Can Boids Be Turned into a Cellular Automaton?

[MortezaRahmani]

The challenge:
Starting from a single live cell, create a pattern that reaches exactly 256 live cells for the first time in Generation 256.

Rules:

• Start with a single live cell
• Use Golly's native capabilities as much as possible, without Python or Lua programming
• The population must be exactly 256 at Generation 256
• It must be the first time the population reaches 256
• No manually counting cells or generations

Bonus:
A smaller or more elegant initial pattern is better.

Can it be done?
Show us your pattern and let's see how you solve it!

Happy Programmer's Day!

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[NNlk05]

The challenge:
Starting from a single live cell, create a pattern that reaches exactly 256 live cells for the first time in Generation 256.

Rules:

• Start with a single live cell
• Use Golly's native capabilities as much as possible, without Python or Lua programming
• The population must be exactly 256 at Generation 256
• It must be the first time the population reaches 256
• No manually counting cells or generations

Bonus:
A smaller or more elegant initial pattern is better.

Can it be done?
Show us your pattern and let's see how you solve it!

Happy Programmer's Day!
HappyProgrammersDay.png

Code: Select all

x = 1, y = 1, rule = GrowByOne
o!
@RULE GrowByOne
@TABLE
n_states: 2
neighborhood: moore
symmetries: none
0 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 1

[unname4798]

Correct solution:

Code: Select all

#R GrowByOne
A!
@RULE GrowByOne
@TABLE
n_states:3
neighborhood:oneDimensional
symmetries:none
1,0,0,2
0,2,0,2

[MortezaRahmani]

I’m convinced that, one day, a deeper understanding of cellular automata will allow us to solve many of these challenges elegantly, in ways that come surprisingly close to the reality of the problem.
So, let this stand as a record until that day comes.

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[MortezaRahmani]

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[unname4798]

What?Huh?HowIsThatPossible?

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[MortezaRahmani]

Here is a rather different kind of challenge.
Can you create something in Conway's Game of Life that looks like a galaxy?
There are no strict rules here. No specific population, generation, size, or mathematical definition of a galaxy. Just use your imagination and see what you can create.
Inspired by this beautiful mathematical visualization by David Moore.
For anyone interested in the original idea, mathematics, or the code behind it, here are the original sources:
David Moore:
Limit of algebraic polynomial roots: playing around with randomness and algebraic numbers
https://bit.ly/2YcsoUA
Vitaliy Kaurov:
the LinkedIn post that brought this beautiful work to my attention.
https://lnkd.in/p/eTbdX45h
Feel free to explore the original work, take inspiration from it, and then try to create your own galaxy-like world in Conway's Game of Life.

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[MortezaRahmani]

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[MortezaRahmani]

Can simple rules that lead to complex, even highly complex behavior be turned into a real, tangible, and visible machine?

In other words:
Can we build an automaton whose rules are simple, yet whose execution gives rise to complex and highly complex behavior that can be observed, touched, and experienced as a physical machine?

Yeah! Don't just simulate the cellular automaton. Build it!
Toranj started as a cellular automaton implemented in Excel.

ToranjCircuit is an attempt to take the same idea one step further: from simulation to physical realization.

A 1000 × 1000 matrix of RGB LEDs, where the cells are not merely displaying the automaton, but physically represent its evolving state.

Generation 1 → Generation 2 → ... → Generation 438 → ...

*The concept, specifications and visual direction are mine; the image was generated with AI.

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