Alternating rules

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Tropylium
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Alternating rules

Post by Tropylium » August 21st, 2011, 6:57 pm

The set of 2-state Life-like CAs has a lot of "uninhabitable" space, since all ¬B0 + B1/B2 rules explode, with the former indeed all patterns. A large part of the B3 rules, too… This always seem'd like a shame to me.

The concept of Generations rules semi-salvages a lot of the B2 and B34 rules into at least cleaner explosions, but I thought of a simple way for alternate stabilization of these parts of the rule space: rather than applying birth and death simultaneously, apply them on alternating generations! So on the first tick, only birth occurs; on the 2nd, only death; etc. This opens some fresh new ground to discover… Has anyone else tried these? Seems like a pretty obvious thing to try; indeed whenever I explain CA to someone new, they commonly ask which of birth and death is applied first.

Some alternating rules to try out, from my first sweepthru around these parts:
B1/S578: stable with a large natural spaceship
B12/S2678: very slowly exploding, may be engineerable (funnily, all the "subrules" — S268 etc. — are stable)
B12/S4: exploding, but the universe seems to end up composed of nothing but diagonal replicators. Orthogonal growth is slow.
B2/S3: similar to the previous, but rotated 45°. Add S0 to gain some puffers and spaceships
B2/S24: stable, but has a few natural c/4 spaceships
B2/S1246: very slowly stabilizing; seems promising
B23/S47: stable, but has some longer-lasting activity and a natural spaceship
B3/S1234: appears to explode, but activity dies down eventually leaving large "corals". (An L-tetromino lasts for ~8725 gens, leaving a population of ~54710.) S01234 is similar.
B3/S235: fairly stable, small natural spaceship

(Counterparts of stable non-alternating rules seem to either die off or stabilize even faster than normally.)

A basic ruletable for messing around:

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute

var a={0,1,2}
var b={a}
var c={a}
var d={a}
var e={a}
var f={a}
var g={a}
var h={a}

# birth
# 0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
 0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2

# phase change
1,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,2

# survival
# 2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
 2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
 2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
 2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1
 2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1

# death otherwise
2,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,0
Quite a few of these actually remind me of the appearence of of some non-alternating B0 rules. Indeed, I would not be surprized if some number could be shown to be equivalent…

ebcube
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Joined: February 27th, 2010, 2:11 pm

Re: Alternating rules

Post by ebcube » August 21st, 2011, 8:36 pm

I think Extrementhusiast (?) tried it. I think he called it BTS, and it stands for Birth-Then-Survival. I think a good scheme for naming this rules would be B##/TS##, or, as rule tables can't contain the character /, b##ts##.

I'm going to try some of these now, and I guess i'll post the patterns here if I find something interesting. ^^

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Tropylium
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Location: Finland

Re: Alternating rules

Post by Tropylium » August 21st, 2011, 10:33 pm

B13/S56 seems fairly interesting with long stabilization times and no less than three natural spaceships, two of them c/2 (or should I say c, since 1 cell/2 gens is the maximum rate for anything here), the other c/22:

Code: Select all

x = 6, y = 23, rule = alternlife
4.A$A2.3A$4.A7$.A$.2A$3.A$.2A$.A5$.2A$.2A$2.2A$4.A!
No real methuselahs, tho.

Also, an incredibly slow small glider (c/78!) and a small p52 (shown here hassling the basic ubiquitious "flashtub") from B13/S15:

Code: Select all

x = 4, y = 3, rule = alternlife
A2.A2$3.A!

Code: Select all

x = 21, y = 9, rule = alternlife
3.A13.A2$.2A15.2A2$A19.A4$9.A!
Just a bit short of being engineerable… I think I'll check some related rules.

—On another line of approach, B34/S2345 is an exploding rule with some very interesting growth behavior — it basically crystallizes into pinstripes but with initial imperfections leading to dendrite-like internal structures, which can even take over growing edges… the output looks like a complicated 1D automaton.

EricG
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Location: Chicago-area, USA

Re: Alternating rules

Post by EricG » August 21st, 2011, 11:18 pm

I see a parallel here with how Golly handles B0 rules. I've recently started playing with B013468/S02 (as described in David Eppstein's Growth and Decay paper), and I couldn't figure out what Golly was doing -- it doesn't strobe, alive cells with zero neigbors appear to die, it all seemed very strange to me. I found the answer in Golly's source code, and I hope you'll see the similarity to your alternating rules:

From the file liferules.cpp in the Golly source code,
// check if rule contains B0
if (rulebits & 1) {
/* Use David Eppstein's idea to change the current rule depending on gen parity.
If original rule has B0 but not S8:

For even generations, whenever the original rule has a Bx or Sx, omit that
bit from the modified rule, and whenever the original rule is missing a
Bx or Sx, add that bit to the modified rule.
eg. B03/S23 => B1245678/S0145678.

For odd generations, use Bx if and only if the original rule has S(8-x)
and use Sx if and only if the original rule has B(8-x).
eg. B03/S23 => B56/S58.

If original rule has B0 and S8:

Such rules don't strobe, so we just want to invert all the cells.
The trick is to do both changes: invert the bits, and swap Bx for S(8-x).
eg. B03/S238 => B123478/S0123467 (for ALL gens).
*/

Perhaps user-specified alternating Bxx/Sxx rules could be a future improvement for Golly?

