Tutorials/Catalyses: Difference between revisions
MathAndCode (talk | contribs) Made a couple of changes to the ship replacement catalyses |
Goldenratio (talk | contribs) A few fixes to match tone of rest of tutorial, also eater bridge eater definitely deserves to be its own section |
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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 [[conduit|conduits]] and in many other applications. Here is an example of a stable catalyst: | 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 [[conduit|conduits]] and in many other applications. Here is an example of a stable catalyst: | ||
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Let's explore the different types of catalysts now! | Let's explore the different types of catalysts now! | ||
==Types of catalyses== | ==Types of common catalyses== | ||
===Fishhook (eater 1)=== | ===Fishhook (eater 1)=== | ||
| Line 85: | Line 84: | ||
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. | 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 | 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: | ||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | <center>{{LV:Viewer| | ||
x = 24, y = 9, rule = LifeHistory | x = 24, y = 9, rule = LifeHistory | ||
| Line 100: | Line 99: | ||
===Tub=== | ===Tub=== | ||
Tub catalyses can be tricky to find, but they are most likely to work when the frontend of the active region | Tub catalyses can be tricky to find, but they are most likely to work when the frontend of the active region is two or three cells long, like one of the examples below: | ||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | <center>{{LV:Viewer| | ||
x = 39, y = | x = 39, y = 73, rule = LifeHistory | ||
25.A12.A$4.A5.A10.A3.A$3A5.A.A15.A7.A.2A$3A5.3A7.3A6.2A6.2A2$2.A7.A7. | |||
A7.A7.A$.A.A5.A.A5.A.A5.A.A5.A.A$2.A7.A7.A7.A7.A4$17.A2$17.A2$14.A2.A | |||
2.A2$15.A.A.A2$17.A3$.A7.A15.2A10.A$A.2A4.A.2A7.2A5.2A8.2A$A.A5.A.A8. | |||
A7.A7.3A$2.C7.C7.C8.C7.C$2.A7.A7.A7.A7.A$.A.A5.A.A5.A.A5.A.A5.A.A$2.A | |||
7.A7.A7.A7.A4$17.A2$17.A2$14.A2.A2.A2$15.A.A.A2$17.A3$.2A6.2A14.3A8. | |||
2A$A.2A4.A.2A7.2A4.A.A7.A2.A$2.A7.A7.3A6.2A6.A.A$2.2C6.2C6.2C6.2C6.2C | |||
$.2AC5.2AC5.2AC6.AC6.AC$.A.A5.A.A5.A.A5.A.A5.A.A$2.A7.A7.A7.A7.A4$17. | |||
A2$17.A2$14.A2.A2.A2$15.A.A.A2$17.A4$26.A$.3A5.3A13.A.A8.2A$3.A7.A6.A | |||
.A4.A9.A2.A$28.A6.A2$.A2.A4.A2.A4.A2.A4.A2.A4.A2.A$.A.A5.A.A5.A.A5.A. | |||
A5.A.A$2.A7.A7.A7.A7.A! | |||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 WIDTH 500 HEIGHT 700 ]]}}</center> | |||
[[ | |||
The | The reactions start differently but end up the same way through the same general mechanism: | ||
* On generation 1, one cell (marked in white) is born next to the tub; | |||
* On generation 2, two more cells are born next to the tub. This causes the three white cells to die; | |||
* By generation 3, the cells in the center have died and what remains is a 5-cell parent of the tub. In all tub catalyses, the tub should turn into this 5-cell parent. | |||
==Replacement catalyses== | ==Replacement catalyses== | ||
| Line 267: | Line 267: | ||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | ||
In this example, the white cell at generation 4 gets turned on when it shouldn't. We have a fix for this, as usual. Replace the boat with a [[tub with tail]] and block: | In this example, the white cell at generation 4 gets turned on when it shouldn't. We have a fix for this, as usual. Replace the boat with a [[tub with tail]] and block (this catalyst is called an eater 5 or [[tub-with-tail eater]]: | ||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | <center>{{LV:Viewer| | ||
x = 9, y = 10, rule = B3/S23 | x = 9, y = 10, rule = B3/S23 | ||
