Mark D. Niemiec's Life Page

Format | Objects and Syntheses | What's New | Links | About
This page and its subordinate pages contain information about John Horton Conway's Game of Life.

Format of the Life pages:

General structure of these pages (Read this first!)
Definitions of Life terms
Giving credit where credit is due

Object lists, and syntheses of most objects from gliders:

Object counts: Still-lifes and pseudo-still-lifes, Objects, Pseudo-objects.
Object lists and syntheses sorted by cost in gliders:
2 gliders, 3 gliders, 4 gliders, >1 glider/bit, unknown.
Object lists and syntheses sorted by name:
Symbols, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
Object lists and syntheses sorted by size in bits:
3-bit, 4-bit, 5-bit, 6-bit, 7-bit, 8-bit, 9-bit, 10-bit, 11-bit, 12-bit, 13-bit, 14-bit, 15-bit, 16-bit, 17-bit, 18-bit, 19-bit, 20-bit.
Object lists and syntheses sorted by type:
Still-lifes (and Not quite still-lifes), Pseudo-still-lifes, Oscillators and pseudo-oscillators, Spaceships, flotillae and puffer trains, Constellations, Metheuselahs.
Download software: RLE-to-text file converter

Object sizes are determined by the number of living cells in the smallest generation. Lists of still-lifes, pseudo-still-lifes, and period-2 oscillators and pseudo-oscillators have been generated or verified by computer search. Lists of larger-period oscillators and spaceships have been compiled and extrapolated from many sources, and tabulated by hand. Lists of larger-period pseudo-oscillators and pseudo-spaceships have been extrapolated from the above.

Lists of the 19-bit period-2 oscillators, 17- through 19-bit period-2 pseudo-oscillators (most of which can be easily synthesized), 18- through 24-bit still-lifes, and 16- through 24-bit pseudo-still-lifes are omitted due to lack of space.

Also, the following are currently missing from these pages:

Lists of 14-bit still-lifes currently omit syntheses. All of the 619 14-bit still-lifes can be synthesized, but only about 10% of the syntheses have been converted to a form usable by these pages. When they are all converted, they will be added.
Lists of 15-bit still-lifes currently omit syntheses. All but about 100 of the 1353 15-bit still-lifes can probably be synthesized using techniques used in smaller still-lifes, but only about 25% of the syntheses have been instantiated. When all of these (except the intractable ones) are finished, they will be added.
Lists of 18-bit period 2 oscillators currently omit syntheses. I have no plans to synthesize these in the near future.
Syntheses of miscellaneous still-lifes and pseudo-still-lifes larger than 15 bits: I have no plans to systematically synthesize these in the near future. However, I have around 400 miscellanous syntheses, which will be added as time and space permit.
Syntheses of miscellaneous larger-period oscillators: I have several more of these, which will be added as time permits.

What's New:

This is a list of major changes in these pages. Minor fixes, such as fixed typos, re-worded descriptions, or slightly-improved syntheses (usually as a result of improved book-keeping) are not listed:

1998-11-28 Added 16 previously overlooked 19- and 20-bit P3 oscillators;
Improved incremental Mold synthesis, improving and/or realizing several 19- and 20-bit P4 oscillators;
1998-11-11 Made minor changes to around 200 syntheses. Added Photo Gallery to home page.
1998-07-15 Added synthesis of 20p3.1
1998-07-12 Added syntheses of various oscillators with periods 18, 45, 50, 56, and 75; added samples of unbuildable spaceships of various velocities; improved syntheses of tied objects, including tied barber poles
1998-06-03 Added Elkies's synthesis of Elkies's P5; improved syntheses of spaceships and flotillae, including summaries of overweight spaceships; added lists of objects whose synthesis require >1 glider/bit
1998-02-24 Improved syntheses of complex mold-based oscillators and pseudo-oscillators
1998-02-15 Improved syntheses of several beacon pseudo-objects and cuphook oscillators
1997-12-20 Added puffer trains
1997-12-08 Added 17-bit P2 oscillator syntheses
1997-12-04 Added 19-bit P2 oscillator and pseudo-oscillator counts
1997-11-19 Pages first created

Links to other Life-related Web pages:

About these Web pages

These pages were last updated on 1998-11-27.

The information herein has been compiled by me, but is largely based on the work of many others. Attribution information is provided in general, but time and space do not permit individual attributions for the discovery and synthesis of each individual object.

I accept no responsibility for errors or omissions on these pages.

Comments, suggestions, corrections, and improvements are greatly appreciated, and can be sent to:

mniemiec@interserv.com

.

This page and subordinate pages are Copyright © 1997, 1998 by Mark D. Niemiec. All rights reserved.
Permission is hereby granted to make use of any information in these pages for non-commercial purposes.

If you create a permanent link to this page, please send me e-mail, so I can keep you apprised of any major changes. Also, if you have a relevant page, I could add a link to it here.
(Please do not create book-marks or links to sub-pages or image files, as these are liable to change without notice.)

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