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Tropylium
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Location: Finland

Re: Alternating rules

Post by Tropylium » August 22nd, 2011, 5:50 am

EricG wrote:I see a parallel here with how Golly handles B0 rules. I've recently started playing with B013468/S02 (as described in David Eppstein's Growth and Decay paper), and I couldn't figure out what Golly was doing -- it doesn't strobe, alive cells with zero neigbors appear to die, it all seemed very strange to me. I found the answer in Golly's source code, and I hope you'll see the similarity to your alternating rules:

From the file liferules.cpp in the Golly source code,
// check if rule contains B0
if (rulebits & 1) {
/* Use David Eppstein's idea to change the current rule depending on gen parity.
If original rule has B0 but not S8:

For even generations, whenever the original rule has a Bx or Sx, omit that
bit from the modified rule, and whenever the original rule is missing a
Bx or Sx, add that bit to the modified rule.
eg. B03/S23 => B1245678/S0145678.

For odd generations, use Bx if and only if the original rule has S(8-x)
and use Sx if and only if the original rule has B(8-x).
eg. B03/S23 => B56/S58.

If original rule has B0 and S8:

Such rules don't strobe, so we just want to invert all the cells.
The trick is to do both changes: invert the bits, and swap Bx for S(8-x).
eg. B03/S238 => B123478/S0123467 (for ALL gens).
*/
Hmm. If I'm getting this right, B0 rules with no survival would then be equivalent to alternating rules where B(x) ≠ S(8-x). So if we're looking at alternating rules without B0, we would need S8 for exact equivalence to a normal B0 rule. Etc; I don't think I've looked at any fulfilling that condition yet actually.
EricG wrote:Perhaps user-specified alternating Bxx/Sxx rules could be a future improvement for Golly?
Not my call to make, but yes, that would seem like a nice rule functionality.

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Extrementhusiast
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by Extrementhusiast » August 22nd, 2011, 10:07 am

I have found the B3/S235 rule to be quite interesting. It has a small natural spaceship (c/2), many different oscillators, and even something resembling the Queen Bee Shuttle (actually, a failed replicator).
I Like My Heisenburps! (and others)

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Tropylium
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by Tropylium » August 24th, 2011, 3:03 pm

Extrementhusiast wrote:I have found the B3/S235 rule to be quite interesting. It has a small natural spaceship (c/2), many different oscillators, and even something resembling the Queen Bee Shuttle (actually, a failed replicator).
Certainly a promising ground, but a bit too similar to pre-existing B3 rules for my taste. As stated in the OP, what I'm finding interesting here are the stabilized B1/B2 rules :)

(Adding S3 still makes them explode, but that's easily avoided)

George Maydwell
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by George Maydwell » August 24th, 2011, 9:06 pm

The CA rule space which results from alternating two general rules is vastly larger than the CA rule space which results from alternating a strict birth rule with a strict survival rule, since the general rule space includes the restricted rule space as a subset.

Generalized alternating rule support is built into the ModernCA Java applet and is utilized extensively on the web site.

Here are the ModernCA equivalents of some of the rules discussed here. These can be entered directly into ModernCA Author:
3/012345678 + /235
13/012345678 + /56
34/012345678 + /2345

http://www.collidoscope.com/modernca/author/author.html

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Tropylium
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Location: Finland

Re: Alternating rules

Post by Tropylium » August 26th, 2011, 1:08 am

George Maydwell wrote:The CA rule space which results from alternating two general rules is vastly larger than the CA rule space which results from alternating a strict birth rule with a strict survival rule, since the general rule space includes the restricted rule space as a subset.
Yes, certainly. I've taken a few looks around those parts as well. A rule table for that purpose is just about equally easy to prepare:

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute

var a={0,1,2}
var b={a}
var c={a}
var d={a}
var e={a}
var f={a}
var g={a}
var h={a}

# birth
# 0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
 0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2

# survival
# 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
# 1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
 1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
 1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
# 1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,2
# 1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
# 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,2
# 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,2
# 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2

# death otherwise
1,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,0

# birth
# 0,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
 0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1

# survival
# 2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
 2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1

# death otherwise
2,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,0
Comes with, as you may see, B3/S23 alternating with B2/S2, an exploding rule but very organic and sparse at that. B3/S1234 alternating with B3/S24 has some similar properties; this is damn close to the type 3/type 4 border, it doesn't really settle down but it doesn't obviously explode either, aside from shooting spaceships all over the place, whose crashes keep things going.

…Makes me wonder just how large the entire space of 3-state Life-like CAs is, anyway…

flipper77
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by flipper77 » August 26th, 2011, 11:17 am

I searched for a few rules that show interesting results:

B3/S124=>B3/S237: This rule would die down normally, but the high frequency of replicators makes patterns grow.
B37/S124=>B3/S237: Contains a failed replicator, could be made into spaceship, grows quickly.
B38/S1247=>B3/S237: Patterns tend to die out very slowly generating long-lived methuselahs.

I'm absolutely sure there are a select few of these that can show complex behavior along the lines of a class 4 cellular automata like Life. All we have to do is start searching.

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Tropylium
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by Tropylium » August 27th, 2011, 2:26 pm

Well almost garanteedly, given the humungous size of the search space here. The thing about most alt-rules however is that there are no still lifes, which seem to be fairly instrumental to Life itself. When something engineerable comes up here, it's probably either some minor modification of a non-alternating rule, or something with generally-stabilizing behavior (cf. Move) or generally-exploding behavior (cf. Star Wars). Unless it turns out the ubiquitous p2s of some rules could play the same purpose still lifes (and still life segments) do in Life.

One "alien" alt-rule that may have potential is B2357/S01467 ~ B5/S2568: this is generally stable, but eg. a block leads to a huge explosion which takes a while to settle down and could be utilized for more complex patterns. There is also a natural 6c/22 (!) spaceship.

And a neighboring rule B2357/S01467 ~ B5/S25678 has some really baffling behavior: this appears to be a rule that explodes chaotically along even mirror axes, but not otherwise. (The block explosion is still relevant, but there is no puffer engine or any such periodic component to the growth.) I've just run a small symmetric seed to about 2000×2000 in 12k gens and the arms remain at a width of 200 cells… adding one asymmetric cell near the center leads to the arms eventually shutting down one by one after 3k to 7k gens; ultimate stabilization takes 10k+ gens but the winding down of action is quite clear much faster.

