[RELEASE]The Game Of Life RC1

[maxthebest]

Here is finally a real version of my Game Of Life.
I released a few weeks ago a demo which you could not interact with, and which generated noise.
Now, in this one, you can edit the life pattern as you want, and load some I already made, but there is no more sound because of some bugs I'll fix for next time.
Here is a quote from the readme about the changelogs:

• -A splash screen has been added (press any key to continue)
• -A definition screen has been added: you can see an extract from wikipedia's definition of the Game Of Life
• -Sound has been removed for two reasons: headaches and it didn't work. It'll be back in next version, with the possibility of shutting it off.
• -A menu pops up when you press SELECT, and you can chose one of the three patterns (for the moment: empty, random, and Goper's glider gun). Keep SELECT pressed while pressing up/down/cross to navigate in this menu.
• -You can see the number of generations that have happened since the beginning of the pattern by pressing L. This number is reset when you generate a new pattern, or edit the actual one.
• -When you press START, you will pause the evolution, and see a "0" or "1" printed in red on the screen, this is your cursor, move it with up/down/left/right, and press Cross to give life to a cell, and circle to take life from it.
• -When in pause mode, Square will clean the screen.
• -To take a screenshot, press R. Screenshots are saved under ms0:/PICTURES/GoLX.png, X being the number attributed to the picture.
• -If the Picture folder does not exist, the program will create it (to avoid annoying bugs).
• -The icon has been changed (you can see Gosper's glider gun on it now).

Hre is a screenshot and a video showing Gosper's famous glider gun:

Spoiler for Screenshots & video:

For the moment you can only chose between Gopser's glider gun, or generate a random pattern, or an empty one, but coming soon is a bunch of patterns I'm working on that will represent most of the well known life forms.

Download it here

Here is my blog for more infos and older versions, and my mail : [email protected]

[Vonsta]

hello mr maxthebest

i just wanted to say "what tha... is this?"... dont take that the wrong way.. its just a very strange-looking game. i assume its something to do with evolving a life form of some sort?

i have no idea what this is, but i am going to try it anyway.. i have to.. in order to find out what it is so cheers

[maxthebest]

okay, I'm sorry, I suld ave explained.
This is a game of life, based on John Conways.
It is the simplest Cellular automaton, and as you said, it represents the evolution of life.
When you start the homebrew, you should see a short quote from wikipedia (to which I will redirect you), defining it shortly.
Very interesting wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life

On wikipedia, you'll find everything you want to know, and the rules the program is obeying ;)

[Vonsta]

cool.. i thought id seen this elsewhere now that i think of it, but on further checking i think it was the "John Conway demo" that you released.. and on further searching around this board, i found that it was HERE that i saw/downloaded it.. though i didnt actually try it out, being a non-playable demo and all. my guess regarding it being a "lifeform evolution" game also must have stemmed from seeing that demo and its info..

thanks for the info links. il check em out.. and i hope my strange comment didnt come across the wrong way. i was ignorantly expecting a PSP homebrew version of the actual "Game Of Life" family board game.. i hope you know the one i mean.. came out 15-20 years ago or something. and i hope that my ignorance amuses you somewhat :)

cheers mate.. ive downloaded it and will try it out later.. AFTER referring to the rules of course.. i cant even "evolve" my own life.. let alone a digital one

[maxthebest]

Lol, no problem dude, I don't know that board game you're talking about, but I'll ask google :)

[JaX3RiR]

Very interesting.. I do not quite get the "rules" of this game even after reading the Wikipedia article, but it is very entertaining to watch the blocks move around the screen

Thank you.

[brethren]

bill gosper spent wayyyy too much time with this:)

[Physicist]

Congratulations, you are one more person to spend hours of your life porting technology that was developed before most PSP users were born and could not possibly ever enjoy.
I'm not saying I could do what you do but I honestly enjoy things which stretch the boundaries of what the PSP can do, don't you realise someone has made Half Life work on the PSP? Compare that to what you have made...

[Psypher]

@ So called "Physicist"

Having a bad day, "Physicist"? He isn't making homebrew for your entertainment. No one creates/developes something that isn't enjoyable in the process, unless there's money to be made in it. So he made it for his amusement and decided to share it for those who would enjoy it. You clearly are not in that audience, so why don't you move along instead of posting something as stupid as you have?

Sheesh, no wonder why some of the devs have left the PSP community. It's full of leechers who doesn't give a rat's ass about the time spent on something for FREE. It's a priviledge for us to use homebrew, and people moan about it when it doesn't even interest them in the slightest. Get a grip. No, get a life and move along if something doesn't interest you.

