Conways Life (formerly "Game of Life")
*** Watch this algorithm in action with our other app "Trippin" - videos available at http://www.pdjapps.com ***
FEATURES:
- Button for saving screenshots of current "universe" to your photos so you can use it as a background
- Multitouch
- Fully editable fade and new cell colors
- Resizable universe
- Different tap modes
- "Trippy" effects
DESCRIPTION:
The Game of Life is not actually a game. It is a cellular automaton created by the British mathematician John Conway in 1970.
In this "game" you create cells by swiping your finger, or tapping on the screen. This will "give birth" to cells in your fingers path.
Each cell then can either reproduce, die off, or stay the same. This creates stunning visual effects.
So why is this significant?
Each cell in the game responds to four basic and simple rules:
- If a cell has more than three neighbors, it dies due to overcrowding
- If a cell has less than two neighbors, it dies of loneliness
- If a cell has two or three neighbors, it lives for another generation
- If an unoccupied space has three cells near it, a new cell is created in that space
These rules are applied to all the cells simultaneously, once per generation.
This ends up creating very complex shapes and interactions. Much more complex than one would expect. Some cells cluster together, others glide across their "universe" like comets. The significance of this is that the Game of Life is an analogy to the creation of the universe, and everything in it. It demonstrates how something extremely basic, can create unpredictable and almost intelligent behavior.