The two rules I listed in my last post seem similarly conductive for "labile" engineering; especially in B3/S1234 ~ B2/S24, spaceships appear so frequently that signal manipulation cannot be very hard. Also, by far most small or even medium-sized seeds settle down; for example, all straight lines shorter than 60 cells do.

flipper77
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by flipper77 » August 27th, 2011, 6:55 pm

Tropylium wrote:Well almost garanteedly, given the humungous size of the search space here. The thing about most alt-rules however is that there are no still lifes, which seem to be fairly instrumental to Life itself.
Indeed the search space is even larger than 2 state rules, with 2 rules, the search space is about 2^35(excluding rule order). I'd be surprised to know that no rule of this kind could produce chaotic behavior that could produce results, especially since one could just add 1 small change.

For example, I tested these 2 rules:
B36/S125=>B36/S1256
B36/S125=>B3/S1245

The starting rule for both is 2x2, and I made a small and different change to each, and neither rule explodes, but produces a different variety of chaotic reactions that neither rule for both can sustain. This method has the best chance(for now) of producing any non-exploding rule that shows rather unusual and promising behavior.

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Tropylium
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by Tropylium » September 2nd, 2011, 10:37 pm

From the neighborhood of 2×2, B36/S125 ~ B36/S0235 seems interesting with a few small natural c/4 spaceships.

Note BTW that there are two different subspaces of alternating rules that are equivalent to non-alternating rules: the "fast" one, which alternates between two instances of a given rule, and the "slow" one, which alternates between a given rule and B/S012345678. The neighborhood of the 2nd may also yield stabilizations of rules that show promise.

For Life, you can see some interesting effects here: even just turning S7 off in the "sleep" phase will turn it into an exploding rule (I've more to say on this general topic, but I need to get some sleep tonight too). Also, adding B4/D0 (D for "die") turns the B-heptomino into a funny c/30 spaceship that does not travel in the direction you might expect :)

knightlife
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by knightlife » November 24th, 2011, 10:00 pm

It sure would be nice if Golly could accept two rules instead of just one and automatically alternate the rules each generation. It would be much simpler to experiment with these ideas. An additional parameter could specify how many generations to run before switching rules, providing even more possibilities.

EricG
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Re: Alternating rules

Post by EricG » April 24th, 2013, 5:06 am

Forum user Petriforever posted some interesting alternating rules here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1070 and
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=376&start=50#p7790 and especially
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=376&start=50#p7805

Just for fun, B23/S+B/S23 has a stupendously large sparky ship which can be used to make rakes. The rule isn't so great on Golly's infinite plane, but it is pleasant to watch on a large torus.

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute

var a={0,1,2}
var b={a}
var c={a}
var d={a}
var e={a}
var f={a}
var g={a}
var h={a}

# birth
# 0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,2
# 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2

# survival
#1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
#1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
# 1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
#1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
#1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,2
#1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
#1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,2
#1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,2
#1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2

# death otherwise
1,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,0

# birth
# 0,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,1
# 0,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1

# survival
# 2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,1
# 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
#2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,1
#2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1

# death otherwise
2,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,0
The following pattern demonstrates a rake, but just random scribbles a better way to see the diversity of ships and rakes in this Brian's Brain-like rule.

