I got interested in this concept and I emulated it in a Warcraft 3 map. All cells are updated simultaneously in each turn, following these rules:Ī dead cell with exactly 3 living neighboring cells is 'born' (ie it will be alive the next turn).Ī living cell with 2 or 3 living neighboring cells is still alive, otherwise it dies (due to 'loneliness' or 'overpopulation'). The state of all the cells is taken into account to calculate the state of the cells in the following turn. In this version of the problem, the grid is finite, and no life can. The state of cells evolves over discrete units of time (one might say in turn). You start with a two dimensional grid of cells, where each cell is either alive or dead. Cells have two states: they are 'alive' or 'dead' (or 'on' and 'off'). Therefore, each cell has 8 'neighboring' cells, which are those that are close to it, including the diagonal ones. The 'game board' is a flat mesh made up of squares (the 'cells') that extends infinity in all directions. It is a zero-player game, which means that its evolution is determined by the initial state and does not require any subsequent data entry.

In fact, a computer that calculates prime numbers has been designed within the Wireworld system.The Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a cellular automaton devised by the British mathematician John Horton Conway (1937 - 2020) in 1970. Components are relatively easy to combine and the capabilities of the automaton make it Turing-complete.

Using these four simple rules, it is possible to design structures such as diodes (shown below), logic gates, and clock generators. The Game of Life takes place on a grid, with certain cells being marked ‘alive’ or ‘active’ and others being marked ‘dead’ or ‘inactive’. Conductors (yellow) become electron heads if exactly one or two neighboring cells are electron heads. The Game of Life is a simple, yet fascinating, cellular automata exercise that ended up developing something of a life of its own, far beyond what Conway expected. Electron heads (blue) become electron tails in the succeeding generation. Empty cells (black) always remain empty. Wireworld uses four possible cell states and has the following rules: Wireworld is a cellular automaton that simulates electronic devices and logic gates by having cells represent electrons traveling across conductors. 'Demon' artifacts, as shown below, create these spirals and are constructed from adjacent groups of cells which constantly devour each other and create a rotating pattern. Two dimensional cyclic cellular automata typically result in spiraling patterns that eventually consume the entire grid. Cycles involving more than 4 colors tend to produce patterns that stabilize more quickly when compared to 3 or 4-color cycles. One dimensional cyclic cellular automata can be used to model particles that undergo ballistic annihilation.

Whenever a cell is neighbored by a cell whose color is next in the cycle, it copies that neighbor's color-otherwise, it remains unchanged. In cyclic cellular automata, an ordering of multiple colors is established. The Immigration Game and the Rainbow Game of Life can both be viewed and played here. Some investigations on the propagation of colors in the Rainbow Game of Life can be seen here. The Rainbow Game of Life is notable for being somewhat analogous to genetic properties spreading through a population of creatures. Thus, a cell which is born from two black cells and one white cell will have a dark gray appearance. The Rainbow Game of Life is similar to the Immigration Game, only newborn cells instead are colored based on the average color values of their parent cells.

Cell game of life