| # | dead | alive |
|---|
The table of checkboxes represents the rules of the cellular automata. For example, if a checkbox is checked in the "2" row and "alive" column, that means a cell with two neighbors that is alive will stay alive in the next step. If it were unchecked, the cell would go from alive to dead instead. A checked box in the "dead" column means that cell will come alive for that row's amount of neighbors.
You can change the starting conditions by changing the "empty %" field. Reset the simulation by hitting "randomize" to see the new starting conditions. Some rulesets are more interesting with very sparse starting conditions, so be sure to experiment!
You can change the colors to create many interesting effects. The "young" is the color of a newly born cell. As a cell ages, the color will mix with the "old" color. The "trail" and "dead" color is the same concept but for dead cells. The "alive mix" and "dead mix" parameters control how quickly this color will change.
By setting "scale" to 1, each pixel will be a single cell. The entire board is 1920x1080 pixels. To zoom in, set the scale to a value greater than one. When zoomed in, pan around with your trackpad, scroll wheel or scroll bars.
You can share your presets with the shareable link at the top of the screen. This will not save the current state of the board, but will rather save the colors, scale, rules and sparsity you chose. (If you make something interesting, please @ me on Twitter!)
You can also save the entire image by right clicking the simulation and selecting "Save Image As..." (or a similar message depending on your browser.) Have fun!