Code: Select all

x = 466, y = 414, rule = B23S+BS23:T1387,1004
178.3B$177.B3.B$177.4B.B$175.B6.B.B$175.B3.B.4B.B$174.B.2B.B.B3.B.B$
175.B.2B2.B3.2B.B$176.B.B.B3.B.2B.B$172.6B.B2.B.2B.B.B$185.B.B.B$171.
B5.B5.B.2B.B$139.2B42.3B.B$138.B2.B30.3B3.B4.2B.B$137.B.2B.B32.B2.B.
4B.B$38.B97.B.B2.B31.B4.2B.2B.B$38.B.B94.B.B3.3B29.B3.B.3B.B$36.4B.B
54.B37.B.B4.B32.B2.2B.B.B$40.B.B52.B.B35.B.B3.2B.B32.B3.B.B$36.2B3.B.
B51.B.B.B32.B.B6.B34.B.B.B$28.B.B7.B3.B.B50.2B.B.B32.2B4.B2.B35.B$27.
B.B7.B.B3.B.B51.B3.B30.B.B4.B$28.2B8.B.B3.B.B48.4B3.B31.B5.B.2B$26.3B
10.B.B3.B.B51.B.B.B36.2B$26.B.B11.B.B3.B.B51.3B.B35.B.B$26.B3.B11.B.B
2.B.B50.B.2B.B32.B3.B$26.B3.B11.B.B2.2B.B49.B.3B.B31.B4.B$27.B.B7.B.B
2.3B6.B48.B.B2.B.B31.B.B.B8.2B.B$32.B.B2.B.B.3B4.B3.B50.4B.B30.B4.B
11.B5.B.B$31.B3.B7.B5.B.B.B51.3B.B43.B2.B5.2B.B$3.B.5B21.B3.B14.3B.B
49.B.3B.B21.B.B4.6B11.B.B.3B.B.B$2.B.2B9.B13.B5.B11.2B3.2B.B8.B6.B34.
B.2B.B19.B3.B20.B.B3.B.2B.B$.B.B2.5B4.B.B9.B7.B10.B7.B.B5.B.B.B4.B.B
26.B.B5.B3.B5.B.B9.B.2B.B20.B.B3.B.3B.B31.B.B5.B$B.B6.B.B3.2B.B8.B7.B
10.B8.B.B2.B.B.2B.B3.2B.B11.B.B11.B.B6.B3.B2.B3.B9.B.B.B.B4.B.B12.B.B
4.B.B.B.B29.B3.B4.B.B$B.B6.B.B3.2B.B8.B7.B10.B8.B.B2.B.B.2B.B3.2B.B
11.B.B11.B.B6.B3.B2.B3.B9.B.B.B.B4.B.B12.B.B4.B.B.B.B29.B3.B4.B.B$.B.
B2.5B4.B.B9.B7.B10.B7.B.B5.B.B.B4.B.B26.B.B5.B3.B5.B.B9.B.2B.B20.B.B
3.B.3B.B31.B.B5.B$2.B.2B9.B13.B5.B11.2B3.2B.B8.B6.B34.B.2B.B19.B3.B
20.B.B3.B.2B.B$3.B.5B21.B3.B14.3B.B49.B.3B.B21.B.B4.6B11.B.B.3B.B.B$
31.B3.B7.B5.B.B.B51.3B.B43.B2.B5.2B.B$32.B.B2.B.B.3B4.B3.B50.4B.B30.B
4.B11.B5.B.B$27.B.B7.B.B2.3B6.B48.B.B2.B.B31.B.B.B8.2B.B$26.B3.B11.B.
B2.2B.B49.B.3B.B31.B4.B$26.B3.B11.B.B2.B.B50.B.2B.B32.B3.B$26.B.B11.B
.B3.B.B51.3B.B35.B.B$26.3B10.B.B3.B.B51.B.B.B36.2B$28.2B8.B.B3.B.B48.
4B3.B31.B5.B.2B$27.B.B7.B.B3.B.B51.B3.B30.B.B4.B$28.B.B7.B3.B.B50.2B.
B.B32.2B4.B2.B35.B$36.2B3.B.B51.B.B.B32.B.B6.B34.B.B.B$40.B.B52.B.B
35.B.B3.2B.B32.B3.B.B$36.4B.B54.B37.B.B4.B32.B2.2B.B.B$38.B.B94.B.B3.
3B29.B3.B.3B.B$38.B97.B.B2.B31.B4.2B.2B.B$137.B.2B.B32.B2.B.4B.B$138.
B2.B30.3B3.B4.2B.B$139.2B42.3B.B$171.B5.B5.B.2B.B$185.B.B.B$172.6B.B
2.B.2B.B.B$176.B.B.B3.B.2B.B$175.B.2B2.B3.2B.B$174.B.2B.B.B3.B.B$175.
B3.B.4B.B$175.B6.B.B$177.4B.B$177.B3.B$178.3B225$410.2B$409.B2.B$408.
B4.B$407.B4.B$406.B3.4B$405.B3.B$404.B.B.3B.2B$403.B.4B$314.B89.B2.B
3.2B$311.2B2.B86.3B2.B$313.B3.B86.B.B2.B$311.4B3.B84.B.B2.B$314.2B.B.
B83.B$311.2B.3B3.B83.2B4.B$315.2B2.B.B84.B3.B$311.2B3.5B.B82.B3.B5.B.
B$313.B.B5.B.B81.B3.B8.B$322.B.B82.B7.B3.B$317.B5.B.B89.B3.B31.3B$
316.B.B4.2B.B88.B3.B30.B3.B$315.B.B7.B.B88.B.B18.2B10.B.3B.B$313.B.B
2.3B3.3B.B87.B22.B8.B.B2.2B.B$271.2B39.B.3B3.3B.B2.B.B106.4B.B5.B.2B.
B.2B.B$270.B43.B.2B.B2.B.B5.B109.B.B3.B3.B2.2B.B.B$268.B4.B44.B.B.B.B
.2B.B.B104.2B3.B.B3.B2.B.B4.B.B$267.B.B15.B6.B24.B.5B.B2.B3.B8.B6.B
92.2B.3B.B.2B.2B3.B.B$266.B.6B2.2B5.B.B.B4.B.B22.B.B.B.B7.B.B5.B.B.B
4.B.B82.2B2.3B.B.B2.B7.B.B.2B.B$265.B.B4.B.B.B.B2.B.B.2B.B3.2B.B21.B.
B.B.B5.4B.B2.B.B.2B.B3.2B.B69.B.B.B.B.B.2B2.B.B3.2B3.B4.B2.B.B.3B.B$
265.B.B4.B.B.B.B2.B.B.2B.B3.2B.B21.B.B.B.B5.4B.B2.B.B.2B.B3.2B.B69.B.
B.B.B.B.2B2.B.B3.2B3.B10.B3.B$266.B.6B2.2B5.B.B.B4.B.B22.B.B.B.B7.B.B
5.B.B.B4.B.B82.2B2.3B.B3.B12.6B$267.B.B15.B6.B24.B.5B.B2.B3.B8.B6.B
92.2B.B7.B7.B$268.B4.B44.B.B.B.B.2B.B.B104.2B3.B.B7.B6.5B$270.B43.B.
2B.B2.B.B5.B48.B60.B.B14.B2.B$271.2B39.B.3B3.3B.B2.B.B47.2B.B55.4B.B
15.B3.B$313.B.B2.3B3.3B.B47.B.2B.B34.B22.B17.B2.2B.B$315.B.B7.B.B46.B
.B.3B.B33.B.B18.2B19.B.3B.B$316.B.B4.2B.B46.B2.B3.2B.B31.B3.B27.B11.
2B.2B.B$317.B5.B.B45.2B2.2B2.2B3.B30.B3.B26.B14.3B.B$322.B.B51.B4.2B.
B22.B7.B3.B39.4B.B$313.B.B5.B.B43.B.B.3B2.B2.5B.B19.B3.B8.B42.B.B$
305.8B3.5B.B44.B.B2.B2.B2.B.B.2B.B19.B3.B5.B.B42.B.B$304.B10.2B2.B.B
45.B.B4.B2.B.4B.B21.B3.B$303.B.8B.3B3.B51.2B3.B.B.B.B20.2B4.B$302.B.B
9.2B.B.B48.2B9.2B.B20.B$302.B.B4.3B2.B3.B51.B8.B.B21.B.B2.B$302.2B3.B
.B2.2B3.B50.B.B7.B.B23.B.B2.B$304.3B8.B46.5B10.B.B22.3B2.B$303.3B.B3.
B2.B58.B.2B.B25.B2.B3.2B$306.B.B.B.B.B46.2B.3B4.B.3B.B25.B.4B$304.2B
3.B.3B.B47.B8.B.B.B27.B.B.3B.2B$310.B3.B.B46.B6.4B.B29.B3.B$310.3B2.B
.B45.3B3.B.2B.B31.B3.4B$310.B5.B.B50.B3.B33.B4.B$309.B.B4.2B.B50.B.B
35.B4.B$308.B.B7.B.B54.B33.B2.B$306.B.B2.3B3.3B.B53.B.B32.2B$264.2B
39.B.3B3.3B.B2.B.B50.2B.B.B17.2B$263.B43.B.2B.B2.B.B5.B35.B.B13.B.B.B
15.B2.2B52.3B$261.B4.B44.B.B.B.B.2B.B.B34.B.2B.B2.2B.B3.B.B.B.B13.B4.
B.B49.B3.B$260.B.B15.B6.B24.B.5B.B2.B3.B8.B6.B20.B.B.2B7.B.3B.B10.2B.
B2.2B.B.B46.B5.B$259.B.6B2.2B5.B.B.B4.B.B22.B.B.B.B7.B.B5.B.B.B4.B.B
20.B.B3.2B4.2B2.B.B7.B.B5.B2.2B.B43.B5.2B.B$258.B.B4.B.B.B.B2.B.B.2B.
B3.2B.B21.B.B.B.B5.4B.B2.B.B.2B.B3.2B.B21.B4.B.B2.B.B2.B.B7.3B3.2B2.B
.B43.B3.3B2.B.B$258.B.B4.B.B.B.B2.B.B.2B.B3.2B.B21.B.B.B.B5.4B.B2.B.B
.2B.B3.2B.B22.3B.B.B2.B.B2.B.B6.B.5B3.B.B45.B.B5.2B$259.B.6B2.2B5.B.B
.B4.B.B22.B.B.B.B7.B.B5.B.B.B4.B.B27.B.B2.2B2.B.B8.B.B4.2B.B46.B8.B$
260.B.B15.B6.B24.B.5B.B2.B3.B8.B6.B29.2B.2B.3B.B10.B.B3.B.B$261.B4.B
44.B.B.B.B.2B.B.B44.B3.B2.B.B.B12.B.3B.B$263.B43.B.2B.B2.B.B5.B45.B3.
3B.B.B14.B3.B$264.2B39.B.3B3.3B.B2.B.B45.B7.B.B16.3B5.B.B$306.B.B2.3B
3.3B.B48.3B.2B.B25.B.B$308.B.B7.B.B38.4B7.B3.B.B26.B.B$309.B.B4.2B.B
38.B4.B7.3B.B$310.B5.B.B38.B6.B4.2B.B.B$315.B.B38.B5.B.B5.2B.B$306.B.
B5.B.B40.B.12B.B71.3B$304.2B3.5B.B39.5B3.B2.B.2B.B$308.2B2.B.B46.2B.
3B3.B72.6B2.3B.B$304.2B.3B3.B43.2B2.B5.B.B75.2B6.2B$307.2B.B.B49.2B
80.B.3B2.3B.B$304.4B3.B46.4B83.B.B4.B.B$306.B3.B135.B.4B.B$304.2B2.B
138.B4.B$307.B140.4B34$447.2B7.2B2$446.13B$448.2B2.B2.2B$447.B.7B.B$
448.B.B3.B.B$449.B.3B.B$450.B3.B$451.3B!

