Page 207 of 246

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 24th, 2024, 2:18 pm
by hotdogPi

Code: Select all

x = 4, y = 6, rule = B3/S23
bo$2o$obo$2bo$b3o$3bo!

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 25th, 2024, 9:20 am
by pifricted
Is there a script can make us draw or make soups like this?

Code: Select all

x = 27, y = 8, rule = LifeHistory
DBDBDBDB11.EBDBEBDB$BDBDBDBD11.CDBEBDCE$DBDBDBDB5.F5.DCECDCDC$BDBDBDB
D6.F4.BDBECDBD$DBDBDBDB2.6F3.DBDCDBEB$BDBDBDBD6.F4.BECDBEBD$DBDBDBDB5.
F5.DBDCDBEB$BDBDBDBD11.BECDBEBD!

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 25th, 2024, 10:24 am
by Timelord Missionary
Is there a way that an ant can support something that can support two ants side-by-side?

Code: Select all

x = 11, y = 23, rule = B3/S23
3bo2$3b2o$3b2o$2bo2bo$2bo2bo2$3b2o$3b2o$2bo2bo$2bo2bo2$4bo2$4bo2$4bo$
2bo3bo2$b2o3b2o$b2o3b2o$o2bobo2bo$o2bobo2bo!


Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 25th, 2024, 10:35 am
by confocaloid
pifricted wrote: October 25th, 2024, 9:20 am Is there a script can make us draw or make soups like this?

Code: Select all

x = 27, y = 8, rule = LifeHistory
DBDBDBDB11.EBDBEBDB$BDBDBDBD11.CDBEBDCE$DBDBDBDB5.F5.DCECDCDC$BDBDBDB
D6.F4.BDBECDBD$DBDBDBDB2.6F3.DBDCDBEB$BDBDBDBD6.F4.BECDBEBD$DBDBDBDB5.
F5.DBDCDBEB$BDBDBDBD11.BECDBEBD!
If I understand correctly what you mean by "like this", then it should be not hard to generate such patterns in Golly even without a script:
  1. Generate a random-filled two-state W-by-H soup in B3/S23, and copy it into the clipboard.
  2. Draw a W-by-H "checkerboard" in LifeHistory, made out of state-2 and state-4 cells (similar to the one on the left in your post).
  3. Switch to paste mode "XOR", and paste the two-state soup from the clipboard over the "checkerboard".

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 25th, 2024, 5:00 pm
by confocaloid
Re: Coolout conjecture, currently the wiki page doesn't even state any conjecture. Instead, there are two questions ("... is there always a way to add a stabilizing boundary?", "... does there exist a configuration C* such that ...?")

It would be helpful to reword the wiki page, to correctly reflect (and mention) the existing sources (e.g. that 1992 "list of fifteen Life-universe open problems" is a source that should be mentioned and correctly reflected in the page), and to make sure that the page indeed states a conjecture rather than just a question.
confocaloid wrote: October 23rd, 2024, 3:45 pm [...]
Currently, the wiki entry begins with the following formulation:
wiki wrote:Given a partial Life pattern that's internally consistent with being part of a still life (i.e. each cell can be stabilized individually by a boundary cell), is there always a way to add a stabilizing boundary?
There is a reply on the talk page, noting vagueness of that wording:
[...]
dvgrn wrote: October 23rd, 2024, 5:30 pm
confocaloid wrote: October 23rd, 2024, 3:45 pm What was the original formulation of Coolout Conjecture, when it was first stated?
I'm not sure anyone can retrieve the original wording at this point; the wiki article has pretty much everything known about the conjecture.

"originally formulated before 1992" means that it's not in LifeCA email archives (that group was started in 1992).

The "locally stable over a rectangle R" formulation in the wiki article came from a 1992 rewording by Alan Wechsler, for a list of fifteen Life-universe open problems analogous to David Hilbert's twenty-three:
[...]
EDIT by dvgrn: Gave this a try (or three).

