Updating the main applet

[Nathaniel]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some feedback. I plan on moving the site to a new server in the not-horribly-distant future, and will be re-coding some things when I do so. One thing that is potentially on the list is tweaking the front page's Life applet. The (big) problems with the applet right now are:

1) It's an applet. Corollary: it's relatively slow to initially load.

2) It's not particularly cross-browser compatible.

The second point is the bigger problem really, especially since the applet is the first thing people see when coming to ConwayLife.com. So my question for you all is: should the applet stay as a Java applet, be replaced with a Javascript solution, or be replaced with something else (not a Life simulator) altogether?

If the applet is replaced by a javascript solution, it will be much faster to initially load, will be more compatible across different browsers, but will be slower overall (so the "warp speed" button will be gone, and it likely won't go much over 20 generations per second). If it is replaced by something else entirely, what did you have in mind? An index page linking to a simulator, the forums, the wiki, and various other destinations of interest?

Send me your thoughts!

[calcyman]

I suggest having the index page link to the forums, wiki, applet, and possibly soup page.


Regarding the soup search, in Achim's data the log-log plot shows a distinct [polynomial] correlation between rank and inverse frequency. Specifically, the relationship is of the form:

1/frequency = O(rank ^ exponent)

The exponent seems very close to e. Does your large-scale soup search exhibit similar properties? (The main difference is that Achim's search begins on a random 32*32 torus, whereas yours begins on an infinite plane populated with a central 20*20 square of randomness.)

[tod222]

I suggest having the index page link to the forums, wiki, applet, and possibly soup page.

Yes, the front page should have links to the rest of the great content here, and a very brief intro to Life. My suggestions:

Put the main applet on a separate page. It sounds like coding it in Javascript would be better as it would work for more people. I see a few purposes for the applet:

1. To introduce new people to Conway's Life. For these folks, speed is far less important than having it work.

2. To allow interested new people to further explore Life without having to download a program. But since item 1 is more important, it's okay to sacrifice speed over compatibility. The applet page should point to Golly as a more effective means of investigating Life.

3. To conveniently run small patterns out of the wiki, without downloading a file to Golly or another program.

I don't see speed as an issue for the main applet. No applet's speed will compare with Golly's, and since Golly is so readily available, people seeking speed should use it (point 2 above).

Actually, I see two different roles for Life applets on the site. The main applet, as discussed above, and a small version with few controls for placement in a sidebar, both on the front page, and on Wiki pages with patterns.

On the front page the applet is preloaded with a random small non-still-life pattern (or pattern of the day or week, etc), and it starts generating as soon as the page loads. For many newcomers Life seems boring until its seen in action, so show that to people as soon as they hit the site without their having to do anything. Controls on the applet are limited - stop, go, faster, slower. No editing. A "Make my own pattern" link steers Life newbies to the full page applet.

This same sidebar version could be used on the Wiki pages for small non-still-life patterns to show them in action. Larger Wiki patterns would go to the full-sized applet.

Do you know any artists? It would be nice to have them work up some attractive graphics incorporating various Life patterns for the front page.

[Extrementhusiast]

Although I'm not an artist myself, I'm thinking that perhaps the border (if there is any) would either be a Herschel track or some sort of rectangle of spaceship gun. In either case, the border would probably be animated, and the border itself would lead to a corresponding page (which probably means we need to do some major revamping to either the Herschel track page or the B track page, or perhaps some page for a gun).

[ssaamm]

Although I'm not an artist myself, I'm thinking that perhaps the border (if there is any) would either be a Herschel track or some sort of rectangle of spaceship gun. In either case, the border would probably be animated, and the border itself would lead to a corresponding page (which probably means we need to do some major revamping to either the Herschel track page or the B track page, or perhaps some page for a gun).

I've seen a lot of web design, and that doesn't seem like a very good idea. We want only the things that need to be animated animated, and having that be a link is something the average person wouldn't find too well. I like the original way, but maybe with clearer links to the forum like suggested earlier for style.