Pteriforever
Posts: 37
Joined: April 10th, 2013, 9:43 pm

Re: Alternating rules

Post by Pteriforever » April 26th, 2013, 8:14 am

That's cool. I like the sheer variety of spaceships that can happen.

I've mostly looked into the B2XSX+B3XSX space.

One thing I've figured out is while c/4 diagonal and c/2 orthogonal spaceships are much more common, faster ones are now possible. I've seen c/2 diagonal and 3c/4 orthogonal ones show up from time to time.

And now, a shortlist of rules I kinda like:

B3S16+B2S14

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,2
1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
B3S15+B2S3

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
B3S13+B2S0

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
B3S128+B2S56

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2
1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
B3S4+B2S3

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
B356S3+B2S4

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,2
0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
B3S3+B245S68
This one has a cool wickstretcher :3

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,1
0,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,1
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1
2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0


B3S1237+B2S

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,2
1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
(In a similar vein to those gun-replicators posted earlier, here's a replicator puffer:)

Code: Select all

x = 3, y = 5, rule = comb395
A$A$2.A$2B$2B!
B358S245+B2S16

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2
0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0

bprentice
Posts: 920
Joined: September 10th, 2009, 6:20 pm
Location: Coos Bay, Oregon

Re: Alternating rules

Post by bprentice » April 26th, 2013, 1:37 pm

These rules are interesting, but what precisely are they? They don't seem to be a pair of alternating two state rules operating on a single two state pattern.

Brian Prentice

EricG
Posts: 199
Joined: August 19th, 2011, 5:41 pm
Location: Chicago-area, USA

Re: Alternating rules

Post by EricG » April 26th, 2013, 2:38 pm

Brian,

Ideally, the above rules use three states to emulate, as you concisely put it, "a pair of alternating two state rules operating on a single two state pattern". At generation 0, all alive cells should be state 1. At generation 1, all alive cells switch to state 2, at generation 2, all alive cells switch back to state 1. (Alternatively, all alive cells can be state 2 on even generations instead of odd generations - it doesn't matter. What matters is that all alive cells must be one kind of state or the other in each generation.)

