9 ms·

Wireworld

290 points by vmorgulis 10y ago

lytedev 10y ago
This is awesome! I made a sort of action puzzle game loosely based on this a while back (without realizing it, as I had no idea about Wireworld) for a Ludum Dare. Cool to see this concept somewhere else! I still want to, someday, flesh it out. I think it would make a pretty fun mobile game! Source: https://github.com/lytedev/ld26-almost-nothing https://github.com/lytedev/ld26-almost-nothing Somebody "speedrunning" an earlier in-dev version of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33Rmx8QHQ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33Rmx8QHQ8
- abrookewood 10y ago
  That's pretty cool - I like how you have to get the timing correct as well.
- jypepin 10y ago
  I never thought about making a puzzle game out of those automata. that's pretty awesome! :)
trevyn 10y ago
I cannot view things like this and https://niginsblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/new-spaceship-speed-in-conways-game-of-life/ https://niginsblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/new-spaceship-sp... and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2vgICfQawE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2vgICfQawE without coming to the conclusion that we, and life, are just massively complex self-replicating patterns. May you find peace in the oscillations.
- tdicola 10y ago
  > we, and life, are just massively complex self-replicating patterns DNA
- pkaye 10y ago
  I find this to be quite amazing. Life within life. https://youtu.be/xP5-iIeKXE8 https://youtu.be/xP5-iIeKXE8
- personjerry 10y ago
  You make it sound like a problem, why is that?
- cLeEOGPw 10y ago
  Congratulations, you have almost discovered the existence of laws of nature that underlay biological processes.
dested 10y ago
This is my favorite cellular automata. The simplicity and elegance that allows for such complex logic. I ported the famous wireworld computer[0] to javascript a few years back[1]. The source[2] is in c# transpiled to javascript so it may be a bit hard to follow, but still an interesting read of how to squeeze every draw call out of 2d canvas. [0] http://www.quinapalus.com/wi-index.html http://www.quinapalus.com/wi-index.html [1] http://dested.com/projects/wire/ http://dested.com/projects/wire/ [2] https://github.com/dested/WireWorld https://github.com/dested/WireWorld
- arethuza 10y ago
  I love the logging/comments in that design.
- abrookewood 10y ago
  [1] is soo enthralling. In case it isn't obvious to everyone, you can add an electron with left click and reset things to copper with the right click. It's loads of fun to introduce a few random errors and watch them cascade through the system.
n1c 10y ago
I did an implementation of this a really long time ago (Github says 3 years) to play with Dart. http://nicmalan.com/wireworld/ http://nicmalan.com/wireworld/ https://github.com/n1c/wireworld https://github.com/n1c/wireworld
jordyjordy 10y ago
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josephg 10y ago
I've been working on steamdance[1] for the past few years, which is a little logic simulator a lot like wireworld. The project started as a way to teach digital logic and evolved from there. (It used to be called boilerplate, but we renamed it for obvious reasons.) Its still not ready for prime time, but we've been making some cool stuff with it anyway: Simple logic gates: https://steam.dance/nornagon/logic https://steam.dance/nornagon/logic 2 full adders: https://steam.dance/josephg/adder https://steam.dance/josephg/adder A compacted 8 bit adder: https://steam.dance/josephg/alu https://steam.dance/josephg/alu The purple boxes in the top left are dragable. Hit play to see it calculate out. [1] https://steam.dance/ https://steam.dance/ Source: https://github.com/josephg/steamdance https://github.com/josephg/steamdance
Frqy3 10y ago
Golly [0], an open source, cross-platform application for exploring cellular automata, includes the Wireworld ruleset and some example starting patterns. [0] http://golly.sourceforge.net/ http://golly.sourceforge.net/
tim_hutton 10y ago
I often think that this is what Minecraft should have used instead of redstone.
DonHopkins 10y ago
If you like wireworld, you'll love Factorio's conveyor belts [1]! Also check out John von Neumann's 29 state cellular automata [2] and universal constructor [3]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mGdL4XKXew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mGdL4XKXew [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_cellular_automaton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_cellular_automaton [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_universal_constructor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_universal_construc...
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Factorio is great. You a few dozen minutes or so thinking that this is a typical RTS with a twist, and then you suddenly realize that the opponent in this game is not really those hostile critters - the true challenge is managing complexity of your logistics. This game is hard fun. I.e., the kind of fun that makes you want to write an autorouting programm for the converyor belts.
  - teh_klev 10y ago
    I just got a copy on last week's Steam sale. It's tremendously good fun and a real time soaker :)
    - sleepybrett 10y ago
      That's my main complaint with it. Because you can only act locally around your little man you have slog all over the map, which doesn't add to gameplay much (the attacking monsters are infrequent, as far as i've gotten in the game, and easily dealt with by turrets). I'm more interested, when playing the game, in making clever and efficient systems to move my bits around and the game, because of it's interface, makes that hard. Eventually I realize how many hours it's going to take to rearrange all my conveyers and I quit.
      - jitl 10y ago
        The late-game tech really helps with this - you eventually get technologies that all you to blueprint and paste groups of buildings. This doesn't alleviate all of the issues, but it allows for component re-use and standardization. I do think some of the limits in Factorio are what make it fun, and differentiate it from a pure programming game. I usually struggle to play any game that's too similar to brainteasers, puzzling, or thinking about systems optimization: I would rather spend those hours just programming, which is just as fun, and far more rewarding. But Factorio is sooo much fun... especially if you set up a server and play with friends. I learned Chef getting my Factorio server running :) It's turtles all the way down in automation land.
jypepin 10y ago
This reminds me also of Conway's game of life. I love those kind of automata systems. I did an implementation of it a few years ago (it's pretty simple and bad I was just learning how to program) but it works http://www.jonathanfromgrowth.com/lifebb http://www.jonathanfromgrowth.com/lifebb
taneq 10y ago
This similar thing was posted here a while ago: https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic
FreeFull 10y ago
See also https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic which isn't a cellular automaton, but was inspired by Wireworld.
gwern 10y ago
If you liked that, you might also find interesting Drescher's 'Quantish' model where he demonstrates how you can implement quantum effects using simplish circuits: https://xorshammer.com/2010/02/17/quantish-physics-a-discrete-model-of-quantum-physics/ https://xorshammer.com/2010/02/17/quantish-physics-a-discret... http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6486/AIM-1026a.pdf?sequence=2 http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6486/AIM-1026a...
a3n 10y ago
There was a book (which I had and lost) back in the eighties or nineties, and I think Wireworld was featured in the chapter on cellular automata. Other variations included Life with multiple levels of health, not just dead or alive. Anyone remember it?

