5 ms·

Show HN: My weekend project, a graphics/cellular automata playground

56 points by daeken 16y ago

daeken 16y ago
This is a quick, dirty hack I wrote up using JS. It's based on Langton's ant, but adds a lot of new, fun stuff. You can do all sorts of interesting things with it -- a command reference is included. The "docs" were written in 5 minutes, so feel free to ask for clarification. Enjoy! One of my favorites: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+....................................................................... http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+..............................
- Maciek416 16y ago
  This is awesome. I'd love to add color generation options. Here's my favorite so far: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/... http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/.... [EDIT: and its cousin: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/....+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/....+-+... ]
  - daeken 16y ago
    I've been thinking about color stuff, but just can't come up with how to really do it. However, I think sub-45-degree turning is gonna happen soon. Probably 15-degree to start, and see what can happen there. 45 degree turns do provide some fun stuff, though... Edit: Just made a small change that will make things look prettier, though. If you have the command string XYZW, the command string XYZWXYZW is 100% equivalent, except for the shading (due to the cell values looping around). So when you put in a command string, it's automagickly extended to > 64 bytes now, guaranteeing smooth shading.
    - Maciek416 16y ago
      Perhaps a given automaton could be told to open a bucket of paint and then have that paint expend itself over time (drop in color intensity, increase in opacity, or whatever).
      - daeken 16y ago
        Oh nice, I quite like that. I'll try it out. Thanks! Btw, just implemented yet another new feature: the '@' command is an ant bomb. If there are multiple ants in play, @ kills the one that triggers it. That lets you fork without completely annihilating your system.
    - die_sekte 16y ago
      A color increase/decrease command, which cycles through a palette?
      - daeken 16y ago
        Alright, both of these are in. $ increments the color, ^ decrements it. In addition, = now causes the child ant to have its color incremented, and < causes the child color to be decremented. Technicolor craziness. Edit: Really don't like the color stuff. I've left in $ and ^, but I've turned it off for forks. It just looks like random nonsense, sadly.
solipsist 16y ago
Awesome! I love the ease in which you can send other people your creations using the urls. I wonder if anyone would be up for developing this same type of project, but centered around Conway's Game of Life instead (one of my favorite cellular automata).
nitefly 16y ago
I love it! How about the addition of a stop button?
- daeken 16y ago
  Done, thanks!
shadowpwner 16y ago
It's beautiful.
topherjaynes 16y ago
My favorite: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/.......*/*/*/*/...........*/*/*/!*/....+-+-+-+-!+-+-+!-+-+-+-!.. http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/.......*/*/*/*/............
joshu 16y ago
ideas: allow number suffixes to mean a repeat of the previous token. .6 would be equal to ...... also, allow the ant bomb with a number to only allow that many ants. @4 means kill this ant if there are more than four. maybe allow subgrouping? [+........]12 means 12 of these? random numbers: .{13,24} means between 13 and 24 of .?
mdiamond 16y ago
http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+.<$@&#60 http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+.<$@< this is fun! edit: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#.................+=$ http://demoseen.com/langton.html#.................+=$
Wilduck 16y ago
Tiny circles: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#/<./<.. http://demoseen.com/langton.html#/<./<...
chaosfox 16y ago
awesome, I made a virus: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+>$!-= http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+>$!-=
wlievens 16y ago
Nice. I like the "organic" feel of the images you get. http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+/.<..<....++......<....<....+..+ http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+/.<..<....++..........

56 points by daeken 16y ago

This is a quick, dirty hack I wrote up using JS. It's based on Langton's ant, but adds a lot of new, fun stuff. You can do all sorts of interesting things with it -- a command reference is included. The "docs" were written in 5 minutes, so feel free to ask for clarification. Enjoy! One of my favorites: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+....................................................................... http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+..............................

Maciek416 16y ago
This is awesome. I'd love to add color generation options. Here's my favorite so far: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/... http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/.... [EDIT: and its cousin: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/....+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/....+-+... ]
- daeken 16y ago
  I've been thinking about color stuff, but just can't come up with how to really do it. However, I think sub-45-degree turning is gonna happen soon. Probably 15-degree to start, and see what can happen there. 45 degree turns do provide some fun stuff, though... Edit: Just made a small change that will make things look prettier, though. If you have the command string XYZW, the command string XYZWXYZW is 100% equivalent, except for the shading (due to the cell values looping around). So when you put in a command string, it's automagickly extended to > 64 bytes now, guaranteeing smooth shading.
  - Maciek416 16y ago
    Perhaps a given automaton could be told to open a bucket of paint and then have that paint expend itself over time (drop in color intensity, increase in opacity, or whatever).
    - daeken 16y ago
      Oh nice, I quite like that. I'll try it out. Thanks! Btw, just implemented yet another new feature: the '@' command is an ant bomb. If there are multiple ants in play, @ kills the one that triggers it. That lets you fork without completely annihilating your system.
  - die_sekte 16y ago
    A color increase/decrease command, which cycles through a palette?
    - daeken 16y ago
      Alright, both of these are in. $ increments the color, ^ decrements it. In addition, = now causes the child ant to have its color incremented, and < causes the child color to be decremented. Technicolor craziness. Edit: Really don't like the color stuff. I've left in $ and ^, but I've turned it off for forks. It just looks like random nonsense, sadly.

solipsist 16y ago

Awesome! I love the ease in which you can send other people your creations using the urls. I wonder if anyone would be up for developing this same type of project, but centered around Conway's Game of Life instead (one of my favorite cellular automata).

nitefly 16y ago

I love it! How about the addition of a stop button?

daeken 16y ago
Done, thanks!

shadowpwner 16y ago

It's beautiful.

topherjaynes 16y ago

My favorite: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/.......*/*/*/*/...........*/*/*/!*/....+-+-+-+-!+-+-+!-+-+-+-!.. http://demoseen.com/langton.html#*/*/.......*/*/*/*/............

joshu 16y ago

ideas: allow number suffixes to mean a repeat of the previous token. .6 would be equal to ...... also, allow the ant bomb with a number to only allow that many ants. @4 means kill this ant if there are more than four. maybe allow subgrouping? [+........]12 means 12 of these? random numbers: .{13,24} means between 13 and 24 of .?

mdiamond 16y ago

http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+.<$@&#60 http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+.<$@< this is fun! edit: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#.................+=$ http://demoseen.com/langton.html#.................+=$

Wilduck 16y ago

Tiny circles: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#/<./<.. http://demoseen.com/langton.html#/<./<...

chaosfox 16y ago

awesome, I made a virus: http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+>$!-= http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+>$!-=

wlievens 16y ago

Nice. I like the "organic" feel of the images you get. http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+/.<..<....++......<....<....+..+ http://demoseen.com/langton.html#+/.<..<....++..........