Instead of two smooth population curves (as in the classic Lotka-Volterra equations), this 2D companion tracks every plant, prey animal and predator as a separate agent with its own position and its own energy reserve — the same rules as the 3D version, viewed from directly above.
- Every organism drains energy each second just by being alive, and drifts around the arena, bouncing off the edges.
- Prey within the foraging radius of a plant, under an energy threshold, eat it — the plant disappears and the prey's energy rises.
- Predators within the foraging radius of prey, under an energy threshold, catch it the same way.
- Any organism above 80 energy has a chance each second to reproduce, paying an energy cost; any organism at zero energy dies of starvation.
- The population chart at the bottom of the stage plots all three counts over time, so booms, crashes and cascades are visible directly, not just in the instantaneous numbers.