290 points by vmorgulis 10y ago

This is awesome! I made a sort of action puzzle game loosely based on this a while back (without realizing it, as I had no idea about Wireworld) for a Ludum Dare. Cool to see this concept somewhere else! I still want to, someday, flesh it out. I think it would make a pretty fun mobile game! Source: https://github.com/lytedev/ld26-almost-nothing https://github.com/lytedev/ld26-almost-nothing Somebody "speedrunning" an earlier in-dev version of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33Rmx8QHQ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33Rmx8QHQ8

abrookewood 10y ago
That's pretty cool - I like how you have to get the timing correct as well.
jypepin 10y ago
I never thought about making a puzzle game out of those automata. that's pretty awesome! :)

trevyn 10y ago

I cannot view things like this and https://niginsblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/new-spaceship-speed-in-conways-game-of-life/ https://niginsblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/new-spaceship-sp... and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2vgICfQawE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2vgICfQawE without coming to the conclusion that we, and life, are just massively complex self-replicating patterns. May you find peace in the oscillations.

tdicola 10y ago
> we, and life, are just massively complex self-replicating patterns DNA
pkaye 10y ago
I find this to be quite amazing. Life within life. https://youtu.be/xP5-iIeKXE8 https://youtu.be/xP5-iIeKXE8
personjerry 10y ago
You make it sound like a problem, why is that?
cLeEOGPw 10y ago
Congratulations, you have almost discovered the existence of laws of nature that underlay biological processes.

dested 10y ago

This is my favorite cellular automata. The simplicity and elegance that allows for such complex logic. I ported the famous wireworld computer[0] to javascript a few years back[1]. The source[2] is in c# transpiled to javascript so it may be a bit hard to follow, but still an interesting read of how to squeeze every draw call out of 2d canvas. [0] http://www.quinapalus.com/wi-index.html http://www.quinapalus.com/wi-index.html [1] http://dested.com/projects/wire/ http://dested.com/projects/wire/ [2] https://github.com/dested/WireWorld https://github.com/dested/WireWorld

arethuza 10y ago
I love the logging/comments in that design.
abrookewood 10y ago
[1] is soo enthralling. In case it isn't obvious to everyone, you can add an electron with left click and reset things to copper with the right click. It's loads of fun to introduce a few random errors and watch them cascade through the system.