[Sokwe]

I find some of the features of the applet to be very useful when editing the wiki (especially the save file and save image features); however, it would also be good to have a Life simulator that worked consistently for everyone. I agree that conwaylife.com should go directly to an index page that links to the applet, wiki, forums, etc. (and perhaps other Life resources such as Game of Life News and the Golly home page).

[Nathaniel]

Thanks for your feedback, everyone. The redesign is indeed under way, and here is a draft of what the new main page will look like:

m1x9X.png (130.04 KiB) Viewed 244 times

Comments and requests are very welcome. The current set-up has the left column automatically propagated with recent blog entries from Game of Life News as well as other Game of Life blogs. If you know of a Life blog/news source that you would like to appear there, please let me know.

The sidebar/top bar currently link to LifeWiki, the forums, the web applet, and Golly. If you have any other suggestions for links or the sidebar, again let me know.

Cheers!

Edit: Also, the main compatibility issue with the applet is that is just does not play well with Macs. I don't have a Mac, unfortunately, which makes it a huge pain to test. So anyone who has a Mac, could you load up the applet and post a screenshot of it for me, in either Safari or Firefox? That'll help me pin down exactly what does and does not break on Macs.

[calcyman]

Beautiful! Do you have an idea as to when the new homepage will be operational?

The current set-up has the left column automatically propagated with recent blog entries from Game of Life News as well as other Game of Life blogs.

That's a brilliant idea! Hopefully this will have the net effect of increasing traffic to pentadecathlon.com.

If you know of a Life blog/news source that you would like to appear there, please let me know.

How about Dave Greene's http://b3s23life.blogspot.com? The posts are ... well, sporadic ... but usually very interesting.

[Nathaniel]

Do you have an idea as to when the new homepage will be operational?

I'm absolutely terrible at sticking to self-imposed deadlines. I'll say one month from now, but don't be horribly surprised if that doesn't happen.

How about Dave Greene's http://b3s23life.blogspot.com? The posts are ... well, sporadic ... but usually very interesting.

Ah, of course! Added

[Andrew]

I like the look of the new main page -- excellent job!

So anyone who has a Mac, could you load up the applet and post a screenshot of it for me, in either Safari or Firefox?

I've attached a screenshot showing the applet immediately after it starts up in Safari 4.3.1 on Mac OS 10.4.11. This is actually quite old so might not be the best Mac to test such things!

EDIT: Hmm, that attachment didn't seem to work very well so I've deleted it and uploaded it to my web site:
http://www.trevorrow.com/golly/conwaylife.png

PS. While I remember... If I go to the LifeWiki Pattern Archive from Golly and look at the Methuselahs section I don't see a lot of the newer patterns like Edna, Fred, etc that I see when I visit the same LifeWiki section in Safari. I thought there was a daily(?) script that was meant to keep the Golly access file up-to-date with the current LifeWiki patterns. Has that stopped working, or is there a bug somewhere?

[Nathaniel]

PS. While I remember... If I go to the LifeWiki Pattern Archive from Golly and look at the Methuselahs section I don't see a lot of the newer patterns like Edna, Fred, etc that I see when I visit the same LifeWiki section in Safari. I thought there was a daily(?) script that was meant to keep the Golly access file up-to-date with the current LifeWiki patterns. Has that stopped working, or is there a bug somewhere?

I noticed this a little bit ago as well when Primer for some reason didn't update in the Online Archive. Not sure why it stopped working, but it likely has to do with the ridiculous restrictions that my current host has in place and constantly changes. I'll have it fixed up when the new site goes live (on a new, awesome host!).

[gt7]

Super great applet ! I am really amazed at the speed and amplitude and capabilities
Thinking of the Conway Life rules
What about rules per each cell or group of ? group could be colored in a color range. generations could define the color shades
(this option is mentioned in the program)
Rules could be re-combined like genetic code, with random variations/mutations
Rules could include max number of generation per cell
Child rule would be same or combined from parents, one or more parents
If rule is a string then create new rule from all nearby cell, some char each, maybe older cells add more chars
could have food scattered and include food in rule (i.e. born if one or more food, then food disappear if surrounded by more than x cells for more than y ticks, consumed
Basically food could be a kind of cell with its own rule