But Pteriforever just "cheated"!! :D Pteriforever's RLE above has "A" *and* "B", meaning a mix of state 1 and state 2 in the same generation! And I suspect that's why you're now confused.

Mixing alive states in the same generation can yield interesting results, but to avoid confusion, such rules probably should be clearly identified as a different animal from the alternating rules discussed above.

It would be nice if a one-kind-of-state-per-geneation policy could be enforced, so that users of alternating rules wouldn't have to vigiliant. In my own CA programs, I just enforce it, but in Golly, I think the answer would be to write a script or scripts which either reject or correct illegal patterns. But that kind of script probably isn't worth the bother unless you find an alterating rule you really want to spend a lot of time with.

By the way, I first encountered the issue as a newby Golly user here:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=263&p=5339&hilit=alternating#p5339
Before I realized the power of python scripts, I made an appeal to Andrew to make alternating rules native, and you can read his reply there.

-- Eric

Oh yeah! Oblique rake from Pteriforever's oblique replicator-gun:
x = 95, y = 175, rule = b3478_s13+b2_s5
74$28.2A47.2A$22.A.A46.A.A$21.A48.A$29.2A47.2A$21.A48.A$22.A.A46.A.A
6$36.A.A$35.A2$35.A$36.A.A3$32.A.A46.A.A$35.A48.A$26.2A47.2A$35.A48.A
$32.A.A46.A.A$27.2A47.2A5$65.A.A$68.A2$68.A$65.A.A!

And two rakes can be put side by side to make an oblique puffer...

bprentice
Posts: 920
Joined: September 10th, 2009, 6:20 pm
Location: Coos Bay, Oregon

Re: Alternating rules

Post by bprentice » April 26th, 2013, 4:44 pm

Eric,

Thanks for the explanation.

I have placed a new version of Square Cell here:

http://bprentice.webenet.net/Square%20Cell/

This version contains a new rule family called Cyclic 2. This family allows rules to be specified which cycle through a sequence of different tables while using a fixed neighborhood. The tables simply specify the next value of a cell where table columns are indexed by weighted neighbor counts and table rows are indexed by the old cell state. Such tables support Life_Like and Generations rules. The two dialogs used to display and obtain rule parameters and options will show clearly how everything works.

I have included in the same directory three of your patterns in "Cyclic 2 Examples.zip".

There is also a rule family called Cyclic which does essentially the opposite. Here different neighborhoods can be cycled through while using a fixed rule table.

Brian Prentice
Last edited by bprentice on April 28th, 2013, 2:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Pteriforever
Posts: 37
Joined: April 10th, 2013, 9:43 pm

Re: Alternating rules

Post by Pteriforever » April 27th, 2013, 3:30 am

Whoops, didn't catch that. Yeah, sometimes things like that show up if I make random soups with unedited ctrl-5 which is most of the time. To make up for it, here's a rule I forgot where I first found the 3c/4 spaceships.

B3S348+B2S356

Code: Select all

n_states:3
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a={1,2}
var b={1,2}
var c={1,2}
var d={1,2}
var e={1,2}
var f={1,2}
var g={1,2}
var h={1,2}
var s={0,1,2}
var t={0,1,2}
var u={0,1,2}
var v={0,1,2}
var w={0,1,2}
var x={0,1,2}
var y={0,1,2}
var z={0,1,2}
0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2
1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,2
1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2
0,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,1
2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1
1,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
2,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,0
Here's a breeder I found:

Code: Select all

x = 24, y = 6, rule = comb625
20.3B$20.3B$.3B15.B.B.B$.3B7.3B$B.B.B6.3B$10.B.B.B!

EricG
Posts: 199
Joined: August 19th, 2011, 5:41 pm
Location: Chicago-area, USA

Re: Alternating rules

Post by EricG » April 27th, 2013, 4:12 am

A quick latenight half-reply:
When using Golly, the "random-fill.py" script listed in the scripts database solves the control-5 problem by randomly filling with just a single state: See http://www.conwaylife.com/scripts/ Will have to try some of the above stuff, including Brian's latest, in the morning!

Pteriforever
Posts: 37
Joined: April 10th, 2013, 9:43 pm

Re: Alternating rules

Post by Pteriforever » April 27th, 2013, 9:11 am

I never did work out how to get those .py script, but thanks anyway!

So, I've built a /proper/ replicator puffer in what is probably my favourite of these rules, B3S135+B2S5. This is the first faster-than-linear-growth pattern for it :D

