The Game of Life

Instructions

Click to place or remove cells, or select a preset pattern from the Demos menu. Click the Go button to watch it evolve, and click it again (now marked Stop) to stop it. Other options available are:

Run menu	One step	Changes the pattern to the next configuration.
	Go	Repeats One step so that the pattern evolves continuously - equivalent to the Go button
	Stop	Available after Go has been selected. Stops the pattern evolving continuously - equivalent to the Stop button
Universe menu	Clear	Empties the "universe" (i.e. the grid of cells).
	Sizes	Change the size of the "universe", i.e. the number of cells per side of the grid - a small size means large cells. The edges of the grid "wrap around" (strictly speaking, it has toroidal geometry).
	Change rules	Select whether cells with a given number of neighbours die, survive or grow. Altering the rules causes radically different behaviour. The default rule gives the greatest complexity.
	Randomise options	Fill the "universe" with a random pattern with the relevant percentage of live cells (10% or 50%).
Speed menu		Select the speed the pattern will evolve in continuous mode.
Colours menu		Select the colour of live cells and the background colour.
Demos menu		Select from a range of preset patterns which show particularly interesting behaviour.

Tips

Set a small universe size to set up your pattern so that you can see it clearly, and then switch to a larger one to give it space to develop.

The motion may appear jerky - this is due to the game competing for processor time with other processes (e.g. if you are playing music at the same time). Setting a slower speed helps to make the action smoother.

Try searching websites on this topic for further information on interesting patterns and the significance of the game.

Please let me know if you have any problems getting this applet to work.