I was actually thinking about simulated annealing as I got into this. I've found that reducing this specific mode of perturbation over time has not been necess

I was actually thinking about simulated annealing as I got into this. I've found that reducing this specific mode of perturbation over time has not been necessary. The simulation will oscillate its way right into a perfect fitness score assuming everything else is good. Convergence seems to rely much more heavily on the quality of the fitness function and population management (i.e. size, selection criteria, mutation strategies). I apply random mutations to delays and weights, but using a spectrum of mutation each time (I.e. some clones are heavily mutated while others are barely touched). This spectra of mutation is constant all the way through the simulation.