5bo$6bo$4b3o2$2o$2o3bo$4bobo$5bobo$7bo$7b2o! | 5bo$6bo$4b3o2$2o$2o3bo$4bobo$5bobo$7bo$7b2o! | ||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THEME 6 THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THEME 6 THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | ||
Boats can also fail much more spectacularly: | Boats can also fail much more spectacularly: | ||
| Line 300: | Line 298: | ||
===Tub replacements=== | ===Tub replacements=== | ||
Sometimes, a single dot at the end of the tub parent is replaced with a line of three cells, causing the tub to turn into a block instead of recovering | Sometimes, a single dot at the end of the tub parent is replaced with a line of three cells, causing the tub to turn into a block instead of recovering: | ||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | <center>{{LV:Viewer| | ||
x = 24, y = 12, rule = LifeHistory | x = 24, y = 12, rule = LifeHistory | ||
| Line 307: | Line 305: | ||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | ||
When this occurs, the tub should be replaced with | When this occurs, the tub should be replaced with this catalyst: | ||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | <center>{{LV:Viewer| | ||
x = 30, y = 18, rule = B3/S23 | x = 30, y = 18, rule = B3/S23 | ||
| Line 315: | Line 313: | ||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THEME 6 THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THEME 6 THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | ||
If this line of three cells is connected to something at the other end, a boat supported by a fishhook works | If this line of three cells is connected to something at the other end, a boat supported by a fishhook works: | ||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | <center>{{LV:Viewer| | ||
x = 21, y = 20, rule = LifeHistory | x = 21, y = 20, rule = LifeHistory | ||
| Line 323: | Line 321: | ||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | ||
If the line is instead four cells long, a | If the line is instead four cells long, a 15-cell catalyst works: | ||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | <center>{{LV:Viewer| | ||
x = 18, y = 23, rule = LifeHistory | x = 18, y = 23, rule = LifeHistory | ||
| Line 329: | Line 327: | ||
A$5.A9.A3$13.A.A$6.A$2.A3.A8.A.A$3.A.A.D9.D$4.A2.D7.2AC$7.D9.D$5.A9.A | A$5.A9.A3$13.A.A$6.A$2.A3.A8.A.A$3.A.A.D9.D$4.A2.D7.2AC$7.D9.D$5.A9.A | ||
$4.A.A7.A.A$3.A.A7.A.A$.3A.A.A3.3A.A.A$A5.2A2.A5.2A$2A8.2A! | $4.A.A7.A.A$3.A.A7.A.A$.3A.A.A3.3A.A.A$A5.2A2.A5.2A$2A8.2A! | ||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | ||
| Line 391: | Line 353: | ||
===Ship=== | ===Ship=== | ||
The ship | The ship has a transparent catalysis not similar to other catalysts where it deletes half of a [[traffic light]]: | ||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | <center>{{LV:Viewer| | ||
x = 7, y = 6, rule = B3/S23 | x = 7, y = 6, rule = B3/S23 | ||
| Line 406: | Line 368: | ||
o6bobo6bobo$bob2o5bob2o5bob2o$bo8bo8bo$2o7b2o7b2o! | o6bobo6bobo$bob2o5bob2o5bob2o$bo8bo8bo$2o7b2o7b2o! | ||
[[ GRID THEME 6 THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | [[ GRID THEME 6 THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | ||
One of its most common uses is to compactify the eater 5, called the [[7x9 eater]], which is used in a variety of conduits including the [[syringe]]: | |||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | |||
x = 14, y = 7, rule = B3/S23 | |||
3b2ob2o3b2o$2bobobobo2bobo$2bobo2bo3bo$b2obo$o3b2o$bobo2bobo$2ob2o2b2o | |||
! | |||
[[ GRID THEME 6 THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | |||
===Ship (again)=== | |||
Observe the following reaction: | |||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | |||
x = 8, y = 9, rule = B3/S23 | |||
2bo$2o$b2o$3b3o3$5b2o$5bobo$6b2o! | |||