Code: Select all

x = 747, y = 670, rule = jelly
337.2A2.2A3.2A2$339.2A5.2A$317.2A3.2A2.2A3.2A12.A2.A$339.2A$317.2A5.
2A5.2A4.2A2.2A2.A2.A$316.A2.A10.A2.A2.A6.A$323.A2.A9.A6.A$316.A2.A3.A
2.A3.A2.A3.A4.A2$342.2A$323.A2.A17.A$321.A6.A$320.A.2A2.2A.A12.A$322.
A4.A16.A$323.A2.A8.A2.A$334.A$333.A4.A$334.A3.4A$332.2A4.A4.A$331.A2.
A3.A4.A$330.A5.A2.3A$330.A$331.A3.A$332.A.A6$329.A.A$329.A.A$331.3A$
340.2A$335.A3.A2.A$339.A3.A$334.A.A3.A3.A$336.A8.A$341.A3.A$335.A2.A
2.2A2.A.A$333.A5.A2.A3.A$332.A13.A$332.A.A8.A$339.A$333.A7.A.A$330.A$
329.A5$280.2A2.2A2$282.2A91.2A2.2A2$281.A2.A92.2A$281.A2.A$281.A2.A
91.A2.A$281.A2.A91.A2.A$282.2A92.A2.A$376.A2.A$377.2A$326.A.A$279.A.A
2.A.A39.A.A$282.2A$374.A.A2.A.A$279.A6.A90.2A$281.A2.A$282.2A90.A6.A$
376.A2.A$377.2A5$347.3A$346.A.A.A$348.A7$328.A$329.A4$330.A$329.A11$
319.2A2.2A2$321.2A2$320.A2.A$320.A2.A$320.A2.A$320.A2.A$321.2A2$330.A
$329.A$318.A.A2.A.A$321.2A2$318.A6.A$320.A2.A$321.2A4$320.2A2.2A45.A$
372.A$322.2A2$321.A2.A$321.A2.A$321.A2.A$321.A2.A$322.2A4$319.A.A2.A.
A8.A$322.2A12.A2$319.A6.A$321.A2.A$322.2A9$355.2A2.2A2$357.2A$326.2A
2.2A$356.A2.A$328.2A26.A2.A$356.A2.A$327.A2.A25.A2.A$327.A2.A26.2A$
327.A2.A$327.A2.A$328.2A$354.A.A2.A.A$357.2A2$325.A.A2.A.A21.A6.A$
328.2A26.A2.A$357.2A$325.A6.A$327.A2.A$328.2A119$372.A$371.A54$340.2A
2.2A3.2A2$342.2A5.2A$320.2A3.2A2.2A3.2A12.A2.A$342.2A$320.2A5.2A5.2A
4.2A2.2A2.A2.A$319.A2.A10.A2.A2.A6.A$326.A2.A9.A6.A$319.A2.A3.A2.A3.A
2.A3.A4.A2$345.2A$326.A2.A17.A$324.A6.A$323.A.2A2.2A.A12.A$325.A4.A
16.A$326.A2.A8.A2.A$337.A$336.A4.A$337.A3.4A$335.2A4.A4.A$334.A2.A3.A
4.A$333.A5.A2.3A$333.A$334.A3.A$335.A.A6$332.A.A$332.A.A$334.3A$343.
2A$338.A3.A2.A$342.A3.A$337.A.A3.A3.A$339.A8.A$344.A3.A$338.A2.A2.2A
2.A.A$336.A5.A2.A3.A$335.A13.A$335.A.A8.A$342.A$336.A7.A.A$333.A$332.
A5$283.2A2.2A2$285.2A91.2A2.2A2$284.A2.A92.2A$284.A2.A$284.A2.A91.A2.
A$284.A2.A91.A2.A$285.2A92.A2.A$379.A2.A$380.2A$329.A.A$282.A.A2.A.A
39.A.A$285.2A$377.A.A2.A.A$282.A6.A90.2A$284.A2.A$285.2A90.A6.A$379.A
2.A$380.2A5$350.3A$349.A.A.A$351.A7$331.A$332.A4$333.A$332.A11$322.2A
2.2A2$324.2A2$323.A2.A$323.A2.A$323.A2.A$323.A2.A$324.2A$371.A$333.A
38.A$332.A$321.A.A2.A.A$324.2A2$321.A6.A$323.A2.A$324.2A4$323.2A2.2A
45.A$375.A$325.2A2$324.A2.A$324.A2.A$324.A2.A$324.A2.A$325.2A4$322.A.
A2.A.A8.A$325.2A12.A2$322.A6.A$324.A2.A$325.2A9$358.2A2.2A$241.2A3.2A
2.2A$360.2A$241.2A5.2A79.2A2.2A$240.A2.A12.2A3.2A2.2A3.2A87.A2.A$248.
2A81.2A26.A2.A$240.A2.A12.2A5.2A5.2A87.A2.A$255.A2.A10.A2.A57.A2.A25.
A2.A$262.A2.A64.A2.A26.2A$33.2A3.2A2.2A214.A3.A2.A3.A2.A57.A2.A$248.A
4.A8.A2.A64.A2.A$33.2A5.2A206.A6.A7.2A66.2A$32.A2.A12.2A3.2A2.2A3.2A
184.A13.A2.A91.A.A2.A.A$40.2A210.2A9.2A95.2A$32.A2.A12.2A5.2A5.2A183.
A455.2A2.2A3.2A$47.A2.A10.A2.A182.A4.2A74.A.A2.A.A21.A6.A$54.A2.A187.
A85.2A26.A2.A342.2A5.2A$50.A3.A2.A3.A2.A295.2A321.2A3.2A2.2A3.2A12.A
2.A$40.A4.A8.A2.A205.2A63.A6.A369.2A$40.A6.A7.2A205.A2.A64.A2.A349.2A
5.2A5.2A12.A2.A$40.A13.A2.A203.A4.A64.2A349.A2.A10.A2.A$44.2A9.2A632.
A2.A$39.A222.4A229.2A2.2A3.2A176.A2.A3.A2.A3.A$39.A4.2A643.A2.A8.A4.A
$37.A459.2A5.2A184.2A7.A6.A$475.2A3.2A2.2A3.2A12.A2.A182.A2.A13.A$55.
2A194.2A5.A.A236.2A191.2A9.2A$54.A2.A188.A3.A6.A217.2A5.2A5.2A12.A2.A
200.A$53.A4.A187.A6.A7.A212.A2.A10.A2.A209.2A4.A$247.2A.A2.A.3A3.A
219.A2.A224.A$54.4A195.A2.A.A.2A212.A2.A3.A2.A3.A$244.A2.3A3.A227.A2.
A8.A4.A191.2A$244.A.A9.A225.2A7.A6.A190.A2.A$246.A2.A5.A225.A2.A13.A
189.A4.A$43.2A5.A.A192.A4.5A227.2A9.2A$38.A3.A6.A196.A.4A247.A189.4A$
38.A6.A7.A192.A5.A240.2A4.A$39.2A.A2.A.3A3.A192.A5.A248.A$45.A2.A.A.
2A193.5A$36.A2.3A3.A213.A222.2A210.A.A5.2A$36.A.A9.A209.A222.A2.A212.
A6.A3.A$38.A2.A5.A432.A4.A207.A7.A6.A$37.A4.5A646.A3.3A.A2.A.2A$38.A.
4A437.4A208.2A.A.A2.A$38.A5.A656.A3.3A2.A$38.A5.A653.A9.A.A$39.5A655.
A5.A2.A$51.A434.A.A5.2A204.5A4.A$50.A438.A6.A3.A202.4A.A$485.A7.A6.A
201.A5.A$485.A3.3A.A2.A.2A202.A5.A$485.2A.A.A2.A209.5A$493.A3.3A2.A
192.A$490.A9.A.A193.A$208.2A2.2A277.A5.A2.A$253.A5.2A231.5A4.A$210.2A
283.4A.A$258.A2.A232.A5.A$254.A.A237.A5.A$208.A4.A45.2A234.5A$208.A.
2A.A40.A232.A$238.A3.A10.A234.A$2A2.2A248.2A$45.A5.2A185.A3.A$2.2A
235.A.A14.A$50.A2.A$46.A.A$A4.A45.2A688.2A2.2A$A.2A.A40.A647.2A5.A$
30.A3.A10.A697.2A$46.2A645.A2.A$30.A3.A663.A.A$31.A.A14.A645.2A45.A4.
A$700.A40.A.2A.A$701.A10.A3.A$533.2A2.2A160.2A$486.2A5.A218.A3.A$535.
2A161.A14.A.A$259.A225.A2.A$260.A229.A.A$486.2A45.A4.A$492.A40.A.2A.A
$493.A10.A3.A$259.A231.2A$258.A245.A3.A$490.A14.A.A$51.A$52.A4$51.A
643.A$50.A643.A4$695.A$696.A2$487.A$486.A2$264.2A2.2A2$266.2A219.A$
259.A228.A$258.A$264.A4.A$208.2A2.2A50.A.2A.A2$56.2A2.2A148.2A2$58.2A
$51.A156.A4.A$50.A157.A.2A.A$56.A4.A623.2A2.2A$2A2.2A50.A.2A.A$687.2A
$2.2A691.A$696.A$685.A4.A$A4.A350.A.A326.A.2A.A50.2A2.2A$A.2A.A353.A$
263.2A2.2A208.2A2.2A260.2A$359.A$265.2A89.A.A120.2A$487.A253.A4.A$
372.A115.A252.A.2A.A$252.A10.A4.A102.A105.A4.A$148.A.A102.A9.A.2A.A
208.A.2A.A50.2A2.2A$151.A$55.2A2.2A474.2A$151.A$57.2A89.A.A$533.A4.A
57.A.A$533.A.2A.A56.A$44.A10.A4.A625.2A2.2A$45.A9.A.2A.A534.A$596.A.A
89.2A$375.A$374.A$686.A4.A10.A$388.A.A295.A.2A.A9.A$387.A$478.2A2.2A$
387.A$388.A.A89.2A3$228.2A2.2A244.A4.A10.A$478.A.2A.A9.A$230.2A$257.
2A2.2A2$228.A4.A25.2A$228.A.2A.A2$20.2A2.2A231.A4.A$257.A.2A.A$22.2A$
49.2A2.2A2$20.A4.A25.2A668.2A2.2A$20.A.2A.A$723.2A$49.A4.A637.2A2.2A$
49.A.2A.A$694.2A25.A4.A$721.A.2A.A2$513.2A2.2A173.A4.A$692.A.2A.A$
515.2A$484.2A2.2A2$486.2A25.A4.A$513.A.2A.A2$484.A4.A$484.A.2A.A!
One thing I like about alternating rules is that there's just so much space to explore. There are 8590000128 in total :D

