Stigmergy
Indirect coordination through environmental modification. Termites build mounds by sensing where others have deposited soil. Here, agents sense where others have passed, creating feedback between movement and memory.
The Substrate
The field is not passive space. It is a surface that remembers, fades, and saturates. High memory + slow fading = rigid paths that trap agents. Low memory + fast fading = chaos without structure.
Phase Behavior
At certain settings, the system snaps between order and disorder. This is not gradual. It is a transition — like water freezing — where microscopic changes produce macroscopic restructuring.