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 26th, 2024, 7:56 am
by pifricted
confocaloid wrote: October 25th, 2024, 10:35 am
pifricted wrote: October 25th, 2024, 9:20 am Is there a script can make us draw or make soups like this?

Code: Select all

x = 27, y = 8, rule = LifeHistory
DBDBDBDB11.EBDBEBDB$BDBDBDBD11.CDBEBDCE$DBDBDBDB5.F5.DCECDCDC$BDBDBDB
D6.F4.BDBECDBD$DBDBDBDB2.6F3.DBDCDBEB$BDBDBDBD6.F4.BECDBEBD$DBDBDBDB5.
F5.DBDCDBEB$BDBDBDBD11.BECDBEBD!
If I understand correctly what you mean by "like this", then it should be not hard to generate such patterns in Golly even without a script:
  1. Generate a random-filled two-state W-by-H soup in B3/S23, and copy it into the clipboard.
  2. Draw a W-by-H "checkerboard" in LifeHistory, made out of state-2 and state-4 cells (similar to the one on the left in your post).
  3. Switch to paste mode "XOR", and paste the two-state soup from the clipboard over the "checkerboard".
Can we do that in other rules?

And I want to draw like that without copy.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 26th, 2024, 10:20 am
by dvgrn
pifricted wrote: October 26th, 2024, 7:56 am Can we do that in other rules?

And I want to draw like that without copy.
confocaloid's method should work well for any rule that supports Standard and History modes, I think.

If you want to be able to draw normally in Golly, that's a bit trickier. It's technically possible to write a Lua script that runs in the background and has the effect of letting you draw state 3 automatically on top of state 4, but state 1 automatically on top of states 0 or 2.

It would be quite a bit of work to duplicate all of Golly's drawing functionality inside the script, though. It's probably much easier to just draw what you want, and then select the area you want to be "checkerboarded", and run a very simple script like this:

Python:

Code: Select all

# selectioncheckerboardifier.py
import golly as g

r = g.getselrect()
if r == []:
  g.exit("Please make a selection, then re-run this script to 'checkerboard' it in states 3 and 4.")

rulename =  g.getrule()
if not rulename[-7:]=="History":
  g.show("Trying to set rule to add History. If you get an error here, then probably the rule doesn't support History.")
  g.setrule(rulename + "History")


for j in range(r[3]):
  g.show("Processing row " + str(j) + " of " + str(r[3]+1) + ".")
  for i in range(r[2]):
    if (i+j) % 2 == 0:
      x, y = r[0]+i, r[1]+j
      cellstate = g.getcell(x,y)
      if cellstate in [0,2,6]:
        g.setcell(x,y,4)
      elif cellstate == 1:
        g.setcell(x,y,3)
g.show("Done.")
Lua:

Code: Select all

-- selectioncheckerboardifier.lua
local g = golly()

-- Get the selected rectangle
local r = g.getselrect()
if #r == 0 then
  g.exit("Please make a selection, then re-run this script to 'checkerboard' it in states 3 and 4.")
end

-- Get the rule name and check for 'History'
local rulename = g.getrule()
g.note(string.sub(rulename, -7))
if string.sub(rulename, -7) ~= "History" then
  g.show("Trying to set rule to add History. If you get an error here, then probably the rule doesn't support History.")
  g.setrule(rulename .. "History")
end

-- Loop through the selected area and apply the checkerboard pattern
for j = 0, r[4] - 1 do
  g.show("Processing row " .. j .. " of " .. r[4])
  for i = 0, r[3] - 1 do
    if (i + j) % 2 == 0 then
      local x, y = r[1] + i, r[2] + j
      local cellstate = g.getcell(x, y)
      if cellstate == 0 or cellstate == 2 or cellstate == 6 then
        g.setcell(x, y, 4)
      elseif cellstate == 1 then
        g.setcell(x, y, 3)
      end
    end
  end
end

g.show("Done.")

