On Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 14:15 Boris Gimbarzevsky via cctech < cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote: I also wrote a version for the PDP-8; I was sure someone else had beat me to it (an assembly version, that is), but I didn't find any versions online other than for BASIC and FOCAL?neither of which supported very many cells nor ran very quickly. https://github.com/drovak/pdp8life The version I wrote supports both VC8E and terminal outputs, both printing and video terminals alike. It's a pretty big playing field, too, but it runs quickly enough, I'd say. It'll run from OS/8 and supports initial configuration, but I don't think I ever added support to initialize from another file on disk; just TTY input, if I recall. If anyone has more optimizations, feel free to submit a pull request! Thanks, Kyle

A number of fun things to play with in Life. Most of these have to do with edge effect and geometry. The simplest is to just have stuff disappear at the edge. You can fold side to side and top to bottom. This is where interesting things happen with changes in geometry of the game. Also, on the wrap, you don't have to wrap straight, it can be shifted. Also making larger play fields that one can shift onto, is another option. Dwight ________________________________ From: cctalk <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org> on behalf of Liam Proven via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2020 4:02 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Game Of Life, John H. Conway On Thu, 30 Apr 2020 at 23:05, Kyle Owen via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: Not sure it's vintage _enough_ for ClassicCmp, but I wrote several for the ZX Spectrum. First the dumb algorithm, in vanilla interpreted ZX BASIC. Then the QuickLife algorithm. Then an integer-only version compiled with HiSoft BASIC. It still wasn't quick. So one long drunken evening with my mate Dion, who was doing a CompSci degree, we did QuickLife in Z80 assembly for the Spectrum. I wrote the editor in BASIC and explained the algorithm to him, he implemented the hard part in assembler, and between us, in a sdingle 8- or 9-hour session we got it working. It was very fast on character cells. The Spectrum wasn't really quick enough to do it on pixel scale. So I came up with a compromise: the Spectrum ROM contains block character graphics with 1, 2, & 3 quarter character squares. With a bit of extra logic, this means you can turn on quarter-squares individually by picking the right character for the 2x2 grid you need. A simple lookup table. So on the 32*22 character Spectrum screen, we had a 64*44 Life implementation that could do a generation in under a second, so you could see the patterns move and develop in real time. It was a thing of beauty, and I dearly hope I still can read the ZX Microdrive cartridge and retrieve it. -- Liam Proven ? Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? gMail/gTalk/gHangouts: lproven at gmail.com Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/Flickr: lproven ? Skype: liamproven UK: +44 7939-087884 ? ?R (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053