[[ THEME 6 GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | |||
The ship rarely recovers by its own, but it's worth trying because it has replacement catalysts that recover much more often. | |||
Often, the ship is turned into a loaf. Adding a fishhook turns it back into a ship: | |||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | |||
x = 46, y = 30, rule = LifeHistory | |||
14.A$16.2A$16.4A21.A$.A11.A4.A7.A15.A$2.A.A9.3A10.2A11.A.A$3.A12.A12. | |||
A12.A2$4.2A11.2A11.2A11.2A$4.A.A10.A.A10.A.A10.A.A$4.D2A10.D2A10.D2A10. | |||
D2A6$14.A$16.2A$16.4A21.A$.A11.A4.A7.A15.A$2.A.A9.3A10.2A11.A.A$3.A12. | |||
A12.A12.A2$4.2A11.2A11.2A11.2A$4.A.A10.A.A10.A.A10.A.A$5.2A11.2A11.2A | |||
11.2A2$2.2A11.2A11.2A11.2A$3.A12.A12.A12.A$3A10.3A10.3A10.3A$A12.A12. | |||
A12.A! | |||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | |||
If the loaf parent has an extra cell in a certain position, there's another replacement catalyst that works (which was discovered fairly recently to use in the [[R49]] conduit, so it is often called the "R49 catalyst"): | |||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | |||
x = 14, y = 29, rule = LifeHistory | |||
3.A$4.2A2$4.A.A$5.A2$5.D2A$6.A.A$6.D2A7$3.A$4.2A2$4.A.A$5.A2$6.2A$3.A | |||
.A2.A$.3A.A.2A$A4.A$.3A.A4.2A$3.2A5.A$11.3A$13.A! | |||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | |||
===Eater bridge eater=== | |||
The eater bridge eater catalyst occurs when there is a one cell leading edge of an active region which "activates" the eater bridge (just like with the ship catalyses), with the next generation consisting of a two cell edge for the catalyst to "slam" into. For example: | |||
<center>{{LV:Viewer| | |||
x = 8, y = 9, rule = LifeHistory | |||
.A.A$2.A$.C2$2.2A$2.A.A$A.A.3A$2A5.A$6.2A! | |||
[[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]}}</center> | |||
This catalyst also has some uses, like in [[30P6.1]]. | |||
===Eater 4=== | ===Eater 4=== | ||
Revision as of 16:18, 21 April 2021
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:
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. In this tutorial we will only focus on stable catalyses, as periodic catalyses are as of now quite underdeveloped.
- 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 lose any of its cells, 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 common catalyses
Fishhook (eater 1)
Here are some examples of fishhook catalyses:
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:
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):
Block
Here are some examples of block catalyses:
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:
Moving the block over by one often fixes this problem:
As practice, try to eat this bun with a block placed in the blue region:
Boat
Boat catalyses are rarer, but are still useful. Here are two examples:
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. As a general rule, boats are most likely to succeed when a cell adjacent to the leading edge (shown in blue) will turn on in the following generation.
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:
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):
Tub
Tub catalyses can be tricky to find, but they are most likely to work when the frontend of the active region is two or three cells long, like one of the examples below:
The reactions start differently but end up the same way through the same general mechanism:
- On generation 1, one cell (marked in white) is born next to the tub;
- On generation 2, two more cells are born next to the tub. This causes the three white cells to die;
- By generation 3, the cells in the center have died and what remains is a 5-cell parent of the tub. In all tub catalyses, the tub should turn into this 5-cell parent.
