page was giving an "Invalid pattern" error, which seemed suboptimal. Rolled back and put old Snarkmaker and new hyperoptimized Snarkmaker in separate sections.
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{{Glossary}}
{{Glossary}}
The '''Snarkmaker''' is a [[single-channel]] [[stream]] of [[glider]]s that, when aimed to collide with an [[elbow]] [[block]] in a specific location, will perform a [[slow glider construction]] of a [[Snark]], directly on the same [[lane]] as the incoming gliders. This allows a [[construction arm]] to add one or more [[lossless elbow]]s, so that it can bend around multiple corners without an exponential increase in construction cost.
A '''Snarkmaker''' is a [[single-channel]] [[stream]] of [[glider]]s that, when aimed to collide with an [[elbow]] [[block]] in a specific location, will perform a [[slow glider construction]] of a [[Snark]], directly on the same [[lane]] as the incoming gliders. This allows a [[construction arm]] to add one or more [[lossless elbow]]s, so that it can bend around multiple corners without an exponential increase in construction cost.
The Snarkmaker recipe used in the single-channel and Hashlife-friendly [[Demonoid]]s, [[Orthogonoid]]s, [[spiral growth]] patterns, and [[Hydra]] contains 2,253 gliders, not including preparatory and cleanup operations. The glider count could be considerably reduced with a customized [[search program]].
==Original Snarkmaker==
The first Snarkmaker recipe was completed in 2017, and was subsequently used in the single-channel and Hashlife-friendly [[Demonoid]]s, [[Orthogonoid]]s, [[spiral growth]] patterns, [[Hydra]], and eventually the [[0E0P metacell]] and many [[self-constructing]] spaceships
The full single-channel recipe pattern{{refn|group=note|Direct download link: [https://conwaylife.com/patterns/snarkmaker.rle {{filename|snarkmaker.rle}}]}} contains 2428 gliders, including
The original Snarkmaker recipe contained 2,253 gliders, not including preparatory and cleanup operations.<ref name="post44384" /> The full single-channel recipe pattern{{refn|group=note|Direct download link: [https://conwaylife.com/patterns/snarkmaker.rle {{filename|snarkmaker.rle}}]}} contained 2428 gliders, including
* 25 gliders for an initial elbow-to-offset-block recipe: this block will be used as the next elbow
* 25 gliders for an initial elbow-to-offset-block recipe: this block will be used as the next elbow
* 31 gliders for a two-stage recipe (14 + 17 gliders): pull the elbow block to line up with the new elbow
* 31 gliders for a two-stage recipe (14 + 17 gliders): pull the elbow block to line up with the new elbow
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* 8 gliders to remove the 0-degree elbow when it's no longer needed
* 8 gliders to remove the 0-degree elbow when it's no longer needed
* 76 gliders (optional): push the new elbow back to a safe distance so that this same Snarkmaker recipe could be used again
* 76 gliders (optional): push the new elbow back to a safe distance so that this same Snarkmaker recipe could be used again
* 1 glider (suppressed by a single cell) showing where a second Snarkmaker recipe could be safely appended
* 1 glider (suppressed by a single cell in the pattern below) showing where a second Snarkmaker recipe could be safely appended
#C [[ LABELT 0 3000 100 LABEL -10 100 2 "recipe to create an offset block" ]]
#C [[ LABELT 0 3000 100 LABEL -10 100 2 "recipe to create an offset block" ]]
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o!
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The Snark construction is completed in a little over 260,000 ticks, which can be reduced to a little under 250,000 ticks (247,847) by removing the 76 optional trailing gliders and the seven length-256 gaps that mark the transitions between the above sections.
The Snark construction is completed in a little over 260,000 ticks, which can be reduced to 247,847 by removing the 76 optional trailing gliders and the seven length-256 gaps that mark the transitions between the above sections.
The mirror-image [[Snarkbreaker]] recipe, removing an existing lossless elbow from a construction arm, is a much cheaper and faster operation.
The mirror-image [[Snarkbreaker]] recipe, removing an existing lossless elbow from a construction arm, is a much cheaper and faster operation.
==Hyperoptimized Snarkmaker==
In April {{year|2026}}, [[russellsprouts]] posted an extremely optimized [[single-channel]] Snarkmaker recipe consisting of just 266 gliders.<ref name="post227620" /> This new recipe is nearly an order of magnitude of an improvement over the original version.
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|pname = hyperoptimizedsnarkmaker
|viewerconfig = #C [[ AUTOSTART THUMBSIZE 2 X -4000 Y -4000 ZOOM 4 STEP 20 T 0 PAUSE 2 T 32039 PAUSE 2 WIDTH 640 HEIGHT 640 LOOP 32040 ]]
The original Snarkmaker recipe contained 2,253 gliders, not including preparatory and cleanup operations.[1] The full single-channel recipe pattern[note 1] contained 2428 gliders, including
25 gliders for an initial elbow-to-offset-block recipe: this block will be used as the next elbow
31 gliders for a two-stage recipe (14 + 17 gliders): pull the elbow block to line up with the new elbow
19 gliders for an elbow duplicator recipe: the farther elbow will become a slow-salvo target
15 gliders to separate the elbows: the near elbow will be used as a zero-degree elbow so it needs some clearance
2253 gliders for the actual Snarkmaker recipe: this is made up of many 0-degree glider recipes for a slow salvo Snark construction
8 gliders to remove the 0-degree elbow when it's no longer needed
76 gliders (optional): push the new elbow back to a safe distance so that this same Snarkmaker recipe could be used again
1 glider (suppressed by a single cell in the pattern below) showing where a second Snarkmaker recipe could be safely appended
In order to expand and view annotations: (click above to open LifeViewer)
The Snark construction is completed in a little over 260,000 ticks, which can be reduced to 247,847 by removing the 76 optional trailing gliders and the seven length-256 gaps that mark the transitions between the above sections.
The mirror-image Snarkbreaker recipe, removing an existing lossless elbow from a construction arm, is a much cheaper and faster operation.
Hyperoptimized Snarkmaker
In April 2026, russellsprouts posted an extremely optimized single-channel Snarkmaker recipe consisting of just 266 gliders.[2] This new recipe is nearly an order of magnitude of an improvement over the original version.