Chrome gives the best canvas rendering performance

• The Stencil's Web Worker architecture performs best in Chrome (requires OffscreenCanvas)

• Cell counts above 7,000 in the Generator may slow down on older hardware

• GIF encoding is CPU-intensive. Larger sizes take longer.

• The simulation runs 4 physics steps per frame for visible growth speed

Recording

• Always set Cursor Influence to 0 in the Generator before recording

• Let the swarm grow 3–5 seconds before PNG capture for a developed network

• For video loops, 15–30 second clips give the most growth

• In the Stencil, the watermark (seed number) is included in recordings

Colors

• Dark base colors (near black) give the best contrast in all simulators

• The Generator's Mono palette is useful as a starting point for post-processing

• In the Stencil/Masked, seed-based color drift means adjacent seeds in the same palette family still look unique

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Generator Recipes

Dense Neural Web

A tight, intricate network with fine branching. The default Shumi look.

Parameter	Value
Cell Count	7,000
Speed	2.0
Sensor Distance	18
Sensor Angle	45°
Turn Speed	15°
Signal Deposit	10
Signal Decay	0.975
Diffusion	0.15
Attractors	8

Sparse Tendrils

Long, elegant reaching paths with minimal branching.

Parameter	Value
Cell Count	3,000
Speed	3.5
Sensor Distance	30
Sensor Angle	25°
Turn Speed	10°
Signal Deposit	15
Signal Decay	0.960
Diffusion	0.10
Attractors	4

Pure Radial Burst

Clean explosion from center, symmetrical and even.

Parameter	Value
Cell Count	6,000
Speed	2.8
Sensor Distance	22
Sensor Angle	40°
Turn Speed	20°
Signal Deposit	12
Signal Decay	0.965
Diffusion	0.25
Attractors	0

Thick Luminous Vines

Bold, bright paths with high deposit and slow decay.

Parameter	Value
Cell Count	5,000
Speed	2.5
Sensor Distance	15
Sensor Angle	50°
Turn Speed	25°
Signal Deposit	30
Signal Decay	0.985
Diffusion	0.40
Trail Brightness	2.5
Attractors	15

Interactive Exploration

Optimized for cursor play.

Parameter	Value
Cell Count	5,000
Speed	3.0
Cursor Influence	200
Cell Glow	1.0
Signal Deposit	15
Signal Decay	0.955

Avatar-Ready (GIF Export)

Optimized for small looping animated avatars.

Parameter	Value
Cell Count	5,000
Speed	2.5
Signal Deposit	14
Signal Decay	0.970
Trail Brightness	2.0
Cell Glow	0.3
Attractors	6
GIF Size	256px
GIF Duration	4s
GIF FPS	16

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Stencil Recipes

High-Contrast Entrance

Maximize the blast-on-load reveal effect.

1. Set Master Opacity to 0.8 or higher

2. Use Mode 1 (Ramp) for maximum ASCII contrast

3. Press Space to re-trigger the blast at any time

4. Record during the blast for a high-contrast reveal clip

Sharp Edge Definition

Make the mascot boundary crisp and well-defined.

Setting	Value
Edge Strong	0.45
Edge Weak	0.08
Edge Fade Depth	20
Dark Edge Boost	3.5

Subtle Background Presence

Soft mascot with dominant background swarm.

Setting	Value
Master Opacity	0.15
BG Trail Brightness	2.0
BG Agent Count	12,000
Mode	3 (Mold)

LP Mode for Embedding

Use the Stencil as a hero background:

https://yourdomain.github.io/shumi-physarum/stencil.html?lp&seed=60

The ?lp flag hides all UI and positions the mascot for iframe embedding. Add &es=0.57&ew=0.28 to customize edge parameters.

Shareable Compositions

1. Dial in your ideal settings

2. Click Share to copy the URL

3. The URL encodes seed, mode, master opacity, and edge settings

4. Recipients see the exact same composition

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Masked Recipes

Finding Specific Textures

Since the Masked auto-selects textures by seed, use this guide to target specific looks:

Texture	Seeds (first 64)
Standard	0–7
Crystalline	8–15
Smoke	16–23
Coral	24–31
Silk	32–39
Electric	40–47
Flow	48–55
Spore	56–63

Pattern: texture = TEXTURE_NAMES[Math.floor(seed / 8) % 8]

Finding Specific Palettes

Within any texture group, palettes cycle every seed:

Palette	Seeds (within any group of 8)
Ember	0, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56
Frost	1, 9, 17, 25, 33, 41, 49, 57
Moss	2, 10, 18, 26, 34, 42, 50, 58
Pearl	3, 11, 19, 27, 35, 43, 51, 59
Bloom	4, 12, 20, 28, 36, 44, 52, 60
Honey	5, 13, 21, 29, 37, 45, 53, 61
Tide	6, 14, 22, 30, 38, 46, 54, 62
Rust	7, 15, 23, 31, 39, 47, 55, 63

Pattern: palette = PALETTES[seed % 8]

Ghost Afterimage Timing

The ghost layer appears on each new seed and fades over ~4 seconds. For the best PNG captures, wait until the ghost has fully faded and the physarum trails have replaced it.

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Export Format Guide

Format	Best For	Typical Size	Available In
PNG	Static avatars, print, social posts	1–3 MB	All three
WebM	Hero backgrounds, looping video	5–20 MB / 15s	All three
GIF	Animated avatars, chat profiles	0.5–5 MB	Generator only
Fullscreen 1080p	Website hero sections, high resolution	10–30 MB / 15s	Generator only
Share URL	Reproducible compositions	N/A	Stencil only