4 ms·

Build a Working Game of Tetris in Conway's Game of Life (2014)

153 points by lelf 7y ago

joosters 7y ago
I'm going to need a faster machine :( The in-browser version just burns CPU for me, with no visible change after a few minutes. Another amazing game-of-life machine is the digital clock: https://copy.sh/life/?gist=f3413564b1fa9c69f2bad4b0400b8090&step=512 https://copy.sh/life/?gist=f3413564b1fa9c69f2bad4b0400b8090&... - it's a bit less CPU hungry too
- ObsoleteNerd 7y ago
  Even works flawlessly on Safari iOS. All these Game of Life creations are incredible.
dang 7y ago
A thread from 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15246348 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15246348 A bit more: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15247935 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15247935
- Groxx 7y ago
  2017 post has a much-needed youtube video of the metapixels as the top comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP5-iIeKXE8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP5-iIeKXE8 I haven't been able to find one for tetris tho
jojobas 7y ago
Surely there should be a way to do this without so many layers of abstraction? I guess the concept of control is too hard, but it should be possible to simulate blocks properly falling on top of each other.
- polemic 7y ago
  Heh, well consider the level of abstraction involved with displaying this text on your screen.
- CGamesPlay 7y ago
  This was just the first submission to the contest. You could easily win by coming up with a smaller way to emulate WireLife. I look forward to your submission next year!
  - jojobas 7y ago
    I would be looking into some kind of ship that can crash into a pad and leave a wreck that could serve as a pad itself instead. That would not be playable tetris, but would be much more pleasing and elegant to me.
ramshorns 7y ago
I'm impressed how well the huge GOL pattern runs in Golly, but it's not clear where the actual Tetris board is on it. Not many of the metapixels are live at a time so there's a lot of zooming in and out to see what's going on.
0-_-0 7y ago
Looks like the idea is to implement a cellular automaton with a different ruleset on top of Game of Life (using so called metapixels), and then use that to implement a CPU. This is similar to the Wireworld computer. I liked this quote on its website: "The design was done by David Moore and Mark Owen, with the help of many others, between 1990 and 1992. It’s a testament to our modesty that it was not until September 2004 that we wrote up our work." I shall start using that euphemism!
NotAnOtter 7y ago
TC guarantees the simulation of any program a different TC can run, that would include Tetris. It does not include any UI or UX experience, so you definitely COULD simulate tetris, but you might not get an easily understood UI. Also, I pitty the cpu that has to process this

153 points by lelf 7y ago

I'm going to need a faster machine :( The in-browser version just burns CPU for me, with no visible change after a few minutes. Another amazing game-of-life machine is the digital clock: https://copy.sh/life/?gist=f3413564b1fa9c69f2bad4b0400b8090&step=512 https://copy.sh/life/?gist=f3413564b1fa9c69f2bad4b0400b8090&... - it's a bit less CPU hungry too

ObsoleteNerd 7y ago
Even works flawlessly on Safari iOS. All these Game of Life creations are incredible.

dang 7y ago

A thread from 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15246348 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15246348 A bit more: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15247935 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15247935

Groxx 7y ago
2017 post has a much-needed youtube video of the metapixels as the top comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP5-iIeKXE8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP5-iIeKXE8 I haven't been able to find one for tetris tho

jojobas 7y ago

Surely there should be a way to do this without so many layers of abstraction? I guess the concept of control is too hard, but it should be possible to simulate blocks properly falling on top of each other.

polemic 7y ago
Heh, well consider the level of abstraction involved with displaying this text on your screen.
CGamesPlay 7y ago
This was just the first submission to the contest. You could easily win by coming up with a smaller way to emulate WireLife. I look forward to your submission next year!
- jojobas 7y ago
  I would be looking into some kind of ship that can crash into a pad and leave a wreck that could serve as a pad itself instead. That would not be playable tetris, but would be much more pleasing and elegant to me.

ramshorns 7y ago

I'm impressed how well the huge GOL pattern runs in Golly, but it's not clear where the actual Tetris board is on it. Not many of the metapixels are live at a time so there's a lot of zooming in and out to see what's going on.

0-_-0 7y ago

Looks like the idea is to implement a cellular automaton with a different ruleset on top of Game of Life (using so called metapixels), and then use that to implement a CPU. This is similar to the Wireworld computer. I liked this quote on its website: "The design was done by David Moore and Mark Owen, with the help of many others, between 1990 and 1992. It’s a testament to our modesty that it was not until September 2004 that we wrote up our work." I shall start using that euphemism!

NotAnOtter 7y ago

TC guarantees the simulation of any program a different TC can run, that would include Tetris. It does not include any UI or UX experience, so you definitely COULD simulate tetris, but you might not get an easily understood UI. Also, I pitty the cpu that has to process this