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 26th, 2024, 12:00 pm
by confocaloid
post196587 wrote: October 25th, 2024, 5:00 pm [...]
EDIT by dvgrn: Gave this a try (or three).
As far as I can tell, those edits don't correctly reflect the source. According to the quote posted earlier, the 1992 message contained "... a list of fifteen Life-universe open problems ..." and provided a formulation of Coolout Conjecture as a conjecture (#12). However, the wiki page gives it as a question, failing to follow the source.

Currently the page claims (https://conwaylife.com/w/index.php?titl ... did=154799):
Coolout_Conjecture&curid=10491&diff=156565&oldid=154799 wrote: Alternatively, here it is in the form of a question, from the April 1992 list of open questions linked above:
While the quote posted earlier has this:
dvgrn wrote: October 23rd, 2024, 5:30 pm [...]
The "locally stable over a rectangle R" formulation in the wiki article came from a 1992 rewording by Alan Wechsler, for a list of fifteen Life-universe open problems analogous to David Hilbert's twenty-three:
From: Allan Wechsler
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 11:01-0400
Subject: Missions


I think this is the first time that so many influential Life hackers
have had such fast access to a common forum. Wouldn't it be a good
occasion to restate some of the most outstanding problems? Here are a
few that spring to mind:
[...]
[...]
12. Prove Schroeppel's "Cool Out" conjecture: if a configuration C is
locally stable over a rectangle R, then there exists a configuration C*
such that (a) C* is locally equal to C over R; and (b) C* is globally
stable.

13. For what oscillation regimes other than stability is an analog of
Schroeppel's Conjecture true?
[...]
[...]
[...]
EDIT by dvgrn: Okay, made a few more minor adjustments.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 29th, 2024, 3:19 pm
by Timelord Missionary
Is there a p2 oscillator that is endemic to life and all of its rotor cells form a contiguous blob? If so, what's the smallest one? What about p3, p4, or even p5?

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 29th, 2024, 4:25 pm
by confocaloid
Timelord Missionary wrote: October 29th, 2024, 3:19 pm Is there a p2 oscillator that is endemic to life and all of its rotor cells form a contiguous blob? If so, what's the smallest one? What about p3, p4, or even p5?
That may be closer to a "research-level question" (given the doubt whether it is possible at all), rather than to a "basic question".

To clarify:
  • By "endemic to life", do you mean "endemic to Conway's Game of Life within the space of Life-like cellular automata",
    or "endemic to Conway's Game of Life within the space of 2-state isotropic CA with Moore neighbourhood",
    or within some other space?
  • By "contiguous blob", do you mean that the rotor's shape must be a polyplet, or a polyomino, or some other restriction?
I suspect that Logic Life Search can be used to find an example of a CGoL p2 oscillator for each of 102 isotropic 3-by-3 conditions. (Below are example p2 oscillators found with LLS, with phase 0 (the shown phase) querying respectively the isotropic conditions S4c, S8, S6i, S4e.)
However, it's not immediately obvious how to find one CGoL p2 oscillator that queries all of those 102 3-by-3 conditions at once, while also satisfying the requirement that "all of its rotor cells form a contiguous blob".

