[GOODIE] StarSqueak Game of Life
Helge Horch
Helge.Horch at munich.netsurf.de
Sat Nov 3 04:24:41 UTC 2001
Scott,
At 18:36 02.11.2001 -0800, you wrote:
>I was able to load and run this from Bob's SuperSwiki without
>incident or difficulty, on a 3.2a/4467 image. So your publishing
>foray was clearly successful.
I'm *ever so glad* to hear that. Thanks for trying it. My working image
is of the 2.7 variety carried through rough times and many-a changeset,
with custom default fonts and all that. I was anxious that some of it
might show through...
>This is very beautifully done, and fun, and I love the support
>materials you prepared!
Aww, thanks! There is one thing that seems (to me, at least) incredibly
difficult to get across, and it's *how* this "Life" is different. I wrote
it right after finishing Resnick's "Turtles, Termites and Traffic Jams,"
and its theme still rings through the code, I hope.
In contrast to the standard implementation, it separates cell activity from
(uh) tissue/cell activity. The recipe of sustained life is separated from
the recipe for birth. Cells are scripted standalone through their
individual demons, and they might well do much more than in the current
demo. I experimented with "birth scents" and "death scents," and had them
evaporate by StarSqueak, and even while no earth-shattering patterns
emerged, it was an interesting journey (something I'd never even considered
given my old TRS-80 bitwise implementation). And no, I still can't
describe the "click" I got.
I encourage interested parties to explore StarSqueak, and the ideas behind
it. And I thank John Maloney for the Squeak implementation of StarLogo,
easy to comprehend, fast, and easy to tweak as it is. Great stuff.
Cheers,
Helge
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