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:
Luckily, this is also the easiest to fix. Simply flip the eater 1 around and it works!
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:
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:
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:
Block replacements
Blocks are very hard to replace with a totally different catalyst, since there just aren't other catalysts which do the same thing. However, sometimes we can add extra objects next to the block to make a functioning catalyst. Take this, for example:
The catalyst almost works, but then an extra blinker, shown in red, destroys it. If only we could get rid of that blinker...
Oh, right! We can use what we just learned in this tutorial! Adding an extra fishhook suppresses the blinker and allows the catalyst to work:
This trick can be used whenever the catalyst produces extra junk that would destroy the block.
Boat replacements
Here is an example of a boat in need:
In this example, the white cell at generation 4 gets turned on when it shouldn't. We have a fix for this, as usual. Replace the boat with a tub with tail and block (this catalyst is called an eater 5 or tub-with-tail eater:
Boats can also fail much more spectacularly:
In this case, the boat can be replaced by this (often called the "gourmet catalyst" due to its use in gourmet):
Note that this doesn't always work, since it requires a spark to recover properly.
Snake replacements
The only way to replace snake catalyses is by replacing them with a similar catalyst which does the same thing but might have better clearance. For example, if a snake is required to be in close proximity to a fishhook, the fishhook's interaction might destroy the snake (and subsequently the fishhook). In this case, replacing the snake with a higher-clearance second fishhook can prevent the interaction:
Tub replacements
Sometimes, a single dot at the end of the tub parent is replaced with a line of three cells, causing the tub to turn into a block instead of recovering:
When this occurs, the tub should be replaced with this catalyst:
If this line of three cells is connected to something at the other end, a boat supported by a fishhook works:
If the line is instead four cells long, a 15-cell catalyst works:
Bonus catalyses
Here are some extra catalyses which might come in useful. This section is optional as the catalysts used are fairly rare.
Eater 3
You might notice that when you hit a loaf with a glider in a certain way, the loaf flips around:
This is quite inconvenient for us because we can't use the loaf again (unless we flip it back around with another glider as shown in the viewer, which is unlikely), but a stable catalyst does exist to turn the loaf back around. Here is the eater 3:
The eater 3 has some other applications besides eating gliders, for example the rectifier.
Ship
The ship has a transparent catalysis not similar to other catalysts where it deletes half of a traffic light:
This may seem pretty niche, but it is actually a fairly common application.
Hook with tail
The hook with tail can serve as a rock:
One of its most common uses is to compactify the eater 5, called the 7x9 eater, which is used in a variety of conduits including the syringe:
Ship (again)
Observe the following reaction:
The ship rarely recovers by its own, but it's worth trying because it has replacement catalysts that recover much more often.
Often, the ship is turned into a loaf. Adding a fishhook turns it back into a ship:
If the loaf parent has an extra cell in a certain position, there's another replacement catalyst that works (which was discovered fairly recently to use in the R49 conduit, so it is often called the "R49 catalyst"):
Eater bridge eater
The eater bridge eater catalyst occurs when there is a one cell leading edge of an active region which "activates" the eater bridge (just like with the ship catalyses), with the next generation consisting of a two cell edge for the catalyst to "slam" into. For example:
This catalyst also has some uses, like in 30P6.1.
Eater 4
The eater 4 primarily catalyses symmetrical objects. Its most common use is to catalyze a honey farm:
This can also come in handy sometimes; for example the recently-discovered L122 conduit.
Finding new catalysts
Mike Playle's Bellman is a search program specifically designed to search for new catalysts, given a reaction to be perturbed. This part of the tutorial hasn't been written yet, so consult the discussion thread and original documentation.
An alternative is CatForce, which is a brute force placement program of certain given catalysts in a given area, and can also find transparent catalysts. [Somebody that's actually used CatForce before please add some more info]
External links
New Herschel Conduits thread and Elementary Conduits thread - good places to find examples of catalyses as well as other more exotic catalyses