Code: Select all

x = 46, y = 46, rule = LifeHistory
.2A4.2A.2A2.2A18.2A.2A.A.2A$.A6.A.A2.A.A17.A.A.A.3A2.A$3.A2.A.A2.A.A
17.3A.A.B5.A.A$2.5A2.A.A.BA15.A3.A.2A.4A.2A$A6.A.A.AB.A15.A.A.A.3AB2.
A$4A2.A2.A2.A.2A15.2A.A2B2.B.A2.2A$3.A2.ACDCA.A.2A17.A.2B3CB.2A.A$2.A
4.DCDA.A.2B15.2A.2A.3C.B.A$3.4ACDCB.A.A15.A2.A.A.3CAB2A$A5.B.A.BA.A.A
14.2A2.2A.2B.B.A.2A$5A.B.2A2.A.2A20.AB.BA.A2.A$4.4A.A.2A17.7A.A.2A.2A
$2.2A5.A2.A.2A14.A4.A.2A2.2A$.A.3A3.2A.A.A16.ABAB3.A2BA.2A$.A4.A5.A.A
17.BA4.A2BA.A.A$2A3.2A5.2A26.A3.A15$7.2A2.A.2A22.A.2A.2A$6.A.A2.2A2.A
16.2A.4A.A.2A$2A3.A3.2A3.2A15.A.2A5.A$A.A.A.4A.2A.A16.A4.2A.A.5A$2.A.
A.B2.B.BA.A17.4A.A.A.A3.A$.A.A.A.BA.B3.2A19.A3.AB2.A$.2A.A.B3C4A16.3A
2.A.DCDB.3A$4.2A.DCD.A.A16.A2.A.A.3CAB$.3A2.A3C.A2.2A17.A.A.DCD.A.2A$
.A2.A.B2.A2BA.A16.A.2A.A.2B.A.2A$2.A.A.A2B3.A.A15.A.A3.A.2A.2A$.2A.A.
2A.A3.A16.A2.A.2A.2A.A.2A$2.A.2A.A.4A18.A.A.A2.A2.A.2A$A3.A2.2A4.3A
14.2A.A2.A.A2BA$2A2.A.A3.A.A2.A18.A.A.A2.A$3.2A.2A.2A.2A21.A3.2A!
pcallahan wrote: February 26th, 2019, 2:30 pm [...] This is by no means intended as an exhaustive list. Criticism is welcome. It is just to get the ball rolling.

Rough "hierarchy" of problem types.
Research: Some doubt about whether it is possible at all. New approaches and (usually) expertise needed to solve it.
Engineering: Believed to be possible, but no working example shown. Path may be sketched out, but work and skill are needed to complete it (nagging uncertainties about spacing and phasing may remain but are assumed resolvable).
Cataloging: Finding any one solution is a routine task, but solution space has not been fully explored. Solution takes the form of “list all”, “determine how many”, “find fastest/smallest”. This could be either an automated or manual process.
Known method: Finding the solution is a routine task for at least one member of the CGOL community.
Widely known method: Many experienced CGOL hobbyists can accomplish the task.
Scripted method: There is software that solves the problem and can be used without much CGOL experience (but it may require software engineering skills).
Novice: Simple constructions that require some understand of what CGOL can do. Pairing up guns or rakes for collisions, adding and removing eaters, etc.
Trivial: Shows up in early exploration “Whoa, that 5-cell pattern is moving.” “This small pattern makes a big explosion.” “When I start with a line, the result is always symmetrical.”

An orthogonal axis is level of interest. This varies from “Obviously interesting to anyone who sees it.” to “Only of interest to its discoverer.” The above categories can fall anywhere on this axis. E.g., completing some obscure oscillator of known period may be research-level difficulty, but still not very interesting. Gliders are trivial and well known, but obviously interesting.

(Actually it’s not completely orthogonal, because a research problem can grow in interest as it is perceived to be more challenging and many people try and fail to solve it, much like the trajectory of FLT in pure mathematics.)

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 29th, 2024, 7:15 pm
by WhiteHawk
confocaloid wrote: October 29th, 2024, 4:25 pm
I suspect that Logic Life Search can be used to find an example of a CGoL p2 oscillator for each of 102 isotropic 3-by-3 conditions. (Below are example p2 oscillators found with LLS, with phase 0 (the shown phase) querying respectively the isotropic conditions S4c, S8, S6i, S4e.)
However, it's not immediately obvious how to find one CGoL p2 oscillator that queries all of those 102 3-by-3 conditions at once, while also satisfying the requirement that "all of its rotor cells form a contiguous blob".
Unrelated, but small stator reductions to the S4c oscillator and S8 oscillator

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = LifeHistory
.2A4.2A.2A2.2A$.A6.A.A2.A.A$3.A2.A.A2.A.A$2.5A2.A.A.BA$D6.A.A.AB.A$2D
2A2.A2.A2.A.2A$3.A2.ACDCA.A.2A$2.A4.DCDA.A.2B$3.4ACDCB.A.A$A5.B.A.BA.
A.A$5A.B.2A2.A.2A$4.4A.A.2A$2.2A5.A2.A.2A$.A.3A3.2A.A.A$.A4.A5.A.A$2A
3.2A5.2A!

