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The Game Of Life
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The Game of Life

Patterns

Patterns are usually characterized by their behavior:

  • Type I (still-lifes): these patterns have no births and no deaths, and never change.

  • Type II (oscillators): these patterns evolve through a fixed sequence of states and eventually return to their original state.

  • Type III (spaceships): these patterns evolve through a fixed sequence of states and eventually return to their original state, but translated in space, moving at a constant velocity.

  • Type IV: these patterns constantly increase in population:

    • Type IVa (guns): these are oscillators which emit spaceships each cycle.

    • Type IVb (puffers): these are spaceships which leave behind still-lifes, oscillators, and/or spaceships each cycle.

    • Type IVc (breeders): these patterns increase their population quadratically:

      • MMM (moving/moving/moving) breeders: puffers which emit puffers which emit spaceships

      • MMS (moving/moving/still) breeders: puffers which emit puffers which emit still-lifes and/or oscilllators

      • MSM (moving/still/moving) breeders: puffers which emit guns which emit spaceships

      • SMM (still/moving/moving) breeders: guns which shoot puffers which emit spaceships

    • Other gun/puffer combinations which which expand at other rates

  • Type V (unstable): these patterns evolve through a sequence of states which never return to the original state. Small patterns which last a long time before stabilizing are called metheuselahs.

Pattern examples
Please see here.

 

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Last modified November 22 2002 16:30:16.