What is Cosmic Life?
Cosmic Life is an artistic interpretation of Conway's Game of Life, a cellular automaton that follows simple rules but creates complex and beautiful emergent behavior.
Basic Rules
- Any live cell with 2 or 3 neighbors survives to the next generation
- Any dead cell with exactly 3 neighbors becomes alive in the next generation
- All other cells die or remain dead in the next generation
Interaction
Click or drag your mouse/finger across the grid to toggle cells between alive and dead states. Right-click and drag to pan the viewable area. Add interesting patterns or draw your own creations to see how they evolve!
Controls
- Play/Pause: Start or stop the simulation
- Clear: Remove all cells from the grid
- Random: Create a random pattern of cells
- Pattern Dropdown: Select pre-made patterns to place on the grid
- Right-Click + Drag: Pan the view around the universe
- Fullscreen Button: Expand the game to fill your screen
Settings
- Speed: Adjust how quickly generations advance
- Cell Size: Change the size of individual cells
- X/Y Position: Control where in the universe your viewport is centered
- Color Palette: Choose different color schemes
- Visual Style: Select different cell appearance modes
- Performance Mode: Toggle for better performance on slower devices
Notifications
The notification panel shows when certain patterns are detected. The bell icon toggles notifications, and the journal icon shows a history of all detected patterns in your current session.
Classical Patterns
- Glider: A simple pattern that travels diagonally across the grid
- Lightweight Spaceship: A pattern that moves horizontally
- Middleweight Spaceship: A slightly larger horizontal spacecraft
- Heavyweight Spaceship: The largest of the elementary spaceships
- Pulsar: A complex oscillator with period 3
- Gosper Glider Gun: Creates an endless stream of gliders
- Pentadecathlon: An oscillator with period 15
- Diehard: A methuselah that dies after 130 generations
- Acorn: A methuselah that takes 5206 generations to stabilize
- R-Pentomino: A small pattern that evolves for over 1000 generations
- Beacon: An oscillator that blinks between two configurations
- Boat: A stable still life pattern
- Clock: A period 2 oscillator that rotates
Emergent Patterns
As the simulation runs, you might see these common patterns emerge:
- Still Life: Stable patterns that don't change
- Oscillators: Patterns that repeat after a certain number of generations
- Spaceships: Patterns that move across the grid
- Methuselahs: Small patterns that evolve for many generations
- Puffers: Rare Patterns that move while leaving behind debris
- Garden of Eden: Legendary Patterns that cannot arise naturally
Pattern Rarity
Some patterns have rarity indicators in notifications:
Common Frequently occurs
Uncommon Occasionally appears
Rare Seldom emerges naturally
Very Rare Extremely unlikely to form
Legendary Almost never seen in random patterns
Visual Styles
- Circles: Classic rounded cells with a soft glow
- 8-Bit: Pixelated cells with retro scanlines effect
- Galactic: Celestial appearance with stars, planets and cosmic dust
- Organic: Complex biological-looking forms that blend and morph
Color Palettes
- Neon: Vibrant pink and purple hues
- Ocean: Cool blues and teals
- Gold: Warm golds and ambers
- Emerald: Rich greens and turquoise
- Sunset: Orange and red tones
- Aurora: Shifting purples and blues
- Galaxy: Deep space blues with bright highlights
- Multicolor: Each cell gets its own unique color based on position
- Monochrome: Classic black and white with gray tones
Combine different visual styles and color palettes to create unique aesthetic experiences!
Keyboard Shortcuts
Space
Play/Pause simulation
C
Clear all cells
R
Generate random pattern
F
Toggle fullscreen mode
+ / -
Increase/decrease speed
[ / ]
Decrease/increase cell size
↑ ↓ ← →
Pan the view (Arrow keys)
H
Toggle history panel
N
Toggle notifications
P
Toggle performance mode
Mouse Controls
- Left Click/Drag: Toggle cells alive/dead
- Right Click + Drag: Pan the view
- Ctrl + Left Click + Drag: Alternative pan method
Performance Tips
If you're experiencing lag or slowdown, try these adjustments:
- Increase Cell Size: Smaller cells require more processing power. Using larger cells (>10) significantly improves performance.
- Reduce Speed: High speeds combined with small cells can cause lag on some devices.
- Enable Performance Mode: This reduces visual effects to improve framerate.
- Use Simpler Styles: The "Circles" and "8-Bit" styles are less demanding than "Galactic" or "Organic".
- Limit Active Area: Very large active areas with many live cells require more processing.
Performance Warning
Combining high speeds, small cell sizes, and complex visual styles may cause lag on some devices. If the simulation feels sluggish, consider adjusting these settings.