!AMFLife  1.00 (23-Jun-92)
==========================
Life Universe
=============
AMFLife is designed to allow the operation of a Life universe within a
desktop window.Life is a form of cellular automata,originally invented by
John Horton Conway at the University of Cambridge.For those of you who are
new to the concept of Life,Life consists of a grid of cells,each of which is
either dead or alive.For every cell,the number of living neighbouring cells
is counted.Should this number be two,the cell remains in the state it was
before.Should it be three,a new cell is created within that space.Should a
cell have less than two neighbours,or greater than three,it dies.Simple,but
the application of these rules over a period of time allows the creation of
some interesting Life formations.

Use
===
Once loaded,click on the AMFLife icon.Two windows will appear,one named
AMFLife,and one named Sprite.Initially,you will have no Life universe,so it
is necessary to create one.Press menu on the AMFLife window,and move to
Create.From here,the size of the Life universe may be selected.Clearly,the
smaller the Life universe is,the faster it runs,but the more space
restricted it is.After being created,the Life universe will appear,initially
blank,in a window named Life.Pressing menu on this window will allow you to
save the current universe as a sprite,and to increase/decrease the
magnification.An increased magnification,whilst slowing down the display,
allows the evolution of the universe to be seen more easily.The Speed menu
option will allow the speed of evolution to be set.The first figure is the
number of generations per display,and the second figure is the number of
clock cycles between each display.A random life universe may be created
using the Random option.After creating a universe,use this option with a
figure between 0 and 256 to determine the probability of a live cell
appearing.

Creation
========
Selecting Sprites from the main icon bar menu will open a window containing
a large number of predefined Life forms.These are described in more detail
below.Clicking on one of these will cause it to appear in the Sprite window.
Once a sprite has been selected,clicking on the Life window will place that
sprite where the pointer is,with the pointer becoming the bottom left corner
of the sprite.Use the  and  icons to flip the sprite,and use the C icon
to clear it.If the sprite is clear,then clicking in the Life universe with
select will plot a single cell,whereas clicking with adjust will remove a
single cell.

Generating
==========
Once set up,click on Start in the AMFLife window to start the universe.The
cells will evolve according to the rules described above.Use Pause to pause
the universe,and Reset to reset the generation counter which is incremented
every time the Life universe is evolved.To blank the entire universe,use
the Create option again.Two small icons next to the Reset icon alter the
displayed sprite.C will display the cells alone,as is default,whereas V will
display the 'votes' cast by the cells,namely the eight cells around each
cell that are affected by the cell.It is best to use a 256 colour mode to
display the votes.

Life Forms
==========
Sixty five predefined Life forms are provided within AMFLife,defined as
MODE 0 sprites in a sprite file called <AMFLife$Dir>.Sprites.This file may
be added to should you wish to add more predefined Life forms.The Life Forms
come in four basic varieties,those that grow,those that oscillate,those
that travel and those that do nothing.These are as follows:

Life Forms that Grow
====================
creategun    - creategun
               Thirteen gliders that collide to create a glider gun.
               Theoretically,this technique could be used to create a self
               reproducing Life form.

acorn        - acorn
               A seven pixel object that grows rapidly and only stabilises
               at generation 5206.(given sufficient space,for with a limited
               area this cannot happen)

bheptomino   - b heptomino
               A small unstable object that grows rapidly until generation
               148.

blockglider  - block and glider
               A six pixel object that grows unstably until generation 100,
               whence it becomes a block and a glider.

century      - century
               Another unstable object that only stabilises at generation
               100.(hence century).

modifly      - A modified flying machine that creates blocks as exhaust.

pipentomino  - pi pentomino
               Another small object made out of seven pixels,that that also
               grows very quickly,stopping at generation 173.

puffertrain  - puffer train
               A spaceship that builds up an ever increasing plume of
               exhaust,only stabilising at generation 5533,and then
               continues as a normal spaceship.

rpentomino   - r pentomino
               A very small five pixel object that grows very quickly,
               stopping only at generation 1103.

space_rake   - space rake
               A puffer train that produces gliders as exhaust.

switch       - a modified form of the switch engine
               A puffer train that apparently has no order,and deposits
               large numbers of blocks as exhaust residue.