[Vonsta]

thank you Psypher.. saves me writing something similar.. the ignorance of some is amusement for others.. and its nice to see someone who does appreciate even the simple things.. id like to see this fool code something even REMOTELY similar.. not that i could do so either, but thats not the point here.. even making a "hello world" demo has code that i was puzzled about at first..

and @ physiCYST ... do you realise that NOBODY "made half life work on the PSP".. it would be foolish to think that game would run on a PSP.. there is a HOMEBREW game that is BASED on HalfLife but its not the original HalfLife.. and WELL WHADDA YA KNOW it was created by someone who enjoys doing it, and not to please all the little sooks out there like yourself.. ya wanna band-aid for the booboo.. get over it and be thankful you have even got the means to play homebrew in the first place.. ungrateful Gen-Y upstart fools like yourself dont even understand the concept of where gaming originated in the first place, and that would be small beginnings like that which maxthebest has provided here. where do you think EVERY SINGLE GAME originated from? something simple and seemingly boring or bland of course.....

for someone who has contributed NOTHING to the site you sure have an arrogant attitude about you.. but thats ok.. someone will show you the error of your ways someday soon.. aahh happy thoughts of justice being served

@ Psypher again... i guess i had to say something.. sorry

[maxthebest]

Hi Physicist,
I just don't understand your attitude...
As said before, I kind of made this because I like it, it entertains me, and, hopefully, it entertains other people, who knows.
Of course, this is not half life, but I did not want to make a Half life, and I don't have to knowledge to make one.
This is just an exercise for me, I enjoyed it, I am having fun playing with it, and I learnt a lot while coding it.
So, if you don't like it, because you think you deserve a half life, then fine, then just don't talk (and why not making your own half life???!), I don't really need that kind of comments. I'd rather like someone telling me he doesn't like it because of this bug, or whateverr.

I respect the fact that you think this homebrew is stupid, respect my thread, and shut up (unless of course, you have something interesting to say!). Thanks

Edit: Vonsta, Psypher, thanks for the support :)

[Access_Denied]

Congratulations, you are one more person to spend hours of your life porting technology that was developed before most PSP users were born and could not possibly ever enjoy.
I'm not saying I could do what you do but I honestly enjoy things which stretch the boundaries of what the PSP can do, don't you realise someone has made Half Life work on the PSP? Compare that to what you have made...

You're a fcuking douche, you know that? I find this interesting. It's even more interesting to someone interested in mathematics. I for one am going to port this to the DS. It looks so awesome.
-=Double Post Merge =-
OMG, this game is so fun. I mean a java one I found. I don't have a PSP anymore to use this one on the go. It's sad too, because I could play with this all day. It's so amusing.

[Vonsta]

@ Access Denied.... theres a Java PSP Emulator called JPCSP that can run homebrew games etc.. seeing as you likely "know your stuff" you probably already know about it, but i thought id mention it just in case you hadnt.. would be worth checking out ESPECIALLY if you no longer have a PSP..

also, its not sad that you would play it all day.. id play "ElastoMania" for the rest of my life if i could... ok well maybe not, but if you find a game you are into, why not play it as much as you can.. thats why they arent "single-use" and have "restart/reset/exit/save" options.. so we CAN play them forever if the wish arises..

and your word.. "fcuking"... i had to laugh mate.. funny syuff

[maxthebest]

Yes, the first link in google when searching for "game oflife" is a cool website offering an online java game of line, and an offline version.

[Physicist]

I apologise for the bluntness of my previous post. It simply infuriates me when technology advances yet people strive to prove a machine built decades ago can do that too. In hindsight I realise I was unreasonable to excrete my frustration on one person's work. I know that coding is progressive so there are people at different stages at all times. So. Good luck with this crap, it's not for me but people seem to like it.

[Vonsta]

ok you post was beautifully written and very mature... that is right up until you AGAIN criticized the game by stating "good lick with this crap"

like finding half a worm in an apple...

[BlackBurd]

i just played this with a effects plugin and it is awsome especially with effects.
-=Double Post Merge =-

Congratulations, you are one more person to spend hours of your life porting technology that was developed before most PSP users were born and could not possibly ever enjoy.
I'm not saying I could do what you do but I honestly enjoy things which stretch the boundaries of what the PSP can do, don't you realise someone has made Half Life work on the PSP? Compare that to what you have made...

if thats the case you will be dissapointed to see that no one makes 3d games anymore if thats what you mean and i think the game is fun.

[Access_Denied]

Really an awesome idea maxthebest. Just add features like making your own patterns, selecting the 'cell' size and adjusting speed. This has the potential to be an A+ addicting game.

And if anybody wants a challenge, take up Conway's original challenge. Make a grid with a finite number of cells, and create an infinite number. I'm working on it.

[maxthebest]

Lol, liked your post a lot Physicist, the "I'm sorry I criticized but I criticize again" post is lovely :)
BlackBurd : I tried with effects too, and I loved it! That makes it a lot more fun!
Access_Denied: About making your own pattern, you can actually do that, press START, and you'll be able to change the cell's states.
I'm working on speed and cell size, and on new patterns you can load.
I'm also working on a save feature (not working yet ), and correcting a few bugs I noticed in the last version.

About Conway's challenge, Id advise you to try it on your computer and not on the PSP, because the PSP version is still bugged, and doesn't have a big enough screen :)
BTW, I think you can win about 50 $ (did someone win it yet? I think I read about it, and the guy relaunched the challenge with 100$, but it maybe another challenge) if you win this challenge!!! after spending half of your life on it, lol.

Anyways, I'm glad some people enjoy it, sorry some don't.