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = LifeHistory
4.2A.2A.AC2D$3.A.A.A.2ADC.D$.3A.A.B5.A.A$A3.A.2A.4A.2A$A.A.A.3AB2.A$.
2A.A2B2.B.A2.2A$3.A.2B3CB.2A.A$.2A.2A.3C.B.A$A2.A.A.3CAB2A$2A2.2A.2B.
B.A.2A$6.AB.BA.A2.A$7A.A.2A.2A$A4.A.2A2.2A$.ABAB3.A2BA.2A$2.BA4.A2BA.
A.A$10.A3.A!

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 30th, 2024, 8:05 pm
by get_Snacked
is there a sorted collection of factories in Life that i can find? and is it available on a browser? (like, no download needed and displayable on LV)

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 30th, 2024, 8:07 pm
by Timelord Missionary
confocaloid wrote: October 29th, 2024, 4:25 pm To clarify:
  • By "endemic to life", do you mean "endemic to Conway's Game of Life within the space of Life-like cellular automata",
    or "endemic to Conway's Game of Life within the space of 2-state isotropic CA with Moore neighborhood",
    or within some other space?
  • By "contiguous blob", do you mean that the rotor's shape must be a polyplet, a polyomino, or some other restriction?
Now I need to clarify.
I Mean an isotropic non-totalistic lifelike rule, and
I mean a rotor blob where at least one cell is dependent on all the others in the oscillator not being frozen.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 30th, 2024, 8:13 pm
by confocaloid
Timelord Missionary wrote: October 30th, 2024, 8:07 pm
confocaloid wrote: October 29th, 2024, 4:25 pm To clarify:
  • By "endemic to life", do you mean "endemic to Conway's Game of Life within the space of Life-like cellular automata",
    or "endemic to Conway's Game of Life within the space of 2-state isotropic CA with Moore neighborhood",
    or within some other space?
  • By "contiguous blob", do you mean that the rotor's shape must be a polyplet, a polyomino, or some other restriction?
Now I need to clarify.
I Mean an isotropic non-totalistic lifelike rule, and
I mean a rotor blob where at least one cell is dependent on all of the others in the oscillator.
I take it you mean "a 2-state isotropic CA with range-1 Moore neighbourhood (that may or may not be totalistic)"? This includes Life-like cellular automata as a subset, however, non-totalistic CA aren't Life-like. So saying "non-totalistic lifelike" is either technically incorrect (if you mean the term) or vague (if you mean something else).

Unfortunately the second part ("at least one cell is dependent...") doesn't clarify much. What do you mean by dependent? Can you explain in more details, as precise as you can? Any examples of what counts and what doesn't count? So far it's unclear what you mean here.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 30th, 2024, 8:31 pm
by confocaloid
get_Snacked wrote: October 30th, 2024, 8:05 pm is there a sorted collection of factories in Life that i can find? and is it available on a browser? (like, no download needed and displayable on LV)
Replied elsewhere: viewtopic.php?p=196914#p196914

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 30th, 2024, 9:00 pm
by Timelord Missionary
confocaloid wrote: October 30th, 2024, 8:13 pm [what you just said]
Yes, I mean totalistic or non-totalistic and I originally thought life-like included both.
Three things that count:

Code: Select all

x = 47, y = 33, rule = LifeHistory
$10.2A$8.A4BA6.2B$6.BA6BAB.6B$4.2BA8BA8B$3.3BA8BA9B10.2A$4.2BA8BA2B.7B
7.A4BA$6.BA6BAB4.7B4.BA6BAB$8.A4BA7.2BA4B.2BA8BA2B$10.2A10.2B2A5BA8BA
3B$23.2A6BA8BA2B$24.6B.BA6BAB$25.2B6.A4BA$35.2A5$7.BA22.2A$6.ABAB13.2A
5.A2.A.2A$5.B4.A12.A6.4A.A2.A$4.2A4.2B8.2A.A.B2AB.B2AB.A.2A$4.2B4.2A8.
A2.A.4A6.A$5.A4.B11.2A.A2.A5.2A$6.BABA16.2A$7.AB!
Two things that don't:

Code: Select all

x = 46, y = 50, rule = B3/S23
3$5b2o$5b2o6$17bo$15b3o$14bo$6bo7b2o16b3o$5b3o22bo$4b5o21bo4bo$3b2o3b
2o21bo2bobo$4b5o24bo2bo$4b5o25b2ob2o$5bo2bo27bo2bo$5bo3bo26bobobo$9bo
27bo2bo$6b2obo31bo$8bo29bobo3$5b2o3b2o$5bo5bo2$6bo3bo$7b3o3$34bo$33b4o
$16b2o14b2obobo3b2o$8bo7bo2bo11b3obo2bo2b2o$7bo3b2o7bo11b2obobo$7bo5b
o6bo12b4o$8b5o7bo7bo5bo$16bo2bo9bo$16b2o9b3o2$30b2o$30bo$31b3o$33bo!
The "non-interacting" capped Gosper guns may or may not count, but that's probably a moot point for our low period. At higher periods, I like to think of it in terms of individual objects instead of stator/rotor space. If the queen bees weren't there, the block would be content with oscillating at p1.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 30th, 2024, 9:35 pm
by dvgrn
get_Snacked wrote: October 30th, 2024, 8:05 pm is there a sorted collection of factories in Life that i can find? and is it available on a browser? (like, no download needed and displayable on LV)
Sure -- it sounds like you're looking for the Still-life 'factories' thread.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 30th, 2024, 10:27 pm
by confocaloid
Timelord Missionary wrote: October 30th, 2024, 9:00 pm [...] Three things that count: [...]
It's odd that third example is included, since the rotor is not a single polyplet, and the oscillator can be shortened:

Code: Select all

x = 44, y = 7, rule = B3/S23
11b2o$3b2o5bo2bob2o16b2o4b2o$3bo6b4obo2bo14bo6bo$2obo2b2o3b2o2bob2o11b
2obo2b2o2bob2o$o2bob4o6bo14bo2bob4obo2bo$2b2obo2bo5b2o16b2obo2bob2o$6b
2o28b2o!
#C [[ GRID THEME LifeHistory STARTFROM 3 ]]
Timelord Missionary wrote: October 30th, 2024, 9:00 pm [...] The "non-interacting" capped Gosper guns may or may not count, but that's probably a moot point for our low period. [...]
Since there is doubt whether those guns count, the hidden idea behind the requirement "all of its rotor cells form a contiguous blob" in your question remains undefined and vague. Apparently some sets of rotor cells can "count" despite not being a single polyplet, yet some polyplets may or may not "count".

I think it should be straightforward to run LLS to find a set of noninteracting p2 oscillators, covering all 102 possible two-state isotropic 3-by-3 conditions (i.e. all 102 two-state 3-by-3 configurations up to rotations and reflections). If that fails, then there's a proof of impossibility right there. If that succeeds, then one could put all those oscillators in a single Life universe, and declare that to be a non-trivial oscillator (which it would be indeed, despite the rotor most likely not being a "contiguous blob" for any useful definition of "contiguous blob").

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 31st, 2024, 11:40 am
by Aleph
How exactly did AbhpzTa make the P47 gun so small? I'm not seeing any clever reactions that weren't used in earlier iterations of the gun.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 31st, 2024, 1:45 pm
by Timelord Missionary
confocaloid wrote: October 30th, 2024, 10:27 pm
It's odd that third example is included, since the rotor is not a single polyplet, and the oscillator can be shortened:
Code: Select all / Show in Viewer

Code: Select all

x = 44, y = 7, rule = B3/S23
11b2o$3b2o5bo2bob2o16b2o4b2o$3bo6b4obo2bo14bo6bo$2obo2b2o3b2o2bob2o11b
2obo2b2o2bob2o$o2bob4o6bo14bo2bob4obo2bo$2b2obo2bo5b2o16b2obo2bob2o$6b
2o28b2o!
#C [[ GRID THEME LifeHistory STARTFROM 3 ]]
...
Since there is doubt whether those guns count, the hidden idea behind the requirement "all of its rotor cells form a contiguous blob" in your question remains undefined and vague. Apparently some sets of rotor cells can "count" despite not being a single polyplet, yet some polyplets may or may not "count".

