Tutorials/Catalyses

(Constructing a simpler, more user friendly version of Tutorials/Catalyses)

A catalyst is a stable object (usually a still life) which can interact with an active region and later return to its original state. Catalysts are very useful in conduits and in many other applications. Here is an example of a stable catalyst:

x=11, y = 10, rule = LifeHistory 2.C$2.C$.2C6.2A$4.2A.A2.A$3.A.A.3A$A2.A.A$4A.3A$4.A3.A$2.A.A2.2A$2.2A ! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

The green still life interacts with the white object, and recovers to its original state by generation 15. In this tutorial, you'll learn the main types of catalyses and their applications. But first, we need to cover some important definitions:

Important terms

• Stable catalyst: a catalyst which is a still life. Most catalyses are of this form.
• Periodic catalyst: a catalyst which is an oscillator. These are generally considered inferior to stable catalyses because they usually only work in a fraction of the generations as a stable catalyst, since they usually only work in one phase of the periodic catalyse.
• Recovery time: the time it takes for a catalyst to return back to its state before interacting. In the example above, the recovery time is 15.
• Replacement catalyst: When a common catalyst fails, another, less common, catalyst must be used.
• Rock: A catalyst which does not change at all, even temporarily, during the interaction process. The snake-type catalyses below are examples of rocks.

Let's explore the different types of catalysts now!

Types of catalyses

Fishhook (eater 1)

Here are some examples of fishhook catalyses:

x=28, y = 7, rule = LifeHIstory 2.A8.2A7.A.A$A.C8.AC9.C$.AC8.AC7.2AC$4.2A8.2A8.2A$4.A.A7.A.A7.A.A$6.A 9.A9.A$6.2A8.2A8.2A! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

The marked white cells should always be on in a fishhook-type catalyst. Sometimes, the fishhook may engage in a more unusual manner, but these are rarer:

x=22, y = 6, rule = B3/S23 2o3b2o8b2o$3ob2o8b2o$4bo3b2o4bo3b2o$8bobo7bobo$10bo9bo$10b2o8b2o! [[ THEME 6 GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

Recognizing when to use a fishhook catalysis is really a matter of experience. For practice, try placing an eater 1 somewhere within this blue field to eat the middleweight spaceship (click on the thumbnail below to draw cells in LifeViewer using the pencil icon):

x=18, y = 9, rule = LifeHistory .5A$A4.A$5.A4.8B$A3.A5.8B$2.A7.8B$10.8B$10.8B$10.8B$10.8B! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 WIDTH 800 HEIGHT 600 ]]

Block

Here are some examples of block catalyses:

x=18, y = 8, rule = LifeHistory 16.A$.A14.A$A.A5.3A6.A$A.A5.3A3.A.A$.C7.C5.C2$.2A5.2A4.2A$.2A5.2A4.2A ! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

Block catalyses typically occur when there is a one cell leading edge of a pattern, shown in white above.

They are usually much easier to recognize than fishhook-type catalyses, however they may sometimes fail:

x=12, y = 6, rule = B3/S23 10b2o$ob2o5b2o$bo7bo2$b2o6b2o$b2o6b2o! [[ THEME 6 GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

Moving the block over by one often fixes this problem:

x=12, y = 6, rule = B3/S23 10b2o$ob2o5b2o$bo7bo2$2o6b2o$2o6b2o! [[ THEME 6 GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

As practice, try to eat this bun with a block placed in the blue region:

x=12, y = 6, rule = LifeHistory 6B$6B$6B2.3A$6B2.A2.A$6B3.2A$6B! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 WIDTH 800 HEIGHT 600 ]]

Boat

Boat catalyses are rarer, but are still useful. Here are two examples:

x=23, y = 10, rule = LifeHistory 17.A$17.2A$2.A13.2A$.A.A$A2.2A$.2C17.2D2$2.A18.A$.A.A16.A.A$.2A17.2A! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

They typically occur when there is a two cell leading edge, which is marked. Boat catalyses fail very often, so see the "Replacement catalysts" section below for potential replacement catalysts.

Snake

Snake catalyses are examples of rocks, or catalysts which do not change even temporarily when interacting with an object. They must function this way due to the fact that the two cells in the center would die from overpopulation due to already having three live neighbors.

Three example snake catalysts are shown below. The white cells should always be on to trigger the important next generation, where the snake functions as a rock:

x=24, y = 9, rule = LifeHistory 15.A6.A$4.A8.2A8.A$2A.2A6.2A7.A.2A$.C9.C9.C2$2.2A8.2A8.2A$3.A9.A9.A$ 2.A9.A9.A$2.2A8.2A8.2A! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

Conduit 1 is an example of a conduit using a snake catalyst. Try to catalyze the reaction below with a snake in the blue field (as a hint, the cell which should trigger the rock interaction is marked):

x=15, y = 7, rule = LifeHistory 7B$7B4.2A.A$7B5.3A$7B6.A$7BD$7B4.2A$7B4.2A! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 WIDTH 800 HEIGHT 600 ]]

Replacement catalyses

So, you've tried to catalyze a reaction, but the common catalyst fails! Luckily for you, this is not a complete disaster, since many replacement catalysts exist exactly to assist you when your fishhook or block doesn't just work out.

Fishhook replacements

The most common way for a fishhook to fail is something like this:

x=8, y = 8, rule = B3/S23 o$o2bo$b3o2$4b2o$4bobo$6bo$6b2o! [[ THEME 6 GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

Luckily, this is also the easiest to fix. Simply flip the eater 1 around and it works!

x=32, y = 9, rule = B3/S23 o15bo$o2bo20bo$b3o14bo5bo2bo$25b3o$4b2o4bobobobobobo$4bobo21b2o$6bo11b o9bo$6b2o21b3o$16bo14bo! [[ THEME 6 GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

This was a bit cheating, however. Sometimes, we need a genuinely new catalyst. Here are two almost-catalyses where the fishhook almost recovers, but an extra spark destroys it or an extra cell gets attached to its recovering phase:

x=20, y = 8, rule = B3/S23 12bo$o10bobo$b2o10b2o$2o12bo$4b2o7bo2b2o$4bobo9bobo$6bo11bo$6b2o10b2o! [[ THEME 6 GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

The most common replacement catalyst for a fishhook is the handy eater 2. An eater 2 recovers differently from an eater 1, making it more versatile. It can handle both of our problems:

x=23, y = 11, rule = B3/S23 12bo$o10bobo$b2o10b2o$2o12bo$4b2obo5bo2b2obo$4b2ob3o6b2ob3o$10bo11bo$ 4b2ob3o6b2ob3o$5bobo9bobo$5bobo9bobo$6bo11bo! [[ THEME 6 GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

There are many, many more cases in which neither an eater 1 nor an eater 2 works. This guide, courtesy of Entity Valkyrie, addresses many of these:

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Block replacements

Constructing...