bprentice
Posts: 920
Joined: September 10th, 2009, 6:20 pm
Location: Coos Bay, Oregon

Re: Alternating rules

Post by bprentice » April 28th, 2013, 5:40 pm

Repeatedly cycling through the three Generations rules:

S04/B48/4
S05/B26/4
S3/B125/4

surprisingly produces knight ships from a world set to random states.

This can be seen by running the Java applet here:

http://bprentice.webenet.net/Square%20Cell%20Applet/

loading a .sqc file from directory "Set 6/Cyclic 2/Rule 016", setting the world to random states and running the simulation.

Brian Prentice
Last edited by bprentice on May 3rd, 2013, 7:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Extrementhusiast
Posts: 1966
Joined: June 16th, 2009, 11:24 pm
Location: USA

Re: Alternating rules

Post by Extrementhusiast » May 2nd, 2013, 7:39 pm

While the applet is good for finding a place to start with random rules, I can't seem to zoom out or easily change the speed. Any idea why?
I Like My Heisenburps! (and others)

bprentice
Posts: 920
Joined: September 10th, 2009, 6:20 pm
Location: Coos Bay, Oregon

Re: Alternating rules

Post by bprentice » May 2nd, 2013, 9:18 pm

I wrote this software for my own use so, unfortunately, there is no documentation other than this brief note:

http://bprentice.webenet.net/Square%20C ... 0Cell.html

and the Java source code here:

http://bprentice.webenet.net/Java%20Square%20Cell/

If the simulation is running, change the speed with the + and - keys on the keyboard's number pad. The status bar will show the delay.

If the simulation is not running, zoom in and out with these same keys. Again, the status bar shows the portion of the world that is displayed and the position of the mouse cursor.

Brian Prentice

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