I think it should be straightforward to run LLS to find a set of noninteracting p2 oscillators, covering all 102 possible two-state isotropic 3-by-3 conditions (i.e. all 102 two-state 3-by-3 configurations up to rotations and reflections). If that fails, then there's a proof of impossibility right there. If that succeeds, then one could put all those oscillators in a single Life universe, and declare that to be a non-trivial oscillator (which it would be indeed, despite the rotor most likely not being a "contiguous blob" for any useful definition of "contiguous blob").
Okay, forget about the "blob". I included some edge cases in my post so that my question could be clearly defined, but it seems it only made things more confusing. In actuality, it is about support. See, if I replace one of the caps with neutronium cells, or remove it entirely,

Code: Select all

x = 70, y = 35, rule = extendedlife
8$56.2A$48.2A5.A2.A.2A$48.A6.F2EF.A2.A$32.E12.2A.A.A2.A.F2EF.A.2A$15.
2A16.E11.A2.A.A2.A6.A$7.2A5.A2.A.2A13.E12.2A.A2.A5.2A$7.A6.A2.A.A2.A12.
E15.2A$4.2A.A.A2.A.A2.A.A.2A3.9E.E$4.A2.A.A2.A6.A15.E$6.2A.A2.A5.2A14.
E$10.2A21.E$32.E5$49.2A$49.A$46.2A.A.A2.A$46.A2.A.A2.A$48.2A.A2.A$52.
2A!
the oscillator doesn't survive. The shortened version is a good alternative stabilization, making it a different oscillator. However, if we do something similar with the Siamese glider guns (simplified to only queen bees here), it doesn't seem to have the same problem, if we ignore the fact that the block and the cells immediately around it don't "evolve" in quite the same way. This can be ignored because, on its own, the block is just a catalyst that can catalyze the same way in several different directions.

Code: Select all

x = 83, y = 38, rule = extendedlife
8$4.2A29.2A14.2A$4.2A29.2A14.2A$24.E$25.E$5.A20.E9.A15.A$4.3A20.E7.3A
13.3A$3.A3.A6.13E.E5.A3.A11.A3.A$5.A21.E8.A15.A$2.A5.A17.E6.A5.A9.A5.
A$2.A5.A16.E7.A5.A9.A5.A$3.A3.A16.E9.A3.A11.A3.A$4.3A28.3A13.3A6$13.2A
45.2F4E$11.A3.A39.E2.F3EF5E4.E$10.A5.A8.2A28.2EF5EF6E.E2F$5.2A2.2A.A3.
A8.2A9.2A14.2A.E2FEF3EF8E2F$5.2A3.A5.A19.2A14.2A2.EF5EF9E$11.A3.A42.F
3EF10E$13.2A44.E2F4E4.E!
I'm sorry for making such a fuss. If you want to define it by the space of rotors instead because that's less confusing, that's fine. It doesn't matter that much to my question, anyway. I only specified that it should be unified because I want to know what the minimum size could be, and also I think it would be cool if it could be. The individual oscillators can come first, though, if that's easier to code.
Edit: I made the quote correct, even though Grammarly is yelling at me.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: October 31st, 2024, 1:58 pm
by dvgrn
wwei47 wrote: October 31st, 2024, 11:40 am How exactly did AbhpzTa make the P47 gun so small? I'm not seeing any clever reactions that weren't used in earlier iterations of the gun.
iNoMed described it like this on Discord:

"It turns out separating the glider convoy is no good so you just over-unity it again and eat half the convoy."

In other words, maybe in some sense other people stopped extracting spare gliders as soon as they figured out the first clear over-unity option.

