Mycelium Benchmark: Claude Opus 4.8

Claude Opus 4.8 on the mycelium benchmark, zero-shot: “Generate an animated SVG of a mycelium network connecting three trees, with nutrients flowing through it.”

While Gemini 3.5 Flash let most of its nutrients drift in open space, Opus 4.8 bound every glowing particle to an <mpath> pointing at the exact curves drawn as the threads. The nutrients ride the mycelium and never leave it. While this task was executed well, the final result feels plain. In contrast, although Gemini 3.5 Flash made several mistakes and added unsolicited elements, its result was more creative.