Life Forms that Oscillate
=========================
barber_pole  - barber pole
               A two generation oscillator.The middle part can be extended
               infinitly.

beacon       - beacon

blinker      - blinker
               The second most common life object.Often found in groups of
               four,called traffic lights.

bglidergun   - b heptomino glider gun
               A glider gun made out of two pairs of the unstable object
               b heptomino,creating a glider every 46 generations.

bshuttle     - b heptomino shuttle
               A shuttle (see below) made out of a pair of the usually
               unstable b heptomino.

clock        - clock

eaters       - eaters
               A pair of eaters (see below) that eat each other infinitly.

figure8      - figure eight

flip_flop    - flip flop

galaxy       - galaxy
               An eight generation oscillator.

gliderbounce - A glider that bounces between two pentadecathlons

glidergun    - normal glider gun
               Two shuttles out of phase by five generations that create
               a glider every thirty generations.

pentadecagon - pentadecathlon
               A fifteen generation oscillator.

pulsar       - pulsar
               A large three generation oscillator.

shuttle      - shuttle
               A simple spaceship that moves between two blocks

toad         - toad

tumbler      - tumbler

Life Forms that Travel
======================

ecologist    - ecologist
               A variation on the space rake that does not produce any
               exhaust.

flotilla     - flotilla
               A way of transporting a "super heavy" spaceship using two
               lighter ones.

flyingmach   - flying machine
               A T tetromino engine surrounded by two spaceships.

glider       - glider
               The glider is the principal life spaceship and can be used to
               create other objects.

heavyship    - heavyweight spaceship
               The longest spaceship possible without using a flotilla.By
               adding any more length,the tail sparks form into blinkers
               and destroy the spaceship.

kickback     - kickback
               Not really a spaceship,but a way of colliding two gliders so
               that one is destroyed and the other turns through 180 degrees.

lightship    - lightweight spaceship

middleship   - middleweight spaceship

Life Forms that Do Nothing
==========================
barge        - barge

beehive      - beehive

bigs         - big s

biboat       - biboat

biloaf       - biloaf

bipond       - bipond

block        - block
               The block is the commonest life object.

boat         - boat

canoe        - canoe

carrier      - carrier

eater        - eater
               An eater can eat almost anything and then repair itself if
               the food is placed in the correct position (to the top right)

hat          - hat

hexadecimal  - hexadecimal

loaf         - loaf

longbarge    - long barge

longboat     - long boat

longship     - long ship

longsnake    - long snake

mango        - mango

paper_clip   - paper clip

pond         - pond

shillelagh   - shillelagh

ship         - ship

shiptie      - shiptie

snake        - snake

tailedtub    - tub with tail

unnamed      - This object has not yet been named.

vlongsnake   - very long snake

Tools
=====
b            - black
               Black is a blank space 8x8 pixels.It is useful for deletion.

w            - white
               White is a white space 8x8 pixels.It dies in 5 generations.

Bibliography
============
Poundstone,William.The Recursive Universe - Cosmic Complexity and the Limits
of Scientific Knowledge,William Moroow,1985.An interesting book that
explains not only the principles of life,but all the objects listed above,
how they interact,and how a life universe can model a real universe.

BBC Acorn User May 1990 - Born Again (page 73).An article that explains the
method used to generate the life universe hereand how this method is faster
than the usual method.

BBC Acorn User September 1990 - Risc Revue,Life in the Fast Lane (page 57).
An Archimedes version of the fast life universe,limited by the small size
of 64 by 32 pixels.

Versions
========
1.00 Original version.

Source
======
This version of AMFLife was originally supplied as part of a software
package,namely the AMF the Doomwatcher Collection Part II.It should not be
distributed separately from this package,although it may be separated for
the personal use of the owner,so long as it is not passed on to others in
this form.

Copyright
=========
This version of AMFLife is not Public Domain.It may be distributed as
Public Domain only by those who are licensed so to do,with the terms of this
license and the official distributor for this version to be found as part of
the general information supplied with this software collection.No part of
this software may be used in any other program,whether commercial or public
domain,without my prior written consent,though any files created by this
software are not bound by this condition.This software may not be
distributed for a profit,save that required to cover packaging and media
costs,nor may it be distributed by an unlicensed person or company.Copyright
() is retained by the author,who may be contacted at the address beneath.No
liability can be accepted by the author for any loss or damage arising from
use or misuse of this software.

Addresses
=========
Should you wish to contact the author of this software,make any constructive
comments or suggestions,report any errors or bugs,or make any donations (all
cheques being made payable to A.M.Flintham),write to the address beneath:

AMF the Doomwatcher,
  The Monastery of Doomwatcher Monks,
    50 Burlington Way,
      Mickleover,
        Derby.
          DE3 5BD