But I think the other key invention was extracting gliders from the p47 wicks in a more reasonable direction, straight away from the end of the wick instead of backwards along the wick's body.

That allowed for shorter sections of p47 wick, just long enough to allow another p47 oscillator in next to the one guarding the other end -- instead of having to extend the wick until a Snark would fit next to it, to rescue the awkward backwards output glider.

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: November 1st, 2024, 9:19 am
by NooneAtAll3
What's the status of 1D spaceship development?

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: November 1st, 2024, 9:24 am
by confocaloid
NooneAtAll3 wrote: November 1st, 2024, 9:19 am What's the status of 1D spaceship development?
It is still open, as far as I know. The most recent observable activity was in August, see forum thread viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2040

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: November 1st, 2024, 4:22 pm
by confocaloid
Timelord Missionary wrote: October 31st, 2024, 1:45 pm[...]
Please edit your post and fix the quote contained in your post, so that it does not misquote what I wrote.

If my post contains errors you would like to point out, feel free to do so, but do that separately (put the corrections outside the quote). Do not edit the quoted text with your remarks and corrections.

Besides such misquotes being violations of forum rule 1a, it is simply confusing to have to copy&paste the two posts (mine and your) and do diff between two posts, merely to be able to see clearly all the "sic", "Grammarly", some changes in articles and who knows what else.

The actual changes might be minor in this particular case, but the underlying issue (misquoting) isn't. When trying to correct something, be clear and honest in your corrections; take the responsibility for your corrections, and leave the errors to those people who made them.
diff.txt wrote:

Code: Select all

0a1
> [quote="Timelord Missionary" post_id=196979 time=1730396715 user_id=2961]
3,4c4,7
< It's odd that third example is included, since the rotor is not a single polyplet, and the oscillator can be shortened:
< [...]
---
> It's odd [sic] that the third example is included, since the rotor is not a single polyplet, and the oscillator can be shortened:
> ...
> 
> Since there is doubt whether those guns count, the hidden idea behind the requirement "all of its rotor cells form a contiguous blob" in [url=https://conwaylife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=196846#p196846]your question[/url] remains undefined, and vague. ... some sets of rotor cells can "count" despite not being a single polyplet, yet some polyplets may or may not "count".
6c9,10
< Since there is doubt whether those guns count, the hidden idea behind the requirement "all of its rotor cells form a contiguous blob" in [url=https://conwaylife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=196846#p196846]your question[/url] remains undefined and vague. Apparently some sets of rotor cells can "count" despite not being a single polyplet, yet some polyplets may or may not "count".
---
> ["sic" because Grammarly is yelling at me]I think it should be straightforward to run LLS to find a set of noninteracting p2 oscillators, covering all 102 possible two-state isotropic 3-by-3 conditions (i.e. all 102 two-state 3-by-3 configurations up to rotations and reflections). If that fails, then there's proof of impossibility right there. If that succeeds, then one could put all those oscillators in a single Life universe, and declare that to be a non-trivial oscillator (which it would be indeed, despite the rotor most likely not being a "contiguous blob" for any useful definition of "contiguous blob").
> [/quote]
8c12,14
< I think it should be straightforward to run LLS to find a set of noninteracting p2 oscillators, covering all 102 possible two-state isotropic 3-by-3 conditions (i.e. all 102 two-state 3-by-3 configurations up to rotations and reflections). If that fails, then there's a proof of impossibility right there. If that succeeds, then one could put all those oscillators in a single Life universe, and declare that to be a non-trivial oscillator (which it would be indeed, despite the rotor most likely not being a "contiguous blob" for any useful definition of "contiguous blob").
---
> Okay, forget about the "blob". I included some edge cases in my post so that my question could be clearly defined, but it seems it only made things more confusing. In actuality, it is about support. [...]
> [...]
> I'm sorry for making such a fuss. If you want to define it by the space of rotors instead because that's less confusing, that's fine. [...]

Re: Thread for basic questions

Posted: November 3rd, 2024, 2:43 am
by pifricted
Are block and ship the only still lives in 9:43 at knight?