n1c 10y ago

I did an implementation of this a really long time ago (Github says 3 years) to play with Dart. http://nicmalan.com/wireworld/ http://nicmalan.com/wireworld/ https://github.com/n1c/wireworld https://github.com/n1c/wireworld

jordyjordy 10y ago

We are bank of hackers based in the UK, US, Canada we offer services such as school grades change, DDOS, database hack, credit, criminal records, bank transfer, social network hack, emails, password retrieval and all forms of hack, contact GURULEADS hackers today via email demonteco@outlook.com

josephg 10y ago

I've been working on steamdance[1] for the past few years, which is a little logic simulator a lot like wireworld. The project started as a way to teach digital logic and evolved from there. (It used to be called boilerplate, but we renamed it for obvious reasons.) Its still not ready for prime time, but we've been making some cool stuff with it anyway: Simple logic gates: https://steam.dance/nornagon/logic https://steam.dance/nornagon/logic 2 full adders: https://steam.dance/josephg/adder https://steam.dance/josephg/adder A compacted 8 bit adder: https://steam.dance/josephg/alu https://steam.dance/josephg/alu The purple boxes in the top left are dragable. Hit play to see it calculate out. [1] https://steam.dance/ https://steam.dance/ Source: https://github.com/josephg/steamdance https://github.com/josephg/steamdance

Frqy3 10y ago

Golly [0], an open source, cross-platform application for exploring cellular automata, includes the Wireworld ruleset and some example starting patterns. [0] http://golly.sourceforge.net/ http://golly.sourceforge.net/

tim_hutton 10y ago

I often think that this is what Minecraft should have used instead of redstone.

DonHopkins 10y ago

If you like wireworld, you'll love Factorio's conveyor belts [1]! Also check out John von Neumann's 29 state cellular automata [2] and universal constructor [3]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mGdL4XKXew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mGdL4XKXew [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_cellular_automaton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_cellular_automaton [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_universal_constructor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_universal_construc...

TeMPOraL 10y ago
Factorio is great. You a few dozen minutes or so thinking that this is a typical RTS with a twist, and then you suddenly realize that the opponent in this game is not really those hostile critters - the true challenge is managing complexity of your logistics. This game is hard fun. I.e., the kind of fun that makes you want to write an autorouting programm for the converyor belts.
- teh_klev 10y ago
  I just got a copy on last week's Steam sale. It's tremendously good fun and a real time soaker :)
  - sleepybrett 10y ago
    That's my main complaint with it. Because you can only act locally around your little man you have slog all over the map, which doesn't add to gameplay much (the attacking monsters are infrequent, as far as i've gotten in the game, and easily dealt with by turrets). I'm more interested, when playing the game, in making clever and efficient systems to move my bits around and the game, because of it's interface, makes that hard. Eventually I realize how many hours it's going to take to rearrange all my conveyers and I quit.
    - jitl 10y ago
      The late-game tech really helps with this - you eventually get technologies that all you to blueprint and paste groups of buildings. This doesn't alleviate all of the issues, but it allows for component re-use and standardization. I do think some of the limits in Factorio are what make it fun, and differentiate it from a pure programming game. I usually struggle to play any game that's too similar to brainteasers, puzzling, or thinking about systems optimization: I would rather spend those hours just programming, which is just as fun, and far more rewarding. But Factorio is sooo much fun... especially if you set up a server and play with friends. I learned Chef getting my Factorio server running :) It's turtles all the way down in automation land.

jypepin 10y ago

This reminds me also of Conway's game of life. I love those kind of automata systems. I did an implementation of it a few years ago (it's pretty simple and bad I was just learning how to program) but it works http://www.jonathanfromgrowth.com/lifebb http://www.jonathanfromgrowth.com/lifebb

taneq 10y ago

This similar thing was posted here a while ago: https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic

FreeFull 10y ago

See also https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic which isn't a cellular automaton, but was inspired by Wireworld.

gwern 10y ago

If you liked that, you might also find interesting Drescher's 'Quantish' model where he demonstrates how you can implement quantum effects using simplish circuits: https://xorshammer.com/2010/02/17/quantish-physics-a-discrete-model-of-quantum-physics/ https://xorshammer.com/2010/02/17/quantish-physics-a-discret... http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6486/AIM-1026a.pdf?sequence=2 http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6486/AIM-1026a...

a3n 10y ago

There was a book (which I had and lost) back in the eighties or nineties, and I think Wireworld was featured in the chapter on cellular automata. Other variations included Life with multiple levels of health, not just dead or alive. Anyone remember it?