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NNlk05 wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:14 pm

Termite wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:08 pm like i mean noticeable features of patterns

Programming needs a specific descriptor, not human-noticeable "features".

Termite wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:21 pm features of patterns mean like the size, what it does, etc.

NNlk05 wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:29 pm

Termite wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:21 pm features of patterns mean like the size, what it does, etc.

"what it does" is really vague. Can you think of an algorithm (ie steps) to use when, say, you want to find a reflector?

Termite wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:31 pm so its properties like its growth or what it creates inside of it

NNlk05 wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:29 pm "what it does" is really vague. Can you think of an algorithm (ie steps) to use when, say, you want to find a reflector?

Termite wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:31 pm

NNlk05 wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:29 pm "what it does" is really vague. Can you think of an algorithm (ie steps) to use when, say, you want to find a reflector?

so its properties like its growth or what it creates inside of it

• Have a list of known spaceships, or just one, that you're looking to reflect

• Have a way to randomly generate stable objects in a given area, without said objects also colliding with each other to make anomalous results

• Shoot spaceships at the mass of stable objects

• Check if the objects are the same after some time

• Check if the desired spaceship has reappeared somewhere, but at a different orientation

TheWayOfTheCon wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:39 pm

Termite wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:31 pm

NNlk05 wrote: October 1st, 2026, 9:29 pm "what it does" is really vague. Can you think of an algorithm (ie steps) to use when, say, you want to find a reflector?

so its properties like its growth or what it creates inside of it

Not specific enough. Not even close. From the top of my head, though:

• Have a list of known spaceships, or just one, that you're looking to reflect

• Have a way to randomly generate stable objects in a given area, without said objects also colliding with each other to make anomalous results

• Shoot spaceships at the mass of stable objects

• Check if the objects are the same after some time

• Check if the desired spaceship has reappeared somewhere, but at a different orientation

Even this isn't quite specific enough. How will you actually make sure that the stable objects don't interfere with each other? How do you find the spaceship if it's actually been reflected?

Making an algorithm to find a reflector isn't the hardest thing in the world, but it still requires a lot of specificity. Cellular automata, at its core, is just a bunch of different squares on a grid interacting with eachother, and we, the humans, who work in predominantly illogical, asymmetric ways, want to see those cells interact in a way that we find appeasing.