User:TheWayOfTheCon/For newcomers: Think you've discovered something?

This page is under construction. Sorry for the inconvenience.

So, you're new to the cellular automata scene. You found a pattern in Conway's Game of Life that you find pretty cool, but then you stumble across (or are directed to by someone else) this userspace article.

I'm TheWayOfTheCon, and I'm here to tell you what has and hasn't been discovered in Life. Not to undermine or discourage you, but just to inform you of how much is really known. This will only cover patterns found in Conway's Game of Life, and mostly focus on small or common patterns.

How much could really be known?

Conway's Game of Life has been played since 1969, first using physical boards and early computers, but now with the very powerful computers of the modern day. 1970 was when the first gun was found. 1971 saw the first puffer. 1989 saw the use of programs to search the first "different" spaceships in nearly 20 years. And now, we can simulate Life in itself, build whatever we want, and roll the dice thousands of times a second and actually see things we've never seen before.

I could end things there, but I wont, and don't suggest you leave just yet. It's still good to at least know what's infamous and how to find things if you already aren't sure. Now, below will be a table, showcasing many well-known or common patterns that newcomers, if they don't know already, tend to report on as discoveries.